Emulators on 3DS

Nintendo 3DS

Developer	Nintendo
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Eighth generation
Release date	2011
Discontinued	2020
Predecessor	Nintendo DS
Emulated	✓

For software that emulates the 3DS, see Nintendo 3DS emulators.

Because of the homebrewing scene the 3DS has had, you can install a variety of emulators. Currently, the New 3DS is capable of running much faster than the older models, making it a much more ideal platform for emulation, but despite this there are still some emulators that have issues regardless. For more information on how to homebrew your 3DS, visit 3ds.hacks.guide.

Multi-Systems

RetroArch

There are official 3DS ports:

• Stable
• Nightly
• GitHub
• BIOS: Download

Available cores (as of Retroarch 1.19.1)

Core	Game/System	Recommended? (New 3DS)	Recommended? (Old 3DS)	Notes
2048	2048	✓	✓
CrocoDS	Amstrad - CPC	TBD	✗	~15fps o3ds
Caprice32	Amstrad - CPC/GX4000	TBD	✗	~18fps o3ds
Anarch	Anarch	TBD	✗	~10fps o3ds
FinalBurn Alpha 2012 CPS-1	Arcade	✓	✗
FinalBurn Alpha 2012 CPS-2		✓	✗
FinalBurn Alpha 2012 CPS-3		~	✗	~35fps/~50fps, most games are too slow to run even on New 3DS, though JoJo runs almost full speed
FinalBurn Alpha 2012 Neo Geo		~	✗	~40fps/~50fps. A few games are unable to be loaded due to memory constraints
FinalBurn Alpha 2012		✓	✗	Uses FBA v0.2.97.30 ROM sets Main core (fbalpha2012_libretro) does not work, but platform-specific cores run at full speed
FinalBurn Neo		~	TBD	Some games may crash your 3DS when using it.(Example: Metal Slug X).
MAME 2000		TBD	TBD
MAME 2003		TBD	TBD
MAME 2003-Plus		TBD	TBD
Ardens	Arduboy	TBD	TBD
Arduous		TBD	~	~15fps o3ds
Stella 2014	Atari - 2600	✓	~	~60fps n3ds, 43fps o3ds. Resorting to DS(i) mode, a well performing choice is StellaDS, which is included into TWiLightMenu++.
a5200	Atari - 5200	✓	✓	~60fps
Atari800		✓	~	~60fps n3ds, 40fps o3ds so you might consider other options like the a5200 core or the atari800-3ds standalone emulator, which reachs fullspeed in o3ds. Resorting to DS(i) mode, a well performing choice is A7800DS, which is included into TWiLightMenu++.
ProSystem	Atari - 7800	✓	~	~60fps, 25fps o3ds
Handy	Atari - Lynx	✓	~	~50fps o3ds, a bit slow and choppy audio. You'd better use handy3ds standalone emulator.
Beetle Cygne	Bandai - WonderSwan / Color	✓	~	~30-50fps o3ds. Resorting to DS(i) mode, a well performing choice is NitroSwan, which is included into TWiLightMenu++.
NXEngine	Cave Story	✓	✓
JAXE	CHIP-8/S-CHIP/XO-CHIP	✓	✓
GearColeco	Coleco - ColecoVision	TBD	~	~40fps o3ds. Resorting to DS(i) mode, a generally better performing choice is ColecoDS, which is included into TWiLightMenu++.
VICE x128	Commodore - C128	TBD	✗	~5fps o3ds
Frodo	Commodore - C64	TBD	~	~20fps o3ds
VICE x64 fast		TBD	✗	~15fps o3ds. old3ds users may prefer the standalone vice3ds which has better performance and a clean UI
