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Title: The Switch 2's latest update improves the console's GBA emulator

Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2025 16:43:40 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-switch-2s...

WeΓÇÖre now several months into a brand new Nintendo generation, and waiting
impatiently for important information such as the release date for Metroid
Prime 4 and the whereabouts of the next 3D Mario game. But in the meantime,
the company has been gradually updating its various retro console emulators
on Nintendo Switch Online, with the latest being the Game Boy Advance.

As spotted by Nintendo Everything, the 3.0.0 update to the GBA app adds
button remapping, which is already possible with the N64 and SNES emulators.
Accessible from the menu while playing a game, this allows you to mess around
with controls if youΓÇÖre not happy with the default option, which admittedly
does feel like something that should have been there from the beginning, but
hey.

Nintendo Everything adds that GBA games in the Nintendo Switch Online library
are also now playable in 1080p in handheld mode on the Switch 2, which is
hard to verify as thereΓÇÖs no option to toggle video quality. Presumably any
game booted on the newer hardware now just defaults to the higher resolution,
where before theyΓÇÖd have been stretched from the original SwitchΓÇÖs 720p
maximum output. Of course, if the idea of playing a game from the early 2000s
with pin-sharp clarity on a huge display appalls you, there is still the
option of enabling a bordered small screen, as well as the ΓÇ£classic feelΓÇ¥
filter, which adds analog-y scanlines.

Perhaps the most enjoyable addition of all, though, is the hidden original
GBA startup screen, which you can activate by wiggling the analogue stick
when booting the app. I tested this, and it is (obviously) delightful.
Nintendo added a similar Easter egg to its GameCube app earlier this year.

Unfortunately, the updated GBA emulator doesnΓÇÖt include any new game drops.
The most recent title to join the service was Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
back in April, which means the arduous wait for Nintendo to give us Mario
Golf: Advance Tour continues. For me at least. Sigh.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-switch-2s...
consoles-gba-emulator-164340851.html?src=rss

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