Graphics
240×160
- Colors on screen
- 512
- Palette
- 32,768 colors
- Sprites
- 128
- Screen
- 2.9″ Reflective TFT color LCD
Game Boy Advance
Also known as GBA · AGB · iQue Game Boy Advance
- Nintendo
- Handheld
- Sixth generation
1,617 Game Boy Advance games, all playable free in your browser.
The Game Boy Advance was released in Japan on March 21, 2001 and in North America and Europe in June of the same year, with a mainland Chinese version, the iQue Game Boy Advance, following in 2004. It replaced the Game Boy Color with a 32-bit ARM7 processor and improved graphics while still running games for the earlier Game Boy models, and adopted a landscape layout designed by Gwénaël Nicolas and his studio Curiosity Inc.
- First released · Japan
- 2001
- Units sold
- 81.5M
- CPU
- 32-bit
- Games in the library · all playable
- 1,617
TIMELINE
2001–2010
- JPJapan
- NANorth America
- EUEurope
- ENDDiscontinued
Games per release year
| Year | Games |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 123 |
| 2002 | 244 |
| 2003 | 183 |
| 2004 | 150 |
| 2005 | 172 |
| 2006 | 137 |
| 2007 | 43 |
| 2008 | 3 |
- GBCGame Boy Color: Oct 21, 1998 – Mar 31, 2003
- NGPCNeo Geo Pocket Color: Mar 19, 1999 – Oct 30, 2001
- PS2PlayStation 2: Mar 4, 2000 – Jan 4, 2013
- WonderSwanWonderSwan Color: Dec 9, 2000 – 2003
- GBAGame Boy Advance: Mar 21, 2001 – 2010
- OpenBOROpenBOR: 2004 – today
- TIC-80TIC-80: Mar 22, 2017 – today
All 36 systems
- Atari 2600Atari 2600: Sep 1977 – 1992
- SpectrumZX Spectrum: Apr 23, 1982 – 1992
- ColecoColecoVision: Aug 1982 – 1985
- Atari 5200Atari 5200: Oct 1982 – May 21, 1984
- VectrexVectrex: Oct 1982 – Feb 1984
- NESNintendo Entertainment System: Jul 15, 1983 – Sep 25, 2003
- SG-1000Sega SG-1000: Jul 15, 1983 – Oct 1985
- MSXMSX: Oct 21, 1983 – 1993
- Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC: Jun 21, 1984 – 1990
- Master SystemSega Master System: Oct 20, 1985 – 1996
- Atari 7800Atari 7800: May 1986 – 1992
- X68000Sharp X68000: Mar 28, 1987 – end not recorded
- PC EnginePC Engine / TurboGrafx-16: Oct 30, 1987 – Dec 16, 1994
- CPS-1Capcom CPS-1: May 13, 1988 – May 11, 1995
- GenesisSega Genesis / Mega Drive: Oct 29, 1988 – 1997
- PCE CDPC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD: Dec 4, 1988 – end not recorded
- Game BoyGame Boy: Apr 21, 1989 – Mar 31, 2003
- LynxAtari Lynx: Sep 1, 1989 – 1995
- Neo GeoNeo Geo: Apr 16, 1990 – 2004
- Game GearSega Game Gear: Oct 6, 1990 – Apr 30, 1997
- SNESSuper Nintendo: Nov 21, 1990 – Sep 25, 2003
- Sega CDSega CD / Mega-CD: Dec 12, 1991 – 1996
- CPS-2Capcom CPS-2: Sep 10, 1993 – Dec 22, 2003
- Neo Geo CDNeo Geo CD: Sep 9, 1994 – 1997
- 32XSega 32X: Nov 1994 – 1996
- PS1PlayStation: Dec 3, 1994 – Mar 23, 2006
- N64Nintendo 64: Jun 23, 1996 – 2002
- CPS-3Capcom CPS-3: Nov 21, 1996 – end not recorded
- NAOMISega NAOMI: 1998 – end not recorded
- GBCGame Boy Color: Oct 21, 1998 – Mar 31, 2003
- NGPCNeo Geo Pocket Color: Mar 19, 1999 – Oct 30, 2001
- PS2PlayStation 2: Mar 4, 2000 – Jan 4, 2013
- WonderSwanWonderSwan Color: Dec 9, 2000 – 2003
- GBAGame Boy Advance: Mar 21, 2001 – 2010
- OpenBOROpenBOR: 2004 – today
- TIC-80TIC-80: Mar 22, 2017 – today
A bar that fades out means the end date is unknown. Fantasy consoles and game engines are still available.
UNDER THE HOOD
Technical specifications
Processor
16.8MHz
- CPU
- ARM7TDMI (in the Nintendo CPU AGB system-on-chip)
- Core
- ARM7TDMI
- Word size
- 32-bit
- Sharp SM83 — 8-bit CPU for Game Boy and Game Boy Color backward compatibility (4.19 MHz in GB mode, 8.39 MHz in GBC mode) · 8.39 MHz
Below: Neo Geo CD 12 MHz · Above: PS1 33.9 MHz
16.78 MHz (16 × 1024 × 1024 Hz); runs 32-bit ARM and 16-bit THUMB code
Memory
288KB
- Main RAM
- 288 KB
- Video RAM
- 96 KB
- Sprite RAM (OAM)
- 1 KB
- Palette RAM
- 1 KB
- BIOS ROM
- 16 KB
Sound
6channels
Four Game Boy-compatible tone/noise channels plus two 8-bit DMA-fed DAC channels ('Direct Sound') for sample playback; mono speaker, stereo headphone output
Sales
81.5million
- Scope
- Worldwide, Game Boy Advance series including SP and Micro (as of 2010-06)
- Best-selling game
- Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire · 16 million
Media
Cartridge
- Cartridge
- up to 32 MB
Launch price
$99.99
- North America
- $99.99
Power
15h
- Batteries
- 2 × AA
- Battery life
- about 15 hours
Family line
- Before
- Game Boy Color
- This system
- Game Boy Advance
- After
- Nintendo DS
THE STORY
About the GBA
Nintendo followed the original with the Game Boy Advance SP in 2003, a clamshell model with a front-lit screen, a backlit revision of the SP in 2005 and the compact Game Boy Micro in September 2005. At launch it set records, selling 500,000 units in its first North American week and becoming the fastest-selling system in the United Kingdom.
By the end of 2009 the series had sold 81.51 million units worldwide, far ahead of its competitors. Its successor, the Nintendo DS, launched in November 2004 and could play GBA games; the DS only overtook the GBA in worldwide sales in late 2008. Sales of all models ended by 2010.
- 32-bit ARM7TDMI processor, with an 8-bit Sharp core retained for Game Boy and Game Boy Color compatibility.
- Sold 500,000 units in its first North American week, the fastest-selling console in the US at the time.
- Up to 128 hardware sprites, with rotation/scaling, alpha blending and four background layers.
- Revised as the clamshell Game Boy Advance SP (2003) and the miniaturised Game Boy Micro (2005).
- 81.51 million units sold, of which 43.57 million were SP and 2.42 million Micro units.
THE LIBRARY
1,617 GBA games on Back2OldGames
1,617
games, all playable right in your browser
Release years 2001–2008
<p class="lib-span">353 developers</p>Genres
Top developers
Players
462 games with a known number of players.
Regions
THE GAMES
The GBA library
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Sources
Specifications and history from the sources below (Wikipedia text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; facts summarized in our own words). Library numbers come from the Back2OldGames catalog.
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