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Install Visual Boy Advance - M using Winget - wingetCollections
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  3. Visual Boy Advance - M
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Visual Boy Advance - M VisualBoyAdvance-M

emulator gameboyadvance gba nintendo
Use this command to install Visual Boy Advance - M:
winget install --id=VisualBoyAdvance-M.VisualBoyAdvance-M -e

Visual Boy Advance - M is a community-maintained emulator designed to provide enhanced emulation of Game Boy (DMG) and Game Boy Advance (AGB) cartridges. Built as an improved version of the original VisualBoyAdvance, this software focuses on delivering accurate and reliable performance for retro gaming enthusiasts.

Key Features:

  • Cross-platform support for Windows, Linux, macOS, and ARM-based systems.
  • Dual SDL and wxWidgets ports for versatile interface options.
  • Enhanced emulation accuracy with debugging tools for developers.
  • OpenGL-based rendering for improved visual fidelity.
  • Full compatibility with save states, cheat codes, and game linking functionality.

Audience & Benefit:
Ideal for retro gaming enthusiasts, software developers, and educators to experience and analyze classic Nintendo handheld games. The emulator supports precise emulation of Game Boy and GBA titles, making it a valuable tool for testing and development purposes. It can be installed via winget on compatible systems.

README

  • Visual Boy Advance - M
    • System Requirements
    • Building
    • Visual Studio Code Support
    • Dependencies
    • CMake Options
    • Contributing

Visual Boy Advance - M

Our Discord server is here.

Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Emulator

The forums are here.

Windows and Mac builds are in the releases tab.

Nightly builds for Windows and macOS are at https://nightly.visualboyadvance-m.org/.

PLEASE TEST THE NIGHTLY OR MASTER WITH A FACTORY RESET BEFORE REPORTING ISSUES

Your distribution may have packages available as well, search for visualboyadvance-m or vbam.

It is also generally very easy to build from source, see below.

If you are having issues, try resetting the config file first, go to Help -> Factory Reset.

System Requirements

Windows XP+, macOS or Linux.

Older and weaker systems may not be able to run the higher level xBRZ and ScaleFX scalers.

For Windows XP install:

  • DirectX June 2010 Redist
  • Visual C++ runtimes all-on-one pack for January 202

Building

The basic formula to build vba-m is:

git clone https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m
cd visualboyadvance-m

./installdeps # On Linux, macOS or MSYS2

mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -G Ninja
ninja
Versions
2.2.3
2.2.2
2.2.1
2.2.0
2.1.11
2.1.5
Website
github.com
License
Last updated
10/26/2025
Download latest version

If ./installdeps does not work, you may need to install dependencies manually, see below for the list. ./installdeps also works on MSYS2.

For builds using automatically downloaded vcpkg packages for dependencies on macOS or Linux, make sure PowerShell Core is installed, and use:

cmake .. -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=**** -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -G Ninja

, where SYSTEM is one of:

  • x64-linux,
  • arm64-macos,
  • x64-macos,

. On Windows, vcpkg is the default and that is handled automatically.

If you are in an MSYS2 shell, the MSYS2 package dependencies installed via ./installdeps are the default, unless you pass `-DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=**** which is one of:

  • x64-mingw-static (for MINGW64, UCRT64 or CLANG64),
  • x32-mingw-static (for Windows XP builds using a MINGW32 toolchain.)

You can download a MINGW32 toolchain here and extract it to C:\msys64 or wherever your MSYS2 is installed. After which C:\msys64\mingw32 has to be in your PATH for the vcpkg build.

A VCPKG_ROOT is automatically created as a sibling of the project directory, unless you set it to something else in your environment.

Visual Studio Code Support

Make sure the C/C++ and CMake Tools extensions are installed.

Add the following to your settings.json:

{
    "cmake.configureOnOpen": true,
    "cmake.preferredGenerators": [ "Ninja" ]
}

.

Dependencies

You will need the following:

  • C++ and C compiler and binutils,
  • CMake.

And the following development libraries,

all platforms, required:

  • zlib,
  • Gettext and gettext-tools,
  • SDL3 or SDL2,
  • wxWidgets,
  • bzip2,
  • xz/lzma,

optional:

  • FFmpeg,
  • OpenAL-Soft,
  • Lua,
  • FAudio,
  • Vulkan,

on Linux you will also need:

  • glibc-devel,
  • mesa,
  • GTK3,
  • XOrg,
  • Wayland,

on macOS you will need MoltenVK for Vulkan support.

CMake Options

The CMake code tries to guess reasonable defaults for options, but you can override them, for example:

cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DENABLE_LINK=NO -G Ninja

. Here is the list:

CMake OptionWhat it DoesDefaults
ENABLE_SDLBuild the SDL portOFF - Win, ON - rest
ENABLE_WXBuild the wxWidgets portON
ENABLE_LINKEnable GBA/GB linking functionalityON
ENABLE_LIBRETROBuild the libretro coreON
BUILD_TESTINGBuild the testsON
UPSTREAM_RELEASEDo some release tasks, like codesigning and making zipsOFF
TRANSLATIONS_ONLYBuild only the translations.zip and nothing elseOFF
ENABLE_LTOCompile with Link Time OptimizationON for release build
VCPKG_BINARY_PACKAGESDownload/use vcpkg binary packagesON - Win, OFF - rest
VCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLETEnable vcpkg download/use of vcpkg binary packages for that tripletON - Win, OFF - rest
VCPKG_SOURCE_PACKAGESEnable builds of vcpkg deps when binary packageas are not availableON - Win, OFF - rest
NO_VCPKG_UPDATESDo not update vcpkg ports from either binaries or sourceOFF
VBAM_STATICTry to link as many libraries statically as possibleON - Win/MSYS2 or OFF
DISABLE_MACOS_PACKAGE_MANAGERSDo not use the detected brew/Nix/MacPorts on macOSOFF
ENABLE_SDL3Use SDL3 not SDL2ON if detected
ENABLE_GENERIC_FILE_DIALOGSUse generic file open/selection dialogs on macOSOFF
DISABLE_OPENGLDisable OpenGL supportOFF
ENABLE_DEBUGGEREnable the debuggerON
ENABLE_LUAEnable Lua scripting support for wxWidgets portON
ENABLE_ASANUse -fsanitize=address for GCC/Clang Debug buildsOFF
ENABLE_BZ2Enable bzip2 .bz2 archive supportON
ENABLE_LZMAEnable lzma .xz archive supportON
ENABLE_LIRCEnable LIRC supportOFF
ENABLE_FFMPEGEnable ffmpeg A/V recordingON
ENABLE_ONLINEUPDATESEnable online update checksON (release builds)
ENABLE_GBA_LOGGINGEnable extended GBA loggingON
ENABLE_OPENALEnable openal-soft sound output for wxWidgetsON
ENABLE_XAUDIO2Enable xaudio2 sound output for wxWidgets (Windows only)ON
ENABLE_FAUDIOEnable faudio sound output for wxWidgetsON
ENABLE_VULKANEnable Vulkan video outputON
ENABLE_DIRECT3DEnable Direct3D 9 support (Windows only)ON - Win
ENABLE_DIRECT3D12Enable Direct3D 12 support (Windows only)ON - Win

Note for distro packagers, we use the CMake module GNUInstallDirs to configure installation directories.

On Linux or macOS, to use a different version of wxWidgets, set wxWidgets_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE to the path to the wx-config script you want to use.

Contributing

See the Developer Manual.