No$GBA isn’t your typical emulator. It is part of a series of emulators collectively called ‘No$’. Other No$ emulators include No$PSX (PlayStation), No$CPC (Amstrad CPC), and No$X51 (AMT630A). But if all you want is a program that can play NDS, NDSi, and Pocket Station games, you can ignore all the other No$ emulators. No$GBA is all you need.
What is No$GBA?
No$GBA is a closed source emulator that plays GBA and NDS games. Programmed in Assembly Language and designed with Windows and DOS in mind, the emulator was created by Martin Korth.
In the beginning, it was meant to emulate the Game Boy. Released in 1997 and only available on DOS, it was written on x86 ASM. In 1999, the developer introduced support for the Game Boy Color. However, players had to pay a $10 fee to access the color function.
When the mechanism preventing gamers from using the color function was cracked, Martin abandoned the emulator. He made a comeback in 2001 with a new Game Boy Advance emulator.
It was officially released in 2002. Compatible with DOS and Windows, it made some waves when consumers learned about the program’s solar sensor emulation. By 2006, Martin had added support for the NDS (Nintendo DS) to his emulator.
The developer took things a step further when he added support for 3D graphics in the 2007 version of the emulator. No$GBA remained largely unchanged for the next six years.
Finally, Martin released a new version in 2013 that could play recent titles more efficiently. When version 2.7a came out in that same year, it introduced support for the DSi. The Pocket Station was added to the equation in 2014.
No$GBA is still alive and well today. It enjoys a decent following. People appreciate the fact that it was the first emulator to offer support for multiplayer on the same computer. It can go toe to toe with some of the best emulators today because it is fast and accurate, capable of running most NDS ROMs.
How To Install No$GBA?
This is a lightweight program that can run on any Intel Pentium processor. You can use it at full speed on older machines. You don’t have to install it. Just download the zip folder, extract it and then run No$GBA.exe.
- Size: 210KB
- License: Freeware
- Date: Dec, 24, 19
- Platform: Windows
Download No$GBA
no$gba 3.02 [DOS] [16-Bit Intel]
no$gba 3.02 [Windows] [32-Bit Intel]
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How To Use No$GBA?
No$GBA works just like every other emulator. You can load games and adjust the video and audio settings using the ‘File, ‘Options’, and ‘Utility’ menus. You can even use the multiplayer function. If this function is new to you, this is how you use it
Step 1. Rename the GBA BIOS (gba.rom) and place it in the No$GBA folder.
Step 2. Launch the emulator and select the GBA image
Step 3. Go to ‘Options’ and then ‘Emulation Setup’. Go to ‘Emulated Gameboys’ and increase the number.
Step 4. Set ‘Gamepaks in all GBA’ in the ‘Link Gamepaks’ option.
Step 5. Set ‘GBA BIOS’ in ‘Reset/Startup Entrypoint’
Step 6. Once you click the ‘OK’ button, 2 GBA screens will appear.
Conclusion
No$GBA has earned the popularity it enjoys among NDS gamers. This is a fast, lightweight program that supports multiplayer on the same PC as well as save states. It can play most NDS games.
