If you want to play GameBoy Advance on a desktop, then the emulator you'll need is the VBA-M. When compared to other emulators, the VBA-M is not the most streamlined option. However, on the upside, it's compatible with most of the GameBoy Advance titles. Keep in mind that VBA-M doesn't have its own official website yet. Its cartridge slot won't accept old Game Boy games—a feature that Nintendo included in newer handhelds for a while—but if you pay for the Nintendo Switch Online service ($3 per month or $20. Gameboy (GB) Game Boy Gameboy logo.svg Game-Boy-FL.jpg An original Game Boy Also known as KOR: Mini Comboy Developer Nintendo R&D1 Manufacturer Nintendo Product family Game Boy family Type Handheld game console Generation Fourth generation Release date JP: April 21, 1989 including Game Boy (Play it Loud!), Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light and Game Boy Color units Media ROM cartridge. Smart TV Box Gaming Console Emulator is the best free Retrogaming (Arcade and Console) Emulator for Android Smart TV / Android TV Box / Android Mobile Devices.
Super Mario was one of the video games that floated our minds when we were kids. Up until now, it's still the favorite retro game of many people. Apart from Super Mario, Tetris and Pac-Man were a hit but they're difficult to come by today, which is kind of sad as there can be times when we feel like revisiting joyous childhood days that consist mostly of playing such games.
Back in the day, consoles didn't put a lot of focus on game graphics as they put more emphasis on stories and gameplay. Today, gaming has evolved and brought us stunning life-like visuals. Still, great graphics don't necessarily mean better games. If you're like us, then you definitely know that pixelated graphics can offer some of the best gaming experiences.
If you want to relive and re-experience how it was to play a game using an old-school console, you're in luck as you definitely can without having to purchase individual consoles! You can enjoy the best of old gaming consoles using only your PC! Just choose an emulator that emulates your preferred console, and you're all set!
The great thing about emulation and console emulators is they let us preserve our history and love for the classic games! Without emulation, it would be hard to get an old Atari, Sega or Nintendo game to work on a computer. Fortunately, there are emulators that help ensure even an obscure title stays alive in one form or another.
As there are tons of console emulators that you can choose from, we'll help you by featuring the best ones for Mac, Linux, and Windows. But also some are supported for smartphones operating systems too, including iOS and Android. Check them out below!
Quick Navigation:
– PS1 Emulator
– PS2 Emulator
– PS2 Emulator for Android & iOS
– PS3 Emulator
– PS4 Emulator
– PSP Emulator
– Nintendo 64 Emulator
– Wii Emulator
– GameCube Emulator
– Nintendo DS Emulator
– Sega Dreamcast Emulator
– DOS Emulator
– Arcade Emulator
– Nintendo 3DS Emulator
– GameBoy Advance Emulator
– Xbox One Emulator
– Xbox 360 Emulator
– Sega Mega Drive Emulator
– Retro Consoles Emulator
– Multiple Consoles / Best Emulator
The List of Video Game Consoles Emulators:
PS3Mobi – PS3 Emulator
Download from: Official Website
PlayStation 3 games are very popular even to this day. In fact, a lot of people love the PS3 just because they like its titles more than the PS4 ones. Thankfully, you can run your PS3 games on other devices through PS3Mobi emulator.
PS3Mobi is designed to run on iOS, Android and desktop platforms. They also have a Linux platform, but it's on a different name. The great thing about the PS3Mobi is that there's no need to tinker with the BIOS file as they're already built-in into the emulator.
To download PS3 games, you have to visit the PS3Mobi servers where you'll find a list of available games that you can play in other devices using the PS3Mobi emulator. Theoretically, you can run any PS3 game if it's in '.ISO' format. However, some games may not run properly if they haven't been officially reviewed by the PS3Mobi team.
PCSX2 – PlayStation 2 Emulator
Download from: Official Website
PCSX2 is another emulator for PlayStation 2, which means you can use it to play PS2 games in other devices. The thing that sets PCSX2 apart is that it has an active community. The forum can significantly help you in case you have problems or issues with the emulator or the games that you're trying to run. PCSX2 is designed to run on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Perhaps the most fantastic thing about the emulator is that you can run it and just place your PS2 game on your PC's CD or DVD drive.