VICE x64sc accurate		TBD	✗	~3fps o3ds
VICE xscpu64	Commodore - C64 SuperCPU	TBD	TBD
VICE xcbm5x0	Commodore - CBM-II 5x0	TBD	TBD
VICE xcbm2	Commodore - CBM-II 6x0/7x0	TBD	TBD
VICE xpet	Commodore - PET	TBD	TBD
VICE xplus4	Commodore - Plus/4	TBD	TBD
VICE xvic	Commodore - VIC-20	TBD	TBD
PrBoom	Doom	TBD	~	unstable framerate on o3ds with many slowdowns
DOSBox-SVN	DOS	TBD	TBD
bk	Elektronika - BK-0010/BK-0011(M)	TBD	TBD
FreeChaF	Fairchild ChannelF	✓	✓
Game Music Emu	Game Music Emu	TBD	TBD
VecX	GCE - Vectrex	✓	✗	~55fps n3ds, 14fps o3ds
Gong	Gong	✓	✓
GW	Handheld Electronic	✓	~	~58fps n3ds, 30fps o3ds
SquirrelJME	Java ME	TBD	TBD
Jump 'n Bump	Jump 'n Bump	✓	✓
LowRes NX	LowRes NX	✓	✓	~50-55fps o3ds, mostly playable
Lutro	Lua Engine	✓	✓
minivmac	Mac II	TBD	✗	~10fps o3ds
O2EM	Magnavox - Odyssey ² / Phillips Videopac+	✓	~	~60fps n3ds, 50fps o3ds (playable)
FreeIntv	Mattel - Intellivision	✓	✓	some sporadic slowdowns in o3ds but playable
fMSX	Microsoft - MSX	TBD	TBD
MicroW8	MicroW8	TBD	TBD
Bomberman	Mr. Boom	✓	~	~45-60 FPS o3ds, minor slowdowns
blueMSX	MSX/SVI/ColecoVision/SG-1000	TBD	TBD
Beetle PCE fast	NEC - PC Engine / CD	✓	~	Old 3ds 30-40 FPS, use standalone temperpce_3ds instead
QUASI88	NEC - PC-8000 / PC-8800 series	TBD	TBD
Neko Project II Kai (猫Project II改)	NEC - PC-98	~	TBD	Neko Project II Kai requires you to use it's own emulation menu, requiring you to use the "Joy2Mouse" function or the c-stick. These menus are extremely small given the 3DS's screen size, but allow you to run games. Some games will have slowdown, such as the Touhou games. You may prefer to use the standalone NP2 for 3DS, as it uses the touch screen for enlarged menus, keyboard support, and allows you to use both screens.
Neko Project II		TBD	✗	~15fps old3ds
DoubleCherryGB	Nintendo - Game Boy / Color	✓	~	based on TGBDual so nearly equal performance
Gambatte		✓	✓	Old 3ds users may prefer one of the several standalone emulators for GB/GBC. A few resource-intensive GBC games run well only in the DSi (not 3DS) build of GameYob, which is included into TWiLightMenu++.
Gearboy		TBD	✗	too slow in old3ds even for GB
TGB Dual		✓	~	~60fps new3ds, unstable GBC framerate in old3ds
mGBA	Nintendo - Game Boy Advance	✓	✗	acceptable with Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, but some games are slow to use, even on New 3DS, at present. Currently no support for tilt controls (Yoshi's Tilt n' Tumble, Warioware Twisted.
gpSP		✓	✗	~30-60 FPS o3ds with dynarec, some games are playable, but VC injection, mGBA, or open_agb_firm are better choices
FCEUmm	Nintendo - NES / Famicom	✓	✗	Old 3ds 10-20 FPS
Nestopia UE		✓	✗	~55-60 FPS
QuickNES		✓	✓	old3ds users may prefer the standalone virtuanes_3ds which may perform better depending on the game.
PokeMini	Nintendo - Pokemon Mini	✓	✓
