Visual Boy Advance | GBA Emulator

Visual Boy Advance is an open-source Game Boy Advance (GBA) emulator for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and IOS devices.

Experience all your favourite Gameboy games from the past with VBA, the best and most popular GBA emulator available to date.

Game Boy Advance Emulator

Why Visual Boy Advance?

VisualBoyAdvance stands the test of time as the most reliable Game Boy Advance emulator on the market. With regular updates and features, users gain access to helpful debugging tools like loggers, viewers and editors. 

Popular cheat code manufacturers like GameShark and Codebreaker are also supported! Additionally, graphic filters allow you to enhance your display with motion blur or color correction effects. And for those games that require trading or multiplayer modes, local and remote linking capabilities are available. 

With VisualBoyAdvance, you can be sure that you’re getting a professional-level gaming experience in the world of GBA emulation.

Stable GBA Emulator

The VBA GBA emulator is a reliable and secure solution that guarantees 100% performance. Best of all, it's free to use!

Screen Capture & Recording

VBA allows you to record sound, video, game and screen capturing. Perfect for retro streamers or sharing with friends.

Cheat Codes

Visual Boy Advance enables gamers to enjoy a unique and enhanced gaming experience with the help of cheat codes from industry-leading providers such as GameShark and Codebreaker. Unlock special content, rare items, and more with these in-game enhancements!

Turbo Mode

Enable turbo mode to blaze through your favourite games or bypass tedious tasks.

Save & Load States

An integrated Save and Load state within VBA simplifies the process of saving and loading your current progress and acts as an additional backup system.

Graphic Filters

VisualBoyAdvance enables gamers to customize the appearance of classic games that feature hand-drawn pixel art by incorporating pixel art scaling algorithms. This tool allows users to alter the resolution and refine the look of these 8-bit masterpieces.

Multi Rom Support

VBA supports multiple roms for all Game Boy versions (Original Gameboy, Color and Advance).

Joystick & Controller Support

Ditch your keyboard keys and easily connect & use your Xbox, Nintendo, PC or PlayStation controller on VisualBoyAdvance.

Local & Remote Linking

This GBA emulator is fully equipped to support both local and remote linking, making it ideal for users who want to enjoy multi-player games, engage in thrilling competitions, or trade Pokémon.

Screenshots

Requirements

Visual Boy Advance is a powerful emulation software that effectively replicates the hardware and gameplay of the Game Boy Advance (GBA). Thus allows us to run and play digital copies of the read-only memory chips, popularly known as ROMs on our devices without the need of having an actual GameBoy console.

VBA is the absolute premier choice in GBA emulators, delivering remarkable performance and an abundance of features, such as;

  • It is compatible with GameBoy, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance ROMs.
  • Joystick support.
  • Speed up key.
  • Autofire support.
  • Screen capture support.
  • It has Import or export functionality of native saved games from the other emulators.
  • It has full save state support.
  • It has super GameBoy and Super GameBoy 2 border and color palette support.
  • It has full-screen mode support.
  • Graphics filters to enhance display such as 2xSal, Super 2xSal, Super Eagle AdvanceMAME, Motion blur, and Pixelate.
  • GUI skinning support.
  • It newly added HQ3x/4x pixel filters and GameBoy linking over LAN and the internet.
  • GameBoy Printer emulator.
  • Real-time IPS patching.
  • It also allows recording the audio and video, which is only supported by VisualBoyAdvance and its versions.
  • It includes hacking and debugging tools like loggers, viewers, and editors.
  • It supports the GameShark, GameBoy Advance, and Code Breaker Advance cheat codes.

Each platform requires their own set of prerequisites. You can view the detailed instructions per device below;

You can access and download the source code here.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have gathered a collection of frequently asked questions from our users. We hope this will help you to find the information you need and any unanswered queries.

VisualBoyAdvance, in summary - is a portable program that allows you to emulate GameBoy, GameBoy Color and Game Boy Advance files.

Emulators are 100% permissible and the process of downloading them is perfectly legitimate. They offer no distinct difference from other commonly downloaded programs such as word processing or music player software. Uploading ROMs without permission however, is unlawful, so make sure you only use your own game files.

A GBA file is Game Boy Advance ROM file and can only be opened using a GBA emulator such as Visual Boy Advance.

To open a GB, GBC or GBA file on VisualBoyAdvance. Click on File > Open > Select your GBA file to launch the ROM game.

If you're looking for GBA ROMS, a quick search on Google will bring up many sites where you can download them from.

However, we have compiled a GBA ROM section for our users (you can access it here) by archiving GBA ROM games from Vimm's Lair.

Using your favorite controller is just a plug-and-play away with Visual Boy Advance. With USB or Bluetooth connection capabilities, you can connect up to four controllers of any brand--PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and beyond--to VBA. Then configure the key bindings via Options > Input > Configure.

Read our Default Controls Guide for more information.

Yes, VisualBoyAdvance offers compatibility with multiple providers of cheat/hacking codes such as CodeBreaker, FlashCart, GameShark and generic codes. To make use of these cheats, simply open the latest VisualBoyAdvance software, select your legal game rom and launch it. Once the game has begun, you can access Cheat list from the VBA menu to choose your desired Cheat code Brand. Enter a code and click OK; repeat this step for additional codes if necessary.

If your VBA, Game Boy Advance emulator is not functioning as expected, our troubleshooting guide may be able to help you diagnose and resolve any common errors. Should you require additional assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly.

Visual Boy Advance is a portable application that you can use without needing to install it on your device. To uninstall VisualBoyAdvance, just delete the folder in which you downloaded and extracted the emulator from.

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