The team behind PCSX2 is also very active. You can check out their website and see the 'compatibility score' of the games that you want to play. This will save you a lot of frustration and disappointment.
The GUI of PCSX2 is not the best in the world. However, it gives you a lot of freedom, and it's very flexible when it comes to your settings.
PS2Smart – PS2 Emulator for Android & iOS
Download from: Official Website
If you want to play PlayStation 2 games on your mobile device, then the PS2Smart is an excellent emulator to try. It's designed to run on both Android and iOS. It doesn't run on a desktop, but the PS2Smart team has developed another emulator for that.
For iOS users, there's no need to jailbreak your phone, and that's a huge plus.
The good thing about the PS2Smart is that you can download the games you want straight from the emulator's GUI. There's no need for you to download the .ISO files and place them on one folder. All the steps are done for you once you download from inside the app. However, make sure you have a stable Internet connection as downloading PS2 games tends to take a lot of time.
ePSXe – PlayStation 1 Emulator
Download from: Official Website
ePSXe is an incredible emulator for PlayStation 1 as it has a ton of unique features. The emulator boasts of surprisingly fast speed, accurate sounds, as well as support for up to four players on one screen. There's even a split screen mode which allows you to have great arcade fun together with your buddies.
ePSXe can run easily if your PC is no less than 5 years old. You can expect no trouble in running the emulator at a very good speed. If you have an older PC, then it should have at least a GeForce2 series graphics card or the equivalent, DirectX 8, a CD-ROM drive, and 512MB of RAM.
Check this emulator out for yourself as it's of great quality, plus it's quick and easy to set up as soon as you have the files that are needed. With the ePSXe, you'll be up and ‘playing' in no time!
PPSSPP – PSP Emulator
Download from: Official Website
If you want Sony PSP games to run on your PC, then PPSSPP is perfect for you. You'll be able to use it to play free homebrew games. You can even dump PSP games in .cso or .iso format. With PPSSPP, you'll be able to transfer your saved PSP games to your PC. Because PSP is fairly powerful and recent, your PC needs to have decent specs in order to run the games. Although not every game will run perfectly as slowdowns can be pretty common, PPSSPP is still capable of curing old school gaming nostalgia.
PPSSPP has been around for years, so it's a stable emulator for PSP. Its features include autosave of progress on games, external gamepad and joystick support etc.
PS4 Emus – PS4 Emulator
Download from: Official Website
PS4 Emus is a PlayStation emulator that can run on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. One of the first things you will notice is that the GUI looks clean and it's intuitive to use. The emulator has its own website, and you can also download various PS4 titles from there. In fact, it's best that you only play the games that are on the site as they have been tested and proven to be sufficiently functioning and free from malware.
Installation is also a breeze. Once you download the PS4 Emus installer, you simply run it. After that, it's all about following the instructions just like with any other installer.
Another thing that's worth mentioning is that the BIOS file is already included with the package. There are plenty of horror stories about downloading BIOS files from unknown sources, which can then lead to the decimation of user system files. Thankfully, you don't have to worry about this issue with this emulator.
RetroArch – All-in-One Emulator
Download from: Official Website
RetroArch is a reputable emulator as it's all-in-one, which means it's compatible with every single system imaginable. From arcade boxes to classic Nintendo consoles and Wii or PlayStation, RetroArch brings about a huge collection of games under one roof.
It also does more than simply run games. RetroArch can make playing sessions even better with filters and cheats, as well as real-time rewinding that can be triggered with only a button press or a single keystroke!
Older games don't provide a saving option, which definitely sucks, especially when you need to do something else for a minute. Luckily for us, RetroArch makes it incredibly easy to load and save progress so you can carry on where you stopped or left off.
Project64 – Nintendo 64 Emulator
Download from: Official Website
The Project64 is a Nintendo 64 emulator for Windows and Android. Unfortunately, iOS and Linux are not yet supported. There are plenty of emulators for the Nintendo 64, but Project64 is perhaps the best one to start with for a couple of reasons.
