Libretro mGBA is an emulator for running Game Boy Advance games.
It aims to be faster and more accurate than many existing Game Boy Advance emulators, as well as adding features that other emulators lack. It also supports Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.
This core is under MPLv2.0 license.
RPI0/RPI1 | RPI3 | RPI4/RPI400 | RPI5 | ODROID XU4 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Feature | Supported |
---|---|
Restart | ✔ |
Saves | ✔ |
States | ✔ |
Rewind | ✔ |
Core Options | ✔ |
RetroAchievements | ✔ |
RetroArch Cheats | ✔ |
Controls | ✔ |
Remapping | ✔ |
Rumble | ✔ |
Softpatching | ✔ |
Filename | Description | MD5 | Provided |
---|---|---|---|
gbc_bios.bin | Game Boy Color BIOS | dbfce9db9deaa2567f6a84fde55f9680 | ❌ |
sgb_bios.bin | Super Game Boy BIOS | d574d4f9c12f305074798f54c091a8b4 | ❌ |
Put your bios like this:
┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 bios
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 gbc
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 gbc_bios.bin
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 sgb
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 sgb_bios.bin
Roms must have the extension:
This system supports compressed roms in .zip/.7z format. However, be careful, it is only an archive.
The files contained in the .zip/.7z must correspond to the extensions mentioned above.
Moreover, each .zip/.7z file must contain only one compressed rom.
Put your roms like this:
┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 roms
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 gbc
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 game.zip
The roms using No-Intro format are highly recommended.
For more information about roms, go to this tutorial!
To be able to keep your custom configurations during an upgrade, we advise you to use our configuration override feature.
You can configure various options in two different ways.
┣ 📁 RetroArch Menu
┃ ┣ 📁 Core options
┃ ┃ ┣ 🧩 Name_option
retroarch-core-options.cfg
:┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 system
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 configs
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 retroarch
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 cores
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🧩 retroarch-core-options.cfg
Options | Options values | Variables (for configuration override) | Variables values |
---|---|---|---|
Game Boy Model (Restart) | Autodetect ✅ / Game Boy / Super Game Boy / Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance |
mgba_gb_model |
Autodetect / Game Boy / Super Game Boy / Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance |
Use BIOS File if Found (Restart) | Enabled ✅ / Disabled |
mgba_use_bios |
ON / OFF |
Skip BIOS Intro (Restart) | Disabled ✅ / Enabled |
mgba_skip_bios |
OFF / ON |
Default Game Boy Palette | Grayscale ✅ / DMG Green / GB Pocket / GB Light / GBC Brown ↑ / GBC Red ↑A / GBC Dark Brown ↑B / GBC Pale Yellow ↓ / GBC Orange ↓A / GBC Yellow ↓B / GBC Blue ← / GBC Dark Blue ←A / GBC Gray ←B / GBC Green → / GBC Dark Green →A / GBC Reverse →B / SGB 1-A / SGB 1-B / SGB 1-C / SGB 1-D / SGB 1-E / SGB 1-F / SGB 1-G / SGB 1-H / SGB 2-A / SGB 2-B / SGB 2-C / SGB 2-D / SGB 2-E / SGB 2-F / SGB 2-G / SGB 2-H / SGB 3-A / SGB 3-B / SGB 3-C / SGB 3-D / SGB 3-E / SGB 3-F / SGB 3-G / SGB 3-H / SGB 4-A / SGB 4-B / SGB 4-C / SGB 4-D / SGB 4-E / SGB 4-F / SGB 4-G / SGB 4-H |
mgba_gb_colors_preset |
Grayscale / DMG Green / GB Pocket / GB Light / GBC Brown ↑ / GBC Red ↑A / GBC Dark Brown ↑B / GBC Pale Yellow ↓ / GBC Orange ↓A / GBC Yellow ↓B / GBC Blue ← / GBC Dark Blue ←A / GBC Gray ←B / GBC Green → / GBC Dark Green →A / GBC Reverse →B / SGB 1-A / SGB 1-B / SGB 1-C / SGB 1-D / SGB 1-E / SGB 1-F / SGB 1-G / SGB 1-H / SGB 2-A / SGB 2-B / SGB 2-C / SGB 2-D / SGB 2-E / SGB 2-F / SGB 2-G / SGB 2-H / SGB 3-A / SGB 3-B / SGB 3-C / SGB 3-D / SGB 3-E / SGB 3-F / SGB 3-G / SGB 3-H / SGB 4-A / SGB 4-B / SGB 4-C / SGB 4-D / SGB 4-E / SGB 4-F / SGB 4-G / SGB 4-H |
Hardware Preset Game Boy Palettes (Restart) | Default Game Boy preset / Game Boy Color presets only / Super Game Boy presets only / Any available presets |
mgba_gb_colors_preset |
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 |
Use Super Game Boy Borders (Restart) | Enabled ✅ / Disabled |
mgba_sgb_borders |
ON / OFF |
Color Correction | Disabled ✅ / Game Boy Advance / Game Boy Color / Auto |
mgba_color_correction |
OFF / GBA / GBC / Auto |
Interframe Blending | Disabled ✅ / Simple / Smart / LCD Ghosting (Accurate) / LCD Ghosting (Fast) |
mgba_interframe_blending |
OFF / mix / mix_smart / lcd_ghosting / lcd_ghosting_fast |
Audio Filter | Disabled ✅ / Enabled |
mgba_audio_low_pass_filter |
disabled / enabled |
Audio Filter Level | 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% / 55% / 60% ✅ / 65% / 70% / 75% / 80% / 85% / 90% / 95% |
mgba_audio_low_pass_range |
5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 |
Allow Opposing Directional Input | Disabled ✅ / Enabled |
mgba_allow_opposing_directions |
no / yes |
Solar Sensor Level | Use device sensor if available / 0 ✅ / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 |
mgba_solar_sensor_level |
sensor / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 |
Game Boy Player Rumber (Restart) | Disabled ✅ / Enabled |
mgba_force_gbp |
disabled / enabled |
Idle Loop Removal | Remove Known ✅ / Detect and Remove / Don't Remove |
mgba_idle_optimization |
Remove Known / Detect and Remove / Don't Remove |
Frameskip | Disabled ✅ / Auto / Auto (Threshold) / Fixed Interval |
mgba_frameskip |
disabled / auto / auto_threshold / fixed_interval |
Frameskip Threshold (%) | 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 ✅ / 36 / 39 / 42 / 45 / 48 / 51 / 54 / 57 / 60 |
mgba_frameskip_threshold |
15 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 / 36 / 39 / 42 / 45 / 48 / 51 / 54 / 57 / 60 |
Frameskip Interval | 0 ✅ / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 |
mgba_frameskip_interval |
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 |