Nintendo DS emulators: Difference between revisions

The '''[[wikipedia:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]''' (DS) is a handheld console produced by Nintendo and released on November 21, 2004, and had 2 ARM CPUs (ARM9 and ARM7) with 4 MB of RAM and was priced at {{Inflation|USD|149.99|2004}}. The main selling point was the use of dual screens for gameplay, with one being a touchscreen. It was Nintendo's best selling portable console and best selling hardware overall (154.02 million units), having come close to the [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PlayStation 2]] in lifetime sales (over 160 million units) until officially being surpassed by the Nintendo Switch in early 2026 (155.37 million units). This popularity came as a result of attracting many casual players, and even non-gamers, into the gaming community.

; Remember, certain titles such as [[wikipedia:Category:Nintendo_DSi_games|DSi retail]] and [[wikipedia:List_of_DSiWare_games_and_applications|DSiWare]] games are exclusive to the DSi. Make sure your chosen emulator [[Nintendo DS emulators#Hardware features and peripherals|supports these variations (see "DSi-exclusive features" section)]] if you want to play them.

!libretro core

*<small>[https://nightly.link/melonDS-emu/melonDS/workflows/build-windows/master/melonDS-windows-x86_64.zip Windows]

*[https://nightly.link/melonDS-emu/melonDS/workflows/build-ubuntu/master/melonDS-ubuntu-x86_64.zip Ubuntu]

*[https://nightly.link/melonDS-emu/melonDS/workflows/build-macos-universal/master/macOS-universal.zip macOS-universal]</small>

[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref name="melonDSRA" group="note">The [https://github.com/JesseTG/melonds-ds melonDS DS] libretro core or the standalone version of melonDS is highly recommended over the melonDS libretro core, because it is two versions out of date (still on 0.9.3), and the generation 5 Pokémon are broken. If you turn on C-Gear, after a few minutes you will be unable to save. [https://github.com/libretro/melonDS/issues/179#issuecomment-1407488464 '''You also can't use any wifi features'''] or do in game trades either or the game will freeze.</ref>

<small>(melonDS)</small>

|[[melonDS]] <small>(unofficial)</small>

<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/melonds/ melonds_libretro]</small>

 

[https://github.com/SapphireRhodonite/SeedlessDS/releases SeedlessDS fork]||{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}<ref name="DraStic free" />  

|{{Na}}||{{Na}} ||{{Ya}}<ref group="note">DraStic/[https://github.com/SapphireRhodonite/SeedlessDS/releases SeedlessDS] is recommended for mid/low-end devices (like the Anbernic RG DS) that are not powerful enough to run melonDS-Android/WatermelonDS or the Nintendo DS libretro cores well. DraStic is lightweight, has external screen support, but no RetroAchievements support, and is no longer being updated. The [https://github.com/SapphireRhodonite/SeedlessDS/releases SeedlessDS fork] is based on DraStic r2.6.0.4a, but with a new user interface, RetroAchievements support, and additional features, while being lightweight for mid/low-end devices.</ref>

|<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/desmume/ DeSmuME_libretro]</small>

<small>(nds4ios-derived)</small>

<small>(DeSmuME-based)</small>

<small>(DeSmuME-based)</small>

|[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/folium/id6498623389 App Store] ($)<br>

| align="left" |{{Icon|iOS|iPadOS}}||{{Ya}}  

| ||{{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}  

|<small>[[wikipedia:Virtual_Console#Titles_3|Only for selected titles]]</small>||{{Na}}||{{Dunno}} ||{{Ya}}

|<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/desmume/ DeSmuME_libretro]</small>

<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/melonds/ melonds_libretro]</small>

[https://github.com/rsduck/melonDS/releases git] <small>(Switch)</small>

[https://github.com/Rinnegatamante/melonDS-Vita git]<small>(Vita Port)</small>

[https://github.com/DanielSant0s/melonDS-PS2 git] <small>(PS2 Port)</small>

|?||{{Ya}}||{{Ya}} ||{{WIP-Box}}

|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS git] <small>(Switch/Vita/WiiU)</small>

