Software Alternatives & Reviews

DeSmuME VS RetroArch

Compare DeSmuME VS RetroArch and see what are their differences

DeSmuME logo DeSmuME

DeSmuME is a freeware emulator for the NDS roms & Nintendo DS Lite games created by YopYop156.

RetroArch logo RetroArch

RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.
  • DeSmuME Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-04
  • RetroArch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-22

DeSmuME videos

DeSmuME: Complete Install Guide (Nintendo DS Emulator)

More videos:

  • Review - DeSmuMe: The Amazing Nintendo DS Emulator for PC! |Emulator Review| Ft. Anton Retro
  • Review - Desmume Review

RetroArch videos

RetroArch - Getting Started! Your Ultimate Retro Gaming PC! [Setup and Demonstration]

More videos:

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DeSmuME and RetroArch)
Gaming
20 20%
80% 80
Emulators
20 20%
80% 80
Gaming Tools
25 25%
75% 75
Gaming Software
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare DeSmuME and RetroArch

DeSmuME Reviews

Best DS Emulator: Are These Emulators Safe And Legal To Use?
It provides a good gaming experience with features like save states, cheat codes, and controller support. DeSmuME is also easy to use and has a simple interface.
Source: appletoo.us
5 Best Nintendo DS Emulators for PC
Although it only has handful graphic settings, you can get good game graphics comparable to DeSmuME with a few tweaks.
7 Best Mac Emulators For Gamers In 2022
If you are like me, and have never owned a Nintendo DS… DeSmuME can emulate the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite handheld game consoles with its Mac compatible program.
Source: retrododo.com
12 Best Gaming Console Emulators for Mac in 2022
DeSmuMe is a Nintendo emulator designed to allow users to play dual screens of Nintendo on their PC as the emulator simulates the dual-screen on the PC monitor.
Source: thebingeful.com
10 Emulators To Turn Your Computer Into A Retro Console
Nintendo’s dual screen console can be played on your computer using DeSmuME, with both screens simulated on your computer monitor. Your mouse is used as a stylus for the touch input. It even supports games that require you to play your device sideways.

RetroArch Reviews

Best DS Emulator: Are These Emulators Safe And Legal To Use?
RetroArch also supports a wide range of controller types, making it a great choice for gamers who want to use their favorite controller.
Source: appletoo.us
5 Best Nintendo DS Emulators for PC
It has highlights like RetroArch are shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame response times, run ahead, machine translation, blind accessibility features, and much more.
Best emulators for Android in 2023
RetroArch is a popular open-source front-end for emulators. If you’re into playing retro games, RetroArch is your one-stop shop for all your emulating needs. It's not an emulator by itself but instead allows you to add "cores" that act as the backend to emulate several legacy consoles. While most of its most popular emulators are already covered here by dedicated apps, it...
5 of the Best GameBoy Advance (GBA) Emulators for Android
RetroArch is a poster child worldwide of emulation, specifically due to the fact that it’s not precisely an emulator. The retroArch is best refer to as a solitary, unified application where you can communicate with other emulators.
4 Free Open Source Game Emulators For Windows PC, Linux, and macOS
In addition to this, you are able to run original game discs (CDs) from RetroArch. RetroArch has advanced features like shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame response times, runahead, machine translation, blind accessibility features, and more! What systems does it play?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DeSmuME should be more popular than RetroArch. It has been mentiond 32 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DeSmuME mentions (32)

  • any one know how to emulate a dsi game
    Citra is for 3ds games. While it should be compatible with ds games since the physical consoles are, this isn't true of the emulators. http://desmume.org/ has what you need. Source: 10 months ago
  • Looking for My Old Nintendo 3DS
    You should probably emulate the games, your 3DS is unlikely to be found Here is an Emulator r/roms is a good resource for ROMs. Source: 12 months ago
  • Scooby Doo First Frights & the spooky swamp
    You can download DeSmuME (http://desmume.org/), which is a free Nintendo emulator. Then you wanna search up "Scooby Doo First Frights ROM" in Google, and download it. Then you can open the emulator, click on File at the top, click "Open ROM", then open the ROM file you downloaded to play the game. Source: about 1 year ago
  • How do you guys play?
    Emulators 100%, mGBA for GBA games (My Boy for android, sprang for the paid version a while ago and don't regret it), DeSmuME for DS and Citra for 3DS. I do technically still own copies of most DS and 3DS games but I despise nuzlocking on hardware at this point and I tend to play romhacks anyways. I personally wouldn't recommend anything other than GBA games/romhacks for a phone, but maybe someone else has a... Source: about 1 year ago
  • Rule
    You’ll need an emulator that you can load the rom into. Desmume (https://desmume.org) is a decent one. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

RetroArch mentions (20)

  • RetroArch cannot be found on the PlayStore, the first result is a copycat. It is just me?
    No, isn't just you. Every 64-bit phone haves the Play Store Retroarch available, the 32-bits no. But you can still download the 32-bit version on the Retroarch website. Source: 11 months ago
  • Cause of the intrusion has been found and isolated. Sites are operational again.
    It was only the download links on retroarch.com on the Platforms page that got (briefly) redirected for a few hours. That should all be safe now. Source: 11 months ago
  • Malicious download links?
    Yes, only the retroarch.com and libretro.com websites were affected. Source: 11 months ago
  • Recent update from supposed hackers
    I went to retroarch.com and it said "discord.gg/evaderz is big haxors" its unrespectable. Source: 11 months ago
  • Latest RetroArch on Xiaomi Mi box
    I've got installed RetroArch Plus from Google Play on my Xiaomi Mi box 4k and I want to update it to the latest version. I downloaded apk from retroarch.com but when I use apk installer to update it say is not compatible. I removed version from Google Play but fresh install 1.15.0 is not compatible too. I tried 32 and 64 version. What I'm doing wrong? Is any other AndroidTV version? Source: 11 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DeSmuME and RetroArch, you can also consider the following products

Citra - Citra is a work-in-progress emulator for the Nintendo 3DS.

OpenEmu - Console and Arcade video game emulator for macOS.

mGBA - mGBA is an open source emulator of the Game Boy Advance. The goals are speed and accuracy.

LaunchBox - LaunchBox is a portable, box-art-based games database and launcher for DOSBox, emulators, arcade cabinets, and PC Games. Download it free!

melonDS - A Nintendo DS emulator with support for commercial games.

BSNES - bsnes is a Super Nintendo (SNES) emulator focused on performance, features, and ease of use.