The Best DS Emulator of 2024 | PC, Mac & Android

If you’re looking for the best Nintendo DS emulator, you’ve found the right article. We’ll be breaking down 7 different DS emulators and their features. We’ll also be going over performance and compatibility with games.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Short Summary

• Discover the best DS emulators which is right for you.
• Learn how to use cheat codes and use your favorite controller to play DS games.
• Improve your experience by adjusting the emulator’s graphics & audio settings.

What Are The Best Nintendo DS Emulators?

These emulators offer various features and compatibility options across devices so you can enjoy all of your favorite NDS titles with ease. So, whether you’re new to the DS library of games or a long time fan, there’s a DS emulator for everyone.

1. DeSmuME

• Price: Free
• Platform: Windows, Mac, and Linux
• Official website

DeSmuME is the top pick for DS emulation on our list because it is a reliable and open-source emulator with an extensive list of features. It features two CPU emulation engines that can be used (the Interpreter engine and the Dynamic Recompiler engine) along with microphone functionality and the ability to use cheat codes.

You don’t have to worry about losing your progress in games because DeSmuME also has automatic save files and you can even rewind gameplay. For those more technically oriented, there’s also the possibility for using remote play, making this emulator extremely versatile.

It can also handle upscaling of 3D graphics for improved visuals on machines that are powerful enough to do so. There is also custom external controller support so you don’t have to only use a keyboard.

It’s no secret why DeSmuME is the top choice on our list and by many other retro gamers looking to jump into DS emulation.

2. DraStic DS Emulator

• Price: $4.99
• Platform: Android
• Google Play Store

When it comes to DS emulators for Android, the Android DraStic DS Emulator is the best Nintendo DS emulator on most Android devices. While it is a paid app, users can fast forward gameplay, use its save state feature, and there is also support for cheat codes.

There’s also support for custom controllers and button reconfiguring as well as further personalizing the emulator’s screen layout. The DraStic DS Emulator features improved 3D rendering resolution when running classic DS titles. It can improve the game’s 3D graphics to 2×2 times their original resolution (this optional improvement will work best on high end quad core devices).

While the DraStic DS emulator does cost $4.99, it is a very high quality Android device emulator that has some serious quality of life improvements that make it more worth the price point. If it’s within your budget and you’re looking to play Nintendo DS games on your Android phone, DraStic is a great choice.

Got a spare Raspberry Pi laying around? Check out our guide on how to setup the RetroPie DS emulator DraStic.

3. RetroArch

• Price: Free
• Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and many more
• Official website

The RetroArch emulator offers a great solution for any retro gamer as it provides so many awesome features under the hood. RetroArch is an emulation frontend that has the ability to play games from tons of different systems including the Nintendo DS. RetroArch does this by allowing users to download each system’s emulators as cores.

For more information on setting RetroArch up with the DS core, check out our guide to setup the RetroArch DS Core DeSmuME.

RetroArch has some really cool additional features that set it apart like shaders, Netplay (online play), rewinding gameplay, and lots more. It can also pull in box art for your favorite Nintendo DS games, helping make your DS ROM collection even easier to organize and use.

4. MelonDS

• Price: Free
• Platform: Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Official website

MelonDS is another DS emulator that’s available for multiple platforms. It has a nearly complete emulation core in terms of CPU, video, and audio, has pretty fast emulation, can upscale 3D graphics, microphone support, joystick support, and has save states.

Some features that are still a work in progress are the following:

• Wi-Fi local multiplayer support
• Online connectivity (Netplay)
• Better DSi emulation
• GBA slot add-ons

MelonDS isn’t nearly as polished as DeSmuME, but it is another viable option for those looking for an alternative. It has tons of great features and is still being regularly updated to this day.

5. OpenEmu

• Price: Free
• Platform: macOS
• Official website

If you’re a macOS user looking for a free emulator to play Nintendo DS games, then OpenEmu should be your go to solution. OpenEmu has one of the best user interfaces of all emulators on this list and it comes with the Nintendo DS core DeSmuME. Being that the DeSmuME emulator made the number one spot on this list of the best DS emulators, it’s no surprise that OpenEmu would be the go to choice for macOS users.

