Nintendo 3DS games have become hugely popular in recent days. If you are a fan of the games, you know they deserve all the buzz they are creating. However, if you do not have the gaming console, then playing the game is impossible, right?
Well, I’m here to tell you that it is not. In this article, I will share with you ten best Nintendo 3DS emulators for PC and Android in 2023. Once you install them, you will be able to play all the Nintendo 3DS games you want to play. Let’s get started.
What is An Emulator:
Before we get going with the list, let’s take a moment to know what an emulator really is. It is a software that can clone other device’s operating systems. This, in turn, makes it enable to run on several operating systems such as Android and Windows. As a result, you can run different programs on other operating systems, such as running an Android mobile game on your Windows computer and so on.
Best Nintendo 3DS Emulator For PC And Android:
For better understanding, I have divided this section into two different ones. First, I will talk about the Nintendo 3DS emulators for PC, and then I will move on to Android.
For Android:
1. Ultimate x3DSx Gold:
The Ultimate x3DSx Gold is one of the best and fastest Nintendo 3DS emulator out there in the market. The emulator runs virtually every game. The unique part of it is it has an external wireless controller support. This emulator works perfectly well with Gyro and tilt, and other functionalities.
2. DraStic DS Emulator:
Another most trusted Nintendo 3DS emulator is the DraStic DS emulator. It can run most of the popular games with ease. You can even enjoy high-end graphics on your smartphone with this emulator. It has a ton of features. Screen layout customization, Google drive support, fast forward, controller customization, software and hardware controller support are some of them to name.
The only disadvantage of this emulator is it is on the expensive end of the spectrum.
3. RetroArch:
Another emulator worth looking at is RetroArch. It is also an open source software. The emulator comes with quite a few system availabilities like Nintendo DS, Play Store, Game Boy, and SNES. The emulator is available for free.
The only downside of the RetroArch emulator is it is quite a bit complicated when you compare it to the other Nintendo 3DS emulators.
4. NDS Boy! NDS Emulator:
The NDS Boy! NDS emulator is a relatively new one. Some of its best features are load and save states, basic thing control, and customizable control, and so on. The ROM compatibility is just about average, I would say. It supports game files such as RAR, 7z, NDS and ZIP files. The emulator is a good one to have on your smartphone.
5. nds4droid:
The nds4droid is one of the oldest emulators out there in the market. You can get it for free as well. The emulator is an open source one. The best feature of it is frame skipping for running games better and faster.
For PC:
1. Citra 3DS Emulator:
This one is arguably the most widely-used emulator that lets you play Nintendo games on your PC. It is very much user-friendly, adding to its benefits. The emulator is an open-source one. Apart from your PC, it can also run on Mac without any difficulties.
2. DeSmuME:
The first emulator that ran Nintendo 3DS games on PC is the DeSmuME. The emulator is completely free as well. You would not have to spend any money for it. A build service is provided by the DeSmuME user orphic. It is automated for nightly build creations.
3. NeonDS:
The NeonDS runs on every Windows platform. The emulator performs really well on many commercial games. It is completely free on the site softonic.com. The emulator gives a very good performance and is worth looking at.
4. iDeaS:
This emulator is among the very best with OpenGL. iDeaS can run most of the commercial games such as Super Mario 64 DS, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and so much more.
5. NosGBA:
NosGBA is actually a freeware. The emulator is available for Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. It performs moderately well. In addition, the updated versions can be bought with a minimal amount of money.
These are the ten best Nintendo 3DS emulator for PC and Android as of now. If you have any questions or want me to talk about something else, do let me know in the comments section below.
Thanks for providing such a great post of 3DS Emulator
What I don’t get is why Nintendo didn’t get together with Rare to do a 32 meg, ACM graphics Mario Kart sequel on the SNES possibly using the Super FX 2 chip for a boost or even companies like Konami teaming up with Nintendo & Rare to do a 32 meg, ACM Castlevania and/or Contra game just to see what they could’ve accomplished together. They could’ve made those games as big as the Donkey Kong Country series. Super Return of the Jedi should’ve been much bigger & better than it was. They were so lazy they didn’t even change the way (1 handed) Darth Vader fought you from Empire to Jedi & it was a cakewalk to beat him. A few missed opportunities there.