Snes9x 2002 (PocketSNES)	Nintendo - SNES / SFC	✓	✗	less compatible than CATSFC, but faster, so can actually run many special chip games at full speed. old3ds users may prefer the continuation of the standalone snes9x_3ds which has better performance, and new 3DS users may also prefer it for SuperFX Chips/Mode 7 games.
Snes9x 2005 (CATSFC)		✓	✗	~55-60 FPS on standard games, ~50 FPS on Super FX games. A bit slower than Snes9x 2002.
Snes9x 2005+ (CATSFC Plus)		✓	✗	Same as Snes9x 2005 but with better sound, at the cost of a few FPS, has more accurate audio, slower
Snes9x 2010 (Snes9x Next)		✓	✗	Most accurate but slowest SNES core (~40 FPS),too slow to use even on New 3DS at present
Beetle VB	Nintendo - Virtual Boy	~	✗	~25-30 FPS n3ds, 7 FPS o3ds. The Red-Viper standalone emulator has much better performance.
Mu	Palm OS	TBD	TBD
Retro8	Pico-8	✓	✓	simple games run fullspeed on o3ds. You might prefer the standalone fake-08 emulator which has better compatibility
PocketCDG	PocketCDG	✓	✓
TyrQuake	Quake	TBD	~	slowdowns everywhere on o3ds even using the. minimal internal resolution, but somewhat playable
vitaQuake 2	Quake II	TBD	TBD
vitaQuake 2 Rogue	Quake II - Ground Zero	TBD	TBD
vitaQuake 2 Xatrix	Quake II - The Reckoning	TBD	TBD
vitaQuake 2 Zaero	Quake II - Zaero	TBD	TBD
XRick	Rick Dangerous	✓	✓
ScummVM	ScummVM	TBD	TBD
SMS Plus GX	Sega - MS/GG	TBD	~	50-60 fps o3ds with noticeable slowdowns
Genesis Plus GX Wide	Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD	TBD	TBD
Genesis Plus GX		✓	✗	Redbook audio hangs when suspending or pausing RetroArch
PicoDrive	Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD/32X	✓	~	2D games run full speed, 3D games run about 30 FPS or less. old3ds users may prefer the standalone picodrive_3ds which has better performance.
Gearsystem	Sega - MS/GG/SG-1000	TBD	✗	~15fps o3ds
X Millennium	Sharp X1	TBD	TBD
EightyOne (81)	Sinclair - ZX 81	TBD	~	~15fps o3ds
FUSE	Sinclair - ZX Spectrum	✓	✓	~60fps. You may prefer the standalone zxds (the 3ds build) which has a way better interface.
NeoCD	SNK - Neo Geo CD	TBD	TBD
Beetle NeoPop	SNK - Neo Geo Pocket / Color	✓	~	Old 3ds 20-30 FPS, Use Race! Instead
Race		TBD	TBD
PCSX ReARMed	Sony - PlayStation	✓	✗	Can go up to ~50-60 FPS n3ds at standard resolution, 20fps o3ds. Later games can have unplayable slowdowns (Gran Turismo 2).
Super Bros. War	Super Bros. War	TBD	TBD
Numero	Texas Instruments TI-83	TBD	TBD
Opera	The 3DO Company - 3DO	✗	✗	~8fps (Technically works but is unplayably slow)
The Powder Toy	The Powder Toy	✗	✗	~5fps o3ds, large slowdowns on n3ds, excessively large resolution for the 3DS's screen.
Theodore	Thomson - MO/TO	✓	✓
TIC-80	TIC-80	TBD	~	~35fps o3ds
Uzem	Uzebox	TBD	✗	~10fps o3ds
VaporSpec	VaporSpec	✓	✓
WASM-4	WASM-4	TBD	~	mixed results for o3ds, from too fast to painfully slow and crashes
Potator	Watara - Supervision	✓	✓
ECWolf	Wolfestein 3D	TBD	~	~15fps o3ds but playable