For one, it's straightforward to set up. If you're having problems, then they have a forum where you can ask questions to get the emulator running. It's also the most compatible when compared to its competitors. The emulator supports any USB gamepad, and you can also customize the layout of the buttons. Aside from that, the emulator supports a bunch of extra plugins such as audio, video, controllers, and other features that increase stability and enjoyment.
Keep in mind that playing Nintendo 64 games in Project64 will require you to load the ROM file.
Dolphin – Wii and GameCube Emulator
Download from: Official Website
Dolphin is an emulator for Wii and GameCube developed in 2008. Most importantly, the team behind the emulator is still active even to this day. The emulator is designed to work for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Another thing that's worth mentioning is that the emulator has a lot of documentation behind it. On their website, you can find a lot of guides like how to rip games, increase performance, and configure controllers. If you're still having problems after following the guides, then you can check the forums. The community is active and very helpful.
They also have a list of titles that are compatible with the emulator. This is not only convenient, but it's being updated regularly.
DeSmuME – Nintendo DS Emulator
Download from: Official Website
It can be hard to get an emulator for Nintendo DS, but we still managed to find a good one to play Nintendo DS games with, especially the ones that you've been wanting to play for a long time! All titles may not be available, but you can certainly find a good number of Nintendo DS classics that are compatible with DeSmuMe.
Another thing that we found to be impressive with the Nintendo DS emulator, DeSmuMe, is that it can be downloaded for free! Yes, you heard that right. All you have to do is set it up and get started right away!
Aside from being free of charge, DeSmuMe has lots of great features that you can't find in most emulators like recording game-play footage. There's also lots of support documentation that you can find easily on their site. Games run crash-free as well and saved games boot up easily and quickly. On top of all that, the DeSmuME is also simple to run unlike lots of other emulators.
NullDC – Sega Dreamcast Emulator
Download from: Official Website
NullDC, an open-source emulator of Dreamcast for Windows, is one of the most popular emulators. It runs any Sega Dreamcast game as well as the commercial games, giving NullDC an instant edge over the other few emulators that can run commercial games.
Send game download. According to user reviews, NullDC provides an amazing gaming experience. The sound and graphics are on an exceptional level as NullDC makes use of plug-in architecture for sound, graphics, memory cards, as well as reading games that are burned on CD-ROMs.
Unfortunately, the emulator is no longer being actively supported. Its latest version was launched way back in 2011. Still, you can expect NullDC to run smoothly on any Windows PC. If you really want the newest version of NullDC, consider downloading Reicast as it's a product of the same developers. Reicast was developed using the code of NullDC.
DOSBox – DOS Emulator
Download from: Official Website
DOSBox is an open-source program that's free of charge to use to emulate the MS-DOS OS right from your very own Windows PC. To launch the emulator, you simply need to install it on your PC. Then, create a folder where you can stash your games into.
We suggest you have all your favorite games in a single folder as that's the key to having a fun and enjoyable experience with DOSBox. This is even more crucial if you're not familiar with MS-DOS OS.
MAME – Arcade Emulator
Download from: Official Website
MAME Arcade Emulator was created to emulate arcade game systems. The reason behind the creation of MAME was noble like all other emulators. The developers wanted to have software that could mimic the hardware of retro games to help preserve the gaming community's history of games. The team behind it also wanted to prevent classics from disappearing into oblivion.
Right now, you will be able to download MAME on a computer. The accuracy of this emulator improves with every single update that's introduced monthly. MAME is one of the best around as it allows you to play at least 8,000 games that are, as of today, impossible or difficult to emulate using other emulators. What we love about MAME is that it allows a user to play several different classic games that are from different systems without having to install several emulators. This is not just convenient, but it also saves lots of valuable hard drive space.
Citra – Nintendo 3DS Emulator
Download from: Official Website
Citra is an emulator for Nintendo 3DS. It's designed to run on Mac and Windows. The great thing about this emulator is that it's made to run games at 100%. This means that you can get the same level of performance as if you're running games from a console. In fact, there are cases in which Citra can display higher resolutions than the console.
