# smparsons/retroboy

A Game Boy emulator written in Rust.

Repository: https://github.com/smparsons/retroboy
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/retroboy
Homepage: https://smparsons.github.io/retroboy/
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-03-02T02:01:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 59/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 70, release rhythm 35, longevity 75
- inputs: {"age_days": 1050, "days_push": 185, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1038, forks 30 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:19.736503+00:00)

## What it is
Retro Boy is a cycle-accurate Game Boy emulator written in Rust that compiles to WebAssembly for browser-based play. It features accurate CPU, audio, and scanline-based graphics emulation, with a React web frontend and an SDL test frontend.

## Use cases
- play game boy roms in the browser
- emulate game boy games on the web
- run a game boy emulator built with rust
- test game boy roms with an sdl app
- use game shark and game genie cheats while emulating
- save game boy cartridge ram and save states

## When to choose
- you want to play Game Boy ROMs directly in a web browser
- you want a Rust-based emulator core that compiles to WebAssembly
- you need MBC1/MBC3/MBC5 cartridge support with RTC and persistent RAM
- you want a mobile-friendly emulator UI with customizable controls

## When to avoid
- you need Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, or other console emulation
- you need a native desktop emulator with a polished GUI rather than a test app
- you require full save state support or netplay features

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, graphics, audio-processing, wasm
- domain: gaming-tools, simulation, web-development
- platform: browser, rust, wasm, cross-platform
- tags: game-boy-emulator, console-emulation, retro-gaming, cycle-accurate, save-states, cheat-codes, web-server

## Member repositories
- smparsons/retroboy (main) score 59

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:19.736503+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:04:18.964921+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/smparsons/retroboy (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:19.736503+00:00, sha def024e3d0fc)
  - homepage: https://smparsons.github.io/retroboy/ (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:00.520966+00:00, sha 34d7d4670212)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.