Using current exploits, the New 3DS is capable of running many of these cores at or nearly at full speed on most games. The older 3DS is less powerful but can still run some cores at full speed, like 2048, Gambatte, QuickNES, NXEngine, and PicoDrive. Opposed to normal use of RetroArch, these are all self-contained emulators, albeit sharing the same automatic configuration. Screenshot-taking is broken. Upon exiting RetroArch 3DS, press the Start button. If you use retroarch via homebrew launcher, in 3dsx format, please notice that some cores crash upon opening without further action. The loaded core, crashing or not, is saved into sd:/retroarch/retroarch-salamander.cfg file which is where retroarch remembers the core to be first loaded. Therefore, if you mistakenly load a problematic crashing core, you won't be able to launch ReteroArch successfully again until you manually delete that file from the sdcard. Alternatively, you can make set it the readonly attribute, while it's still working. Currently, RetroArch has no support for the 3DS's Gyro controls.

RetroArch (unofficial)

Unofficial 3DS builds

New3DS performance

Core	Game/System	Working?	Old 3ds	Notes
Virtual Jaguar	Atari Jaguar	✗	✗	~10fps (Technically works but is unplayably slow)
Yabause	Sega Saturn	✗	✗	~5fps (Technically works but is unplayably slow)

Ultimate 3DS emupack

Name	Latest version	License	Recommended
Ultimate 3DS emupack	git	MIT (Permissive)	✓	✓

Supported Emulators
Nintendo 64 : DaedalusX64 0.2 SNES : Snes9X 1.30 NES : VirtuaNES 1.02 TurboGrafx/PC Engine : TemperPCE 1.02 MasterSystem/MegaDrive/Sega CD/32x : PicoDrive 0.94 CHIP-8 : CHIP-3DS Atari 2600 : z26 3DS GB/GBC : GameYob 1.0.8 GBA : mGBA 0.8.4

Apple

Macintosh and Mac II

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Mini vMac 3DS	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	✓

Mini vMAC 3DS: emulates Macintosh Plus and other early variants, like 128K, 512K, 512Ke, SE, Classic, and SE FDHD. Includes experimental and very slow support for Macintosh II.

Atari inc.

Atari 2600

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Z26 3DS	2.0git	Low	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	~

Atari 5200 / 800

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Atari800 3DS	0.3.10 cia	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓

Atari Lynx

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Handy 3DS	1.1bgit	Mid	zlib License (Permissive)	✗	✓	✓

Commodore

Commodore 64 / 128

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Bread Box	1/06/16	Low-Mid	Proprietary	✗	✓	~
VICE3DS	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓
VICE3DS-C128	0.1	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓ (New3DS)

Commodore Amiga

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
UAE3DS	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	~	✓	~
UAE3DSsng	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	~	?	✗

GCE

Vectrex

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Vex3DS (based on vecx)	0.4git	Mid	?	✗	✓	~

Microsoft

DOS

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
3DOS	1.0	Low	?	✗	✗	✗
DOSBox-3DS	0.0.3	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	?	✗

3DOS
3DOS - Based on 8086tiny. Can only emulate 8086 CPUs.

MSX

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
fMSX3DS	1.4	Mid	MIT (Permissive)	✓	?	✓

NEC

PCE / CD / SuperGrafx

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
TemperPCE for 3DS	git	Mid	?	✗	✓ (New3DS)	✓

PC9801

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
NP2/21 3DS	0.1.3	Mid	?	✗	✓	~

Nintendo

Amiibo

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Wumiibo	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓

Wumiibo
Wumiibo - Emulates Amiibo functionality on the 3DS without needing an NFC reader or using tags. You can even use your own Amiibo data, after it's been decrypted, or a generic AmiiboID which are freely available and explains how to get them on the project page.

DS

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Recommended
DeSmuME	git	Low	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✗
Flashcart	N/A	High	Proprietary	✓	✓
TWiLight Menu++	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓

DeSmuME
DeSmuME - an experimental port of DeSmuME that has since been abandoned, it wasn't very compatible.

Flashcart
Flashcart - not an emulator, but a card you can buy that allows playing DS games from an SD card. Commonly referred to as an "R4", however that is just one brand name of many.

TWiLight Menu++

TWiLight Menu++ - Not technically an "emulator", rather it's a frontend for a separate program, nds-bootstrap, which allows for an NDS ROM to be loaded from an SD card. The program is originally designed for the DSi, however it's able to work on the 3DS by utilizing the virtual DSi (aka the TWL_FIRM or "DS Mode") that the 3DS has for backwards-compatibility. Compatibility isn't the same as using a flashcart, however it's still pretty high with only a few games having issues or triggering anti-piracy protections (newer versions now come with AP patches for most games and will patch them if needed at launch). It also comes pre-bundled with a variety of emulators used on the DS and a work-in-progress GBA hypervisor, GBARunner2, that works to some degree. Compatiblity List. Includes a bunch of popular emulators, and can be found in The list includes: A5200DS - (Atari 5200) A7800DS - (Atari 7800 ProSystem) A8DS - (Atari800XL/XEGS) AmEDS - (Amstrad CPC) ColecoDS - (ColecoVision) CrocoDC - (Amstrad CPC) GameYob - (GB/GBC) GBARunner2 - (GBA) jEnesisDS - (Sega Megadrive/Genesis) nesDS - (NES) NGPDS - (Neo Geo Pocket) Nintellivision - (Intellivision) NitroGrafx - (PC-Engine) NitroSwan - (WonderSwan) PicoDriveTWL - (Genesis/Megadrive) PokeMini - (Pokémon Mini) S8DS - (GG/MS/SG-1000) SNEmulDS - (SNES) StellaDS - (Atari 2600)

DSiWare

Because the firmware that the 3DS uses for backwards-compatibility is actually the same as the DSi, it's possible to inject DSiWare as an installable .cia file.