Keep in mind that Citra's performance is still reliant on your system resources. An emulator can't simply add more RAM or processing power from thin air no matter how good it is.
The first public version of Citra was released back in 2015. Hence, it's an emulator that's been here for a while, and it's still being updated. The emulator is also equipped to run one or two screens depending on the game. The touch control is converted to mouse control when playing on your desktop.
VBA-M – GameBoy Advance Emulator (Visual Boy Advance)
Download from: sourceforge.net
If you want to play GameBoy Advance on a desktop, then the emulator you'll need is the VBA-M. When compared to other emulators, the VBA-M is not the most streamlined option. However, on the upside, it's compatible with most of the GameBoy Advance titles.
Keep in mind that VBA-M doesn't have its own official website yet. To download it, you can go to ScourgeForge.net or EmuParadise.me. Installation is pretty much standard.
What's not the standard is how you play the games. Usually, you have to load the emulator, and from there you click the games that are already loaded. With VBA-M, you have to run the software first. Once it's opened, you need to drag the ROM file into the screen. If everything is a green light, then the game should start in a few seconds,
BolXEmu – Xbox One and Xbox 360 Emulator
Download from: Official Website
BolXEmu is an excellent emulator that's able to run Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. It's like having two emulators in one. The emulator is designed to run on Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Playing the games is also fun as the frame rates are high thanks to the vSync technology. The BIOS file is also included, so you don't have to bother with that. With BolXEmu, you also have the option of setting different screen resolutions. This is an excellent way of increasing the FPS if the game is too resource-intensive and your system can't handle the demand.
The emulator can make use of your device's GPU if it's Nvidia or ATI Radeon. However, you might want to check their website as not all GPUs are supported. Thankfully, the BolXEmu emulator can automatically optimize the settings which will fit best with your system's resources.
Kega – Sega Mega Drive Emulator
Download from: Official Website
Kega is an emulator for a lot of Sega consoles such as SC-3000, SG-1000, Game Gear, Mater System, 32X, Mega-CD, and Sega Mega Drive. It's designed to run on Windows, Linux, and Mac.
The beauty of Kega is that it's designed to run efficiently, and it's also highly optimized. It has no problems running games at 60 frames per second even on a Pentium III class computer. Steve Snake, the primary developer of Kega, has placed heavy emphasis on accuracy. As a result, you can get near 100% emulation when playing the games on a desktop. Another benefit is that Kega offers a higher rate of compatibility compared to other competing emulators. However, Kega is not as well known. Hence, it's kind of a hidden gem that works even better than the popular ones.
Keep in mind that if you're playing on a Windows 10, there's a common incompatibility issue that causes the emulator to freeze up. Thankfully, you can easily fix this problem by right-clicking the Fusion.exe file, choose properties, then compatibility, and lastly, check 'Disable Fullscreen Optimizations.'
OpenEmu – Retro Consoles Emulator
Download from: Official Website
The last emulator on our list is OpenEmu. This is an emulator for almost all classic retro gaming consoles with complete support for VirtualBoy, TurboGrafx 16, Super Nintendo (SNES), Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega 32x, Nintendo DS, NES, NeoGeo, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance.
Basically, OpenEmu bundles every single emulator into one app that allows users to have one central hub for all their emulation needs. It offers a beautiful gaming library browser as well.
OpenEmu works incredibly well in all modern Mac OS X versions, but you would have to bypass Gatekeeper if you have a new version like Mavericks, so you can open the emulator. Don't worry as you only need to do it once. As for games, they can easily be played. You simply have to drag and drop ROMs into the app. You can also use the emulator to scan your hard drive for ROM files that are compatible.
Conclusion
From the list above, you already know very well that console emulators come out in large numbers as more and more people become drawn to the graphics of old games that are now rare and almost non-existent! As we've explored Internet's every single tooth and cranny, we can confidently say that you can't go wrong with any of the console emulators that we have featured above as they're guaranteed to bring back your nostalgic memories and do so in high resolution!
Tell us what you've chosen to use by dropping a comment below.
