A new app has been released allowing for Game Boy emulation on the Apple Watch.
ArcEmu is a $1.99 emulator on the App Store which supports original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance ROMs.
Developer Raffaele D’Amato broke down the app’s features on Reddit, which includes 60fps performance as well as support for the Game Boy family’s rumble, accelerometer, and gyroscope features – the latter of which is utilized via the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown.
This means that unique titles like WarioWare: Twisted!, Kirby’s Tilt and Tumble, and Yoshi Topsy-Turvy are fully playable, and you can feel a rumble when playing games like Pokémon Pinball.
ArcEmu is also compatible with iPhones and iPads, and save states are shareable between all of these devices via Bluetooth.
The app requires watchOS 10 to run, so you’ll need an Apple Watch Series 4, SE, Ultra, or later model to run it. D’Amato has said, however, that he is working on making it compatible with watchOS 8 and above in the next update, so that Series 3 users will eventually be included too. A “fast forward” option will also come in a future update.
The developer says he put in a lot of effort to make the games playable on the Apple Watch’s tiny screen and encourages all users to give feedback to help him improve ArcEmu with future updates.
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Written by Reece Heather
A lifelong Nintendo fan and a longtime editor at Zelda Universe, Reece will forever be grateful that he somehow dodged the Naughty List of Christmas 1998, when Santa delivered the life-changing gift of a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Mario Kart 64. When he's not playing games, Reece is usually reading Punisher comics, delving helplessly into the weirdest depths of anime and manga, or spending time with his cocker spaniel Gracie -- the goodest girl ever!
