Libretro SameBoy is an extremely accurate open source Gameboy (DMG) and Gameboy Color (CGB) emulator written in C.
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Supports Game Boy (DMG); Game Boy Color (CGB) and GBC-Mode emulation; Game Boy Advance (AGB)
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Supports accurate high-level emulation of Super Game Boy (SGB; NTSC and PAL) and Super Game Boy 2 (SGB2)
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Allows you to choose the model you want to emulate regardless of ROM
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High quality 96 kHz audio
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Support for battery saving
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Save states
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Includes open source boot ROMs for all emulated models:
- Full support for (and documentation of) all game-specific palettes in the CGB / AGB boot ROM, for accurate emulation of Game Boy games on a Game Boy Color
- Supports manual palette selection with key combinations, with 4 additional new palettes (direction + A or B)
- Supports palette selection in a CGB game, forcing it to run in "palletized" DMG mode, if the ROM allows it
- Support for games with a non-Nintendo logo in the header
- No long animation in the DMG boot ROM
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Four color correction settings
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Three high-pass audio filter settings
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Real-time clock emulation
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Turbo, rewind and slow motion modes
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Extremely high accuracy
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Link cable emulation
¶ 
License
This core is under MIT license.
¶ 
Compatibility
| RPI0/RPI1 | RPI3 | RPI4/RPI400 | RPI5 | ODROID XU4 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
¶ 
Features
| Feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Restart | ✔ |
| Screenshots | ✔ |
| Saves | ✔ |
| States | ✔ |
| Rewind | ✔ |
| Netplay | ✔ |
| Core Options | ✔ |
| RetroAchievements | ✔ |
| Controls | ✔ |
| Remapping | ✔ |
| Rumble | ✔ |
| Subsystem | ✔ |
¶ 
BIOS
¶ List of optional bios
| Filename | Description | MD5 | Provided |
|---|---|---|---|
| dmg_boot.bin | Game Boy BIOS | 57f6a79fb41d6b2c8987fa529c3a90f2 | ✅ |
¶ Location
Put your bios like this:
┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 bios
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 gb
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 dmg_boot.bin
¶ 
Roms
¶ Supported extensions
Roms must have the extension:
- .bin
- .gb
- .zip
- .7z
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.
¶ Location
Put your roms like this:
┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 roms
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 gb
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 game.zip
The roms using No-Intro format are highly recommended.
For more information about roms, go to this tutorial!
¶ 
Advanced configuration of the emulator
To be able to keep your custom configurations during an upgrade, we advise you to use our configuration override feature.
¶ Accessing to options
You can configure various options in two different ways.
- Via RetroArch menu:
┣ 📁 RetroArch Menu
┃ ┣ 📁 Core options
┃ ┃ ┣ 🧩 Name_option
- Via the file
retroarch-core-options.cfg:
┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 system
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 configs
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 retroarch
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 cores
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🧩 retroarch-core-options.cfg
