The first movie I watched without any adult supervision was Pokémon: The First Movie. Back then, there wasn't a single 5th grader who didn’t know Pikachu or the Pokémon franchise. It was one of the most popular video game series ever, just behind Mario.

Although handheld consoles like the Game Boy Advance have lost their charm over time, the games themselves remain as beloved as ever. Fortunately, you can easily play these classics right on your Samsung Galaxy S3—or practically any Android phone—by using an emulator.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to play your favorite Game Boy Advance titles on your GS3 using a GBA emulator, just like my fellow softModder Nelson did on his Galaxy Note 2.

Download a GBA Emulator

To relive those Pokémon adventures, we need to install My Boy! Free - GBA Emulator from the Google Play Store. There are other free alternatives out there, but in my opinion, My Boy! Free is one of the best.

Finding Your Game ROM

To get playing on My Boy! Free, you'll need to find some GBA ROMs. Luckily, finding them online isn’t hard at all. Just do a quick Google search for "GBA ROM" or "Pokémon FireRed ROM" (my personal favorite) and plenty of download options will appear.

Most likely, these ROM files will be compressed in ZIP format, so make sure your GS3 has a file extractor installed. Once downloaded, move the file to your SD card or another convenient location. Alternatively, you can download the ROMs on your computer and transfer them to your phone's SD card.

Legality of Downloading ROMs

ROMs are essentially digital copies of games, so unless you already own a physical copy of Pokémon (I still have all my original Pokémon cartridges), I can’t recommend downloading them. It’s a bit of a legal gray area since many of these games are no longer playable on their original hardware. Technically anyone can download a ROM, but keep in mind that it may or may not be legally acceptable.

Loading Your GBA Games

Once you've gathered a few games, you're ready to start playing them on your GS3. Launch My Boy! Free and you should land on the Load game screen. From here, locate your ROM file and load it into the emulator.

After loading, your game should begin running immediately.

Playing Games on My Boy! Free

Holding your phone upright mimics the original Game Boy Advance look and feel, but the screen becomes quite small. For better visibility, it's recommended to play in landscape mode.

That’s basically all there is to it. You can now enjoy countless GBA games directly on your Samsung Galaxy S3.

Free vs. Paid Versions

I’ve been using the free version of My Boy! Free, which works great if you only want to play occasionally for nostalgia. However, with the free version, saving progress relies solely on the game’s internal save system. If you'd prefer more advanced features such as saving states within the emulator, fast-forwarding, or motion controls, consider upgrading to the full version (currently priced at $4.99).

What’s your favorite GBA game? Which ones run best on My Boy! Free? Share your thoughts in the comments. And for more retro gaming guides on your GS3, check out our other softModder tutorials.

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