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;[[melonDS]]: Arisotura's goal is to make an emulator that's better optimized and includes features that others lack, either intentionally or not. While the developers of No$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first, melonDS is the first and only emulator that's gotten as far as it has and it has been found to work reasonably well with a handful of games. There's also hope that melonDS will implement DSi emulation in the future<ref name="next direction for melonDS">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=47&b=15</ref>, though not much has been mentioned since and probably won't be added in until much later in development if ever. It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more features and supports more games.
'''List of recommended Nintendo DS emulators for Android:'''
* [https://www.androidauthority.com/best-nintendo-ds-emulator-for-android-368440/ 5 best Nintendo DS emulators for Android] (SEPTEMBER 1, 2018. Includes some emulators not found in above charts. Reviews may be subjective.)
→Local Multiplayer, Wi-Fi Connection, and Wii/DS Connection: - expanded explanations
|Windows, Linux
|[http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php {{MelonDSVer}}]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>
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|[[DeSmuME#Graphical_Enhancement|DeSmuME X432R]]
|-
|[[GBE+]]
|Windows, Linux, macOS (untested)
|[https://github.com/shonumi/gbe-plus/releases {{GBEVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|[http://www.emulator-zone.com/files/emulators/nds/ideas/ideas1040.7z 1.0.4.0]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS NooDS]
|Windows, Linux
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS Git]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
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!colspan="9"|Console
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|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
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|[[melonDS]]
|Switch
|[https://gbatemp.net/download/melonds-for-switch.35201/ 0.7.4-2]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS NooDS]
|Switch
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS Git]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="9"|Mobile
|[[DraStic]]
|[[Android emulators|Android]], Pandora,<br />Linux <small>(Raspberry Pi)</small>
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsemu.drastic 2.5.1.2a{{DraSticVer}}]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
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===Comparisons===
;[[DeSmuME]]: One of the most developed emulators for regular DS games. DeSmuME has had significant improvements since 2018, including lower CPU/GPU Usage, updated to use VS2015, and potentially reopen wi-fi/multiplayer capabilities. Unfortunately, these though new features are still in development and are only available through either nightly/dev builds. It now uses less CPU/GPU resources, meaning thereand Wi-Fi is also underway. If you's a <i>slight</i> chance of problemsre worried about stability, then stick to the latest stable release. This emulator aims for accuracy over speedOtherwise, the latest dev builds will have more to offer. (see See [[Common Problems and Solutions]] for tips.);[[DraStic]]: A payware, closed-source emulator for [[Android emulators|Android]] devices that can run games at a decent speed even on potato phones. It's on par with (or in some cases better than) DeSmuME, and emulating it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Some unsubstantiated rumours rumors have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though at this is considered unsubstantiated. At the very least, donyou shouldn't expect any support from exophase Exophase and company if you get your hands on use a pirated copy, though it is available for free on the Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie. It;[[melonDS]]: Arisotura's goal is to make an emulator that's on par better optimized and includes features that others lack, either intentionally or better than DeSmuMEnot. While the developers of No$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first, melonDS is the first and emulating only emulator that's gotten as far as it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable has and fast alternative aside from it has been found to work reasonably well with a slight input delayhandful of games. Available There's also hope that melonDS will implement DSi emulation in the future,<ref name="next direction for free on Raspberry Pi melonDS">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=47&b=15</ref> and Odroid via RetroPiehas recently began attempts at booting the DSi's firmware.<ref name="melonDSi">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94</ref> It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more features.
;[[No$|No$GBA]]: Focuses on speed, and has major compatibility issues and glitches as a result. But because it was originally a GBA emulator, the DS's 3D features are still very poorly handled. However, it might be an option for a very low-end machine but don't expect a lot of games to run perfectly, or at all. A fan program, No$Zoomer, was released for version 2.6 which increases compatibility and options, as well as the titular zooming abilities. The biggest addition is noise cancellation which clears up static that No$GBA makes with its 3D rendering. No$Zoomer hasn't rebased yet but does add options for window resizing. There haven't been any noticeable changes with regards to accuracy, however. As of v2.8, No$GBA supports DSi games and is currently the first and only emulator that does. Only use No$GBA in the cases of DSi games, debugging (if you've taken up romhacking for DS games), if you value speed above everything, or just as a last resort.
;[[mGBA#medusa|medusa]]: [[mGBA]] developer endrift is also creating a DS emulator, but it's very much a work-in-progress and isn't nearly as far as melonDS in terms of the capabilities it's covered. As of March 2018, medusa's development is "suspended until further notice".<ref name="medusa suspended">https://mgba.io/2018/03/09/holy-grail-bugs-revisited/#postscript-a-several-month-late-explanation</ref>
;iDeaS: An abandoned and experimental DS emulator that uses a plug-in system, it's very slow and buggy but has partially gotten some features working like the camera and slide accessories.
