First released in 2001, the Nintendo Game Boy Advance still holds many nostalgic memories for fans of Zelda, Mario and Pokemon games on this highly sought after handheld console. Thanks to game emulators, you don’t have to look for an old GBA console – you can run Game Boy Advance games on your PC instead.
The legality of emulating Game Boy Advance games on your PC varies from country to country, so be sure to check your local laws before starting. Once you’ve got the GBA games ready, here’s how you can play them on your Windows PC.
Choose your Game Boy Advance Emulator
The Game Boy Advance is one of the most popular handheld consoles of all time, so it’s not surprising that a lot of time and effort has gone into developing GBA emulators for Windows and other operating systems over the years.
These emulators provide you with typical GBA gameplay while adding new features and graphics enhancements. The mGBA emulator offers the best combination of stability, active development, impressive graphics and sound.
mGBA works on almost all platforms including Windows, Linux, and macOS. It supports mobile platforms and can even be installed on a homebrew Wii or Nintendo Switch.
It not only mimics the Game Boy Advance, but also keeps the old Game Boy and Game Boy Color handhelds high. The mGBA also includes early support for the Nintendo DS, although development of emulated gameplay for the Nintendo DS is ongoing.
Find Game Boy Advance Games
As you know, Nintendo protects its catalog of games from potential piracy.
Although the Game Boy Advance was discontinued back in 2008, GBA games are still being re-released on new Nintendo consoles.
With that in mind, we cannot provide information on where you can find your own Game Boy Advance games to download. There are several internet sites that offer GBA ROM downloads (as the game files are called), but you’ll have to find them yourself.
If you choose to download GBA ROM over the Internet, carefully check the files for potential malware infection before opening them. You should also double check the piracy laws in your country before proceeding.
If you don’t want to risk it, you can also try playing GBA games online. Again, while we cannot recommend any specific sites, there are sites that will mimic GBA games in your browser, so you won’t need to search or download any of those games yourself.
Install the mGBA emulator
The mGBA emulator is available on multiple platforms. While the use of mGBA is similar across all platforms, these setup instructions are only relevant for those with a Windows 10 PC, especially if you’re looking to build a new budget gaming PC
- First, download the latest mGBA emulator For Windows, the easiest way is to download the installer rather than the .7z archive. If you are using 64-bit Windows, select the Windows version (64-bit, installer .exe).
- Once downloaded, run the installer and click Next to start.
- Accept the mGBA license agreement and click Next.
- In the next step, you can allow mGBA to create a shortcut on the desktop, and also automatically associate GBA game files with the mGBA emulator so that Windows will automatically use mGBA to open those files. Check the boxes next to any of your selections, then click Next to continue.
- Confirm the settings, then click Install to begin the mGBA installation process.
- When the mGBA installation is complete, click Finish to close the installer. If Launch mGBA is checked, mGBA will automatically open after you close the installer.
Set up mGBA Controllers
With mGBA installed, you have two options for controlling Game Boy Advance games. mGBA comes pre-configured for keyboard use, or you can configure mGBA to use a third party controller instead.
You can, for example, use a Bluetooth enabled PC gaming keyboard, PlayStation DualShock controller, or Xbox controller with your mGBA games.
- To customize mGBA controls, open mGBA, click Tools, then click Preferences.
- In the settings menu, click “Keyboard” in the left menu to begin mapping keyboard keys to emulated GBA input keys. You can use the preset configuration, but if you want to change any of the controls, click any of the white boxes. After pressing, press a key on the keyboard to map that key to the position of the controller. Click “Apply” to save, then “OK” to close the settings menu if you don’t have a second controller to configure.
- If you want to configure a third-party controller to use mGBA, in the settings menu, click Controllers. As above, click any white box to change any of the preset parameters, then press a button on the controller to map it to that position. Click “Apply†to save, then “OK†to close.
Your mGBA controller settings are now ready to load GBA games and start playing.
Game Boy Advance Games launched at mGBA
Before you can start playing Game Boy Advance games, you need to load them into mGBA. This assumes that you have the appropriate GBA game files available on your PC.
- To launch a GBA game, click File in the top menu, then click Load ROM.
- Select the GBA game file, then click Open to launch the game.
The mGBA game will take some time to load, but once the loading process is complete, the mGBA splash screen will be replaced with your game’s loading screen. You can use your chosen input method (keyboard or controller) to start playing.
While mGBA is very capable of mimicking Game Boy Advance games, you can still experience visual and audio errors from time to time. Not every game will work perfectly, so if you run into problems you might need to restart mGBA, try a different game, or consult the mGBA FAQ for troubleshooting.
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