Nintendo Wii U

Developer	Nintendo
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Eighth generation
Release date	2012
Discontinued	2017
Predecessor	Wii
Successor	Nintendo Switch
Emulated	✓

For software that emulates the Wii U, see Wii U emulators.

Emulators via vWii

Most emulators available for the Wii will also work on vWii (virtual Wii) mode on the Wii U, and some of them even support the Wii U Pro Controller or the Wii U Gamepad. However, due to sandboxing, there won't be any performance gains compared to running those emulators bare-metal on a Wii.

The most interesting emulator, really hypervisor, is Nintendont, for GameCube gaming. You can run it directly in vwii HBC, or through a wii usb loader like ulgx or wiiflow as a frontend.

Multi-system

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
RetroArch	1.18.0	✓	✓	✓
Virtual Console	N/A	✗	✗	✓

Please notice that Retroarch isn't currently compatible with the Aroma custom firmware. In order to run Retroarch, you will have to boot a legacy cfw like tiramisu, haxchi or mocha.

RetroArch

Available cores
Cores	Game/System	Recommended
81_libretro	Sinclair ZX 81	TBD
2048_libretro	Game	✓
arduous_libretro	Arduboy	TBD
atari800_libretro	Atari 5200	✓
bk_libretro	BK-0010/BK-0011(M)/Terak 8510-a	TBD
bluemsx_libretro	MSX/SVI/ColecoVision/SG-1000	~
cannonball_libretro	Game engine	TBD
cap32_libretro	Amstrad CPC	TBD
crocods_libretro	Amstrad CPC	TBD
dosbox_svn_libretro	DOS	TBD
ecwolf_libretro	Game engine	TBD
fbalpha2012_libretro	Arcade/Console/various	TBD
fbalpha2012_cps1_libretro	CPS-1	TBD
fbalpha2012_cps2_libretro	CPS-2	TBD
fbalpha2012_cps3_libretro	CPS-3	TBD
fbalpha2012_neogeo_libretro	Neo Geo	TBD
fbneo_libretro	Arcade/Console/various	✓
fceumm_libretro	Nintendo NES/Famicom	✓
fixgb_libretro	Game Boy/Color	✓
fixnes_libretro	Nintendo NES/Famicom	✓
fmsx_libretro	MSX/MSX2/MSX2+	✓
freechaf_libretro	Fairchild ChannelF	TBD
freeintv_libretro	Mattel Intellivision	✓
frodo_libretro	Commodore C64	TBD
fuse_libretro	Sinclair ZX Spectrum	✓
gambatte_libretro	Game Boy/Color	✓
gearboy_libretro	Game Boy/Color	✓
gearcoleco_libretro	Coleco ColecoVision	TBD
gearsystem_libretro	Sega MS/GG/SG-1000	✓
genesis_plus_gx_libretro	Sega MS/GG/MD/CD	✓
genesis_plus_gx_wide_libretro	Sega MS/GG/MD/CD	✓
gme_libretro	Music player	TBD
gong_libretro	Game	✓
gpsp_libretro	Game Boy Advance	✓
gw_libretro	Handheld Electronic	TBD
handy_libretro	Atari Lynx	TBD
hatari_libretro	Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon	TBD
jaxe_libretro	CHIP-8/S-CHIP/XO-CHIP	TBD
jumpnbump_libretro	Game engine	TBD
lowresnx_libretro	Game engine	TBD
lutro_libretro	Game engine	TBD
mame2000_libretro	Arcade/Console/various	TBD
mame2003_libretro	Arcade/Console/various	TBD
mame2003_midway_libretro	Arcade/Console/various	TBD
mame2003_plus_libretro	Arcade/Console/various	TBD
mednafen_lynx_libretro	Atari Lynx	✓
mednafen_ngp_libretro	Neo Geo Pocket/Color	✓
