Systems /
Nintendo's monochrome handheld, which ran for hours on AA batteries and launched with Tetris. It popularised handheld gaming and later became home to Pokémon and a long-lived chiptune scene.
13 emulators
A multi-system emulator focused on accuracy and preservation, continuing the work of higan. It covers Nintendo, Sega, NEC, SNK and other consoles with a simpler interface.
A freeware Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Super Game Boy emulator for Windows, valued by homebrew developers for its precise emulation and debugger with reverse stepping, VRAM viewer and TCP/IP link cable.
A multi-system emulator built for tool-assisted speedruns, with frame-perfect input recording, memory tools and Lua scripting across dozens of cores.
A free Java-based emulator for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Master System, Game Gear and MSX, popular with homebrew developers for its debugger with reverse stepping, profiler and VS Code integration.
Near's accuracy-first multi-system emulator, which grew out of bsnes. It now only gets occasional maintenance commits; development of its cores continues in ares.
The Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, a long-running project to document and preserve arcade hardware that covers thousands of boards and, since absorbing MESS, many computers and consoles as well.
A command-line multi-system emulator whose PlayStation, Saturn and PC Engine modules aim for high accuracy. It also covers Nintendo and Sega consoles and handhelds, the Atari Lynx, Virtual Boy and Apple II.
A multi-system emulator best known for its accurate NES core and deep debugging tools, also covering SNES, Game Boy, GBA, PC Engine, SMS/Game Gear and WonderSwan. Sour's repository is now an archive of version 2.1.1 (mid-2025); development continues as Mesen CE.
The community-maintained continuation of Mesen, run by the NESdev community, with the same multi-system cores and debugging tools.
A fast and accurate Game Boy Advance emulator that also runs Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, with Lua scripting, GDB debugging, link cable support and ports to the 3DS, Switch, Wii and Vita.
A highly accurate Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulator by Lior Halphon, with a native macOS interface, SDL and iOS versions and a powerful debugger.
A low-level Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and DS emulator with highly accurate GBA emulation, long rewind and builds for desktop, mobile and the web.
The maintained continuation of VisualBoyAdvance, emulating the Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance with link cable support, video filters and a wxWidgets interface.
Nothing matches those filters. Know one we're missing? Add it.
Mini consoles and FPGA hardware that play Game Boy software. About hardware
An FPGA board designed by Till Harbaum to re-create the Amiga and Atari ST, later joined by many 8-bit computer, console and arcade cores. It loads software from an SD card and has analog video output.
Photo: Evan-Amos · Public domain · source
A cartridge console from Hyperkin with slots for NES, Famicom, SNES, Super Famicom, Mega Drive and Game Boy cartridges, which it plays in software emulation over 720p HDMI, with save states and cheats.
Photo: sorgelig, MiSTer project (DE10-Nano with the MiSTer SDRAM and I/O boards) · GPL-3.0 (project repository) · source
The Intel Cyclone V SoC development board that the MiSTer project is built on. Most MiSTer cores also need an add-on SDRAM board, and analog video needs an I/O board.
A low-cost MiST-compatible FPGA board designed by Manuel Fernández Higueras, with a Cyclone IV FPGA, USB ports for controllers and VGA output. MiST cores are resynthesised for it.
Photo: ThisDoesNotComp · CC BY 4.0 · source
A handheld that plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges in FPGA. A dock, sold separately, adds HDMI output, and cartridge adapters add other handheld systems.
An FPGA re-creation of the Game Boy Color from FunnyPlaying, sold as a DIY kit for a Game Boy Color-style shell or as an assembled console. It plays original cartridges on a built-in screen.
A low-cost FPGA board from Retro Remake that is compatible with the DE10-Nano used by the MiSTer project. It is sold in production batches, bundled with SDRAM and, in larger packs, an analog I/O board and USB hub.
A Game Boy and Game Boy Color handheld built around an FPGA. It plays original cartridges only and has no slot for ROM files.
The successor to the SiDi, a MiST-family FPGA board with a larger Cyclone 10 LP FPGA and two SDRAM chips, adding HDMI, optical audio and joystick ports.
A ready-built console from Heber that runs the open-source MiSTer FPGA project, with 128 MB SDRAM on board so it plays all standard MiSTer cores. The Analogue model adds RGB and VGA outputs and a cartridge expansion slot.
A MiSTer-compatible FPGA console from Retro Remake styled after the PSone, with ports for original PlayStation controllers and memory cards. It runs the MiSTer cores for other consoles and computers too.
Hardware re-creations for FPGA boards such as MiSTer. What's an FPGA core?
| Format | What it is |
|---|---|
.gb | Cartridge image |
