The Best GBA Emulator (2024)

GBA Emulator is certainly the best way to remember our childhood.

I never got to use the Game Boy Advance. My bro who gifted me the first handheld console I ever used choose the Game Boy Color over it. As time went by, I realised he made that decision because he thought GBA lacked the charisma whilst its predecessor the Game Boy Color had all the classic attractions.

But here’s the truth, if given the chance back then, I do have picked the Game Boy Advance not because of its battery life but for its backward compatibility. However despite being discontinued, I know that just like me that there are a legion of fans looking to have a taste or play the legendary GBA games they have missed.

Also Checkout: The Best Nintendo Switch Emulator

Fortunately, this is now possible and that’s all thanks to the numerous GBA emulators available on the web. Now assuming your device is powerful enough to handle high graphics titles and you probably want to experience nostalgia by playing most of the Game Boy Advance games you have missed, then here are the best GBA emulator for Android, iOS and PC.

GBA Emulator for Android

Android open source nature allows developers to look at the operating system codes and by so doing, they can painlessly modify and tweak the OS to their liking. There are obviously a plethora of GBA emulator for Android but the ones listed below are the best in terms of speed and accuracy.

1. My Boy

Speed, emulation accuracy, full support for save states as well as gamepad are what makes a great emulator and My Boy doesn’t shy away from this. It is the only GBA emulator that supports link cable emulation which allows players to crossplay by connecting their devices together through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Aside from this, My Boy features a very clean and well-designed user interface alongside a powerful screen layout editor and high game compatibility. It’s fast even on low-end phones, consumes less battery and offers support for cheat codes as well as customization abilities.

Get it on Android

2. GBA.emu

Second on our list is GBA.emu. It’s one of the most popular GBA emulator out there on the web and it focuses mostly on speed and accuracy. Featuring a configurable on-screen multi-touch controls, GBA.emu works on any orientation and brings support for save states, cheat codes and most importantly controllers.

One of its strong point is its ability to read save files from other Game Boy Advance emulators and it is perfect on Android TV. Motorcross Challenge aside, GBA.emu doesn’t include any games. It only allows you to play the huge list of GBA ROMs available on the web.

Get it on Android

3. John GBA

When you fire up John GBA for the first time, you do see how classic the user interface is. The virtual on-screen keypad are neatly arranged and customizable, then there is the turbo buttons, save states and fast forward/slow down icon.

But put this aside and glimpse closer and you will discover other essential features such as controller support, cheats and more. It’s really a stable GBA Emulator for Android and you can painlessly tweak the various options available in the Settings menu.

Get it on Android

4. RetroArch (mGBA)

RetroArch is basically an all-in-one emulator for Android. It’s ideal for retro gamers who wants to manage various emulators in one program. In other to function, RetroArch makes use of “cores” i.e emulators and of all the vast library of cores it offers, mGBA is the best for users looking to play GBA games on their phone.

You can easily install the mGBA core through retroarch by navigating to the emulator’s main menu and selecting Load Core followed by Download Core. Or you can go to Online Updater -> Core Updater and choose Nintendo Game Boy Advance (mGBA).

Get it on Android

GBA Emulator for iOS

Apple hate emulators and that’s probably one of the reasons they made their operating system closed source. However, aside from HappyChick, Delta and its like, we have managed to handpicked the best GBA emulator for iOS. So here’s one of ’em.

5. GBA4iOS

GBA4iOS is the only GBA emulator for iOS that allows users to play Game Boy Advance games on their iPhone and/or iPad. It’s incredibly fast, brings a slick interface as well as controller support. One of its unique features is none other than the fact that it allows users to play music during gameplay.

Similar to the aforementioned GBA emulator, GBA4iOS believes that cheaters always win and thus brings support for cheats. It also features a slew of beautiful controller skins and can go as far as allowing you to play Game Boy Color games.

Get it on iOS

GBA Emulator for PC

If you are an addict retro gamer and probably wants to experience nostalgic on a wider screen, then playing most of the iconic GBA games on your Windows, Linux or Mac could be a dream come true. So without further ado, below are the best GBA emulator for PC.

6. mGBA

We did mention “mGBA” has the best libretro core for RetroArch on Android but if you own a PC, then it is worth installing the emulator directly. It is hands-down the most accurate GBA emulator for PC. Its development started in 2013 and today, I’d proudly tell you that it’s the best at what it does both in terms of speed, accuracy and features.

It’s one hell of a unique multi-platform emulator that aims to run accurately and at good speed on lower-end hardware and offers support for save states, cheats, tilt sensor and Game Boy camera.

Download mGBA

7. Higan

Originally known as bsnes, higan is now among the most popular GBA emulator for PC. It is known to have the most accurate emulation for Nintendo Super Famicom and can equally emulate Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color games at full speed.

For one thing, higan lacks a user-friendly interface and the price to pay for its accuracy is a powerful PC that features higher CPU. It’s worth giving a try though.

Download Higan

8. VBA-M

VBA-M is a spin-off or let’s say a fork of the now dead VisualBoy Advance project. It spawned with the aim to improve the compatibility list and accuracy of the original emulator and sincerely speaking, it’s now able to run most of the addictive GBA games without any hassles.

Its cable link connection is handy for trading pokemon and it offers support for OpenGL including audio sample rate and DirectSound. There’s also a cheats option available in the tools menu as well as saves states, controller support and more.

Wrapping

There are obviously a slew of GBA emulators on the web including No$gba and its like but most of them aren’t stable and some haven’t being updated for a very long time. The Game Boy Advance emulators listed above where specially cherrypicked by us and we hope this article becomes your one-stop-shop for all the GBA emulator for Android, iOS and PC.