mednafen_pce_libretro	NEC PC Engine/SuperGrafx/CD	✓
mednafen_pce_fast_libretro	NEC PC Engine/CD	✓
mednafen_supergrafx_libretro	NEC PC Engine/SuperGrafx	✓
mednafen_vb_libretro	Nintendo Virtual Boy	✓
mednafen_wswan_libretro	Bandai WonderSwan/Color	TBD
mgba_libretro	Game Boy Advance	✓
minivmac_libretro	Mac II	TBD
mu_libretro	Palm OS	TBD
nekop2_libretro	NEC PC-98	~
neocd_libretro	Neo Geo CD	✓
nestopia_libretro	Nintendo NES/Famicom	✓
np2kai_libretro	NEC PC-98	✓ slowdown but best PC98 core
numero_libretro	TI-83	TBD
nxengine_libretro	Game engine	TBD
o2em_libretro	Magnavox Odyssey2/Phillips Videopac+	TBD
oberon_libretro	Oberon RISC machine	TBD
pcsx_rearmed_libretro	Sony PlayStation	TBD
picodrive_libretro	Sega MS/GG/MD/CD/32X	✗ (crash)
pocketcdg_libretro	Karaoke player	TBD
pokemini_libretro	Nintendo Pokemon Mini	TBD
prboom_libretro	Game engine	TBD
prosystem_libretro	Atari 7800	TBD
puae_libretro	Commodore Amiga	TBD
puae2021_libretro	Commodore Amiga	TBD
quasi88_libretro	NEC PC-8000/PC-8800 series	TBD
quicknes_libretro	Nintendo NES/Famicom	TBD
race_libretro	Neo Geo Pocket/Color	✗ (crash)
reminiscence_libretro	Game engine	TBD
retro8_libretro	Game engine	TBD
sameboy_libretro	Game Boy/Color	✓
scummvm_libretro	Game engine	TBD
snes9x_libretro	Nintendo SNES/SFC	✓
snes9x2002_libretro	Nintendo SNES/SFC	~
snes9x2005_libretro	Nintendo SNES/SFC	✓
snes9x2005_plus_libretro	Nintendo SNES/SFC	✓
snes9x2010_libretro	Nintendo SNES/SFC	✓
squirreljme_libretro	Java ME	TBD
stella2014_libretro	Atari 2600	✓
superbroswar_libretro	Game engine	TBD
tgbdual_libretro	Game Boy/Color	✗ (white screen)
theodore_libretro	Thomson MO/TO	TBD
tic80_libretro	Game engine	TBD
tyrquake_libretro	Game engine	TBD
uw8_libretro	MicroW8	TBD
uzem_libretro	Uzebox	TBD
vaporspec_libretro	Game engine	TBD
vba_m_libretro	Game Boy Advance	~
vba_next_libretro	Game Boy Advance	~
vecx_libretro	Vectrex	TBD
vice_x128_libretro	Commodore C128	TBD
vice_x64_libretro	Commodore C64	TBD
vice_x64sc_libretro	Commodore C64	✓
vice_xcbm2_libretro	Commodore CBM-II 6x0/7x0	TBD
vice_xcbm5x0_libretro	Commodore CBM-II 5x0	TBD
vice_xpet_libretro	Commodore PET	TBD
vice_xplus4_libretro	Commodore Plus/4	TBD
vice_xscpu64_libretro	Commodore C64 SuperCPU	TBD
vice_xvic_libretro	Commodore VIC-20	TBD
vitaquake2_libretro	Game engine	TBD
vitaquake2-rogue_libretro	Game engine	TBD
vitaquake2-xatrix_libretro	Game engine	TBD
vitaquake2-zaero_libretro	Game engine	TBD
wasm4_libretro	Game engine	TBD
x1_libretro	Sharp X1	TBD
xrick_libretro	Game engine	TBD

Nintendo

NES

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
Heritage (internal emulator for NES Remix)	Heri2	✗	✗	✓
LiteNESU	0.0.0-preR2	✓	✗	✗

Game Boy

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
gacubeboy	1337 9000	✗	✗	~
GBiine	0.2b	✗	✗	~

Pokémon Mini

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
Libretro PokeMini (PokeMini port by rw-r-r_0644)	0.01	✓	✗	✗
PokeMiniU (PokeMini port by shutterbug2000)	2.2	✗	✗	~

