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3DS:GBA games

From Hacks Guide Wiki
Revision as of 19:30, 10 October 2023 by RenegadeKamui (talk | contribs) (new open_agb_firm)

(diff) ← Older revision | Approved revision (diff) | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The Nintendo 3DS can play GBA games through several methods, both natively and through emulation.

Comparison of methods

In order of most to least recommended.

open_agb_firm

  • Runs natively, not via emulation (high compatibility, but no cheats, fast-forward, etc)
    • Supports real-time clock for Pokemon, but no camera or accelerometer
  • Must be booted from chainloader (by holding START on boot), like GodMode9
    • This does allow faster launching than injects if your system is powered off.
  • Has a file manager that allows you to select a ROM
  • Supports button remapping (including circle pad and touchscreen, but not New 3DS L2/R2)
  • Brightness can be adjusted in-game
  • Automatic ROM patching is supported
  • Streaming, 3DS HOME Menu, etc. are inaccessible while a game is running
  • Saves are stored on SD card and easy to manage
  • Lacks a user interface for configuring settings (a text editor must be used to change the config file)
  • Still under active development

Virtual Console (VC) injects

  • Run natively, not via emulation (same caveats as above)
  • Must manually be created using a PC program (Windows-only, closed-source and abandoned by dev)
  • Each game has its own separate icon on the HOME Menu
  • No button remapping
  • No adjustable brightness
  • No automatic ROM patching
  • Streaming, 3DS HOME Menu, etc. are inaccessible while a game is running
  • Saves are stored in NAND and are difficult to backup and restore (requires GodMode9 and multiple reboots for each save)

mGBA

  • A full emulator, which means that it has fast-forward, cheats, save states
  • Performance isn't perfect, especially on old 3DS
  • Not compatible with all games, but may have higher compatibility with ROM hacks that are not designed to run on actual GBA hardware
  • Runs in 3DS mode, so you can stream it or use the HOME Menu while it's running
  • Supports button remapping
  • Has a ROM picker
  • Saves are stored on SD card and easy to manage
  • Supports additional hardware features, such as accelerometer (for WarioWare: Twisted!) and camera (for Game Boy Camera)

GBARunner2

  • A middle-ground between emulation and native
    • it's basically the worst of both worlds, still no emulator features, but some games are incompatible or have issues
  • Included with TWiLightMenu++
  • Has a ROM picker
  • Streaming, 3DS HOME Menu, etc. are inaccessible while a game is running
  • Saves are stored on SD card and easy to manage

Overview table

Feature open_agb_firm VC Injects mGBA GBARunner2
Games run natively
Runs full speed on Old3DS
Retail game compatibility
Homebrew/ROM hack compatibility

(For things not intended to run on official hardware)

Runs from HOME Menu
Drag-and-drop / ROM picker
Cheats, fast-forwarding,

save states

Motion sensor support
Easy save file access from SD
Wireless streaming via NTR

(New3DS only)

Under active development ?