¶ Core options
Use this table for single player:
| Options | Options values | Variables (for configuration override) | Variables values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emulated Model (Requires Restart) | Auto Detect DMG/CGB ✅ / Auto Detect DMG/SGB/CGB / Game Boy (DMG-CPU B) / Game Boy Color (CPU-CGB C) (Experimental) / Game Boy Color (CPU-CGB E) / Game Boy Advance / Super Game Boy NTSC / Super Game Boy PAL /Super Game Boy 2 |
sameboy_model |
Auto / Auto (SGB) / Game Boy / Game Boy Color C / Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance / Super Game Boy / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
| Auto Detected SGB Model (Requires Restart) | Super Game Boy NTSC ✅ / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
sameboy_auto_sgb_model |
Super Game Boy / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
| Real Time Clock Emulation | Sync to System Clock ✅ / Accurate |
sameboy_rtc |
sync to system clock / accurate |
| GB Mono Palette | Greyscale ✅ / Lime (Game Boy) / Olive (Game Boy Pocket) / Teal (Game Boy Light) |
sameboy_mono_palette |
greyscale / lime / olive / teal |
| GBC Color Correction | Modern - Balanced ✅ / Modern - Accurate / Modern - Boost Contrast / Reduce Contrast / Correct Color Curves / Harsh Reality (Low Contrast) / Disabled |
sameboy_color_correction_mode |
emulate hardware / accurate / preserve brightness / reduce contrast / correct curves / harsh reality / off |
| Ambient Light Temperature | 1000K (Warmest) / 1550K / 2100K / 2650K / 3200K / 3750K / 4300K / 4850K / 5400K / 5950K / 6500K (Neutral White) ✅ / 7050K / 7600K / 8150K / 8700K / 9250K / 9800K / 10350K / 10900K / 11450K / 12000K (Coolest) |
sameboy_light_temperature |
1.0 / 0.9 / 0.8 / 0.7 / 0.6 / 0.5 / 0.4 / 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.1 / 0 / -0.1 / -0.2 / -0.3 / -0.4 / -0.5 / -0.6 / -0.7 / -0.8 / -0.9 / -1.0 |
| Display border | Always / Only for Super Game Boy ✅ / Disabled |
sameboy_border |
always / Super Game Boy only / never |
| Highpass Filter | Accurate ✅ / Preserve Waveform / Disabled |
sameboy_high_pass_filter_mode |
accurate / remove dc offset / off |
| Interference Volume | 0% ✅ / 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% / 55% / 60% / 65% / 70% / 75% / 80% / 85% / 90% / 95% / 100% |
sameboy_audio_interference |
0 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100 |
| Rumble Mode | Always / Only for rumble-enabled games ✅ / Never |
sameboy_rumble |
all games / rumble-enabled games / never |
Use this table for linked players:
| Options | Options values | Variables (for configuration override) | Variables values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link cable emulation | Activé ✅ / Disabled |
sameboy_link |
enabled / disabled |
| Screen Layout | Top-Down ✅ / Left-Right |
sameboy_screen_layout |
top-down / left-right |
| Audio Output | Game Boy #1 ✅ / Game Boy #2 |
sameboy_audio_output |
GameBoy #1 / GameBoy #2 |
| Emulated model for Game Boy #1 | Auto Detect DMG/CGB ✅ / Auto Detect DMG/SGB/CGB / Game Boy (DMG-CPU B) / Game Boy Color (CPU-CGB C) (Experimental) / Game Boy Color (CPU-CGB E) / Game Boy Advance / Super Game Boy NTSC / Super Game Boy PAL /Super Game Boy 2 |
sameboy_model_1 |
Auto / Auto (SGB) / Game Boy / Game Boy Color C / Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance / Super Game Boy / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
| Auto Detected SGB Model for Game Boy #1 (Requires Restart) | Super Game Boy NTSC ✅ / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
sameboy_auto_sgb_model_1 |
Super Game Boy / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
| Emulated model for Game Boy #2 | Auto Detect DMG/CGB ✅ / Auto Detect DMG/SGB/CGB / Game Boy (DMG-CPU B) / Game Boy Color (CPU-CGB C) (Experimental) / Game Boy Color (CPU-CGB E) / Game Boy Advance / Super Game Boy NTSC / Super Game Boy PAL /Super Game Boy 2 |
