Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance is a 32 bit handheld video game console released by Nintendo in 2001.
| Emulator | Rom Folder | Extension | BIOS | Controller Config |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lr-mgba | gba | .7z .gba .zip | gba_bios.bin (optional) gb_bios.bin (optional) gbc_bios.bin (optional) sgb_bios.bin (optional) | /opt/retropie/configs/gba/retroarch.cfg |
| lr-vba-next | gba | .7z .gba .zip | gba_bios.bin (optional) | /opt/retropie/configs/gba/retroarch.cfg |
| lr-gpsp | gba | .7z .gba .zip | gba_bios.bin | /opt/retropie/configs/gba/retroarch.cfg |
| gpSP | gba | .gba .zip | gba_bios.bin | /opt/retropie/emulators/gpsp/gpsp.cfg |
Emulators: lr-mgba, lr-vba-next, lr-gpsp, gpSP
lr-mgba is a modern emulator that aims to be fast and accurate, supports local cable games, external BIOS, Super Game Boy palette and border, and many other features. It also emulates Game Boy and Game Boy Color. This is the advised emulator for the RPi3B/RPi3B+.
lr-vba-next is a faster yet less accurate emulator possibly useful for those on a RPi2B: it is not available on the RPi0 or RPi1.
lr-gpsp is the default emulator for the RPi0 and RPi1: expect inaccurate emulation. It runs most games full speed on the RPi0, but doesn't run all games full speed, and some games may not even be playable.
gpSP is advised for general full speed emulation on the RPi1 and for problematic titles on the RPi0. It may require manual controller reconfiguration, but outside of that has a user-friendly Select+Start exit combination and a Select+R combination to access the built-in menu enabled by default.
Netplay
Sadly, netplay is not supported on link cable games.
ROMS
Accepted File Extensions: .7z .gba .zip
Place your Game Boy Advance ROMS in
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/gba
BIOS
Only lr-gpsp and gpSP require the gba_bios.bin.
Additional BIOS are used by lr-mgba and are optional.
In order for a BIOS to be used in emulators where they are optional, the "Use bios if available" core option must be set to "On". See Setting Core Options.
Place BIOS in
/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS
| Recognized Name | No-Intro Name | CRC32 | MD5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| gba_bios.bin | [BIOS] Game Boy Advance (World).gba | 81977335 | a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6 |
| gb_bios.bin | [BIOS] Nintendo Game Boy Boot ROM (World) (Rev 1).gb | 59C8598E | 32FBBD84168D3482956EB3C5051637F5 |
| gbc_bios.bin | [BIOS] Nintendo Game Boy Color Boot ROM (World).gbc | 41884E46 | DBFCE9DB9DEAA2567F6A84FDE55F9680 |
| sgb_bios.bin | SGB-CPU (World) (Enhancement Chip).bin | EC8A83B9 | D574D4F9C12F305074798F54C091A8B4 |
Controls
There are two ways to configure your Game Boy Advance controls depending on the emulator.
lr-mgba, lr-vba-next, lr-gpsp
lr-mgba, lr-vba-next, lr-gpsp utilise Retroarch configurations
Add custom retroarch controls to the retroarch.cfg file in
/opt/retropie/configs/gba/retroarch.cfg
gpSP
To configure your controls for gpSP, once you are in a game you can press F10 to access the menu
if you want your settings to be saved you need to select quit from the F10 menu instead of pressing esc on the keyboard
For Gamepad: Navigate to configure gamepad input and modify the controls to fit your preferences.
Example Gamepad Controls
D-pad up: asix Y-
D-pad down: asix Y+
D-pad left: asix X-
D-pad right: asix X+
A: Button 1
B: Button 2
Left Trigger: Button 5
Right Trigger: Button 6
Start: Button 3
Select: Button 4
Menu Hotkey: yes (this means if you hold select+right trigger it will open the menu- but it is mapped to whichever buttons you configure for select and right trigger above)
Example Keyboard Controls
D-pad up: Up
D-pad down: Down
D-pad left: Left
D-pad right: Right
A: Z
B: X
Left Trigger: A
Right Trigger: S
Start: Return
Select: Backspace