- Goomba (emulator)
Goomba, named after an iconic enemy in the
Mario series , is a freely availableGame Boy emulator for theGame Boy Advance , developed by Fredrik Olsson (FluBBA). When the project was first started, the only reason for development was for the sheer fun of it, since the GBA could already play GB games natively. AfterNintendo DS andGame Boy Micro were released, Goomba has had a boost in speed optimizations and features since neither of them work with GB games.Development of the original Goomba seems to be ceased, however since the source code is available in the
public domain , an unofficial version has been forked withGame Boy Color support, named Goomba Color, by Dan Weiss (Dwedit). While most games play with great compatibility, some heavy programs slow down in Goomba Color, and changing color palettes in the middle of a frame rendering is not supported (some GBC games use this trick to simulate "high-color" modes).However, while FluBBa may not have had a good excuse to create this emulator, it filled an important need. GBA Flash cards cannot natively play Game Boy or Game Boy Color games, even on the original Game Boy Advance. This is due to a difference in voltage used by the cartridges. The legacy hardware included with the Game Boy Advance in order to read and play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games can only be used when an actual cartridge is inserted. Since GBA Flash cards are read as Game Boy Advance cartridges, this sector of hardware is locked out, making it impossible to run a Game Boy or Game Boy Color ROM natively, So, for all practical purposes, Goomba ironically enables original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games to be played when they otherwise couldn't be, through software emulation, the same way that any other system, such as the
NES orGame Gear , can be emulated on a Flash card. Furthermore, because theGame Boy Micro was designed without the legacy hardware at all, emulation through Goomba becomes the "only" way to play original Game Boy or Game Boy Color games on a Game Boy Micro. Various versions of Goomba now come standard with almost all GBA flash cards.External links
* [http://www.webpersona.com/goomba/ Goomba - The Official Site]
* [http://www.pocketheaven.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=29 Forum and Goomba Color]
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