5 Best Nintendo DS Emulators for Windows and Mac

Nintendo DS Emualtors – Do you love your video game? To make the gaming experience seriously interesting and exciting, the gaming console is your dearest companion.  Which gaming console is your favourite? Let me guess the name. The all-time favourite gaming console is Nintendo DS. 

Nintendo DS had recorded a maximum number of sales in 2013 before it was discontinued in the market. Around 153 million units were sold till 2013. Yes, you cannot find this gaming console in the store, but you can still enjoy the same experience in Windows and Mac with the help of DS Emulator.

If you want to play Android games on your PC or Mac then you can also use Android Emulators that are covered in our other guide here – Best Android Emulators for PC and Mac.

There are multiple gamers worldwide who find a better way to play their favourite game on their smartphone or computer. To satisfy the quench of the gamers, there is a plethora of Nintendo DS Emulator. This write-up will reveal the names of the Best DS Emulator. 

Before jumping to the emulator’s name, let us have a look at the overview of the Nintendo DS emulator.

Nintendo DS emulator- best gaming experience provider

As a gaming master, you must have an idea of what the Nintendo DS is. It is a portable gaming console. This gaming console becomes quite popular after it’s launched. The USP of the Nintendo DS was the reason for its popularity among kids and gamers. But, with time, the popularity of the hand-held portable gaming console declined.

The demand for such a gaming experience made the developer find an alternative solution as an alternative solution developer created some DS emulators.  The emulator is compatible with Nintendo games on PC or MAC, and its behavior is similar to Nintendo DS

Pokémon Black and white, Mario Kart Ds, or GTA: Chinatown Wars are Nintendo games that still have a firm place in the heart of Nintendo users. Despite finding a gaming console, you can use the below mention Nintendo DS Emulators. 

Best Nintendo DS Emulators 2024 are:

1. DeSmuMe: Open-source emulator for Nintendo DS

Assuming you are as yet chasing for the Best DS Emulator, you can stop your hunt. DeSmuMe is at the top of our list. A free and open-source stage can be utilized in Mac, Windows, and Linux.  DeSmuMe has the capability of starting the commercial games straight from the hard drive. This DS emulator is written in the C++ language.

The DeSmuMe Ds emulator supports 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems and also provides different graphics customization choices. You will get features like USB controller support, Cheat code Manager, and another unique feature named Save slot features in this emulator. This Save slot feature allows you to start the game from where you have left. It would be best to keep this in mind while using the DeSmuMe in Windows, and you have to rely on the Microsoft UCRT DLLs.

Pros

• The enumerator is Customizable 
• Has USB controller support 
• Save slot
• Multi-platform 

Cons 

• This emulator doesn’t support wi-fi. 

You can download the enumerator for free from the following link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/desmume/files/desmume/.

2. RetroArch

Suppose you want to use another unique Nintendo DS emulator. In that case, you can try out the RetroArch Nintendo DS emulator, which provides multiple features that are mostly absent in other popular enumerators. Moreover, with the retro arch, you will get faster speed in the gaming experience. With this emulator, you can play the game from any close-by metro framework.

The highlights that you will get from the Retro Arch are netplay.  Rewinding, following frame response times, run ahead option, machine translation, blind accessibility, and shader. This enumerator supports Linux, macOS, and windows and supports iOS, Android, etc. 

Pros

• You get pre-loaded games
• Also compatible with joystick handles
•  You get a various number of features, which makes it all in one emulator. 

Cons 

• For some games, you may have to get patchy support 
• The resource is intensive.

You can download the emulator for free. You can download it from the following link: https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms

3. NO$GBA emulator

Hard to pronounce, right? This emulator is articulated as No Cash GBA. THE NO$GBA emulator is considered as one of the best DS emulators for Under active development. From the title of the Game emulator, you must have comprehended that this emulator is used initially as a Gameboy advance emulator. Still, later the developer added the Nintendo DSI and Nintendo DS to their support list. Mainly NO$GBA emulator can be used in Windows. 

The most recent rendition of the NO$GBA V3.02 was dispatched in May 2024, supporting multiplayer mode for the majority of the GBA and DS ROMs. You can mess around like Pokémon Diamond at max throttle in this emulator, as well, with zero glitches in the illustrations. 

Pros 

• Multiplayer support 
• Usage of Low resource 
• Nintendo DSi support 
• You also get the “Save state option” and Cheat code support
• It also supports joystick usage. 

Cons

• Lacks the graphic setting. 
• It must be utilized in Windows.

Link to download: https://www.nogba.com/

4. OpenEmu DS Emulator is the best emulator for Mac

Another open-source emulator that offers the front-end interface to emulate the various types of consoles which incorporates Game boy, Genesis, Nintendo GS, and many others. As retroarch is available for Windows only, in the same way, OpenEmu is only for the MAC version. 

The interface of the emulator is the same as Apple iTunes. In OpenEmu, you have some exciting features such as easy add up, browse, organize, and compatible gamepad, and you will be able to play your favorite game. 

Pro

• It is an open-source platform. 
• It also supports the controller and gamepads 
• Provides great experience in Mac.

Cons 

• Lack of graphic setting options. 

You can download the OpenEmu from the following link: https://openemu.org/

5. Ensta: The first party Nintendo DS emulator

The most reliable first-party Nintendo DS emulator is Ensta. This emulator is developed and launched by the Nintendo group itself. The aim behind launching this emulator is to debug the increasing demand for the development of DS apps. With the help of the mouse cursor, it can be used for the touch screen and support the ARM9 and ARM 7 dual screen processors. The compatibility rate of this game emulator is pretty low, but it is still considered the best Nintendo emulator for the Window user. 

Pros

• The emulator is from the original Nintendo groups, 
• Has correct rendering 

Cons 

• The official development of the app has been stopped 
• Lack of compatibility 

Here is the link from where you can download the emulator : http://www.ndsemulator.com/nintendo-ds/ensata-download.htm

Bottom Line

While there are many top-quality games accessible on every advanced stage, many are as yet captivated by the appeal of the primary function in Nintendo DS games. The Nintendo DS emulators in the list above will assist you with bringing the brilliant game experience even. So go on, take them for a twist and let us know which Nintendo DS emulator suits you the best before downloading.  

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