GBA Emulator

mGBA is a fast, accurate, free emulator for Game Boy Advance, Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. It is designed for players who want a clean way to run classic handheld games on modern devices, with strong compatibility, practical features and low system requirements.

mGBA focuses on both speed and accuracy. Many emulators prioritize one at the expense of the other. mGBA runs smoothly on modest hardware while preserving the behavior of the original handhelds as closely as possible, which makes it useful for casual play, game preservation, homebrew testing, ROM hacking, speedrunning and technical debugging.

No. Game Boy Advance is the main focus, but mGBA also plays Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. That gives you one emulator for three major Nintendo handheld libraries instead of needing a separate app for each system.

Yes. mGBA is completely free and open source under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. There are no subscriptions, paid tiers or locked features, and the source code is publicly available for inspection and contribution.

Yes. The basic workflow is straightforward: download the correct build, open the emulator, load a supported game file, configure controls if needed and start playing. Advanced tools are available but stay out of the way during normal gameplay.

mGBA is available for Windows, macOS, Linux (including Ubuntu and AppImage), Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, Wii and PlayStation Vita. It can also be used through compatible front-ends such as RetroArch and OpenEmu, although those cores may not always behave identically to the standalone build.

Yes. mGBA runs on Windows PCs and on macOS, as well as Linux. The Windows build is a great choice for playing GBA games on a PC, and a universal macOS disk image is provided for Mac users, with a separate legacy build for older Intel Macs.

Yes. One of mGBA strengths is efficient performance on low-end hardware. It was created to deliver fast Game Boy Advance emulation without a powerful modern PC, so standard gameplay has modest requirements. Some enhanced visual features, such as shaders, may need stronger graphics support.

Yes. mGBA supports save states with multiple slots, so you can save and resume outside a game built-in save system. It also supports normal in-game saves, including automatic save type detection for many games.

Yes. mGBA supports both keyboard and gamepad controls. Many controllers are mapped automatically, and any binding can be changed in the settings menu, so it works for desktop keyboard play and a more console-like setup with a gamepad.

Yes. mGBA includes cheat support for players who want to modify gameplay or revisit games in a different way. Cheat behavior can vary by game and code type, so it is best to keep separate save backups when experimenting heavily.

Yes. mGBA includes built-in tools for screenshots and recording, supporting video, GIF, WebP and APNG capture. These are useful for clips, bug reports, tutorials, preservation work and sharing short moments without separate capture software.

Yes. mGBA supports or partially supports several special features used by certain games and accessories, including the real-time clock, rumble, motion sensors, solar sensor behavior, the Game Boy Camera, the Game Boy Printer, local link cable on the same computer and e-Reader support. This matters for games designed around hardware beyond standard buttons and screen output.

mGBA is an open-source project licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, created by Vicki Pfau (also known as endrift). The project began in 2013 and has continued as a publicly developed emulator focused on accuracy, performance, portability and practical features for both players and technical users.

No. mGBA is an independent emulator project and is not affiliated with Nintendo. Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. Users are responsible for using the emulator only with legally obtained game files and following the laws that apply where they live.