Can a Game Boy Color Emulator Play GBA Games? No - Different Architecture

No. A Game Boy Color emulator (e.g., SameBoy, Gambatte, TGB Dual) **only emulates Game Boy / Game Boy Color hardware**.

Why

• Different Architecture: GBC = Sharp LR35902 (Z80-like, 4/8 MHz). GBA = ARM7TDMI (32-bit RISC, 16.7 MHz).
• Different Memory Map, Video, Sound, BIOS.
• Backward Compatibility is Hardware: Real GBA has *both* CPUs. An emulator simulates *one* target.

What You Need

• GBA Emulator: mGBA (best), VBA-M, No$GBA, RetroArch (mGBA core).
• These **also run GB/GBC games** (via internal GBC emulation or same core). One emulator for all three.

Recommendation

Use **mGBA** on PC / Phone / Switch / Wii / 3DS / Vita. It runs GB, GBC, **and GBA** accurately with one program. No need for separate emulators.