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Desmume --> DeSmuME <-- DeSmuMe
===Comparisons===
;[[DeSmuME]]: One of the most developed emulators for regular DS games, but works best with higher-end computers. This emulator aims for accuracy over speed but you can tinker with the vast amount of setting to get some extra FPS (see [[Common Problems and Solutions]] for tips). If you're still having a hard time running anything without the output playing like syrup try No$GBA, or DraStic emulated through [[BlueStacks]]. DeSmuME is generally recommended regardless of your PC power. However, it's not perfect and is still very unoptimized. The official developers have taken major disdain for Wi-Fi features (outside of an online play fork) and DSi features. Because of this unique development philosophy, you'll have to look for alternatives in those cases.
;[[DraStic]]: A closed-source payware emulator for [[Android emulators|Android]] devices that can run games at a decent speed even on potato phones. Some unsubstantiated rumours have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though at the very least, don't expect any support from exophase and company if you get your hands on a pirated copy. It's on par or better than DeSmuMeDeSmuME, and emulating it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Available for free on Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie.
;[[No$|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.
;[[melonDS]]: Probably the first and only emulator that's provided any signs of hope for competition in the PC space. StapleButter'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$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first, melonDS is the first and only emulator that's gotten as far as it has and it has been found to work reasonably well with a handful of games. There's also hope that melonDS will implement DSi emulation in the future<ref name="next direction for melonDS">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=47&b=15</ref>, though not much has been mentioned since and probably won't be added in until much later in development if ever. It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more features and supports more games.
|[[No$|No$GBA]]
|Windows, [[DOS emulators|DOS]]
|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm 2.99b]
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;Rumble Pack: Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2). Requires compatible Joystick.
;Slide Controller: Required by "Slide Adventure Mag Kid". Yasu made a shoddy [http://home.usay.jp/pc/etc/nds/iDeaS_slide.zip plug-in] for iDeaS (recommended version was 1.0.2.9.) to try to emulate it. No emulators support this add-on at the moment.
;Pokémon Keyboard: Bundled with the Pokémon Typing game (JP/UK/FR). 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 need to blank out all the control/hotkey bindings of DeSMuMe 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 games. 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 Camera: Accessory bundled with the Japan-only Face Training (a European localization for Christmas 2007 was cancelledcanceled, 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 children with a game entitled ''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 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 behaviour behavior to this region lock. No$GBA crashes. DeSmuME is accurate to non-iQue hardware and will replicate the failure.
The first and 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>.
===Other issues===
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 DeSmuME r5043 had an initial fix that worked around the glitch, it was removed in later revisions as it broke compatibility with ''Pokemon 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 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.
==References==
