Have you ever used a Nintendo DS to play a game? It was a popular dual-screen gaming console with a plethora of interesting games. Do you want to play your favourite game and have some fun again? Nowadays, you can do it all on your Android smartphone. Yes, you can use Nintendo DS emulators to play your favourite Nintendo game on your phone.
In 2022, here is a list of the best Nintendo DS emulators for Android.
The Nintendo DS is a hugely popular gaming console all over the world. There are a number of Nintendo DS emulators for Android, the majority of which are completely free.
1. Emubox
The EmuBox emulator, like the Retro Arch, includes all-in-one gaming consoles. The app was released in 2017 and has gained popularity among players. You can use various consoles such as the NDS, GBA, GBC, SNES, NES, and PSX.
It supports fast forward emulation speed and tweaks the gaming settings for optimal gaming performance. You can play with an extra controller if you want. It is the first multi-emulator to include Material Design.
However, there are a few complications when it comes to importing the ROMs. It features a minimal configuration and advertisements. You must save your game every time.
2. NDS4Droid
It is a free and open-source Nintendo DS emulator that includes a variety of features such as save states and sound. Many game ROMs are compatible with this programme. NDS4Droid, unlike other emulators, does not infringe the GPL.
Even though the programme is completely free, there will be no advertisements; simply enjoy the gaming. Unfortunately, NDS4Droid has a sluggish frame rate and awful sound owing to system problems.
3. DraStic DS Emulator
DraStic DS Emulator is required if you wish to play Nintendo DS games at full speed on an Android device. It is one of the most popular emulator apps, ranking first among DS emulators on the Google Play Store. Almost all of the games operate properly, with the exception of a couple that don’t.
The programme is not free, but the fee is well worth it due of the visuals and design. It is compatible with controllers and add-on functionality such as Xperia Play and Nvidia Shield.
4. Free DS Emulator – For Android
The Free DS Emulator is compatible with the majority of devices and works flawlessly. You may also utilise additional controllers to have a more enjoyable experience. This emulator supports all of the essential functionality, such as saving states at any time. Load states allow you to personalise the game interface and control panels, and it also supports zip and.nps files. The best part about this software is that it is entirely free to use.
However, it has advertisements, which most people find annoying, but if you don’t want adverts, you may play the app offline. It might take some time to load the game.
5. RetroArch
RetroArch is an open-source project that can load a variety of ROMs. It also allows you to play on other consoles. It contains a well-designed interface called Libretro, which allows players to use cross-platform programmes such as location support, OpenGL, and camera support.
It manages over 80 applications, making it an all-in-one emulator. It contains an in-built input remap feature for configuring the controls. You can store and load cheats using it. Many gaming systems, such as the SNES, NES, Genesis, and Sega, are supported.
The UI may be difficult to use for novices. RetroArch takes up a lot of space on your phone. It also has some compatibility concerns.
6. SuperNDS (.NDS Emulator)
It is a new emulator that performs admirably. SuperNDS emulator supports a variety of file formats, including ZIP, NDS, 7z, and RAR files. Furthermore, basic functionality such as save states and clone your own are accessible. Transferring NDS game files to an SD card, among other things.
To play quicker, the software use uncompressed ROM. It can crash owing to a shortage of RAM, therefore if this happens, free up RAM and restart the emulator.
MelonDS is the top best DS emulator on the list due to its enormous popularity among the Nintendo DS Gaming community. MelonDS stands out from the competition because to features such as an OpenGL renderer, 3D upscaling, joystick support, local multiplayer, and internet connectivity.
MelonDS makes use of your system’s hardware resources to provide quick and accurate Nintendo DS emulation.
Furthermore, the MelonDS emulator’s 2D and 3D representations are nearly pixel-perfect. This NDS emulator is often updated, and the creators are quite active in correcting errors.
Another notable feature of MelonDS is the option to save progress at any time. MelonDS displays realtime FPS when playing games. MelonDS is now available for both Windows and Linux. MelonDS is an open-source emulator that is absolutely free to use and does not annoy gamers with adverts.
