7 Best Nintendo DS Emulators For PC

I won’t spend time explaining the background of the Nintendo DS or trying to justify your newfound desire to play one. Seeing as I am aware of your motivations for visiting this page, I will not waste your time with unnecessary small talk.

Pokemon DS games are exclusive to the Nintendo DS and will take you back to a time when you were a child. To play Pokemon, I need a PC Nintendo DS emulator. Try your hand at some of Nintendo’s other classic franchises like Mario, Zelda, Metroid Prime Hunters, etc.

However, if you want to play Pokemon games on your PC, here are some of the top Nintendo DS emulators:

8. Lemuroid

Another Nintendo DS emulator for Android is Lemunroid. The ads in DraStic are annoying, but there are none in this one.

Lemunroid supports a wide variety of consoles outside the Nintendo DS, including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and many more.

Everything you could possibly need is included, from a quick save feature to support for gamepads. Multiple gamepads can be linked together. All of your Nintendo games can be found in a handy directory within the Android app for playing them.

• The benefits of using DraStic
• You may link up many gamepads.
• Provider of uncompressed ROM files
• In the meanwhile, you may also be interested in reading our piece on Android emulators for the Nintendo Switch.

7. DraStic DS Emulator

People want to play Nintendo DS games on Android since the Nintendo DS was a portable gaming system. And DraStic is the best Android DS emulator available right now.

When compared to PC DS emulators, this program holds its own. So now you can use a controller and have it work with your game by saving your progress, customizing the controls, etc. You may also boost the app’s internal resolution if you want to. But the highest performance will only be available on devices with advanced hardware.

To account for the vastly different dynamics of a smartphone screen compared to those of a Nintendo DS (dual-screen), the software provides six distinct layout choices. There are several other layout options available, including the standard layout in which both displays are the same size, a stacked layout, a single layout, and a layout in which one screen is kept shorter than the other.

DrasTic has only one drawback: it costs $4.99 to download on Android. While the price may be a bit high, it’s easily justified by the extensive set of functions.

• The benefits of using DraStic
• A data storage place on Google’s cloud
• Accelerate the emulation process

6. Citra (Nintendo 3DS Emulator)

To play Pokemon games on a personal computer, Citra is without a doubt the greatest Nintendo 3DS emulator. Some 3DS games can be played in their full graphical glory and at full resolution even on a rather modest hardware.

The Nintendo 3DS emulator has support for internal resolutions up to 4K, bringing a new level of realism to games like Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda. The titles that work with Citra’s PC emulator for Nintendo 3DS may be seen in a dedicated part of the Citra website.

Coming back to the program, it allows for the use of a joystick, has customizable interface choices, and even lets you enter cheat codes. In-built screen recording is included in the Nintendo emulator. Citra can also simulate the local Wi-Fi network of a 3DS. That is to say, you may play online with other gamers who are using the same emulator.

Since no other Nintendo 3DS emulator for Android is currently functional, Citra has been released for that platform as well.

All major operating systems (Windows, OS X, Linux, and Android) are supported.

• When compared to other DAMs, Citra’s value becomes clear.
• Support for 10x internal resolution in multiplayer games

5. OpenEmu

One such software that acts as a front end for various console emulators is OpenEmu. With regards to the consoles it can emulate and the customization choices it provides, this PC emulator is not dissimilar to RetroArch.

Unlike other emulators, OpenEmu stands out due to its impressively simplified user interface. The Mac-friendly interface will seem familiar to iTunes users. The emulator can display game box art and organize games according to their platform. The DeSmuMe Nintendo DS emulator is included in OpenEmu.

Some players may be dissatisfied with the game because of the limited visual options. During my tests, I too couldn’t find an option to boost internal resolution. The Nintendo emulator has pretty much everything else, including screen layout customization, save state support, cheat code functionality, and so forth. The extensive list of supported controllers includes the DualShock, Switch Pro, Wiimote, and more. The OpenEmu DS emulator is a top choice for Mac users.

Accessible on Macintosh

• In what ways may you benefit from using OpenEmu?
• All-in-one, user-friendly interface simulator

4. RetroArch

RetroArch is an all-in-one Nintendo DS emulator that also supports emulation of practically every other classic video game system. The goal is to combine several emulators (also known as cores) into a single piece of code.

Specifically, we have RetroArch, which provides us with NDS emulators like DeSmume and MelonDS. All Nintendo systems (NES, SNES, DS, DSi, 3DS, 64), as well as Atari, MAME, and more, may be emulated.

