Changes

|type = [[:Category:ConsolesHandheld consoles|Handheld game console]]

|successor = [[Nintendo 3DS DSi emulators|Nintendo 3DSDSi]]

 {{for|other emulators that run on NDS hardware|Emulators on DS}}  The '''[[gametechwikipedia:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]''' (NDS) is a handheld console produced by Nintendo on November 21, 2004 , and had 2 ARM CPUs (ARM9 and ARM7) with 4MB 4 MBs of RAM. The main selling point was the use of dual screens for gameplay, with one being a touchscreen. It is the only console to have come close to the [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PlayStation 2]] in lifetime sales (154.02 million units), as a result of attracting a large amount number of casual players, and even non-gamers, into the gaming community.

! scope="col"|Operating SystemPlatform(s)

! scope="col"|<abbr title="The Nintendo DS is backward compatible with Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges. On top of that inserting a GBA cartridge in the Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features for several DS games, GBA/DS connectivity section for more information about this.">[https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Game_Boy_Advance_emulators GBA]</abbr>! scope="col"|NDS[[Nintendo DSi emulators|DSi]]! scope="col"|DSi[[#DS/Wii connectivity|DS<br/>to<br/>Wii]]! scope="col"|[[#Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection|Wi-Fi/WFC]]! scope="col"|[[#DS Download Play|Download<br/>Play]]! scope="col"|[[libretro#Local wireless communication|Local]]! scope="col"|<small>[https://retroachievements.org/gameList.php?c=18 Retro<br/>Achievements]</small>! scope="col"|[[Libretro Core]]! scope="col"|[[Texture_packs#Texture_Replacement (3D)|<small>Texture<br/>Replacement</small>]]</abbr>! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>

! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulatorsemulators|Recommended]]

!colspan="916"|PC/ x86|-|[[melonDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}|[http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php {{MelonDSVer}}] [https://github.com/Arisotura/melonDS/actions <br/>Dev Builds]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group=N name=melonDSRA>melonDS libretro core two versions out of date (still on 0.9.3), and the generation 5 Pokemons are broken. If you turn on C-Gear, after a few minutes you'll 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>|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection>[https://melonds.kuribo64.net/board/thread.php?id=1229 melonDS] and DeSmuME are not support backwards compatibility but supports [[#GBA/DS connectivity|GBA to DS connectivity]].</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}[https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/issues/1000 *] ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=WFCAlt>Possible with [https://wiimmfi.de/ Wimmfi], [https://kaeru.world/projects/wfc Kaeru] or [https://github.com/barronwaffles/dwc_network_server_emulator/wiki AltWFC/DWC].<br /> [https://melonds.kuribo64.net/board/thread.php?id=285 Tutorial: How to Connect to WFC in MelonDS]</ref> ||{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrRA>Only possible with libretro core. [https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/issues/1146 Github Issue page for standalone version].</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}([https://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=182 WIP]) ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|[https://cidesmume.org/download/ {{DeSmuMEVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.appveyorlibretro.com/projectnightly/zeromuslibretro core]|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=WFCAlt></desmume ref> ||{{DeSmuMEVer✗}}]||{{✗}} ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrRA></ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|[[melonDSBizHawk]]<br/><small>(melonDS 0.9.5)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}|[https://gitlab.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/-/pipelines Dev builds]<br/>[http://melondstasvideos.kuribo64.netorg/BizHawk/downloadsReleaseHistory.php html {{MelonDSVerBizHawkVer}}]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~✗}} ||?<ref group=N name=WFCAlt></ref> ||? ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|[[DeSmuME#Graphical_EnhancementNo$|DeSmuME X432RNo$GBA]]|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|DOS}}|[http://shikaver01.webcrowproblemkaputt.jp/desmume_x432rde/indexgba.html 2015-04-19htm {{No$GBAVer}}]|{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux, |macOS (untested)}}

|{{✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS/releases git]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>|-|[[mGBA#medusa|mGBA/medusa]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS}}|[https://mgba.io/downloads.html #medusa alpha 2]|{{✓}} ||{{✓✗}}[https://mgba.io/timeline.html#IN+THE+FUTURE *] ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || {{✗}} ||{{✓}} || {{~}}<ref name="medusa suspended"/>||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/CorgiDS/releases 0.1git]<br />[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/CorgiDS SVN]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<ref>https://corgids.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/extended-break/</ref> ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[https://github.com/rasky/ndsemu Gitgit]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|[[No$|No$GBA]]|Windows, DOS|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm {{No$GBAVer✗}}]||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}|[https://github.com/Cydrak/dasShiny Gitgit]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}

