Vintage video game consoles have their own charm to them. Playing games made for the home consoles of the olden times still remains a pipe dream for many connoisseurs of retro games that grew attached to their old plastic boxes. But what if we tell you that you can play your favorite games on modern devices like your laptop, PC, tablet, or a cutting-edge smartphone? Having legacy content on a new platform without having to yank out the old console is definitely something you’ve been striving for. Today you’re going to learn how to download and play the Game Boy Advance games using emulation software and Gameboy Advance ROMs.
A Few Words About the Game Boy Advance
It’s a rare retro gamer who doesn’t nurture warm feelings towards the legendary Game Boy Advance handheld video game console released by Nintendo. A decent successor to the Game Boy Color and one of the most prominent products of the 32-bit era, the GBA made a splash in 2001 with its interesting design, improves graphics software, backward compatibility for Game Boy and Game Boy Color, and an impressive library of games that included platformers and games ported from various Nintendo systems of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.
It comes as no surprise that so many people now crave to play GBA games. And that fact that it’s extremely hard to obtain the GBA console discontinued in 2010 only reinforces this desire. As we’ve noted, for many fans of the GBA vintage console, playing its titles on modern platforms is a dream come true.
What are GBA ROMs and Emulators?
For those of you who don’t know, emulators are a piece of software that enables one system called the host (in this case your device) to behave like another system called the guest (in this case the GBA). So, if install such tool on your computer or any other device, it will turn it into your favorite handheld and let you run your favorite Gameboy Advance games on it. But the emulator alone is not enough for you to launch the nostalgic quest. Emulators normally don’t come bundled with the games, which means you need to search for them on the Internet and put the manually into your emulator’s folder. Don’t be afraid! Nowadays getting high quality GBA emulator games is as easy as ABC. There are retrogaming websites that offer the ROM files, which contain the data ripped from the original video game cartridge (hence, the name – ROMs), for download to all fans of classic games. Such sites as Romshub and Roms-download.com boast vast collections of Gameboy Advance ROMs you can download and play using virtually any dedicated emulator.
Best GBA ROMs to Play
All games released on the Game Boy Advance are worth being played in the second decade of the 21st century. But out favorites are the series of Mario game remakes, that is, Super Mario Advance, Super Mario World 2, and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, which is essentially the adaptation of Super Mario Bros. 3. You should also pay your attention to the ROMs of such titles as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, and Pokémon FireRed and Leaf Green version.
Best Emulator to Play GBA ROMs
It’s very important that you pick a reliable emulator to get the most out of your retrogaming experience and not hurt the device you’re planning to install it on. Modern Gameboy Advance emulators enable you to load retro games on all popular operating systems and platforms. There are the GBA emulators for Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms. There are also powerful solutions for Android and iOS devices. But you should know what criteria to look at when selecting your tools. Below are some worthy options you want to consider when choosing the emulator for your platform.
- No$GBA (one of the most powerful GBA emulators supporting multiplayer and having customizable settings and excellent debug features.)
- BizHawk (by far the best Gameboy Advance emulator for speedrunning with a number of basic emulation features.)
- mGBA (famed for a number of advanced features like the ability to switch to full screen, IPS and UPS patching support, ability to save states, and high emulation speed.)
- VisualBoyAdvance-M (a multiplatform solution featuring full save state support, GUI skinning, audio and video recording, effective debug tools, and gamepad support.)
- Higan (an easily configurable emulator renowned for its cycle-based emulation for every single component of the Gameboy Advance system. It’s a powerful, accurate, and stable tool that can be used even on low-end machines.)
- Emu (one of the top emulators for playing GBA ROMs Android.)
It’s time to take your pick of the emulator and put your hand on the best Gameboy Advance ROM.