[https://github.com/Xiro28/NooDS_PSP git] <small>(PSP port)</small>

|?||{{Na}}||{{Na}} ||{{WIP-Box}}

 

: Focuses on speed, and has major compatibility issues and glitches as a result. Because it was initially a GBA emulator, the DS' 3D features are still very poorly handled. '''It is a good option for low-end machines, but don't expect a lot of games to run perfectly'''. A fan program, No$Zoomer, was released for version 2.6, which increases compatibility and options, as well as the titular zooming and resizing abilities. The biggest addition is noise cancellation which clears up static No$GBA makes with its 3D rendering. It doesn't change accuracy though. No$Zoomer never rebased to newer No$GBA versions, and it looks like it was abandoned, so it likely never will. In v2.8, No$GBA became the first emulator to support DSi games, which has been their most notable feature. Only use No$GBA for DSi games that don't work on other emulators, debugging (if you've taken up ROM hacking for DS games or homebrew development), if you value speed above everything, if you're using a potato PC, or just as a last resort.

'''Comparisons of several Nintendo DS emulators:'''

; [[DeSmuME]] <small>([[libretro]])</small>

: Also has the option to increase internal resolution since the [https://github.com/libretro/desmume/commit/5e430dfbc22f9d54c77f291304a38352ee1e5a63 8/8/15 git commit]. It requires a very high-end CPU to run at a reasonable framerate.

; Virtual Console <small>(Wii U)</small>

| colspan="3" |<small>Requires access to the depth buffer and temporal data like motion-vectors, so it is quite challenging and unlikely to be possible soon.</small>

<small>Besides any GPU that can use DLSS can run these emulators at 4K native with ease anyway.</small>

|[[Texture packs#Texture Replacement .283D.29|Texture packs]]||{{WIP-Box|link=https://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=182}}||{{Na}}||{{Na}}

|[[Widescreen hacks#Nintendo DS|Widescreen hack]]

<small>Widescreen is possible thanks to specific codes made by the community for a lot of DS games.</small>

|{{Ya|link=https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/issues/395}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

|[https://blurbusters.com/frame-generation-essentials-interpolation-extrapolation-and-reprojection/ Frame generation technologies]

| colspan="3" |<small>Implementing frame generation technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be possible soon however post-processing techniques such as [[wikipedia:Motion_interpolation|motion interpolation]] is quite possible. [[Input lag|Input latency]] will be a crucial factor, but its impact likely varies depending on the specific technique used, it is recommended to use '''after applying the "Internal Framerate Hack"'''.</small>

<small>While '''AFMF''' or '''LSFG''' could be used with melonDS or DeSmuME?, please be aware some visual glitches and artifacts may occur at this time.</small>

|[[wikipedia:Category:Anti-aliasing_algorithms|Post-rendering anti-aliasing]]

|{{~}}<br><small>Only possible with software renderer.</small>||{{Dunno}}||{{~}}<br><small>Supports MSAA but there is no post-rendering AA technique supported.</small>

|[[wikipedia:Comparison_gallery_of_image_scaling_algorithms|Post-rendering scaling]]

<small>(Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and [[wikipedia:GPUOpen#FidelityFX_Super_Resolution|FSR 1]])</small>

|{{Ya}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}

|[[Frontends#Graphical User Interfaces .28GUIs.29|Big Picture Mode]]||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

|[https://www.portablefreeware.com/faq.php#portable Portable] and [https://www.portablefreeware.com/faq.php#stealth stealth]

<small>Useful enhancement feature for non-personal computer use or plug-and-play scenarios. However, the software may still require the necessary [[Computer specifications#Operating System|prerequisites and dependencies]] for your operating system if it is not statically linked.</small>

|{{Ya}}||{{Ya}}||{{Dunno}}

|Frame step

|{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

|[[wikipedia:Macro_(computer_science)|Macros/Scripts]]/[https://tasvideos.org/LuaScripting Lua]||{{WIP-Box|link=https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/pull/1671}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}

|[[Sound and audio#Audio filters and presets|Audio filters and presets]]

|[[wikipedia:Category:Debugging|Debug features]]||{{Na|link=https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/issues/249}}||{{Na}}||{{Ya}}