|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-!colspan="16"|Mobile / ARM|-|<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/desmume/ DeSmuME_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=WFCAlt></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|-|[[DraStic]]|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Pandora|Pyra}}|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsemu.drastic&hl=en_US&gl=US {{DraSticVer}}]<br>[https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps/32 0.1 Pyra]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|-|[[melonDS]]<small> (unofficial)</small><br/><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/melonds/ melonds_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}|[https://github.com/rafaelvcaetano/melonDS-android git]<br/>[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.magnum.melonds 1.8.0]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group=N name=melonDSRA></ref>|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||? ||? ||{{~}}<ref group=N>Only possible with libretro core but [https://github.com/rafaelvcaetano/melonDS-android/discussions/1117 work-in-progress for standalone version].</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>|-|[[Delta]]|align=left|{{Icon|iOS}}|[https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta git]|{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}|-|[https://inds.nerd.net/ iNDS]<br/><small>(nds4ios-derived)</small><br/><small>(DeSmuME-based)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|iOS}}|[https://github.com/iNDS-Team/iNDS/releases git]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}|-|nds4ios|align=left|{{Icon|iOS}}|[http://nds4ios.angelxwind.net/i/?page/downloads SVN]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}||{{~}}|-|DeeS|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://github.com/DeeSEmu/DeeS 1.0.8]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}|-|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS git]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|[httpshttp://githubjeffq.com/Hydr8gonblog/nds4droid/NooDS NooDSnds4droid]<br/><small>(DeSmuME-based)</small>|Windows, Linuxalign=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gonjquesnelle/NooDS Gitnds4droid git]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

!colspan="916"|Console

|Wii Ualign=left|{{Icon|WiiU}}

|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}

|<small>[[melonDS]https://docs.libretro.com/library/desmume/ DeSmuME_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|PS4}}<br/>{{Icon|Vita}}|[https://gbatempwww.net/download/melonds-for-switchretroarch.35201com/ 0.79.4-213]|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗✓}}

|[[melonDS]]<br/><small>[https://githubdocs.libretro.com/Hydr8gonlibrary/NooDS NooDSmelonds/ melonds_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita}}<br/>{{Icon|PS2}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group=N name=melonDSRA></ref><br/>[https://github.com/Hydr8gonrsduck/melonDS/NooDS Gitreleases git]<small> (Switch)</small><br/>[https://github.com/Rinnegatamante/melonDS-Vita git]<small>(Vita Port)</small><br/>[https://github.com/DanielSant0s/melonDS-PS2 git]<small> (PS2 Port)</small><br/>|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} || ? || ? || ? ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrRA></ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}}

!colspan|[[NooDS]]|align="9"left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita}}<br/>{{Icon|PSP}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS git]<small> (Switch/Vita)</small><br/>[https://github.com/Xiro28/NooDS_PSP git] <small>(PSP port)</small>|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||Mobile{{~}}

|[[DraSticDeSmuME PSP]]|[[Android emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Android]], Pandora,<br />Linux <small>(Raspberry Pi)</small>PSP}}|[https://playcdn.googlediscordapp.com/storeattachments/apps590011753849421846/details?id=870274164748079104/desmume_psp_4.zip V4][https://github.com/Xiro28/DeSmuME-PSP git][https://github.dsemucom/Xiro28/desmume_psp_experimental Exp.drastic ]|{{✗}} ||{{DraSticVer✗}}]||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|[https://inds.nerd.net/ iNDS]<br/><small>(nds4ios derived)</small><br/><small>(DeSmuME based)</small>DesmumeX|[[iOS emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|iOS]]Xbox}}|[https://githubwww.1emulation.com/iNDS-Teamforums/iNDStopic/releases Git35774-desmumex-v087-new-update 0.87]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓~}}

|nds4ios|[[iOS emulatorsDeSmuME PSP|iOSDSonPSP]]|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}|[httphttps://nds4ios.angelxwindwololo.net/idownloads/index.php/?pagedownload/downloads SVN1235 0.7]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}}|-|Dsoid|[[Android emulators|Android]]|[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/Dsoid?&max-results=12 SVN]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ? ||{{✗}}|-|[http://jeffq.com/blog/nds4droid/ nds4droid]<br/><small>(DeSmuME basedPOC)</small>|[[Android emulators|Android]]|[https://github.com/jquesnelle/nds4droid Git]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

