Emulation GBA Emulation on an old modded 3DS

[PureGrind]

Hey all! Looking for some help with my recently modded old 3DS (it's on software version 11.17, was modded using Freakyforms).
I'm not totally new to emulation, but I'm trying to learn my way around a hacked 3DS and have learned a few things.
First, I've found that PS1 emulation is not realistic in any way (though if someone can provide input on that, I'd appreciate it).
I've also found that emulation from standalone emulators tends to work better than using Retroarch.
My confusion comes with the Gameboy Advance. I can't seem to get it to run adequately. It chops and stutters, and makes my "fully legal roms" mostly unplayable. In fact, I've found that the standalone emulator MGBA (which is the only GBA one I can find in the Universal Uploader app) actually runs worse than the core I'm using in Retroarch (GPSP; the MGBA core in Retroarch runs just like the standalone emulator version).
I can get very good emulation for DS with Twilight, so I'm baffled that I can't run GBA.
Is this normal? Again, it's an old 3DS, I know it's not as powerful as the new 3DS, but I would think GBA should be attainable.
For what it's worth, I can get good emulation for SMS/GG/Genesis/NES/SNES/GB/GBC/TG16/PCE/NGP/all old Atari, Coleco, either through Retroarch or standalone emulators.
I am struggling with GBA/PS1/32X/Virtual Boy; in all cases I can get the games to run but they are very slow and stutter the whole time, with the exception of GBA, which runs better than the other 3 but still lags on games - Metroid Fusion runs but stutters, and Mario Golf Advance Tour runs at about half speed by my estimation.
For those of you who are familiar with this emulation method, does all of this sound normal? Or do you have any input on how I can maximize some of those consoles I'm having problems with? I don't have high hopes for PS1, 32X or Virtual Boy, but if anyone can enlighten me on any way to improve Gameboy Advance emulation, I'd really appreciate it.
Any input from you wonderful people would be great, so I hope someone can help with this.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Kwyjor]

There are so many posts about this already.

Don't use mGBA on an old 3DS. Use open_agb_firm. You can also use injections made with New Super Ultimate Injector, but they will take up space on your Home screen and the save data isn't as easy to access.

GBARunner2 (included in TWiLight Menu) is also an option, but the compatibility is not as good as what you would get with open_agb_firm .

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Regarding mGBA: It is a pretty good and accurate emulator, but doesn't perform good on old 3DS series (very good option on the Wii).

The suggestions above all run GBA games natively – all DS consoles in some way contain a GBA (only obvious on the oldest models with SLOT-2 for actual Game Boy advance cartridges).

Officially only a few games got released on the 3DS in form of Virtual Console as a nice gift to "3DS Ambassadors". Compatibility is next to 100% – only cartridges with special hardware/sensors can't be run on the official AGB_FIRM (same for the open variant).
As far as I know GBARunner2 is run in DS mode, not in AGB mode. It has certain limits and I would recommend it for DSi only.

Running games natively of course brings the limitations that emulation specific functions (savestates, cheats or even debugging) are missing or limited. A bit might be addressed later: https://github.com/Gericom/GBARunner3

→ What is the consequence? Emulating Game Boy Advance on 3DS, particularly old series, isn't a good option. But you can play almost all games just like on the real GBA.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[PureGrind]

Thanks so much for the assistance guys, very much appreciated! And sorry for bringing it up, I assumed it was somewhere on the site but searched for a couple of hours and couldn't find it; everything I saw was referring to new 3ds.
It works so nicely now, but I have another question (being the noob that I am). Am I able to access save states with open_agb_firm? Or just the in game saves? And if I can access save states (and load them back up, as I would in retroarch), how would I do that? I have the feeling the answer is no, but I look to you fine people for clarity.
I promise, that's the last question on this, any guidance is greatly appreciated.
Thanks again, waiting patiently for any input

Post automatically merged: Sep 17, 2023

Oops, please disregard my last post/question, I just re-read the second response which clarified things, so all good, no emulator benefits of using open_agb_firm, but smooth native gameplay.
Guess I'll just have to be better when I play GBA on my 3ds lol.
Thanks again guys, really appreciate the help with this

 

[darkworldq8]

The main reason why 3DS struggles with a lot of emulators is because they require a lot of tweaking and optimizing to run well. I believe that most of those emulators on the 3DS were designed for PC and were ported from the PC builds without a lot of optimization. Maybe the GBA emulator wasn't optimized since every 3DS can natively play GBA games better than most emulators, and the developers might think it isn't worth optimizing it.

Pretty much most phones from 2011 can emulate the older systems better than a 3DS. With each passing year, cheap Android phones (and handhelds) are getting much better than a 3DS when it comes to emulation, and that alone makes a lot of people pick up an Android device just to emulate retro systems.

I do wish that emulation on the 3DS was better, but I do understand why developers drop it. Working on emulators is hard work and require understanding of how the system works, and it will takes hours of work on a daily basis for at least a few months even from an expert.