GameBoy and GameBoy Color were the handheld consoles that began it all. Their launch revealed you might have well-made games that fit in your pocket. Handheld game consoles have evolved a lot since then. However, there are lots of people who still love the classics. Let us look at the Ideal Game Boy emulators, Game Boy Color emulators, and Game Boy Advance emulators for Android! The fantastic thing is that many of them are rather old, so they do not have a lot of bugs.
Here are the best GameBoy Emulators:
Check out our listing of best GameBoy games and best GameBoy Color games
1. Visual Boy Advance-M
See also:
If it comes to the prevalence of awarded emulators for Game Boy, this one faces the others. Why is this so, you might ask? Two words: compatibility and stability. Visual Boy Advance-M covers the majority of the names you can consider. Additionally, it's secure and works nicely, possibly should you entertain Game Boy or Game Boy Advance games. You can customize your playing experience in many ways, and a Number of Them are:
-Utilize gamepad to perform
-Correct in-game resolution
-Speeding up or slowing down gameplay
Visual Boy Advance-M can be obtained at No Cost, and there are no additional features that You Need to download to conduct it.
2. Pizza Boy
Among the latest and most precise GBA emulators on the market, Pizza Boy is widely considered the best GBA emulator for Android and the mGBA center in Retroarch (we will get to this soon ).
Why is it so great? Besides excellent performance and a good deal of tweaks that may produce the emulation more precise or more'modernized,' it's some quite refined skins that replicate versions of this GBA, actually harnessing that nostalgia.
Enthusiasts have tested Pizza Boy's precision for audio and picture contrary to other emulators, and it has come out on top. To believe that this superb bit of software is indeed much broader than other entries with this list only makes you wonder just how much better it could get!
The identical developer has produced a Pizza Boy emulator for GameBoy Color, which is every bit as impressive.
3. mGBA
The first emulator on the record is named mGBA. The thing about those emulators is they extend the aid to your match outside what's usually encouraged. Thus, whenever you opt to play GBA ROMS on a PC, you receive some extra features.
The extra features generally include the ability to save your game when you prefer. Some spots for games which don't operate that well, and cheat code service too. Some of the highlighted features of mGBA are given below.
-The emulator supports cheat codes.
-This features the capability to override the match and empower ROM patches.
The fantastic thing is that GBA is simple and simple to use, but simplicity comes at the expense of the absence of features. It's not a terrible thing. However, I think there ought to have been some progress degree features for the sake of it.
4. VGBAnext
VGBAnext, first on our countdown, and offers multiple Kinds of GBA Emulator For Android interior — to the Gameboy Advance, Game Boy Colour, and the Nintendo Entertainment System. This one works well and permits you to play your favorite ROMs from these three consoles.
Among the highlights of the one is that it has controller support. Are you tired of utilizing on-screen digital controllers? VGBAnext has MOGA support, letting you play your favorite games on GBA, GBC, and NES using contemporary, bodily control assistance. One more thing that's unique is that there is a button that lets you rewind gameplay by 16 minutes.
It has a Network Play attribute for playing your favorite games with friends over wireless networks.
5. ClassicBoy
ClassicBoy is among a few adequate all-in-one emulators. This includes many consoles, such as PlayStation, Sega Genesis, NES, and Naturally, Game Boy Color, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance. It does what you expect an emulator to perform. The program supports the vast majority of the matches and all the ones we analyzed. Moreover, you get to save countries, load conditions, quickly forward and cheat code service. There's even hardware control support. The free version has a couple of features missing the superior version includes. The only real knock is that the app is outdated and has not seen an upgrade in a long time. Therefore, if you discover bugs, then telling the programmer may do nothing.
6. TGB Dual
We introduced Visual Boy Advance since the very popular emulator with loads of features. But, TGB Double has a nifty option that isn't accessible on any other emulator. The choice to begin two ROMs at precisely the same time and perform two distinct games. You can perform Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue and exchange Pokemon between the matches by way of instance. It supports both the Game Boy and GameBoy Advance emulation, in addition to online playing friends. Also, it works flawlessly on Windows 10, since the emulator has been updated frequently.
