Nintendo Game Boy Advance (GBA) Reverse Engineering

Edit on Github | Updated: 19th April 2025

Nintendo Game Boy Advance Reverse Engineering

Welcome to our page dedicated to Game Boy Advance reverse engineering! The Game Boy Advance was a popular handheld gaming console that was released in 2001, and has since become a favorite of gamers around the world.

If you’re interested in learning more about the technical aspects of this console and how it works, you’ve come to the right place. On this page, we’ve compiled a list of links to other pages that cover various topics related to Game Boy Advance reverse engineering.

Whether you’re interested in understanding the hardware architecture of the console, analyzing game code, or exploring the many mods and hacks that have been created by enthusiasts over the years, you’ll find a wealth of resources and information on the pages we’ve linked to.

So grab your Game Boy Advance, and get ready to dive into the exciting world of Game Boy Advance reverse engineering!

Hardware Architecture

Copetti.org has an excellent page on the hardware Architecture of the Game Boy Advance, it is also a great introduction to the system:

GBA Architecture

Game Boy Advance Architecture - A Practical Analysis

Check out this excellent introduction to the GBA hardware

GBA AGS-CPU-11 Hardware Schematics

The GameBoy Advance uses a 32-bit RISC CPU (ARM7TDMI) running at 16.78 MHz known as the AGS-CPU-11, for really low level detail for how this CPU works at a hardware level check out the Schematics:

gb-schematics/AGS-CPU-11.pdf at master · Gekkio/gb-schematics · GitHub

Development Kits (Hardware)

Game Boy Advance (AGB) Development Kit Hardware

For more information on the GBA Development Kit hardware check out this post.

Software Development Kits (SDK)

Official SDK

Game Boy Advance Software Development Kit (SDK)

For more information on the Official GBA SDK check out this post.

Music Library (M4A)

M4A Music Library for Game Boy Advance (GBA)

For more information on the GBA Music SDK check out this post.

SDK Demos

Game Boy Advance SDK Demos

For more information on the GBA SDK Demo games check out this post.

Emulation

Much to the annoyance of Nintendo, Game Boy Advance emulators were released before the console was even launched! Developers managed to get their hands on early development kits and managed to build and release the first known GBA emulator known as GBAEmu in September 2000 [^1]! It was able to play the official SDK Demo’s such as Yoshi’s Island [^2].

Nowadays GBA emulators have such high compatibility that pretty much all commercial games work without much trouble even on low end hardware.