Software Alternatives & Reviews

RetroArch VS Dolphin Emulator

Compare RetroArch VS Dolphin Emulator and see what are their differences

RetroArch logo RetroArch

RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.

Dolphin Emulator logo Dolphin Emulator

Official website of Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator. Download the latest version (5. 0-5763) now or ask questions on our forums for help. Enter your search in the box aboveDownloadDownload the latest version of the Dolphin Emulator (5.
  • RetroArch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-22
  • Dolphin Emulator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-02

RetroArch

Categories
  • Gaming
  • Emulators
  • Media Player
  • Gaming Tools
Website retroarch.com
Details $-

Dolphin Emulator

Categories
  • Gaming
  • Emulators
  • Gaming Tools
  • Media Player
Website dolphin-emu.org
Details $

RetroArch videos

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

More videos:

Dolphin Emulator videos

Ultimate Guide to Dolphin Emulator

More videos:

  • Review - Dolphin Emulator Vs. Gamecube
  • Review - Dolphin Emulator for Android Review!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RetroArch and Dolphin Emulator)
Gaming
74 74%
26% 26
Emulators
76 76%
24% 24
Gaming Tools
74 74%
26% 26
Media Player
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using RetroArch and Dolphin Emulator. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

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?

Dolphin Emulator Reviews

  1. Can’t get anything to work

    I downloaded the most recent stable version and the most recent beta version separately to attempt the following

    Downloaded ROMS from the dolphin website to not have them register as games or allow me to upload them onto dolphin even under instruction of various YouTube tutorials

    Downloaded ROMS from other sources that checked out as safe from Reddit users and other review websites, result was a little different, it would give me an error code of 00000000 and would eventually crash the entire app.

    Ultimately this was a waste of hours of my time trying to get it to work only leaving me angry and disappointed.

  2. suggestions?

    everything is good. but i wanted to make simulate analog stick on keyboard. put it in smooth (A,1,2). but when i press opposite direction. it doesn't center itself. it just continues from where it is. can you make an option when other button presses it center automatically? i know there's more input but I can't find tutorial videos how it works.


Best emulators for Android in 2023
Dolphin Emulator is one of the most famous emulators on the planet thanks to its compatibility with pretty much everything on the GameCube and the Wii. It runs on many devices, the development team is very transparent in what they're working on with blog post updates every few months, and the team even worked to preserve Nintendo Update Server (NUS) support by creating a...
7 Best Mac Emulators For Gamers In 2022
The Dolphin Emulator has been in development since around the time the GameCube was released, and has seen plenty of breakthroughs and updates since that time.
Source: retrododo.com
15 best emulators for Android to play old favorites!
Dolphin is an interesting browser. It was around for a while, left, and it’s back now. The developers promise that it’ll stick around for a while this time. This is the only somewhat decent GameCube and Wii emulator on Android. It lets you play ROMs of games from both systems with relatively competence. It’s still in active development, though, so there are bugs. It has most...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Dolphin Emulator should be more popular than RetroArch. It has been mentiond 150 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.

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
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Dolphin Emulator mentions (150)

  • Replay old video games
    GameCube/Wii: Dolphin is the best GameCube/Wii emulator in my opinion: Download Dolphin. Source: 6 months ago
  • Rokid Max Review and Many Tips
    Though these consoles did not support stereoscopy originally, the Dolphin emulator can add it and output SBS. My experience was a bit mixed. Your mileage may vary. Source: 9 months ago
  • Am I the only one tired of the remakes?
    You install Dolphin emulator, go into settings and make a folder for your games where it says "directory", and then you just stick your game in the folder. That's pretty much all there is to it, that's why I think Dolphin is the best emulator. Source: 9 months ago
  • Local Co-op Action RPGs on PC
    Platform: Gamecube. The remaster scrapped the local co-op entirely (booo). This one is a bit tricky but works perfectly once setup properly in Dolphin. Source: 9 months ago
  • Any way to play without emulator?
    Emulators (especially dolphin) are very easy to run, so if you take some time to follow the quickstart guide I think you'll find it's not too hard to follow. Sites like vimm's lair are what I use for all my game roms and don't have any malware. Source: 10 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

OpenEmu - Console and Arcade video game emulator for macOS.

PCSX2 - PCSX2 a Playstation 2 emulator for android, Linux and Mac

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

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

CoolROM - Download from the largest and cleanest ROMs and emulators resource on the net. Mobile optimized. Systems include N64, GBA, SNES, NDS, GBC, NES, MAME, PSX, Gamecube and more.

Batocera.linux - Batocera.linux is an open-source and completely free retro-gaming distribution that can be copied to a USB stick or an SD card with the aim of turning any computer/nano computer into a gaming console during a game or permanently.