sameboy_model_2 |
Auto / Auto (SGB) / Game Boy / Game Boy Color C / Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance / Super Game Boy / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
| Auto Detected SGB Model for Game Boy #2 (Requires Restart) | Super Game Boy NTSC ✅ / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
sameboy_auto_sgb_model_2 |
Super Game Boy / Super Game Boy PAL / Super Game Boy 2 |
| GB Mono Palette for Game Boy #1 | Greyscale ✅ / Lime (Game Boy) / Olive (Game Boy Pocket) / Teal (Game Boy Light) |
sameboy_mono_palette_1 |
greyscale / lime / olive / teal |
| GB Mono Palette for Game Boy #2 | Greyscale ✅ / Lime (Game Boy) / Olive (Game Boy Pocket) / Teal (Game Boy Light) |
sameboy_mono_palette_2 |
greyscale / lime / olive / teal |
| GBC Color Correction for Game Boy #1 | Modern - Balanced ✅ / Modern - Accurate / Modern - Boost Contrast / Reduce Contrast / Correct Color Curves / Harsh Reality (Low Contrast) / Disabled |
sameboy_color_correction_mode_1 |
emulate hardware / accurate / preserve brightness / reduce contrast / correct curves / harsh reality / off |
| GBC Color Correction for Game Boy #2 | Modern - Balanced ✅ / Modern - Accurate / Modern - Boost Contrast / Reduce Contrast / Correct Color Curves / Harsh Reality (Low Contrast) / Disabled |
sameboy_color_correction_mode_2 |
emulate hardware / accurate / preserve brightness / reduce contrast / correct curves / harsh reality / off |
| Ambient Light Temperature for Game Boy #1 | 1000K (Warmest) / 1550K / 2100K / 2650K / 3200K / 3750K / 4300K / 4850K / 5400K / 5950K / 6500K (Neutral White) ✅ / 7050K / 7600K / 8150K / 8700K / 9250K / 9800K / 10350K / 10900K / 11450K / 12000K (Coolest) |
sameboy_light_temperature_1 |
1.0 / 0.9 / 0.8 / 0.7 / 0.6 / 0.5 / 0.4 / 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.1 / 0 / -0.1 / -0.2 / -0.3 / -0.4 / -0.5 / -0.6 / -0.7 / -0.8 / -0.9 / -1.0 |
| Ambient Light Temperature for Game Boy #2 | 1000K (Warmest) / 1550K / 2100K / 2650K / 3200K / 3750K / 4300K / 4850K / 5400K / 5950K / 6500K (Neutral White) ✅ / 7050K / 7600K / 8150K / 8700K / 9250K / 9800K / 10350K / 10900K / 11450K / 12000K (Coolest) |
sameboy_light_temperature_2 |
1.0 / 0.9 / 0.8 / 0.7 / 0.6 / 0.5 / 0.4 / 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.1 / 0 / -0.1 / -0.2 / -0.3 / -0.4 / -0.5 / -0.6 / -0.7 / -0.8 / -0.9 / -1.0 |
| Highpass Filter for Game Boy #1 | Accurate ✅ / Preserve Waveform / Disabled |
sameboy_high_pass_filter_mode_1 |
accurate / remove dc offset / off |
| Highpass Filter for Game Boy #2 | Accurate ✅ / Preserve Waveform / Disabled |
sameboy_high_pass_filter_mode_2 |
accurate / remove dc offset / off |
| Interference Volume for Game Boy #1 | 0% ✅ / 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% / 55% / 60% / 65% / 70% / 75% / 80% / 85% / 90% / 95% / 100% |
sameboy_audio_interference_1 |
0 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100 |
| Interference Volume for Game Boy #2 | 0% ✅ / 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% / 55% / 60% / 65% / 70% / 75% / 80% / 85% / 90% / 95% / 100% |
sameboy_audio_interference_2 |
0 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100 |
| Rumble Mode for Game Boy #1 | Always / Only for rumble-enabled games ✅ / Never |
sameboy_rumble_1 |
rumble-enabled games / all games / never |
| Rumble Mode for Game Boy #2 | Always / Only for rumble-enabled games ✅ / Never |
sameboy_rumble_2 |
rumble-enabled games / all games / never |
¶ 
External links
- Source code used: https://github.com/libretro/SameBoy/
- Libretro documentation: https://docs.libretro.com/library/sameboy/
- Official source code: https://github.com/LIJI32/SameBoy
- Official website: https://sameboy.github.io