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The latest git As of version 0.9, melonDS added support for supports GBA connectivity and even added support for the solar sensor on GBA Boktai cartridges used in Boktai DS (Lunar Knight), something DeSmuME has yet to support. Either drag-and-drop the GBA ROM onto the program before starting or open the file before loading the NDS file.
small changes to melonDS' description, mentioned GBA connectivity is supported on the latest version
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|[[Game Boy Advance emulators|GBA]]
! scope="col"|NDS
! scope="col"|[[Nintendo DSiemulators|DSi]]
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
! scope="col"|Active
|[[melonDS]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php {{MelonDSVer}}] [https://github.com/Arisotura/melonDS/actions <br/>Git CI Dev Builds]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|-
|-
|[[mGBA#medusa|medusa]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://mgba.io/downloads.html alpha 2]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || {{✗}}<ref name="medusa suspended"/>||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
|-
|[https://corgids.wordpress.com/ CorgiDS]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/CorgiDS/releases 0.1]<br />[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/CorgiDS SVN]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}<ref>https://corgids.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/extended-break/</ref> ||{{✗}}
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|DOS}}
|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm {{No$GBAVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110225190819/http://neonds.com/ NeonDS]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS Git]
|{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="9"|Mobile / ARM
|[https://github.com/jquesnelle/nds4droid Git]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS NooDS]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS Git]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="9"|Console
|align=left|{{Icon|WiiU}}
|
|{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[[melonDS]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
|[https://github.com/rsduck/melonDS/releases Release 4]<br/>[https://gbatemp.net/downloadthreads/melonds-for-switch-continuation.35201570021/ 0.8.3GBATemp Thread]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS Git]
|{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|}
;[[DeSmuME]]: One of the most developed emulators for regular DS games. DeSmuME has had significant improvements since 2018, though new features are still in development and are only available through either nightly/dev builds. It now uses less CPU/GPU resources, and Wi-Fi is also underway. If you're worried about stability, then stick to the latest stable release. Otherwise, the latest dev builds will have more to offer. (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 rumors have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though this is considered unsubstantiated. At the very least, you shouldn't expect any support from Exophase and company if you use a pirated copy, though it is available for free on the Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie.
;[[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 been progress made in emulating the DSi<ref name="melonDSi">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94</ref><ref name="progress on DSi">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=99&p</ref>, so far it's been able to the latest version can now boot into the firmware and load some DSiWare through the NAND, but full "DSi mode" support for retail games is being developed in a separate branch of the main projectstill unsupported. It could surpass 's on par with DeSmuME when it covers more featuresin terms of compatibility.;[[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$Zoomer hasn't rebased yet but does add options for window resizing. There haven't been any noticeable changes with regards to accuracy, however. As of In v2.8, No$GBA became the first emulator to supports DSi games and is currently the first and only emulator that does, which has been their most notable feature. Only use No$GBA in the cases of for DSi gamesthat don't work on other emulators, debugging (if you've taken up romhacking for DS gamesor homebrew development), if you value speed above everything, or just as a last resort.
;[[mGBA#medusa|medusa]]: [[mGBA]] developer endrift is also creating a DS emulator, but it's very much a work-in-progress and isn't nearly as far as melonDS in terms of the capabilities it's covered. As of March 2018, medusa's development is "suspended until further notice".<ref name="medusa suspended">https://mgba.io/2018/03/09/holy-grail-bugs-revisited/#postscript-a-several-month-late-explanation</ref>
;iDeaS: An abandoned and experimental DS emulator that uses a plug-in system, it's very slow and buggy but has partially gotten some features working like the camera and slide accessories.
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|{{MelonDSVer}}
|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{~✓}} ||{{✓}}<small>(Git)</small>
|-
|[[DeSmuME]]
It's unknown if No$GBA supports this, but it can be done in DeSmuME by going to Config > Slot 2 (GBA Slot) and selecting GBA Cartridge. Select the GBA ROM file, make sure its <code>.sav</code> file is in the same folder. You may need to reset the game for it to take effect.
==Nintendo DSi==
iQue is Nintendo's Chinese subsidiary (previously a partnership between them and Wei Yen until 2013), so when they released the DS with a few localized games, their ROMs had special flags set in them to check if the hardware that ran the cartridge was iQue's or Nintendo's as a sort of region lock. Nintendo's own hardware would fail this check, throwing an "Only for iQue DS" error in white text on a black background. No other DS games have this mechanism; not even for Korean releases. This region lock is bypassed by the 3DS for these DS games, even though 3DS games have their own region lock. It's weird.
Emulators differ in their behavior to this region lock. No$GBA crashes. DeSmuME & MelonDS is accurate to non-can load them. However, for melonDS, you need a [[Emulator Files|Firmware Dump]] from an iQue hardware and DS, otherwise it will replicate the failureregion lock.
The only way the ROM will accept other hardware (and thus emulators) is with a hack, involving a simple byte change. Use a hex editor to change the byte located at <code>0x1D</code> from value <code>80</code> to <code>00</code>.
