Which emulator should I use?

Not every emulator is compatible with Polished Crystal. With the exception of the Virtual Console emulator, we do not offer any support if an emulator has a bug that isn't reproducible on official hardware. As such, we recommend the following emulators to limit compatibility issues:

PC:

• mGBA - most popular emulator, no known incompatiblities, can also conveniently play GBA games
• SameBoy - one of the most accurate emulators, also has an iOS release
• BGB - Polished Crystal developers use this emulator, more accurate than mGBA, powerful debugger

Android:

• RetroArch - use SameBoy or Gambatte core, do not use VBA-M core

iOS:

• SameBoy - see PC section

Do not use these!

Conversely, the following emulators are known to have issues and should not be used to play Polished Crystal:

PC:

• VBA - this emulator has not been updated since 2004, do not ever use
• VBA-M - despite being actively updated, still is a very inaccurate emulator, use mGBA instead

iOS:

• Delta - while we have had a higher incidence rate of issues with Delta, there is presently no evidence that the emulator itself has any issues. We do still strongly recommend using SameBoy on iOS, as we still are awaiting evidence of any unusual issues with this emulator and save states

Other:

• Goomba Color - used to play GB/C games from a GBA flashcart, this emulator can't even run vanilla Crystal

If you have a preferred emulator that isn't listed above, using it should be fine. Most modern emulators can indeed run Polished Crystal just fine. Be aware, though, that if you're consistently having an issue that isn't reproduced on either official hardware or the most accurate emulators, you will not be provided any support.