menu
menu

Visual Boy Advance

Useful freeware for emulating Gameboy titles onto a PC

7.0

294 Votes

  • Category Emulators
  • Program license Free
  • Version 2.1.4
  • Size 674.58 kB
  • Works under: Windows 2003
  • Program available in English
  • Program by Visual Boy Advance

An astoundingly good emulator, the Visual Boy Advance can translate six different languages and can play a broad variety of games at full speed. Along with that, you can type cheats into the game, and it still handles the game at excellent speeds. This software has become a must-download for any Gameboy Advance players. You can play the games from your computer instead of installing a new game. Included in this emulator is the classic Gameboy Emulator Visual Boy, which in itself is a standalone product. This software has been so good that it even won the editor's choice award for the Gameboy Advance and Gameboy categories.

The roots of the Visual Boy Advance stretch back to the Gameboy Emulator. Soon after, designers created the Visual Boy Advance and integrated it into the core development of the project. In any emulator, the most important factor relates to compatibility. You want both the targeted platform and the form to function well. By far, Visual Boy Advance has one of the highest compatibility rates for respective platforms. In fact, the Visual Boy Advance emulator is so good that finding a Gameboy Advance title that is incompatible can be difficult. That excludes the titles that need cartridges like "Kirby's Tilt n' Tumble." Part of the reason that one doesn't work is because it requires a motion sensor.

For Visual Boy Advance to work, all the versions of Windows will have to meet the DirectX 7.0 minimum requirement. Outside of that, the software runs flawlessly. When it comes to the graphics engine of the emulator, we have seen some exceptional upgrades with the last two versions. For example, Visual Boy Advance has evolved so that you have DirectDraw that helps to accelerate the graphics, and you have the support of OpenGL, Direct3D, and Vsync. All of these updates to the graphics have a liquid smooth motion, and it uses enough power to support these systems. With all the features, they will apply to the Gameboy Advance Emulator and the Gameboy.

The sound emulation might be the only downside of the Visual Boy Advance. The biggest problem comes when you turn on the emulator from a low-end system. You will notice that the audio makes noise at slower speeds and breaks up. The only way that you can prevent the audio from crackling and keeping the performance at 100 percent is to increase your frame skip and choose the options that save on performance. Visual Boy Advance works like the higher-end emulators, and it simulates the same look that you might get from a regular Gameboy. The most notable feature that the Visual Boy Advance does not have is Game Link support. This was done; however, to prevent the piracy of the emulator, so it is not all bad.

Pros

  • Multiple titles played at full speed
  • It was so good it won an award
  • Exceptional upgrades that have improved the software

Cons

  • Audio lags on lower end computer systems
Top 6 Visual Boy Advance Alternatives

Remix OS Player  B2016111403

Add some great sound effects to your favorite audio files with ease and its on Windows 

PCSX2  1.6.0

A Playstation 2 emulator for the PC

Microsoft Flight Simulator X  2016

Practice flying big and small planes alike across the globe with this realistic app 

iDeaS  1.0.4.0

Video game emulator designed to replicate the Nintendo DS platform with hundreds of ROMs available

OMSI 2

A bus driving simulator in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall

Construction Simulator 2015  1.2

Construction site management game with realistic vehicles