Homebrew Best Classic Gameboy Solution - mGBA vs VBAGX vs....

[Flo_o]

Hi all, the wii is still my favorite way to enjoy many classic games (well, i am a original hardware guy but nothing can beats the wii convenience in combination with the video and controller options) but i always had problems with playing classic gameboy games. For some reason it's not that easy as GBA. There are a lot of solutions but which one has the best fluent gameplay, pixel perfect resolution and sound? Here is a list with options and some of my thoughts, i've tested all emulators with Super Mario Land (it's a good game for testing, it's a big plus when the pyramid pixels all have the same size):


- VBA GX (2.4.0): it's still a classic solution, but it is not perfect. I like the scaler options but the sound has a delay, a bad thing if you are used to the original gameboy.
- mGBA (0.7.3): the perfect way to play GBA games, but for gameboy it is different. Maybe it's me but it feels not 100% fluent, also, i don't know if it has something to do with the latest version but the sound is off. Here is a sample, listen to the gameboy bios logo, destroying blocks and exploding turtle.
- emGBA (2019-10-15): based on mGBA, with awesome customization. It's a great build but for some reason the gameplay feels not 100% fluent.
- Gambatte Libretro (r0.6): i always love rogerio's standalone builds, but Gambatte is not working perfect for me. I have enabled integer scale to maintain the correct aspect ratio, disabled Bilinear filtering to make the pixels as crisp as possible and switched to 2xnormal filter, but it runs less fluent than mGBA and emGBA. Also, the sound quality is not as crip as mGBA, eMGBA or VBA GX.
- WiiMednafen (02.2-pre): i was curious how classic gameboy games run on WiiMednafen. Conclusion, my least favorite choice. The picture quality is not as good as the other options.


i really like to know what you all think, what is the best gameboy classic solution on the wii?

 

[Maeson]

I do not know which version of retroarch you are using, but I like the core in SuperrSonic's version of RA, it works really well for me and it's what I use the majority of the time. Modern versions of RA for Wii are really subpar in performance.

Here's a link. I could share my configuration if you wanted.

mGBA is catching up nicely having in mind it wasn't a planned feature initially, too. VBA is fine for gb/c, but it certainly could get some updates.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

For me the best solution is Gambatte core for Retroarch. I'm using Retroarch 1.7.7. (nightly build) but you can use SuperSonic's version as well.
I have no audio or video stuttering. Owning original hardware as well and didn't notice any difference.
With gambatte I can reproduce the thing that I care the most when talking about GB: the original greenish colors and dot matrix grid scanlines. I really can't stand seeing GB games in black and white tint.
My settings:
video:
integer scale = on
Custom aspect ratio [width 480 (3x) ; height 432 (3x)]
no bilinear filtering and no other filters at all
Core Options:
GB colorization = internal
Internal palette = Special 1
Onscreen Overlay:
overlay preset = gbgrid.cfg
overlay opacity = 0.10
overlay scale = 2.00

 

[Flo_o]

I do not know which version of retroarch you are using, but I like the core in SuperrSonic's version of RA, it works really well for me and it's what I use the majority of the time. Modern versions of RA for Wii are really subpar in performance.

Here's a link. I could share my configuration if you wanted.

mGBA is catching up nicely having in mind it wasn't a planned feature initially, too. VBA is fine for gb/c, but it certainly could get some updates.

Hi MaeseJesus, that''s awesome, thank you for pointing out SuperrSonic's build, he mentioned it before but totally forgot about it, i will check if i can handle the configuration, if not, is it ok if i send you a PM?

For me the best solution is Gambatte core for Retroarch. I'm using Retroarch 1.7.7. (nightly build) but you can use SuperSonic's version as well.
I have no audio or video stuttering. Owning original hardware as well and didn't notice any difference.
With gambatte I can reproduce the thing that I care the most when talking about GB: the original greenish colors and dot matrix grid scanlines. I really can't stand seeing GB games in black and white tint.
My settings:
video:
integer scale = on
Custom aspect ratio [width 480 (3x) ; height 432 (3x)]
no bilinear filtering and no other filters at all
Core Options:
GB colorization = internal
Internal palette = Special 1
Onscreen Overlay:
overlay preset = gbgrid.cfg
overlay opacity = 0.10
overlay scale = 2.00

Thank you too Tetsuo Shima! Will also try your mentioned Retroarch build

 

[Maeson]

Of course you can, although Tetsuo already gave you a good aspect ratio and I rather write here so anyone can benefit of what we share.

480x432 will pretty much fill your screen as far as it can without distorting the picture, but if you want something smaller, I have a second copy of Gambatte's core set up like this (For RA-SS):


Screen Res. 530x480
Custom Ratio:
C. Viewport X 104
C. Viewport Y 96
C. Viewport Width 320
C. Viewport Heigh 280

All the filters off, because I don't like how blurry make the picture. The benefit of doing this from custom aspect ratio is that you can later change the screen resolution and still maintain a "pixel perfect" image (meaning the picture pixels aren't stretched like the 150% example here).

This way you get to use borders too if you so want (the one on the photo below is an overlay we took advantage of to seem like a border, years ago I spent time doing it for as many borders I found). Depending on what I want to play, I choose either the core with the bigger picture or this one.

 

[Flo_o]

Of course you can, although Tetsuo already gave you a good aspect ratio and I rather write here so anyone can benefit of what we share.

You are totally right MaeseJesus, awesome that you want to share your configuration

 

[SaulFabre]

For GB/GBC/GBA emulation on Wii:

Gambatte Wii RA is best for most GB/GBC games
mGBA Wii (official and RA) is best for most GBA games

emGBA is another option for GBA but it doesn't perform very well
gpSP Wii RA is another option for GBA but it has some few issues (i don't know)

VBA GX is great for GB/GBC & Super Game Boy (SGB) too, but for GBA i don't use it very much (slowdown in most GBA games). I only use VBA GX in these games which require tilt sensor (Kirby: Tilt 'n' Tumble GBC, WarioWare: Twisted! GBA, Yoshi Topsy-Turvy GBA), which VBA GX emulates it (don't know if mGBA Wii emulates that).

 

[Maeson]

Mgba does support the motion control games and it got updated not long ago to support both TR and non-TR controllers and also sensitivity settings, and it works great.

 

[SaulFabre]

Mgba does support the motion control games and it got updated not long ago to support both TR and non-TR controllers and also sensitivity settings, and it works great.

Thanks for the info i will check it later.

 

[Maeson]

Remember to get the nightly version, where the fix is included, 0.9.3 isn't out yet.

 

[SaulFabre]

Remember to get the nightly version, where the fix is included, 0.9.3 isn't out yet.

Oh ok, i thought that mGBA 0.9.2 had that option for enable the tilt-sensor emulation

 

[SaulFabre]

Oh ok, i thought that mGBA 0.9.2 had that option for enable the tilt-sensor emulation

@Maeson

I need help configuring the Wiimote for emulate the tilt sensor in the latest development (nightly) build version of mGBA Wii... Can you help me?

Here https://gbatemp.net/threads/mgba-wi...r-warioware-twisted-yoshi-topsy-turvy.602780/