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Recommended
DSiWare Conversion Script	Script	Mid	?	✗	~
FBI	2.6.1	Native	MIT (Permissive)	✗	✓
GodMode9	git	Native	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓
TWiLight Menu++	git	High	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓

DSiWare Conversion Script
This script can be used to convert .bin files from your DSi's SD card to .nds which can then be used to convert into .cia. These scripts will ONLY work for DSiWare, NOT NDS GAMES.

FBI
Able to install .cia files from the SD card.

GodMode9
Since version 2.0.0 can install DSiWare in both .nds and .cia formats, 3ds.hacks.guide has more information on how to update to the latest version if needed.

TWiLight Menu++

Since v20.0.0 (nds-bootstrap v0.39.0) DSiWare have been supported. DSiWare are run natively, however they're patched to run from and save to the SD card rather than internal NAND which works around the 40 title limit, but occasionally causes bugs resulting in slightly less than perfect compatibility currently. Has an in-game menu (accessible in DSiWare since v24.0.0) that allows for taking screenshots and viewing RAM.

Game Boy / Color

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Cinoop	git2015	Mid	?	✗	✗	✗
GameYob 3DS	1.0.8	Mid	MIT (Permissive)	✗	✓	✓
GnuBoy 3DS	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓
mGBA	git	Mid	MPL 2.0 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓ (New3DS. Old3ds runs well GB but may be slow at GBC)
PlutoBoy	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓ (New3DS)

GameYob
GameYob - forked from a popular emulator used on the DS. Emulates the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The original DS version is actually more polished than the 3DS port, so some of the more hardware pushing games won't work as well as the DS port.

Game Boy Advance

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
CitrAGB (based on gpSP)	1.0git	Low	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✗	✗
GBARunner2	git	Mid	?	✗	✗	~
GBARunner3	git	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
mGBA	git	Mid	MPL 2.0 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	✓ (New3DS is ok except for only a few resource-intensive titles. Old3ds is too slow anyways)

GBARunner2
GBARunner2 - a GBA hypervisor made for the DS(i), can only be ran through TWiLight Menu++ and is included by default with the program (see below). Compatiblity can be a hit-or-miss but isn't that bad.

Native firmware

The 3DS does include native firmware for a GBA mode which was mainly used to run ambassador releases instead of having to develop an emulator for them. Because it's technically running a "virtual" GBA, it can't provide features that are normally available on other emulators, such as savestates, screen filtering, or sleep mode, however it does have high compatibility with the exception of cartridges with special hardware, for example, WarioWare Twisted, which has a gyroscope built in. If you're using an old 3DS/2DS, this is the best option to play GBA games. There are two ways to take advantage of this firmware:

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
New Super Ultimate Injector (NSUI)	Beta 27	Native	Proprietary	✗	✗	✓
open_agb_firm	git	Native	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✗	✓

NSUI

New Super Ultimate Injector - There are other programs that can do injections, but this one is nice as it can do other Virtual Console injections and some forwarders for emulators. The only problem is each ROM must be injected and installed individually, including the save files, which makes the number of titles that can be installed restricted to the max the 3DS title limit (300 titles, not including pre-installed system titles).