7. RetroArch
RetroArch is a poster child for emulation, especially since it is not just an emulator. RetroArch is best described as one, a unified program whereby you may interact with different emulators. These emulators are reflected in'Cores,' and you will find numerous RetroArch cores to pick from for every system that you wish to emulate. Specifically, VBA-M and mGBA are exceptional Choices.
8. Higan GBA Emulator
Higan GBA Emulator is just another fantastic emulator that lets you play GBA games on PC. The emulator in character is simplistic to the center, enabling it to operate virtually all of the hardware you throw at it.
The simplicity of use enables the consumer to manage the emulator. However, they need it. Aside from having assistance for only GBA games, Higan GBA Emulator additionally supports emulation for Famicom, Super Famicom, and Gameboy Colour, Sega Master System, Mega Drive, and even Game Gear.
Though the emulator is unquestionably a fantastic alternative, I ran to a sound lag throughout my time with it. Considering that the problem was restricted to some matches, it was still there and pointed out.
9. GBC.emu
GBC.emu is a GameBoy Color emulator, developed by Robert Broglia. He also made the GBA one, or so the GBC.emu emulator has lots of the very same features — save/load says, BIOS emulation, hardware service (for controls ), service for cheat codes, and much more. This emulator has support for the Game Boy, which means that you can download ROMs for this.
Very similar to GBA.emu, it gives support for cross-platform play on the PC. There's no free version, which means you will need to pay the $2.99 to receive it. ROMs appear to work very nicely with GBC.emu, even the first Game Boy ROMs accessible. You may encounter the occasional insect, but complete, GBC.emu is incredible with all enjoying with your favorite ROMs.
Gameboy Emulator For Psp
10. No$GBA
No$GBA or the No Cash GBA is a reliable and feature-rich Nintendo DS/DS Lite and GameBoy Advance emulator. Well, if you would like to play multiplayer GBA games afterward, No$GBA will surely impress you.
No$GBA can operate any Nintendo DS and GBA ROM in life. Comparable to Visual Boy Advance, you could also use control with No$GBA.
This highly effective emulator enables users to remap the keyboard keys by their preferences. In general, No$GBA is one of the greatest GBA emulators for PC, which may be used to perform Nintendo DS and GBA games.
Ps2 Emulator Console
11. Mudbox
EmuBox is just another newer all-in-one console emulator. It works much like ClassicBoy but using another collection of consoles. This one comprises Nintendo DS, PlayStation, SNES, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. It's the typical features, such as cheat service, load and save conditions, and fast forwards service. There's also hardware control support. This one is amazingly great for just how new it is. Additionally, it is entirely free without in-app purchases. There are a few advertisements, however.
12. KIGB The Game Boy Emulator
KGB is among the earliest emulators created for Game Boy but is a fantastic option for the two choices mentioned previously. It supports up to 4 players on precisely the same PC. Additionally, the emulator supports the Game Boy Printer alternative, which has been very intriguing at its debut. Another factor worth mentioning is your shadow alternative and internet enjoying service. Too bad, this fantastic emulation option has not been upgraded since 2008, but it still works tremendously well on Windows 10.
Gamecube Emulator Console
13. John GBA
A reasonably precise GBA emulator with loads of additional features, the no-nonsense John GBA is a fantastic solution for people who wish to keep things easy. It's built-in cheats and various alternatives to improve the rendering. It is especially useful for your Dropbox service, which lets you sync your saves and configuration information to the cloud, then keep playing another Android apparatus.
The default gamepad design is not good, but you can alter it, and there's Bluetooth control support.
14. BatGBA
If you're trying to find a GBA emulator that concentrates on ease over anything, you're looking at one. The BatGBA is possibly the easiest GBA emulator from the listing. So much so you don't get a lot of advanced choices.
The emulator requires a rather modest quantity of space and runs on just about any hardware with fantastic ease. The emulator was outside for approximately a decade and easily permitted the user to perform commercial and noncommercial GBA games.
-No nonsense setup.
-Support for several of the noncommercial and industrial GBA games.
Gameboy Color Emulator
I can't complain a lot about the emulator because it does what it's supposed to perform. It's said that this type of lightweight emulator lacks a few of the innovative features, but this is the way it is.