Emulators (Nintendo)

The Nintendo-specific console emulator field, system by system. For all-in-one frontends that wrap most of these via libretro see Multi-system emulators. For Sony / Sega / arcade see Sony and Misc / PC / Arcade. For ROM legality (the unavoidable nuance) see Game legal nuance. For homebrew / CFW on real hardware see Console modding & homebrew. For RetroAchievements integration see Achievements / RetroAchievements.

The 2024–26 reality, in one paragraph: Nintendo's litigation campaign reshaped the active-console emulator scene. Yuzu (Switch) settled and shut down March 2024. Citra (3DS) was sunset October 2024. Ryujinx was pressured to shut down October 2024. The communities forked everything — Suyu, Sudachi, Citron for Switch; Lime3DS, PabloMK7's Citra fork for 3DS; Strato for Switch on Android. Forks live on community Git mirrors and frequently move; download URLs from this page may rot. The retro / legacy-console emulators (Dolphin, mGBA, melonDS, Mesen) are unaffected and as good as ever.

Switch (post-lawsuit)

• Suyu — free OSS Yuzu fork; community-maintained on Codeberg/GitLab. Most-feature-parity Yuzu continuation. Honest flag: development is volatile; check the active fork at the time you read this.
• Sudachi — free OSS Yuzu fork; smaller team but active builds.
• Citron — free OSS Yuzu fork; another active descendant.
• Strato — free OSS Switch emulator for Android specifically.
• Ryujinx (community continuations) — the original Ryujinx repo was archived October 2024 after Nintendo contact; community forks under names like Ryubing / GreemDev/Ryujinx continue development. Verify provenance.
• Honest flag: all Switch emulators require keys / firmware extracted from your own console — the legality of that step is jurisdiction-dependent. Don't pirate prod.keys.

Wii U / Wii / GameCube

• ★ ★ Dolphin — GPL-2.0 OSS; Win/Mac/Linux/Android. The gold-standard GameCube + Wii + Triforce emulator, in active development since 2003. Excellent compatibility, HD upscaling, gyro and motion via Bluetooth controllers, netplay, AR/Gecko code support. 2024–25 milestone: official Steam release after Nintendo's "no-cease-and-desist" outcome. Pairs with RetroAchievements.
• ★ Cemu — MIT OSS (since 2022); Win/Linux/Mac. Wii U emulator; outstanding compatibility for the small Wii U library. Once Patreon-only, now fully open source.

Nintendo DS / 3DS

• ★ melonDS — GPL-3.0 OSS; Win/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS. The actively-developed DS / DSi emulator with the best accuracy. Local wireless multiplayer, JIT recompiler, decent 3D upscaling.
• DeSmuME — GPL-2.0 OSS; long-running DS emulator. melonDS has overtaken it in accuracy and dev velocity but DeSmuME remains stable and widely packaged.
• DraStic — paid Android DS emulator; closed source. Long the best mobile DS option; melonDS Android has narrowed the gap.
• Lime3DS — free OSS Citra fork; the most active community continuation of 3DS emulation post-October-2024 sunset.
• PabloMK7's Citra fork — free OSS; another credible Citra continuation.
• Honest flag: Citra was sunset October 2024 alongside the Yuzu lawsuit. Both Lime3DS and PabloMK7's fork are post-sunset community projects.

Game Boy / Game Boy Advance

• ★ mGBA — MPL-2.0 OSS; Win/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS (post-EU-DMA / Apple policy). The default GB / GBC / GBA emulator. High accuracy, link cable emulation, e-Reader support, RetroAchievements. Standalone or libretro core.
• VisualBoyAdvance-M — GPL-2.0 OSS; long-running GBA emulator with decent accuracy. mGBA has overtaken it but VBA-M is fine for casual use.
• Sameboy — MIT OSS; Mac/Linux/Win. Hyper-accurate GB / GBC emulator (more accurate than mGBA on GB specifically).

NES / Famicom / SNES

• ★ Mesen — GPL-3.0 OSS; the modern accuracy-first NES + Famicom + Famicom Disk System + SNES + Game Boy + PCE emulator. Mesen 2 (2023+) merged the original Mesen and Mesen-S into one app. Excellent debugger, save-state rewind, HD pack support.
• FCEUX — GPL-2.0 OSS; long-running NES emulator with strong tool-assisted-speedrun lineage. Still a libretro core.
• Snes9x — non-commercial OSS; the long-running SNES emulator; libretro core. Mesen 2 is now arguably more accurate.
• bsnes / bsnes-hd — GPL-3.0 OSS; cycle-accurate SNES; near and Talarubi's heirs. The accuracy bar.
• 3dSen — paid (Steam / itch); reimagines NES games in 3D. A novelty but a beloved one.

N64

• Mupen64Plus-Next — GPL-3.0 OSS; libretro core; the default N64 core in RetroArch.
• simple64 — GPL-3.0 OSS; standalone N64 emu with an opinionated UI; growing.
• Project64 — GPL OSS Win; long-running, mixed history with closed-source forks.
• ParaLLEl-N64 — RDP-accurate libretro core; visually closest to real hardware on supported titles.

TAS / multi-system / accuracy specialist

• ★ BizHawk — MIT OSS; Win-first / Linux. The tool-assisted speedrun emulator; multi-system (NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, GG, Atari, Genesis, etc.). Frame-accurate input recording, save-state per frame, the speedrun community standard. See Speedrunning.

Pick this if…

• GameCube / Wii / Wii U: Dolphin (GC/Wii), Cemu (Wii U).
• Switch, today: Suyu / Sudachi / Citron — pick the one with active commits at the moment. Expect change.
• 3DS, today: Lime3DS.
• DS: melonDS.
• Game Boy / GBA: mGBA.
• NES / SNES / Famicom: Mesen 2.
• N64: Mupen64Plus-Next via RetroArch, or simple64.
• TAS or speedruns: BizHawk.
• Mobile (iOS post-DMA / Apple policy reversal): Delta — see Mobile gaming & emulators.