Today, I am not going to preach to you the foundation of Nintendo DS. Neither will I attempt to confirm your sudden urge to perform Nintendo DS. At this time, I will get into the point because I understand why you are here.
You are here to perform Pokemon DS: Nintendo DS exclusive Pokemon games which tie you to your previous. Clearly, you might have other reasons like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid Prime Hunters, etc..
Irrespective of the motive, without any Additional ado, let’s get started —
DeSmuMe
The name might be a little bizarre, along with the pronunciation even worse. However, DeSmuMe isalso, in fact, among the best DS emulators for PC. Prior to anything, the most important feature is that the emulator is continually advancing — thanks to being accessible.
DeSmuMe is available on Windows and Mac. Nintendo DS games run fairly smoothly on both platforms, however, I confronted frame drops in my MacBook Air (2017 edition) when on greatest graphics. Ultimately, the operation depends upon the configuration of your computer.by link nds simulator download website
However, the silver lining here is a lot of customization in graphics and emulation configurations. There are other additional useful features like cheat code manager, and a USB controller service. The NDS emulator also provides the rescue slot attribute which enables you to keep the game from where you left off.
2. MelonDS
As soon as we talk about the best Nintendo DS emulators for PC, MelonDS constantly manages to develop. This emulator has often been contrasted with the dominant NDS emulator DeSmuMe.
Unlike DeSmuMe, this emulator for PC lacks many of their emulation and picture alternatives, however, it excels in some areas like the highly precise rendering of DS games.
Thanks to its new OpenGL render, the Nintendo DS emulator lets you tap into extreme resolutions with medium performing systems. Therefore, if you are seeking to play Pokemon games on PC, then MelonDS is the best fit.
Another highlight characteristic of MelonDS is your local Wi-FI support for playing multiplayer games. Although the feature is still experimental and functions with just a few games, it gives immense joy to see it working at all. Apart from that, there’s save slot option, a few display layout choices, and joystick support — common in other NDS emulators such as PC.
Access — Windows and Linux
Why utilize MelonDS?
- High-performance at increased resolutions
- High accuracy
3. NO$GBA
Although NO$GBA started with emulating Gameboy advance games, it ranks high up at the finest Nintendo DS emulators for PC. First thing first, a bonus point with this particular DS emulator is the fact that it supports GBA, Nintendo DS in addition to Nintendo DS Lite (DSi) games.
Concerning picture configurations, the DS emulator only has a couple of But with a few tweaks in settings, an individual can acquire decent game graphics comparable to DeSmuME. The compromise has a silver lining though — First, the Nintendo DS emulator works really quickly, even on underperforming PC’s. Second, it takes very few system resources compared to another finest NDS emulators mentioned here.
On the other hand, the problem is the shortage of display layout attributes. Additionally, the multiplayer option is experimental and didn’t work in my own situation. And the emulator is only available on Windows. Apart from that, there’s the joystick support along with the save state alternative. NO$GBA also has in-house cheat code support.
Availability — Windows
Why utilize No$GBA?
- Low memory utilization and provides high speed
- Also supports GBA a Nintendo DSi matches
4. RetroArch
The concept is to have an amalgamation of several emulators (aka cores) at one applications.
In our situation, RetroArch offers DeSmume and MelonDS for emulating NDS names. As it is an all-in-one emulator, you can run games of the Nintendo consoles (NES, SNES, DS, DSi, 3DS, 64), Atari, MAME, and much more.
The user interface may be intimidating at first, but it becomes pretty easier after you use it for a while. However, running games can be comparatively difficult as compared to the other Nintendo DS emulators here.
Aside from that, it’s all the basic graphic and emulations options. You can increase the native resolution up to 4K and use shaders that can radically change the appearance of the games. There is joystick service, save slot option and different display design choice. A con of RetroArch is that it takes up more PC resources than others. However, overall, it is still among the best emulators for PC.
Why use RetroArch?
Availability — All programs
5. OpenEmu
OpenEmu is another front end software for additional console emulators. This emulator for PC is not much different from RetroArch in terms of supported consoles and emulation options.
However, the streamlined UI of OpenEmu makes it distinct from the rest of the emulators. If you are a Mac user, then the port will remind one of iTunes. As an example, the emulator shows box artwork for games and sort them from the stage. To perform Nintendo DS games, OpenEmu comes with DeSmuMe emulator.
The deficiency of many graphics settings may upset quite a few users. Also, I did not find the option to improve inner resolution in my own testing. Everything else is pretty much everywhere at the Nintendo emulator like screen layout choices, save states, cheat code service, etc.. There is a huge list of control support that includes DualShock, Change Pro, Wiimote, plus much more.
Availability — Mac
Why utilize OpenEmu?
- Streamlined UI
- All-in-one emulator
Bonus programs for DS Emulation
6. Citra (Nintendo 3DS Emulator)
Even with a mediocre method, you can run several 3DS names at complete images and higher resolution.
Even the Nintendo 3DS emulator allows users to set internal resolutions up to 4k, which carries Pokemon games, and The Legend of Zelda gaming experience to a completely new land. As for the names, Citra’s official site has a section where you are able to look at the compatibility of Nintendo 3DS games using all the PC emulator.
Back into the software — there’s joystick support, display design options, and cheat code support. The Nintendo emulator provides an in-house display recorder. Citra also emulates 3DS Wi-Fi. In other words, you can play multiplayer with other folks running games on the emulator.
Availability — Windows, Mac, and Linux
Why utilize Citra?
- Multiplayer support
- 10x internal resolution
7. DraStic DS Emulator (Nintendo DS Emulator For Android)
Nitendo DS was a handheld gaming console, so it’s only natural that people are willing to play Nintendo DS games on Android. And so far, there’s been no better DS emulator on Android than DraStic.
The program is no less than the DS emulators on PC in regards to attributes. Thus, you have controls support, save claims, button mapping, etc.. The app also lets you improve the internal resolution. However, expect the ideal possible only on high configuration tablets.
Since the smartphone screen dynamics are very different from Nintendo DS (dual-screen), the app compensates by offering six different layout options. Besides the default view (both displays are equally large), there is a stacked view, a single view and an alternative for keeping one screen shorter than another.
The only disadvantage with DrasTic is the fact that it is a paid Android app, priced at $X. However, the price barely disturbs considering the number of attributes.
Why utilize DraStic?
- Online Google Drive area to save data
- Increase emulation speed
Are Emulators actually legal?
ROMS, not too much. Emulators, of any type, are only applications that instills a console. The situation is pretty similar to torrent clients which themselves are not illegal, however downloading torrents is.
In the same way, emulators such as PC are not prohibited, but downloading and playing matches on exactly the exact same emulator is illegal. Although, there were different viewpoints on the subject. However, we’ll go by the Nintendo official website which considers that earning digitalized copies of retro NDS games is prohibited, despite the fact that the firm doesn’t produce DS games and makes no cash out of it.