GameCube games will actually encrypt the GBA binary that is sent to the various games, and the way it does this actually posed a bit of a problem for Dolphin early on. While we don't know the exact details behind connecting the earliest versions to a GBA emulator, we do know from developer accounts that multiple ideas were trialed with a focus around the best GBA emulator of the era, VBA-M.īut before we could connect to another emulator, we needed to understand how the connection actually worked. The earliest recorded implementations of GBA connectivity emulation go back to around 2009, with the feature first being spotted in Dolphin r2578. Over the years, several developers have embarked on the multi-system mission. Still, the few games that truly embraced GBA connectivity presented an interesting emulation challenge. Bridge the gap between GBA and GCN Pokemon games using the link cable. Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex's GBA connectivity bonus leaves a lot to be desired. Pokemon Box also let you store Pokemon and had an adventure mode where you could play the GBA games on the big screen without a Game Boy Player.įour Swords Adventure has tons of four player fun and the japanese version has an exclusive party mode. Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Pokemon Box, and their bonus discs can all connect to various Generation 3 Pokemon GBA games for bonuses, trading, and battling. The Pokemon Games - We split this into a separate category because the GBA games are the main product in this case.Note that Sonic Adventure 2: Battle can also connect to a GBA without a game for a slightly lesser version of what it does. Many games do this, including Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, and Metroid Prime. Connectivity with a GBA game - Titles could also connect with specific GBA games to unlock content or do things between one or both games.This may seem like a rather expensive bonus feature, but at least it's not an amiibo to unlock quick warping, right? Animal Crossing's GBA island, Mega Man X: Command Mission's Treasure Tracker and Wind Waker's Tingle Tuner are great examples of this. Bonus Modes or Extra Content - Games could also use the GBA in a single player context to unlock bonus content on the main game.Examples of games with this feature include Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Animal Crossing, and technically Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex. Sometimes it is a bonus NES game, sometimes it's a miniature version of the game you're playing. Transferrable Minigames - These games let you transfer detachable games to the GBA.Bonus points go to Factor 5 for allowing players in Rogue Squadron III to link a GBA in competitive multiplayer to use as an extra screen for hiding orders, even if it doesn't amount to much. This includes The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and Pac-Man Vs. Multiplayer Games - These games heavily rely on GBA GCN connectivity to give each player unique information or their own screen to play off of at times.If you don't believe us, check it out yourself! By bringing these two emulators together in one package, GBA connectivity features now work with popular features like savestates, input recordings, and netplay! All of this comes with the added bonus of improved performance and compatibility. These mGBA instances are clock-synced to GameCube emulation for impeccable connection stability. Dubbed the Integrated GBA, a stripped-down version of mGBA will boot up alongside Dolphin when set to one or more controller ports. With integration and synchronization work done by bonta, connecting your favorite GameCube titles with a Game Boy Advance for multiplayer and other bonus features is now greatly simplified. Recently, we wrote about mGBA adding support for our TCP GBA protocol, but this is something completely new. For those who don't know, mGBA is the most renowned and accurate GBA emulator of this era and has been rapidly improving since its inception. As of 5.0-14690, Dolphin now has mGBA directly built into it as a new way to handle Game Boy Advance connectivity with GameCube titles.

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