;[[DeSmuMEmelonDS]]<small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight: One normal;">([https://wiimmfi.de/stat?m=25 servers])</small>:Unlike DeSmuME, melonDS can use Wi-Fi and has some DSi support. In terms of being user-friendly, options in melonDS are more simplified. Has similar DS game compatibility as DeSmuME. Both can run games at a higher internal resolution (sharper 3D objects) and can open ROMs inside a compressed archive (ZIP, RAR, 7Z etc.). Both can display the two screens in a variety of ways, but melonDS has a hybrid mode. [https://i.imgur.com/S73Eb4m.jpg (Example)] While the developers of No$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first, melonDS is the most developed emulators for regular DS first and only emulator that's gotten as far as it has, and it's been found to work reasonably well with a handful of games. Switching to OpenGL in core options may give a performance boost. ;[[DeSmuME]] <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">([https://wiimmfi.de/stat?m=25 servers])</small>:DeSmuME has had significant improvements since 2018, though ; new features are still in development and are only available through either nightly/dev builds. It now uses include less CPU/GPU resourcesresource usage and high-resolution 3D rendering, and though Wi-Fi is also underwaycapability remains neither emulated nor supported. v0. If you're worried about stability, then stick to the latest stable release9. Otherwise, 13 from May 2022 is the latest first "Stable" build in over 7 years and is highly recommended over all previous builds (though dev builds will have more to offerare also generally very usable). (See [[Common Problems and SolutionsOpenEmu]] for tipsuses a shallow fork of the v0.9.11 build and should be avoided as well.);[[DraStic]]: A payware, closed-source emulator for [[Android emulators|Android]] devices that can run games at a decent speed even on potato phones. It's on par with (or in some cases better than) DeSmuME, and emulating it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Some rumors have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though this is considered unsubstantiated. At the very least, you shouldn't expect any support from Exophase and company if you use a pirated copy, though it is available for free on the Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie.;[[melonDS]]: Arisotura's goal is to make an emulator that's better optimized and includes features that others lack, either intentionally or not. While the developers of No$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 runs relatively well with a handful of games. There's also been progress made in emulating the DSi<ref name="melonDSi">httpthere://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94</ref><ref name="progress on DSi">httphttps://melondswww.kuribo64youtube.netcom/comments.phpwatch?idv=99&p</ref>, so far it's been able to boot into the firmware and is being developed in a separate branch of the main project. It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more features.715kg1-hmxA ;[[No$|No$GBA]]: Focuses on speed, and has major compatibility issues and glitches as a result. But because Because it was originally initially a GBA emulator, the DS's 3D features are still very poorly handled. However, it might be an '''It's a good option for a very low-end machine machines, but don't expect a lot of games to run perfectly, or at all'''. A fan program, No$Zoomer, was released for version 2.6 , which increases compatibility and options, as well as the titular zooming and resizing abilities. The biggest addition is noise cancellation which clears up static that No$GBA makes with its 3D rendering. It doesn't change accuracy though. No$Zoomer hasn't never rebased yet but does add options for window resizing. There haven't been any noticeable changes with regards to accuracynewer No$GBA versions, and it looks like it was abandoned, howeverso it likely never will. As of In v2.8, No$GBA supports DSi games and is currently became the first and only emulator that doesto support DSi games, which has been their most notable feature. Only use No$GBA in the cases of for DSi gamesthat don't work on other emulators, debugging (if you've taken up romhacking ROM-hacking for DS gamesor homebrew development), if you value speed above everything, if you're using a potato PC, or just as a last resort. ;[[Delta]]:An open-source application for iOS with the ability to emulate many consoles and handhelds, including the DS. Since version 1.3, Delta Emulator allows you to emulate Nintendo DS with a DeSmuME or melonDS core. You will need to have DS BIOS or DSi BIOS to play DS/DSi games in Delta using the melonDS core. It also allows you to boot into DS/DSi home screen and functions similarly to melonDS. ;[[mGBA#medusa|mGBA/medusa]]: [[mGBA]] developer endrift is also creating a DS emulator, but it's very much a [https://mgba.io/timeline.html#IN+THE+FUTURE 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 Resolutionresolution===;[[melonDS]]: Has added support for an OpenGL renderer and with 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 16x native resolution. More features , such as texture filtering , are planned. ;DeSmuME X432R:A fork of DeSmuME, that has many more graphical enhancement enhancements, such as an option to increase internal resolution and use MSAA. The devs of DeSmuME have now included an option for increased internal resolution (see below), making X432R outdated. See the [[DeSmuME]] page for more details. ;[[DeSmuME ]] <small>([[libretro]])</small>:Also has an the option to increase internal resolution since the [https://github.com/libretro/desmume/commit/5e430dfbc22f9d54c77f291304a38352ee1e5a63 August 8, 2015 /8/15 git commit]. It requires a very high-end CPU to run at a reasonable framerate.