|Free Look

|{{Na}}||{{Na}}||{{WIP-Box}}<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/9lwy0r/desmume_begins_to_implement_a_freelook_feature/<br>https://windwakr.github.io/miscstuff.html</ref>

|Rich Presence (RPC)

|{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

|Screen translator

| rowspan="17" |Hardware features

| rowspan="24" |Peripherals

| rowspan="15" |Slot 2

| colspan="2" |Sega Card Reader

<small>Barcode reader for ''Oshare Majo Love and Berry: DS Collection''.</small>

|{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Ya}}<br><small>Supported in the latest nightly builds, on Windows only.</small>||{{Ya}}

| colspan="2" |[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art39.html Wantame Card Scanner]

<small>The scanner is actually not a Slot 2 device, despite its appearances. The pins used for the GBA slot don't really connect to anything inside the scanner; there's no real circuitry attached. Instead, the WCS outputs data through a small cable that plugs into the DS' microphone slot.</small>

|{{Na}}||{{Na}}||{{Na}}||{{Ya}}

| colspan="3" |[[wikipedia:Hot_swapping#Gaming|Cartridge hot swapping]]

<small>It was sometimes possible to apply cheats (such as a player having infinite lives) and other temporary software alterations to games by hot swapping cartridges, even though the cartridges were not designed to be hot swappable.</small>

|{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}||{{Dunno}}

| colspan="3" |[http://www.https://ghtyguru.com/Wiki/index.php?title=Cartridge_tilting Cartridge tilting]

<small>Cartridge tilting is an action performed on cartridge-based systems to create otherwise impossible glitches. Cartridge tilting is not a glitch, but rather the process which creates glitches.</small><ref name="Tilt">{{YouTubePlaylist|PLkAqx5EV7l_DkwOv4WmVEBLv39WPEUm3d|Cart Tilt Showcase Playlist}}<br><small>[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/925329-nintendo-ds/71009293 DS example]</small></ref>

| colspan="4" |<small>There is no emulator currently includes built-in cartridge tilting simulation. As a workaround, you can try the external [https://github.com/redscientistlabs/RTCV Real-Time Corruptor (RTCV)] tool. It is a real-time memory/data corruption tool for inducing glitches during emulation, which might mimic some effects of cartridge tilting (e.g., visual/audio artifacts or crashes). However, it is not a true "cartridge tilting" simulator, as it works on live memory rather than simulating cartridge read errors.</small>

* '''Local wireless communications''' - ''(Multiple cartridges)''

* '''DS Download Play''' - ''(Single cartridge)''

* '''Wi-Fi Connection''' - ''(Online multiplayer)''

* '''DS/Wii connectivity'''

* '''GBA/DS connectivity'''

Download Play is supported by melonDS. Like with local multiplayer, it is very hit-and-miss, but unlocking the framerate helps. melonDS will often fail during the download process, but some games actually go as far as booting and sometimes in-game as well.

: Bundled with "Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure" (JP/EU/AU). The game refuses to boot without a keyboard, but it can be run on emulators with an anti-piracy fix and another DeSmuME-specific save bug fix. There is also [http://pokemonlog.com/pokemon-fuligin-download-rom/ a pre-patched ROM.] While it is playable using the on-screen keyboard on the lower screen, the keyboard isn't emulated. There is [https://github.com/AnimeCommander/Learn.With.Pokemon-Typing-Adventure.lua/blob/master/Pok%C3%A9mon%20Typing%20DS%20Keyboard%20Script.lua a Lua script] that permits using the actual keyboard by mapping presses of the actual keyboard to taps of the virtual Touch Screen. However, you will need to blank out all the control/hotkey bindings of DeSmuME if you're going to play this game, because some of the keyboard keys also activate some controls; otherwise, pressing the Q key would also pause the game, given one example. A recommendation would be to have a separate copy of 32-bit DeSMuMe, which purpose is playing *only* this game. In that copy, place the patched ROM, the Lua script, and a 32-bit version of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/luabinaries/files/5.1.5/Windows%20Libraries/Dynamic/ lua51.dll.] (The platform used in building the <code>.dll</code> shouldn't matter.) Even then, not only is the emulated workaround a little slow, but saving is still broken. Use savestates instead.

