The Nintendo DS is one of the most popular gaming consoles, and pokemon is one of the most popular games. Even though Nintendo DS is no longer in stores, you can still play the game on your PC and that with the help of the best Nintendo DS emulators for PC.
It is always exciting to play a Pokemon game on PC using an emulator. But, which emulator is the best Nintendo DS Emulator for PC? This article reveals the hand-picked list of the Best Nintendo DS emulators to play Pokemon games on PC.
What is Nintendo DS Emulator?
The Nintendo DS is a portable gaming console that lacks support from Nintendo. The console has been quite popular at one time and was considered a great bargain for kids around the world. It featured a low price, lots of games, and portable nature. However, the popularity of handheld gaming has been declining.
The latest Pokemon game, Black and White, is not supported on the device either. Thankfully, plenty of developers have come up with some alternative solutions to this problem and created some emulators for these popular consoles. A Nintendo DS emulator runs Nintendo DS games on computers by pretending to be a Nintendo DS.
Best Nintendo DS Emulators For PC in 2021
A Nintendo DS emulator runs Nintendo DS games on computers by pretending to be a Nintendo DS. There are tons of Nintendo DS Emulators out there for your PC and Mobile devices; we have gathered the best ones here. Using these, you can play almost every game ever released for the Nintendo DS on your computer.
1. DeSmuMe
Have you ever dreamed of playing your favorite Nintendo DS Pokemon games on the computer? Now you can, thanks to DeSmuMe Nintendo DS Emulator.
DeSmuMe is a Nintendo DS emulator for Windows and Linux. Unlike other DS emulators, DeSmuMe is capable of booting commercial games directly from your hard drive without the need to dump a cartridge’s ROM file as well as play games in various languages. This freeware emulator for the Nintendo DS is written in C++.
While running games, it supports save states, the ability to increase the internal resolution up to x7, and add custom shaders to simulate physical effects like glasses or 3D cards. Furthermore, users can enjoy features such as cheat codes. Users are able to play many DS games at full speed(60fps).
It offers rich personalization for graphics and emulation settings. Additionally, it also has a USB controller assistance. There’s also a conserve slot attribute that lets you play games from the point you leave.
Get DeSmuMe from here.
2. RetroArch
RetroArch Nintendo DS Emulator is the most unique Nintendo DS emulator available. It contains many features that are completely absent from any other emulator and is extremely fast. It allows you to play games from nearly any retro system. You get support to play the pokemon game from NES, DS, SNES, DSi, 64, Atari, 3DS, MAME; pick your poison!
If you have a Smartphone or Tablet, RetroArch, like RETRO BOX, can also be installed on portable systems so that you can carry all of your old-school games wherever you go. RetroArch even has a popular app that has been recommended by many gaming outlets called CATSFC (Cats in Space). It’s worth mentioning that RetroArch and SuperRetro16 are the only way to emulate NDS games at 100% speed. Here you can also record your gaming sessions and stream them on Twitch.
It comes with advanced features like shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame response times, run ahead, machine translation, blind accessibility features. They say imitation is the best form of flattery. In this case, that’s even truer than it usually is, as RetroArch Nintendo DS emulator, arguably the best NDS ROM emulator out there. Do give it a shot.
Get RetroArch from here.
3. Citra (Nintendo 3DS Emulator)
The 3DS Emulator Citra is becoming more popular among gamers. Citra (3DS) is an excellent free open-source, hardware emulator that allows you to run many games from the Nintendo 3DS, which are not available for normal PC users. Citra comes with tons of different options that allow you to run, jump and explore like a real 3DS. You can even personalize your experience with one-touch start points that take you straight to where you want to be.
While it’s not the fastest, it definitely is the most feature-rich emulator available to users. Citra (the Nintendo 3DS emulator) is a pretty nifty little piece of software. It can allow you to take many of the games available for the system and play them in 3D, in much better quality than can be achieved using regular systems. Users can achieve interior resolutions up to 4K making their pokemon experience even more fun and adventurous.
It features a wide variety of games, quality options, and even online multiplayer functionality (yes, it supports Wi-Fi) with friends. Furthermore, you can play with a joystick, customize screen layout options and even use cheat codes.
Get Citra (Nintendo 3DS Emulator) from here.
4. NO$GBA Emulator
NO$GBA emulator is a peerless program that makes people addicted to it by introducing new challenges and opportunities which have not been done before. It is used to play Nintendo DS as well as Nintendo DS Lite (DSi) and even Gameboy Advance ROMs on the PC with superior graphics. The word “NO$” is generally used in video game development to mean “no dollars” (it stands for “$nO Money”) and began as a joke on the WON WON emulator for cheap knockoff handheld games.
It provides features not found in any other public emulator, such as Real-Time Save and 3D hardware DirectX Graphics (no drivers required for the latter). There are two pros of using NO$GBA, firstly, it respects your resources and functions as a lite-weight alternative to other emulators, and the second one, it is as fast as any other emulator you pick.
Like everyone else, it supports cheat codes, joysticks, and save options. Going further, you can load multiple ROMs & cartridge, but lacks the screen layout features which might be a deal-breaker for many, but if you have an older PC, then NO$GBA can be your best bet to run Pokemon games od Nintendo on PC.
Get NO$GBA from here.
5. MelonDS
Let’s cut to the chase here. Do you like giant tomatoes? Because if you answered yes, then you’re in for a treat…A melon-shaped treat. Now, this isn’t any ordinary melon, but a Nintendo DS emulator with a sleek retro look and a replica of a Japanese school lunch box.
MelonDS Nintendo DS Emulator is an open-source emulator for the Nintendo DS. It was started with an aim to be a cross-platform, standalone emulator able to boot many commercial games without needing external bios files. Up until now, if you wanted to play games for the Nintendo DS on your PC, you would have had to use a virtual machine and hope that it could support your game of choice. This is no longer the case with the MelonDS emulator.
It runs commercial games, homebrew games–anything that’ll run on NDS–and never has any game-breaking bugs in it at all unless they’re bugs in the games themselves. Though it doesn’t support much graphic customization, its way of rendering DS games to match with original console graphics blows out its completion.
You get local Wi-FI assistance for multiplayer games; though the feature is experimental and a work in progress, it functions smoothly. Another major advantage of MelonDS is its integration with OpenGL render that allows you to take gaming experience at extreme resolutions. Plus, yes, it also supports joysticks, has a save slot option, and offers pre-defined screen layouts.
Get MelonDS from here.
Summing Up:
Nintendo DS emulation is still on people’s minds. There are a few good reasons why many of you would love to play Pokemon games on your computers and laptops. Maybe the best reason is that you can take it anywhere and everywhere with you. You no longer have to be at home or in front of your TV for you to play it.
There is an Emulator for every device, so it is natural to search for one that is compatible with your PC. Pick any of the mentioned ones from this article as it has some of the best Nintendo DS emulators available for PC to play Pokemon games.