The DS offers five types of connections:major challenge with emulating multiplayer functionalities is timing inaccuracies, which have made many projects, such as DeSmuME, not want to implement them. So far, the only emulator to actually make any progress is melonDS, but even that is still under development.  * '''Local Wireless Communications''' {| class="wikitable" style="text- ''(Multiple Cartridges)''* '''DS Download Play''' align:center; vertical- ''(Single Cartridge)''align:middle;"* '''Wi|-Fi Connection''' style="font- ''(Online Multiplayer)''weight:bold;"! Name! melonDS* '''DS/Wii Connectivity'''! DeSmuME* '''! No$GBA/DS Connectivity'''

! scope="col"|Name[[#GBA/DS connectivity|GBA/DS connectivity]]! scope="col"|Operating System(s){{✓}}! scope="col"|Latest Version{{✓}}! scope="col"|Local{{~}}! scope="col"|Download Play-! scope="col"|[[#Nintendo Wi-FiConnection|Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]]! scope="col"|GBA/DS{{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}

|[[melonDS#Local wireless communication|melonDSLocal wireless communication]]|Windows, Linux|{{MelonDSVer~}}|{{~✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}

|[[DeSmuME#DS Download Play|DS Download Play]]|Mult-Platform|{{DeSmuMEVer~}}|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{✓}}

|[[No$#DS/Wii connectivity|No$GBA]]|Windows, [[Intel CPUs|DOSDS/Wii connectivity]]|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm {{No$GBAVer✗}}]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

The major challenge with emulating multiplayer functionalities is timing inaccuracies, which ===Local wireless communication===Players who have made many projects, such as DeSmuME, not want to implement them. So far, a copy of the only emulator to actually make any progress is melonDS, but even same game can link together using the DS's wireless signals (given that is still under developmentthe game offers this feature).

===Local Wireless Communication===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 the ''PokemonPokémon''games, but you need to have either multiple instances opened, which can slow down overall performance and cause more timing problems, or connect multiple computers via LAN. No$GBA can emulate it connect but the connection fails somewhere during establishing before the actual connection (despite the names from the other DS showing just fine)is finished.

Players who both have This feature allows players with a DS but and only one copy of a game can use the "Download Play" to play together without . This way, not everyone needing needs a copy of the a game. The player with the physical cartridge will host the game, while the other players connect using a "downloaded" version of itreceived from the host. Normally they are either simple mini-games or , stripped -down versions demos of the main game, but or a limited version of multiplayer. In most cases, it's better to use multi-cart instead. However, some games , like ''Mario Party DS'' requires , require Download Play in order to use its multiplayer.

Download Play isn't is supported by any emulator so farmelonDS. Like with local multiplayer, though [[Emulators on 3DS#Nintendo DS|NDS-bootstrap]] homebrew on it is very hit and miss but unlocking the Nintendo 3DS can boot some of themframerate helps. MelonDS fails melonDS will often fail during the download process though , but some games actually go as far as booting, but never to the actual "and sometimes in-game"as well.

Nintendo's had an online service that was available for the Wii and the DS and that was free to use. It was shutdown shut down on May 20, 2014 , due to the company GameSpy, the ones who were the ones managing these servers, shutting down 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 fork that successfully emulated WFC but has quite a bit of requirement (Ethernet cable, though this can be circumvented with external software). After the 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 wiWi-fi Fi capabilities. <!--can melonDS connect to any fan servers?--> It's still a work-in-progress, but it works relatively well.