;[[Ensata]]: Nintendo's official DS emulator that was leaked to the public. It's not very usable or compatible but it can run a few games.
===High Resolution===
;melonDS: Has added support for OpenGL renderer and upscaling as of version 0.8.<ref name="melondsopengl">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=90</ref> The renderer is much faster than DeSmuME's and supports increasing the internal resolution up to 8x native resolution. More features such as texture filtering are planned.
;DeSmuME X432R:A fork of DeSmuME, that has many more graphical enhancement such as an option to increase internal resolution and use MSAA, the devs of DeSmuME have included an option for increased internal resolution and X432R is outdated. See the [[DeSmuME]] page for more details.
;DeSmuME <small>([[libretro]])</small>:Also has an option to increase internal resolution since [https://github.com/libretro/desmume/commit/5e430dfbc22f9d54c77f291304a38352ee1e5a63 August 8, 2015 git commit]. It requires a very high-end CPU to run at a reasonable framerate.
==Connectivity==
===Local Multiplayer, Wi-Fi Connection, and Wii/DS Connection===
The DS offers four types of wireless communications:* '''Local Multiplayer is not supported by any emulatorWireless Communication''' (Multiple cartridges) - Players who have a copy of the same game can link together using the DS's wireless signals, given that the game offers this feature. melonDS supports wireless communication with several games, including ''New Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Pokemon'', but you need to have multiple instances opened which can slow down performance. No$GBA can emulate it but the connection fails somewhere during establishing the actual connection (despite the names from the other DS showing just fine). * '''DS Download Play''' (Single cartridge) - Players who both have DS's but only one copy of a game can use the "Download Play" button on the start menu to play together with one player using the actually game, while the other plays using a "downloaded" version of it. Normally they are simple mini-games or stripped down versions of the main game, but some games like ''Mario Party DS'' requires Download Play in order to use its multiplayer. This was also used by some retailers in which a kiosk would contained several DS's with a special cartridges would use Download Play to offer downloadable demos. Download Play isn't supported by any emulator so far, though NDS-bootstrap homebrew on the Nintendo 3DS can boot some of them.MelonDS fails during the download process though some actually go as far as booting, but never to the actual "game" * '''Nintendo WFC Wi-Fi Connection''' (Online Multiplayermultiplayer) - Nintendo's online service that was available for the Wii and DS and was free to use. It was shutdown on May 20, 2014 due to the company GameSpy, which was the company that was successfully emulated with managing these servers, shutdown its multiplayer services after being bought out. A popular game that used this feature was ''Mario Kart DS''. There was a third-party DeSmuME forks that successfully emulated WFC but has quite a bit of requirement (Ethernet cable, though this can be circumvented with external software). After service shutdown, there was a version compatible with the fan servers (restoring all DLC data but sadly most multiplayer games had their content lost forever). melonDS is one of the only emulators to offer wi-fi capabilities. <!--can melonDS connect to any fan servers?--> It's still a work-in-progress, but it works relatively well. * '''DS/Wii connection isnConnectivity''' - It uses the DS't emulated in any capacitys wireless communication to connect to the Wii. Only a handful of games actually have this feature. Some notable examples are ''Pokémon Pokemon Battle Revolution'' playability is very limited in which players could transfer their Pokemon to the game and use the DS as a controller, ''Animal Crossing: City Folk'' in which data could be transferred between the DS version ''Animal Crossing: Wild World'', and the ''Nintendo Channel'' on the Wii where players could download demos of DS games to their console using Download Play. So far, no emulator has been able to emulate this feature, nor have attempted to, and considering that the GBA/GCN connectivity on Dolphin has yet to fully functions, hints that this wayfeature won't be emulated for a while.
These features are not supported by the mainline DeSmuME project in particular due to timing inaccuracies and ''creative differences'', and it's highly unlikely they will ever be included in the future. If you're interested in these features, follow other projects and refrain from contacting the developers about them as per their wishes in their "official stance" on Wi-Fi features in general.
|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm 2.9b]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[[melonDS|melonDS]]
|Windows, Linux
|alpha
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}} <small>([http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94 WIP])</small>
|}
DSi used an encryption system for the game dumps that went on to be enhanced and used for the 3DS. This encryption is checked at start-up, hence why Nintendo DS emulators don't even manage to boot DSiWare dumps. It's very unlikely DSi-mode emulation is ever going to be implemented in DeSmuME in particular due to various ''creative differences'' unique to that project.
melonDS recently started attempts at DSi emulation and has been able to boot its firmware<ref>
http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94</ref>. It's being worked on off an experimental branch and requires a lot of files to be dumped from the DSi in order to work. Most of it is being done using the documentation that the No$GBA devs have already compiled on the subject.
===BIOS Files===