Open agb firm

open_agb_firm (Name not finalized) - A custom FIRM payload that takes advantage of the built-in GBA firmware, it's still in early development but has an alpha build available. The major advantages of oaf compared to VC injection is that it performs faster and there aren't any issues with the sound, it utilizes the native hardware (even with VC injection there are issues with the sound, ex.: "Fire Emblem"). It can load the ROM through the SD card instead of having to convert and install them, but needs to be launched on boot instead of being able to use the 3DS HOME Menu (there's ways to make a forwarder for in on the HOME menu, but requires additional setup to get it to work). One major issue is there's a chance that it may not detect the correct save format or will corrupt the existing save file so make sure to backup your saves beforehand (they are currently trying fix it by having a better database for save detection, if you're interested you can help). To install, simply put the .firm file in the /luma/payloads/ folder, hold START and power on to load up the chainloader to launch it. There's no way of exiting out once the program starts, so you will need to turn it off and redo the step to load it if you wanted to change games.

Game & Watch

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Game & Watch 3DS	V1	Low-Mid	Proprietary	✗	~	✗

This is an early core build. GW is already included in the latest retroarch builds, use it instead.

NES

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
3DNES	git0.2	Low-Mid	?	✗	✗	✗
FCEUmm3DS	2015/05/07	Low	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✗	✗
VirtuaNES for 3DS	git	Mid	?	~	✓ (New3DS)	✓

Nintendo 64

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
DaedalusX64 3DS	gitupdated fork	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	~	✗	~

DaedalusX64

DaedalusX64 3DS - The Nintendo 64 has always been known to be a hard system to emulate, which is why many were skeptical about how feasible it would be to have an emulator for the system on the 3DS. While still in early development, it has shown a lot of improvements thanks to using a dynamic recompiler, with some games running at a playable state. Versions before v1.0 also supported using stereoscopic 3D (at the cost of slower performance), which isn't a feature a lot of emulators have.

Pokémon Mini

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
PokeMini 3DS	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	✓

SNES

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
blargSNES	1.4git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓	~
Snes9x for 3DS	git	Mid	Non-commercial	✓	✓ (New3DS)	✓
Snes9x for 3DS Stable Version	1.30	Mid	Non-commercial	✓	✓ (New3DS)	✓

blargSNES
blargSNES - It works well, but lacks compatibility for games that require enhancement chips (SA1, SuperFX, etc.)

SNES9x for 3DS
Snes9x for 3DS - based on snes9x 1.43. Runs a good majority of games well, even on old 3DS/2DS's. It's recommended to use a New 3DS if you want to run games that uses the SuperFX or SA-1 chip If bugs occur, it is recommended to go back to version 1.30 from the bubble2k16 developer

Virtual Boy

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
r3Ddragon	git	Low	Custom Non-commercial MIT	✗	~ (slow)	✗
Red Viper	0.9.6	Mid	Custom Non-commercial MIT	✓	?	✓

r3Ddragon

r3Ddragon - It's kind of surprising that Nintendo never released a Virtual Console for the Virtual Boy on the 3DS, especially given how small the library of games were for the system and how both utilize 3D effects and cause eyestrain. What makes this emulator stand out is the fact that it's able to display the graphics in 3D the way it was intended, something that is almost impossible to do on other platforms; unfortunately, compatibility is low and requires a New 3DS to run. Development has since halted and no longer maintained. The original developer, mrdanielps, now recommends Red Viper on the github repository.

Red Viper
Red Viper - A fork of the old r3Ddragon with improved graphics engine and dynarec. It reaches fullspeed with minor glitches even on old 3DS systems on many games, with the ability to change the normal red colour of the Virtual Boy to a wide variety of others, and adjust the depth of the 3D effect.

Virtual Console Injection

Some have tried injecting alternate ROMs in the available Virtual Console releases (MD, GG, NES, GBA Ambassador, GBC, Japanese emulated SFC compilations) with varying degrees of success. The emulators used for Virtual Console are not as accurate as other emulators so compatibility isn't perfect (the only exception is GBA since it runs it natively, not emulation), Sega systems in particular have high compatibility however.
There's an easy tool that will convert and inject any supported ROM file as its associated VC application called New Super Ultimate Injector. It's an all in one tool and can even remotely install the injection provided your 3DS is connected to the same network. It's currently in beta, but it's still really useful.