Sony

PSP

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
PPSSPP	1.5.x	?	✗	✓

Commodore

Commodore 64

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
YAPE 4 U	0.70.2	✓	✗	✓

Source ports

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended	Supported games
Cave Story Engine 2	git archive	✗^[1]	✗^{[N 1]}	✓	Cave Story
Crispy Doom U	git	?	✗	✓	Doom I–II, Final Doom
Ship of Harkinian	8.0.4^{[N 2]} Nightly build	✓	✓	✓	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (any PAL version)^{[N 3]}
Sonic Mania Wii U	git	✓	✓	✓^{[N 4]}	Sonic Mania (Plus)
SpaceCadetPinball	git	✓	✗	✓	3D Pinball for Windows – Space Cadet
Super Mario 64 Port	git	✓	✗	✓	Super Mario 64

↑ Cave Story Engine 2, or CSE2 for short, received a DMCA cease and desist notice from Nicalis, the current IP owner of Cave Story, despite the original Cave Story being a freeware developed by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya.
↑ Since the Wii U version of Ship of Harkinian is ported by a different developer (Wii U port developed by GaryOderNichts), it may not always be updated alongside the mainstream ports (Windows, macOS, Linux/Steam Deck, Switch) of Ship of Harkinian, may be due to incompatibility issues in certain updates. Since v6.1.2, the Wii U port was absent for v7.0.0, v7.0.1, and v7.0.2 releases, but returned in v7.1.0 after various fixes were made.
↑ As of v8.0.0, Ship of Harkinian supports any PAL ROM of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64 or GameCube (SoH Compatibility Checker to check if your ROM is supported). Launch the PC version and located the ROM to generate an oot.otr file to place in the soh Wii U app folder. Additionally and optionally, you can load the PAL version of the Master Quest version in the PC version to create an oot-mq.otr to add another game mode.
↑ This unofficial Wii U port of the Sonia Mania Decompilation project plays and loads great. Some frames will drop during giant ring special stages when too many 3D assets appear on the screen but performance is arguably bearable. Missing features as of v1.0.3 include screen filters, the 'DLC' option in the main menu doesn't do anything (but 'Encore Mode' works when dlcEnabled is set to y in Settings.ini) and limited mod support.

Other

CHIP-8

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
CHIP8 Emulator	2.2	✓	✗	✓

PICO-8

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
fake-8	git	✓	✗	✓

Centipede Arcade

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
Centipede Wii U	20160128	✓	✗	✓

[1] Cave Story Engine 2, or CSE2 for short, received a DMCA cease and desist notice from Nicalis, the current IP owner of Cave Story, despite the original Cave Story being a freeware developed by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya.

[2] Since the Wii U version of Ship of Harkinian is ported by a different developer (Wii U port developed by GaryOderNichts), it may not always be updated alongside the mainstream ports (Windows, macOS, Linux/Steam Deck, Switch) of Ship of Harkinian, may be due to incompatibility issues in certain updates. Since v6.1.2, the Wii U port was absent for v7.0.0, v7.0.1, and v7.0.2 releases, but returned in v7.1.0 after various fixes were made.

[3] As of v8.0.0, Ship of Harkinian supports any PAL ROM of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64 or GameCube (SoH Compatibility Checker to check if your ROM is supported). Launch the PC version and located the ROM to generate an oot.otr file to place in the soh Wii U app folder. Additionally and optionally, you can load the PAL version of the Master Quest version in the PC version to create an oot-mq.otr to add another game mode.

[4] This unofficial Wii U port of the Sonia Mania Decompilation project plays and loads great. Some frames will drop during giant ring special stages when too many 3D assets appear on the screen but performance is arguably bearable. Missing features as of v1.0.3 include screen filters, the 'DLC' option in the main menu doesn't do anything (but 'Encore Mode' works when dlcEnabled is set to y in Settings.ini) and limited mod support.

[N 1]

[N 2]

[N 3]

[N 4]

Emulators on Wii U

Contents

Emulators via vWii

Multi-system

RetroArch

Nintendo

NES

Game Boy

Pokémon Mini

Sony

PSP

Commodore

Commodore 64

Source ports

Other

CHIP-8

PICO-8

Centipede Arcade

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

Navigation

Tools

Advertisements