===DS/Wii Connectivityconnectivity===Uses the wireless communication on the DS to connect to the Wii. The idea is parallel to the GBA Link Cable for the GameCube, and just like the Link Cable, [https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Wii-to-DS_connectivity only a handful of games actually have this feature]. Some notable examples are ''Pokemon Battle Revolution'' in which players could transfer their Pokemon to the game and use the DS as a controller, ''Animal Crossinginclude: 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, * ''Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time'' - which is essentially the same as the DS port but can connect with other DSes with the game.* ''Pokémon Battle Revolution'' - in which players could transfer their Pokémon from the Generation IV main series games and considering that use the GBA/GCN connectivity on Dolphin has yet to fully functions, hints that this feature won't be emulated for DS as a whilecontroller. If this was ever going to * ''Animal Crossing: City Folk'' - in which data could be emulatedtransferred between the DS version (''Animal Crossing: Wild World''), it would require work and the ''Nintendo Channel'' on both endsthe Wii, where players could download demos of DS games to their console using Download Play (basically the same idea as the Download Station kiosk).

===GBA/DS Connectivity===Inserting a GBA cartridge in the Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features for [https://nintendo.fandomSo far, no emulator has been able to emulate this feature, nor have attempted to.com/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_DS_games_with_GBA_connectivity some DS games]. It's unknown if NO$GBA supports If this, but it can be done in DeSmuME by were ever going to Config > Slot 2 (GBA Slot) and selecting GBA Cartridge. Select the GBA ROM filebe emulated, make sure its <code>.sav</code> file is in the same folder. You may need to reset the game for it to take effect. DeSmuME, however, does not support GBA games with hardware features like the solar sensor from GBA Boktai cartridges used in Boktai DS (Lunar Knight)would require work on both ends.

==Nintendo DSi=GBA/DS connectivity===[[File:DSiBlack.png|300px|thumb|right|The design was very similar to the DS Lite]]Released on April 5, 2009, the '''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), Inserting a faster ARM9 CPU clocked at 133 MHz, and offered downloadable titles called "DSiWare". It cost {{Inflation|USD|169.99|2009}} at launch and later dropped to {{Inflation|USD|149.99|2010}}. The system, however, was region-locked, meaning that DSi exclusives from different regions couldn't be used and GBA cartridge in the system language couldn't be changed, and did away with backwards-compatiblity by removing Slot-2, which was used to load GBA cartridges and other gaming accesories (''iof the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features for [https://nintendo.efandom. Guitar Hero: On Tour'')com/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_DS_games_with_GBA_connectivity several DS games].

===Game Formats===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, and make sure its <code>.sav</code> file is in the same folder. You may need to reset the game for it to take effect. There are three types As of games that uses version 0.9, [https://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=110 melonDS 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 DSi hardware enhancements:NDS file.

;DSi-enhanced retail cartridges: 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's 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 is 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 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 load without any DSi enhancements. DSi-enhanced games will also have an animated icon when displayed in the boot menu of the ==Nintendo DSi, which is the only indication that it's DSi-enhanced.==;DSi-exclusive retail cartridges: Retail cartridges that relies on the {{Main|Nintendo DSi hardware features. An error screen will show when attempting to load one of these games on a regular DS console(and by extension, emulators also). These cartridges where white instead of gray and only [https://www.giantbomb.com/nintendo-dsi-exclusive/3015-3774/games/ four games] were physically released this way, either as launch titles or because they were too big to be sold as DSiWare (see below). ;DSiWare: 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 there were a lot of interesting exclusives for the system released as DSiWare. The Nintendo 3DS can also run DSiWare, due to the firmware used for backwards-compatibility being same as the DSi, and offers a way to back them up to an SD card, but not the save files. The Nintendo 3DS eShop also has some DSiWare for purchase, though it uses a different file packaging format. }}

! scope="col"|NameGuitar Hero pad! scope="col"|Operating System(s){{✓}}! scope="col"|Latest Version{{✗}}! scope="col"|DSi (enhanced){{✗}}! scope="col"|DSi (exclusive)-! scope="col"|DSi (digital)Piano for Easy Piano! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators{{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Taito paddle controller| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Rumble pack| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Nintendo Wireless Keyboard| {{~}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Tilt sensor| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Pressure-sensitive touchscreen| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Slide controller| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| DS camera| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|Recommended]]{{✗}}

|[[No$|No$GBA]]|Windows, [[Intel CPUs|DOS]]|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm 2.9b]Bayer DIDGIT|{{✓✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|[[melonDS|melonDS]]|Windows, Linux|alphaiQue DS region lock|{{✗✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{~✗}} <small>([http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94 WIP])</small>