The user interface may seem complicated at first, but after some practice, you’ll find that it’s actually rather intuitive. However, compared to the other Nintendo DS emulators available here, getting games to run might be a challenge.

In any case, it provides every necessary visual and emulation option you could want. The base resolution may be cranked up to 4K, and shaders can completely transform the games’ visuals. Optional screen layouts, save slots, and joystick support are also included.

RetroArch’s high system requirements are a minor but real issue. However, it is still regarded as a top PC emulator.

• Why should I use RetroArch?
• Universal simulation device
• Multiple games are available for immediate play.

3. NO$GBA

Despite its origins in porting Gameboy Advance games to PC, NO$GBA is now widely considered one of the top Nintendo DS emulators for Windows. First and foremost, this DS emulator’s compatibility for Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo DS Lite (DSi) games is a big benefit.

The DS emulator provides a few options for adjusting the visuals. However, with some fine-tuning of the parameters, one may get visual quality on par with DeSmuME. However, there is a bright side to this concession: first, the Nintendo DS emulator runs smoothly and quickly, even on relatively slow personal computers. Second, unlike the other top NDS emulators we’ve listed, it doesn’t hog your computer’s resources.

However, there is an issue with the limited options for designing the display. Additionally, I was unable to play with other people because the multiplayer feature is still in beta. The emulation software is Windows-only. Additionally, you may save your progress and use a joystick. There is in-house NO$GBA cheat code support, as well.

Obtainable — Windows

• To what end should one employ No$GBA?
• It requires little memory and is blazing fast.
• You may play games designed for the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DSi.

2. MelonDS

MelonDS often ranks high on lists of the top Nintendo DS emulators for Windows PCs. This emulator is frequently pitted against the industry standard Nintendo DS emulator, DeSmuMe.

Compared to DeSmuMe, this PC emulator falls short in the emulation and visual department, but it shines in other areas, such as its incredibly realistic representation of DS games.

The new JIT recompiler in Melon enables for quick emulation, while the new OpenGL render makes it possible to access ultra-high resolutions on even moderately powerful PCs. MelonDS is the best option for playing Pokemon games on a personal computer. In Windows terms, it’s the top dog among DS emulators.

MelonDS also shines in its ability to enable local Wi-Fi multiplayer gaming, a feature that is sure to please any competitive gamer. It’s great fun to watch the feature in action, even though it’s still in the testing phase and only supports a small subset of games. Besides that, it’s similar to other PC NDS emulators in that it supports save slots, has a customizable interface, and works with joysticks.

Windows and Linux are both supported.

• How may you benefit from using MelonDS?
• Superior efficiency at ever-higher resolutions
• Extremely precise

1. DeSmuMe

To make matters worse, the name is also difficult to pronounce. In contrast, DeSmuMe is widely considered to be the top PC DS emulator. It may be used on both Mac and Windows computers.

Even while Nintendo DS games run nicely on both platforms, I saw frame dips in my MacBook Air (2017 edition) when playing games at full graphics. Overall performance is determined by the specifications of your computer hardware.

The good news is that there are a lot of options for tweaking the visuals and the emulator itself. The game also supports USB gamepads and has a cheat code manager. The Nintendo DS emulator has a save space so you can pick up just where you left off in the game.

Despite DeSmuMe’s notoriety among Nintendo DS aficionados, the open-source project has very few issues. In addition, the last stable update was released in 2015, and developers have barely touched the project since then. Even though the emulator doesn’t officially support many Pokemon games, you can still play them. Furthermore, WiFi emulation is not supported.

Obtainable for both Windows and Mac

• Why should I use DeSmuMe?
• Easily Adaptable Visuals

Are Emulators even legal?

You may say that about emulators. That’s not the case with ROMS. Emulators are simply software that simulates the functionality of a video game system. It’s not unlike the case with torrent clients, where the software is perfectly legal but the act of downloading torrents is unlawful.

Like PC emulators, downloading and playing games on an emulated platform is not against the law. Although there have been varying opinions on the topic. But we’ll trust Nintendo’s website, which says it’s against the law to make digital copies of old NDS games, even though Nintendo no longer manufactures DS games and benefits financially neither from their sale nor their reproduction.

This concludes our survey of the top PC DS emulators. The top Android and iOS emulators for PC might be of interest to you if you want to play mobile games on your computer.