Certain games, such as American Girl titles (e.g., ''Julie Finds a Way'' and ''Kit Mystery Challenge''), suffer from severe flickering issues which keep those games from being playable on most emulators. [[DraStic]] was the first emulator able to run the two games properly, and while DeSmuME r5043 had an initial fix that worked around the glitch, it was removed in later revisions as it broke compatibility with ''Pokémon SoulSilver'', among others; this has since been patched on r5531 once the true nature of the [https://sourceforge.net/p/desmume/bugs/1134/ bug] was better understood. The fix would be later incorporated into other emulators. ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat'' suffers from flickering and slowdown due to the way it loads sprites, though it isn't as serious in DraStic. ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance'' is an even more egregious example, crashing due to timing differences between actual hardware and an emulated system.

{{Infobox console

|title=Nintendo DSi

|image=DSiBlack.png

|caption=A black Nintendo DSi console

|manufacturer=Nintendo

|type=Handheld game console

|generation=Seventh

|released='''Nintendo DSi''':<br>

JP: November 1, 2008<br>

|discontinued=Yes; date undisclosed

|predecessor=Game Boy Advance

|successor=Nintendo 3DS

|emulated={{Ya}}

Released on April 5, 2009, the '''[[wikipedia:Nintendo DSi|Nintendo DSi]]''' added new lighting effects, an inner and outer 0.3 megapixel digital cameras, 16MB of RAM (compared to the previous 4MB of RAM), a faster ARM9 CPU clocked at 133 MHz, and offered downloadable titles called "DSiWare". It costs {{Inflation|USD|169.99|2009}} at launch and later dropped to {{Inflation|USD|149.99|2010}}. The system, however, was region-locked, meaning DSi exclusives from different regions couldn't be used. It also did away with backwards-compatibility by removing Slot-2, which was used to load GBA cartridges and certain accessories (such as the Rumble Pak).

: A regular game cartridge that is compatible with the older NDS models, but unlocks more RAM and features when used on the DSi (commonly it is just camera support, but may provide better performance with the extra RAM). Only a [http://www.rfgeneration.com/blogs/pdrydia/DSi-enhanced-titles-an-incomplete-list-1969.php couple of games] had this feature and it's similar to how some late Game Boy Color games (mainly the ones made by Capcom or WayForward in the early 2000s) would offer additional feature if played on the Game Boy Advance. These games will still boot on any NDS emulators, but will be detected as if it was on the original DS and will not load any DSi enhancements. DSi-enhanced games will also have an animated icon when displayed in the boot menu of the DSi, and the titleID on the cartridge will say '''TWL''' instead of '''NTR'''.

: Downloadable titles only available through the DSi Shop (discontinued as of March 31, 2017). They have a 16MB size limitation due to the small size of the internal NAND and a lot of interesting exclusives for the system were released as DSiWare. The Nintendo 3DS eShop also had some DSiWare for purchase (which used to be the only ''legal'' way of getting them), though it uses a different file packaging format than the DSi. The 3DS itself is also capable of running other DSiWare since the firmware used for backwards-compatibility is the same as the DSi.

It is also advised (but still completely '''optional''') to use a NAND dump for No$GBA to increase compatibility; however, a NAND dump is required to use melonDS.

* ''Microphone doesn't work.'' (DSiWare + any method) No known fix.

* ''Camera doesn't work.'' (DSiWare + any method) Unimplemented. No known fix.

* ''Wi-Fi doesn't work.'' Unimplemented.

* ''Touch Screen issues related to Screen Calibration'' (DSiWare + [[TWiLight Menu++]] or simple nds loading) The fix is to load the original DSi Home Menu first (holding B when resetting the emulator or loading it), then reset to TWiLight Menu++ (not holding any buttons) before loading the desired game.

* ''Can't Save'' (DSiWare + simple nds loading) This method is hardware inaccurate to begin with. For best results, switch to [[TWiLight Menu++]] or Original NAND methods.