 There hasn't been much of a need for DSi emulation due to it's small library of exclusive games and lack of DSi-enhanced titles that provide anything major besides camera support. The only thing really notable is DSiWare, which saw several exclusive releases. No$GBA added support for DSi games of all three formats starting with version 2.8, although some games won't boot and others have graphical glitches. You'll need to enable ''"16MB DSi/retail"'' under the settings in order to use it. Compatibility is very iffy due to No$GBA's already poor DS emulation, and the camera is just spoofed as a static image and will causes the emulator to crash whenever used, meaning games that uses it may boot, but won't be very playable.  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 the system's firmware<ref name="melonDSi">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=94</ref> and even showed that it can boot ''Flipnote Studios'', but freezes when attempting to create a new note.<ref name="progress on DSi">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=99&p</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, but it could become the most usable option for DSi emulation in the near future. Most of it is being done using the documentation that the No$GBA devs have already compiled on the subject. ===BIOS Files===DSi emulation requires a copy of the lower 32K-halves of the ARM7/ARM9 BIOS files (<code>BIOSDSI7.ROM</code> and <code>BIOSDSI9.ROM</code>), which are different from the regular DS BIOS files and needed for the decryption. All the needed files are <code>bios7i.bin</code>, <code>bios9i.bin</code>, <code>BIOSDSI7.ROM</code>, <code>BIOSDSI9.ROM</code>, <code>BIOSNDS7.ROM</code>, and <code>BIOSNDS9.ROM</code>. These unicorns can be found [http://archive.org/details/DSiFirmwareFiles here]. It's also advised (but still completely '''optional''') to use a NAND dump as well to increase compatibility (though adding games is more complex, and a soft-modding solution to dump it is still being worked on). Rename it to "DSi-1.mmc" (should be about 250MB). In No$GBA, change ''"Reset/Startup Entrypoint"'' to ''"GBA/NDS BIOS"'' to now boot the emulator and games in DSi mode. Hex editing is required in order to "install" new DSiWare titles. Using a NAND dump fixes a lot of glitches and crashes related to languages and use of the internal DSi font. ==Special Hardware==;Guitar Hero Padpad: Used in the "Guitar Hero: On Tour" series (required) and Band Hero DS. Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).

;Taito Paddle Controllerpaddle controller: Compatible with Arkanoid, Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Extreme 2 , and Space Bust-a-Move. Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).;Tilt Sensorsensor: Used in "Tony Hawk's Motion/Hue's Pixel Painter." No emulators support this add-on yet. (Slot 2);Pressure-sensitive touchscreen: Used in "Harvest Moon DS", "Colors!", "Metroid Prime: Hunters", "Okamiden" and "Rhythm Heaven". No emulators support this feature yet (can work with analog triggers or DualShock 2/3 pressure-sensitive face buttons).;Rumble Packpack: Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2). Requires compatible Joystick.;Slide Controllercontroller: Required by "Slide Adventure Mag Kid". Yasu made a shoddy [http://home.usay.jp/pc/etc/nds/iDeaS_slide.zip plug-in] for iDeaS (the recommended version was 1.0.2.9.) to try to emulate it. No emulators support this add-on at the moment.;Pokémon Nintendo Wireless Keyboard: Bundled with the "Learn with Pokémon : Typing game Adventure" (JP/UKEU/FRAU). 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's playable using the on-screen keyboard on the lower screen, the keyboard isn't actually 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 are going to 'll need to blank out all the control/hotkey bindings of DeSmuME if you are 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* the Pokémon typing gamesthis 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> should not matter.) Even then, not only is the emulated workaround a little slow, but saving is still broken. Use savestates, instead.;DS Cameracamera: Accessory bundled with the Japan-only Face Training (a European localization for Christmas 2007 was canceled, and it was released as a retail DSi game in 2010 using the internal camera rather than the original accessory). Not to be confused with the built-in DSi camera. No emulators exist for it at all.;Bayer DIDGIT: A glucose meter for diabetic children with a game entitled called ''Knock 'Em Downs: World's Fair'' that rewards them for checking their blood sugar levels regularly. The game has been dumped , but no support for the glucose meter peripheral exists as of the time of this writing; it may, however, be possible to add reward points through Action Replay codes, not to mention that the game will still function without the glucose meter attachment anyway (albeit with reduced functionality, of course).

===iQue DS Region Lockregion lock===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, while DeSmuME can load them. DeSmuME is accurate to non-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>.

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 ''Pokemon 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 in 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.