SEGA

Name	Latest version	MD/Gen	SMS/GG	32X	CD	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
3DSSMS	0.3	✗	✓	✗	✗	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	~
PicoDrive for 3DS	git	✓	✓	✓	✓	Mid	MAME license (Non-commercial)	✗	✓ (New3DS)	✓

Sinclair

ZX Spectrum

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
3DS Spectrum	0.1	Low-Mid	Proprietary	✗	✓	~
ZXDS 3DS	2.2.2	Mid	Proprietary	✓	✓	✓

SNK Playmore

Neo Geo Pocket / Color

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
NeoPop 3DS	0.2git	Low	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	✗
NeoPop-SDL 3DS	git0.4	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	✓ (New3DS)

Sony

PlayStation

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Recommended
3DStation	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CTRX	git0.9 Alpha	Low	Beerware (Permissive)	✗	✗
PCSX-ReARMed (RetroArch)	Nightly	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	✓ (New 3ds)

PCSX-ReARMed

PCSX-ReARMed (RetroArch) - Thanks to the work of many developers, it is now possible to have full speed 60 FPS emulation for a majority of games and support for .CHD compression formats. Generally, 2D games will perform better than 3D, however you can get some better performance by tweaking the settings if necessary. The nightly builds have seen major improvements since the initial release and can even play some of the more demanding games at full speed (See here for some tips), so it's better to use that until the next stable release. NOTE: This emulator is mainly targeted for the New 3DS models, so don't expect the old 3DS models to run well, if at all.

Uzebox

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Cuzebox 3DS	0.0.1	Low	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	✓	~

Wenquxing

CC800 Simulator

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Sim800CTR	git	Low	?	✗	?	?

Game engines

Name	Latest Version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended	Supported game(s)
ScummVM 3DS	2.8.0	High	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	?	✓	Adventure point and click games, ex. LucasArt games
OpenBOR 3DS	git	Mid	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	✓	✓	✓	Beats of Rage and other beat'em up games in .pak format
MegaZeux	2.93b	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✓	?	✓	Caverns of Zeus and other zzt-like ascii games
CtrµLua 3DS	1.0	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	~	LUA Engine
LÖVE Potion 3DS	git	Mid	MIT (Permissive)	✓	?	~
Lua Player Plus 3DS	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	~
CPyMO	v1.1.9	Mid	AGPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	?	?	PyMO Visual Novel / AVG Game Engine
EasyRPG 3DS	0.8	High	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	?	✓	RPG Maker 2000, 2003 and EasyRPG games
RPG Maker	git	Low	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	✗
OpenLara	git	Mid	BSD-2-Clause (Permissive)	✓	?	~	Tomb Raider 1–4