OpenEmu has a streamlined and unified library system for your games and takes advantage of Metal scaling (previously OpenGL) for enhanced visuals as well as real time 3D effects or image processing. Also organizing your ROMs and finding them when you want to play is extremely simple and intuitive.

Because OpenEmu is open source, it also supports tons of other non Nintendo systems like the Atari 2600, the original Game Boy Color, GBA, Nintendo 64, and so many more.

6. No$GBA

• Price: Free
• Platform: Windows
• Official website

No$GBA is another free Nintendo DS emulator for PC that can play both DS and Game Boy Advance games. Like the other emulators on this list, it also features custom controller support and save files.

In terms of compatibility with Nintendo DS games, No Cash GBA is at the bottom of our list for a reason. It’s not exactly the most reliable DS emulator available, but it’ll get the job done for a decent number of titles. It’s also a bit lacking in terms of features and its website and FAQ aren’t exactly easy to navigate and find information.

How To Choose The Right DS Emulator?

When choosing the right DS emulator, it’s going to be subjective and depend on your situation and what your setup that you’ll be playing games on is like. When boiling it down though, it usually comes down to two factors:

• Performance – how well does the emulator run on your setup and how smoothly you can run the games
• Features – what customization options does the emulator have that others don’t

Some other factors to consider might also be Netplay (online multiplayer), save states, the ability to fast forward or rewind gameplay, graphical upscaling, etc.

Types of Devices for DS Emulation

Nintendo DS emulation is available on multiple different device types. PC, macOS, Linux, and Android are the most popular, but these days with an emulation frontend like RetroArch, your options for where you want to play DS games is somewhat limitless. We have yet to hear of anyone playing DS games on a toaster, but we wouldn’t be surprised to hear it’s happened.

Enhancing Your DS Emulation Experience

It’s highly recommended that you play your DS games on an emulator using an actual controller. While you can play with a keyboard, it’s not going to be the best experience. There are tons of controllers available that you can use, but just make sure that whichever one you go with is supported on your device either through Bluetooth or USB directly.

Customizing Graphics and Audio Settings

DS emulators, such as DeSmuME and DraStic DS, allow users to modify their graphics and audio settings and can even upscale 3D graphics. By adjusting values like frame skip or threaded 3D you may be able to improve performance and get a better gameplay quality depending on your device.

We recommend experimenting with different parameters until you find an ideal balance between quality visuals and good solid performance for your machine.

Summary

Whether it’s sheer compatibility or improved performance that matters more in your decision making process, it’s pretty clear that for PC and macOS users, DeSmuME is the DS emulator to go with for emulating the Nintendo DS. MacOS users may also want to try out OpenEmu as well. For Android devices, our pick would be the DraStic DS emulator. While it’s not free, the features it offers and the quality of the emulator seems worth the price point of $4.99 to us.

Be sure to also check out our list of the best Nintendo DS emulator iOS apps.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the safest DS emulator?

All of the DS emulators on this list are used by a lot of retro gamers for playing DS games. Our top pick as the safest DS emulator would be either DeSmuME for PC, macOS, and Linux or DraStic DS for Android. Both of these are very popular and have been used by the community for some time and have a great track record.

What is the alternative to DraStic?

If you’re looking for an alternative to the DraStic DS emulator for Android devices, there are a couple of other options available on the Google Play Store. Do keep in mind though that these alternatives may not function as well as DraStic and their compatibility with games may be significantly lower.

Some alternative DS emulators are: SuperNDS Emulator, Fast DS Emulator, Lemuroid, melonDS, and nds4droid.

How to play ds games on pc?

Playing DS games on your PC has never been easier. There are quite a few DS emulation options available for Windows PC for completely free. Our top pick would have to be the DeSmuME emulator as it has tons of features available, great compatibility with DS games, and has fantastic performance.

Can Citra play DS games?

Citra is a 3DS emulator and can’t run Nintendo DS games. If you are looking for a NDS emulator, you should check out the DeSmuME emulator which runs Nintendo DS games very well.