DeSmuME
DeSmuME is an open-source Nintendo DS emulator and is among the most accurate. It sports tools designed for hackers, speedrunners, youtubers, and casual gamers (use Dev-builds). Homebrew programs are supported and can even be debugged through GDB. It can be run from the command line directly or as a graphical program and it even allows for increasing internal resolution. It is also available as a libretro core for RetroArch.
DeSmuME X432r is a modified version that has filters, OpenGL video setting, 3D emulation, rotate screen, up scale resultions and much more but requires a higher end PC and hasnt't been updated since 2015.
Last Stable Release:
0.9.13
Dated:
24-05-2022
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Windows: Vista SP2+
Linux: 2.6+
CPU: 3.0 GHz+
RAM: 2GB+
MelonDS
MelonDS is a work-in-progress Nintendo DS emulator aiming for better performance while being able to to emulate Wi-Fi and local multiplayer capabilities. It has many quality of life features such as save states, Joystic support, screen positioning, RTC, microphone and much more..! It's developed by a former contributor of DeSmuME and even has libretro core available. There's also active development of an Android port.
It also requires DS BIOS/firmware copies
bios7.bin, 16KB: ARM7 BIOS
bios9.bin, 4KB: ARM9 BIOS
firmware.bin, 128/256/512KB: firmware
Please note firmware boot requires a firmware dump from an original DS or DS Lite. DS firmwares dumped from a DSi or 3DS aren't bootable and only contain configuration data, thus they are only suitable when booting games directly.
Last Stable Release:
1.0 RC
Dated:
21-11-2024
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Windows: None Reported
Mac: Install the appropriate libraries beforehand with the Homebrew Package Manager.
In Terminal, type "brew install qt5 sdl2 libslirp"
No$GBA
No$GBA is currently the fastest working GBA emulator, though not the most accurate on GBA and even less on DS. It supports multiplayer and is able to load multiple GBA/NDS ROM files for linking games.
Last Stable Release:
3.05
Dated:
23-08-2021
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Windows: Doesn't mention minimum
Also available on DOS
NooDS
NooDS is an experimental open-source Nintendo DS emulator with the goal of being fast and portable. It's currently available for Linux, macOS, Windows, and the Nintendo Switch.
That said, it doesn't provide high-level emulation of the BIOS yet. To actually run games, you'll need BIOS files (bios7.bin and bios9.bin) and firmware (firmware.bin) placed in the same directory as the executable. On the Switch, you'll also need to have a ROM file (rom.nds) in the directory.
Dated:
61d5e01 / 25-11-2024
Relevant Files
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DS BIOS - DS BIOS and firmware (provided from GameTechWiki)
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DS BIOS - iQue BIOS and firmware (provided from GameTechWiki)