How to Tell if a GBA Game Is Fake

Look at the label. Sometimes, the label will be a custom one different from the official one. There are many things that can be altered: the Nintendo logo, the ESRB rating icon, and the Game Boy Advance logo. Search the cartridge on Google Images and compare them.^[1]

Check the color. Most GBA games are grey, excluding the label. Some games, like the Pokémon Games, will have a certain colour, whether it is solid orange (FireRed) or green (LeafGreen), or translucent ruby (Ruby), green (Emerald) and blue (Sapphire) colors.^[2]

Hold it up in the light. If there is a small number imprint on the label, it most likely is official. Almost all (if not all) legit games have this. If there isn't, it's a fake.

Look inside the circuit board. There should be a certain copyright text there. If there isn't, it's a fake.^[3]

Look for typos. Mainly check the label, for such errors as Licensed or on the back Nintendo.

Play the game! Generally, these fakes won't save properly, and come up with a message when you start it. Pokémon fake games generally have saving issues, such as saving in less than a second, corrupting the save after automatic saves, and showing an error message at startup saying that "the save file is ok" (it isn't supposed to show that message).

Check if it should say 'Licensed by Nintendo' or just Nintendo. A good example is Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. Since it is a game directly published by Nintendo, it is supposed to only say 'Nintendo', if it says 'Licensed By Nintendo' it is fake because the game is published by Nintendo. Of course, if the phrase 'Licensed By Nintendo' is misspelled then it is a fake.

If something on the cartridge is missing, and should be there, then that game is a fake.

Check if your game has a battery in it. If your game has a battery inside, and it doesn't have a real time clock feature it's a fake. If it has a real time clock feature such as found in Pokémon Ruby Version or Sapphire Version, it is supposed to have a battery, if it doesn't have one, it's a fake.^[4]