Did you grow up playing Nintendo Game Boy?
Perhaps you wish you could go back to the days when Game Boys were everywhere, just to experience the run of the games you miss? Well, now you can. Thanks to a number of free emulators available online, you can play those old favourites any time you wish – from the convenience of your PC.
Emulators are programs created by fans of the old games who wanted a way to play them without digging out their 20-year-old handheld. Now, be it Windows, Mac OS or Linux, there a number of ways that you can reminisce with old Game Boy games from your home computer. The original Game Boy released in 1989, and saw a few upgrades in its lifetime. Most notably, there was the Game Boy Color in 1998 followed by the Game Boy Advance (or GBA as it became known) in 2001. Both Game Boy Color and GBA played original Game Boy games, but had their own, improved games available too.
There are nine different GBA emulators available online – BatGBA, Boycott Advance, DreamGBA, GBA4IOS, My Boy!, NO$GBA, RascalBoy Advance, VBA10 and Visual Boy Advance, all free for download. Let’s take a quick look through the most popular emulators and their compatibility across platforms:
Boycott Advance: Launched in 2003, this emulator is able to be downloaded on both Mac OS and Windows. It’s a tiny download – a file size less than 650kb.
My Boy!: This emulator is slightly unique in that it is available for download on the App Store for all Android mobile phones. Seeing as the Game Boy was a portable device, it makes sense to be able to play those games on the go on your Android device. It’s a match made in heaven.
No$GBA: This is the most popular GBA emulator there is, with more than 500,000 downloads. It is, however, only available in Windows, but it offers perhaps the best and most reliable emulation experience in comparison to any others. If you’re looking for a Game Boy emulator on Windows, then this should be your first port of call.
VisualBoyAdvance: Released first in 2005, this GBA emulator is another that’s only available on Windows. It’s the third most popular emulator available, being praised by users for its platform stability and extra features.
With many choices of GBA emulators to choose from, those people who miss playing Nintendo games on Game Boys now have a way to relive those precious childhood memories!
