5 Best Nintendo DS Emulators for iOS and Android
Emulators for Nintendo consoles have been available for quite a while, and they continue to improve. On your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can enjoy your favourite childhood Nintendo video games.
No more searching for the classic Nintendo consoles to relive your favourite games.
Nintendo DS emulators are required to seamlessly play Nintendo games. The wide selection of emulators available, however, can make it difficult to find the best one for you.
We hand-picked the best DS emulator that works on iPhones and Macs.
Best Nintendo DS Emulators for Android and iOS
1. Drastic DS emulator
Nintendo DS games can be played on this application with the highest speed. MOGA is a reliable and user-friendly NDS emulator that comes with it.
This emulator is specialized for android devices and helps in enabling 3D and increasing resolution. The application is compatible with both landscape and portrait screen modes.
Drastic has a cheat code manager that manages more than a thousand codes. The best part is that at any time the game is saved, it can be resumed at a later time.
There are plenty of controls available, including the ability to sync Google Drive or external game controls.
It also gives the fast-forwarding option to increase the emulation speed.
Pros:
- External controller support.
- It can upscale the graphics support to 2 times the original resolution.
- It also controls the physical controls as well as add-on controllers like Nvidia shields.
Cons:
- Ye to implement Wi-Fi support.
2. GBA4ios
Games from the Game Boy Advance can be played on the iPhone using GBA4iOS. As well as supporting older games, this emulator is faster and simpler to use.
In the latest update, a few new features were added including Dropbox sync, AirPlay, and cheats.
The open-source code for GBA4ios works with games for the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color.
Recently, the emulator gained support for iPhone 5. There is also URL Scheme GBC support, support for Google Drive and Dropbox, Controller Skins, Multiplayer support, cheat codes, and state saving capabilities.
Using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth you can easily connect with other devices for multiplayer games. Besides all these amazing features, it also gives you Airplay Technology which allows a device to stream audio from your phone or tablet to speakers connected via Bluetooth in the same room as the speaker.
Pros:
- Various cheat codes
- Sustain button
- Syncs with Dropbox
- Custom controller skins
Cons:
- Complicated setup
3. iNDS emulator
iOS devices running iOS 9 and above can run the iNDS Emulator. For this emulator to work, you don’t need a jailbroken device.
This emulator may not be compatible with some older devices or those with less than 256MB RAM due to the features it provides and the graphics required for it to run.
iNDS emulator is compatible with all devices running up to iOS 14. It is also best known to provide advanced features such as auto-save, in-app customizations, video filters, haptic vibration, and more.
Pros:
- Works even without a jailbreak.
- Compatible with various commercial ROMs.
- Compatible with devices iOS 14 and above.
Cons:
- Requires technical knowledge to set up.
4. NDS4ios
The popular DS emulator NDS4ios is available for Windows and Mac. Because it is not available in the app store, it is unlike other emulators.
Nevertheless, NDS4ios can be installed by using apps such as TuTuApp that use an IPA file.
Just like the iNDS emulator, this android emulator works without jailbreaking devices.
There are also other alternatives that you can use. It has excellent performance. Additionally, it makes it easy to play 2D NDS games. However, 3D games have a tendency to lag and run slowly.
Pros:
- Fully optimized for iPhone and iPad.
- Dropbox integration and Airplay Support.
- iOS controller support
Cons:
- No longer in development.
5. Duos emulator
People with old computers who wish to play NDS games will find this application useful. Your computer doesn’t consume much resources, but the downloaded games will run smoothly.
Game players find it easy to set up and use, though the user interface isn’t the best. You can right-click on a game to run it on the emulator by promoting it.
Playing Duos requires the use of a joystick. One of the best Nintendo emulators because of the high quality of sound and compatibility with different devices.
Pros:
- Easy to use and setup
- It has a freeware program.
- Allows wide range of games.
Cons:
- No quick save feature.
Why Do Few People Use DS Emulators on iOS?
iOS applications are incredibly restricted by Apple, and Android users face significantly more difficulties overcoming the built-in security protocols.
The iPhone is a much tougher environment than Android, which is a veritable paradise for retro gaming and emulation.
Since most iOS emulators require a jailbroken device to function, developers have little motivation to develop them. In fact, those applications which do not require jailbreaking only work 50 per cent of the time.
There is a possibility of emulating the Nintendo DS on iOS, but it will not be easy.
eBay is often the best place to buy a used DS. With a flash cart, you can store dozens of ROMs for less than $50. That’s a good deal.
Among these three emulators, the Nintendo DS is the best option for iOS users. There are other emulators available, but most require older versions of iOS and will not work with the most current version (14.3 at the time of writing).
A Word of Warning
Basically, emulation isn’t legal. Even though ROMs are necessary for emulators to work (and are not illegal), emulators are not useful without them.
Copyright laws make it illegal to download ROMs. Despite the fact that emulating a game is unlikely to result in a lawsuit, there is always a possibility. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as open-source games that are not officially licensed that do not violate the law.
However, users should be aware of this risk and keep in mind that downloading ROMs is illegal.
Nintendo DS Emulator FAQs
Q. Is it possible to connect a DS emulator to a real DS?
Ans: No, the answer is no. A DS emulator does not currently support a direct connection to a DS for local multiplayer.
Q. Is it legal to emulate games?
Ans: You may download and use them legally, but you cannot share any copyrighted ROMs online because that is a violation of the law.
Q. GBA ROMs can be played by DS emulators?
Ans: Except where stated otherwise, emulators only work with the specified game system. Emulators for DS and GBA work similarly. You can run DS games on DS emulators and play GBA games on GBA emulators.
Q. What are the advantages of using an iOS emulator?
Ans: The iOS emulator is a program that enables you to run mobile applications on your desktop operating system and allows you to use its functionality, including being able to emulate the device’s behaviour without having to buy any additional hardware.
During the testing phase of some apps, it is also a way for developers to detect unusual behaviour. iPhone users have been using emulators for a long time.
Q. Which iPhone emulator is the best?
Ans: As one of the first released emulators, GBA4iOS was quite popular with iPhone and iPad users. Games can be loaded in four different ways using it. You can install it from the App store. The GBA4iOS 2.0 supports games for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, while the GBA4iOS 1.6 supports the full Game Boy Advance library.
Q. Will my data be lost if I delete GBA4iOS?
Ans: Certainly. So you won’t lose data, you can copy the ROMs and save them on your computer. Next, you can try reinstalling the app and re-entering your data. Your Dropbox data will still be safe if you delete the app.
Final Words
Playing Nintendo games on iPhone and iPad is much more enjoyable with the Drastic DS Emulator, as it allows for faster play and a more user-friendly interface.
The user will also find an increased resolution on their 3D games, the ability to save and resume their game at any time, and the ability to control the game with keyboard, mouse, and external controls in addition to faster speeds.
More than a thousand cheat codes can be used in addition to high-quality audio settings and fast-forwarding.
The Drastic DS emulator for iOS is developed by Exophase and it is updated, developed, and added to on a daily basis, increasing its reliability.
It seems some people were able to use this emulator on their iOS devices even though it was designed for an Android device; however, some required a jailbroken device.