8. DeSmuME
DeSmuME is another well-known Nintendo DS emulator that may be used as an alternative to MelonDS. DeSmuME, like MelonDS, allows players to play unique DS titles at high graphics settings. You may resize your games with DeSmuME to your liking.
Users may change the graphics and emulation settings in DeSmuMe based on their system setups. You may choose between high graphics quality and average performance or low graphics quality and faultless performance.
DeSmuMe is now available for both Windows and macOS. We suggest our readers to use the links provided in this article to download the DeSmuME DS emulator since obtaining it from a third-party or untrustworthy source can be dangerous.
9. RetroArch
RetroArch, unlike MelonDS and DeSmuME, is an all-in-one emulator that can run games from all popular retro systems such as NES, SNES, DS, DSi, 3DS, 64, Atari, MAME, and many more. Using this popular DS emulator for PC, you may play Pokemon games using your Pokemon ROM.
RetroArch’s creators have announced that customers would soon be able to run original game CDs created by RetroArch.
Shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame reaction times, run ahead, machine translation, blind accessibility capabilities, and many more features distinguish RetroArch. RetroArch is available for download on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
RetroArch’s set-top box-oriented interface streamlines the game-browsing procedure. RetroArch allows you to record your gaming experience and even stream it on Twitch. Finally, Shaders in RetroArch aid in the enhancement of the rendering of ancient games.
10. No$GBA
No$GBA is an excellent emulator for anyone using an outdated computer system or wishing to play DS games on a low-powered laptop. This DS Emulator for NDS ROMs allows you to run Nintendo DS homebrew.
Cheat code support, joystick compatibility, and a save state option are among the notable features of No$GBA. No$GBA can run commercial GameBoy Advance ROMs in addition to DS ROMs. Unfortunately, No$GBA does not support multiplayer games.
No$GBA may be installed on a machine running Windows 10, Windows XP, or MS-DOS. Overall, No$GBA is one of the best Nintendo DS emulators.
11. NeonDS
Another dependable NintendoDS emulator is NeonDS. Most commercial ROMs can be simply run on NeonDS. Because the emulator uses relatively minimal system resources, it can function properly even on old desktop computers and low-powered laptops.
The following notable characteristic of NeonDS is that it is OpenGL 2.0 compatible. In layman’s terms, this implies that the graphics system is optimised for OpenGL 2.0 and that you may easily record your games. Unfortunately, NeonDS is no longer under production at the time of writing.
12. DraStic DS Emulator
DraStic DS Emulator is the most feature-rich Android DS emulator, and it can handle every NDS game you throw at it. This emulator allows users to change the layout and size of the DS displays to suit their needs. You may save and restart your progress at any time by using save states.
Controller customization, compatibility for hardware controllers, fast forward, and Google Drive integration are just a few of the notable features of DraStic DS Emulator.
If you have a high-end Android smartphone, you may use this emulator to boost the graphics rendering. DraStic DS Emulator may be purchased and downloaded directly from the Google Playstore.
13. Nds4droid
Nds4droid is the best Nintendo DS ROMs emulator after then. Despite being a free DS emulator, Nds4droid provides amazing performance as well as aesthetically impressive graphics quality.
Nds4droid, like the DraStic DS Emulator, allows you to store your progress. Furthermore, Nds4droid’s frameskip option is beneficial for low-cost or older Android handsets. It’s worth noting that Nds4droid is an ancient NDS ROMs emulator that hasn’t been updated in a long time.
14. EmuBox
EmuBox is yet another free Android emulator that supports PlayStation, SNES, GBA, NES, and Nintendo DS ROMs. This emulator allows you to use up to 20 save spaces for each ROM.
Users may also connect in and play with an external controller with EmuBox. You may even experiment with the emulator parameters to improve performance. Finally, the ability to fast-forward the gameplay can save you time.