Source ports

Name	Latest Version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended	Old 3DS	Supported games
Action
C-Dogs3DS	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	✓	✓	Cyberdogs
Minicraft - 3DS Homebrew Edition (original)	git	Low	?	✗	?	✗	✓	Minicraft
Minicraft3DS (fork based on The Multiplayer Update)	git	Low	?	✗	?	?	?	Minicraft
Minicraft3DS - The Multiplayer Update (fork based on the original)	git	Low	?	✗	?	?	?	Minicraft
Action-Adventure
ZeldaOLB	git	?	?	✗	?	?	?	The Legend of Zelda: Oni-Link Begins
ZeldaROTH	git	?	?	✗	?	?	?	The Legend of Zelda: Return of the Hylian
Zelda3T	git	?	?	✗	?	?	?	The Legend of Zelda: Time to Triumph
FPS
ctrDoom2D	git	Low	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	Doom 2D
ctrHexenII	git	Low	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	Hexen II
ctrQuake	git	?	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	✓	✓	Quake
ctrWolfen	git	Low	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny
DXX-3DS	git	Low	Custom (Copyleft)	✗	?	✗	?	Descent, Descent II
EDuke3D	git	Mid	GPLv2 BUILD SOURCE CODE LICENSE	✗	?	✓	?	Duke Nukem 3D
JFShadowWarrior	git	Mid	GPLv2 BUILD SOURCE CODE LICENSE	✗	?	✓	?	Shadow Warrior
PrBoom 3DS	git	?	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	Doom I–II, Final Doom
PrBoom3DS	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	✓	?	Doom I–II, Final Doom
Quake2CTR	git	Mid	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	✓	?	Quake II
Wolf4SDL-3DS	git	Mid	Non-commercial GPLv2	✗	?	✓	?	Wolfenstein 3D
Horror
FNaF 1 3DS -old/obsolete- FNaF 1 3DS -remastered-	0.2.3 0.3.1-pre1	Mid	Proprietary	✗	?	✓	✓	Five Nights at Freddy's
FNaF 2 3DS	beta 1.0	Low	Proprietary	✗	?	✗	~	Five Nights at Freddy's 2
FNaF 3 3DS	beta 0.1.3	Low	Proprietary	✗	?	✗	?	Five Nights at Freddy's 3
FNaF 4 3DS	beta 0.3	?	Proprietary	✗	?	~	?	Five Nights at Freddy's 4
Pinball
SpaceCadetPinball	git	Mid-High	MIT (Permissive)	✓	✓	✓	~	3D Pinball for Windows – Space Cadet
Platform
Abbaye Des Morts 3DS	git	?	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	L'Abbaye Des Mort
Amphetamine	git	?	?	✗	?	?	?	Amphetamine
Cave Story Engine 2	git archive	?	Proprietary[2]	✗	~	✓	?	Cave Story
ccleste	git	Mid	?	✓	?	✓	✓	Celeste Classic
OpenJazz 3DS	git	?	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	~	✓	✓	?	Jazz Jackrabbit
MazeOfGalious-3DS	git	?	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	The Maze of Galious remake
OpenTitus 3DS	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	✓	✓	Titus the Fox/Moktar
Sonic 1 and 2 3DS	git	Mid	Non-commercial	✓	✗	✓	~	Sonic the Hedgehog 1 (2013), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2013)
Sonic CD 2011 3DS	git	Mid	Non-commercial	✓	✗	~	✓(HW)	Sonic the Hedgehog CD (2011)
Sonic CD 2011 3DS Redux	git	Mid	Non-commercial	✓	✗	✓	✓	Sonic the Hedgehog CD (2011)
Sonic Mania 3DS	git	Mid	Non-commercial	✓	✗	~	✗	Sonic Mania (Encore DLC optional but the user must compile the port to access it)
Super Mario 64 Port	gitfix	Mid	?	✓	✓	✓	~	Super Mario 64
Puzzle
Hex-a-Hop	git	?	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	Hex-a-Hop
OpenSupaplex	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	?	✓	?	Supaplex
RPG
DevilutionX	git	Mid	Unlicense (Public domain)	✗	?	✓	~	Diablo, Diablo: Hellfire
Meritous	git	?	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	?	?	?	Meritous
RSC-C	git	?	AGPLv3 (Copyleft)	✓	~	✓	?	RSC Preservation (OpenRSC)
Sandbox
RE3 3DS	wip	Low	?	✗	?	~	✗	Grand Theft Auto III
Visual novel
DDLC-LOVE	git	Mid	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✗	~	✓	✓	Doki Doki Literature Club!

SM64 3DS port

SM64 3DS Port - Thanks to the decompilation project, you can now enjoy SM64 on the 3DS with *analog* support and native rendering (compared to the official DS port). Works pretty much at full speed on the New 3DS, the original model apparently has some slow downs but still playable. You can either build it yourself, or try finding pre-compiled build online (there are multiple versions, you can find some here but it's no longer up-to-date or a more up-to-date version with 3D support here).

Fantasy Computers

CHIP-8

Name	Latest version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Chip-3DS	1.0	Mid	?	✗	✓	~
Chip8-2DS	1.0	Mid	?	✗	✓	~
chip8-3ds	1.0	Mid	?	~	✓	✓
Chip8-CTRU	2014	Mid	?	✗	✓	✗
octochip-8	git	Mid	?	~	✓	~

Pico-8

Name	Latest Version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
Fake-08	git3DS-pico-8	Mid	MIT (Permissive)	✓	✓	✓

TIC-80

Name	Latest Version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
TIC-80	git	Mid	MIT (Permissive)	✓	✓	✓

UXN/Varvara

Name	Latest Version	Accuracy	License	Active	Citra	Recommended
uxnds-3DS	0.5.2	Mid	MIT (Permissive)	✓	✓	✓

See Also

• Emulators on PSP
• Emulators on Switch
• Emulators on Vita

Reality Boy is code is licensed under a Custom Non-commercial license