dasShiny vs Pilas-melonDS

dasShiny is a free Nintendo DS emulator for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The maker describes it as highly experimental and aims it at people familiar with cartridge folders and recent BSNES versions. Its interface looks for a gamefolder.nds/manifest.xml file; a blank manifest directs it to a ROM in gamefolder.nds/rom, which can be up to 1 GB. Setup requires ARM7 and ARM9 BIOS files and firmware, and the maker advises backing up rewritable firmware. The emulator can load homebrew ROMs, but it does not implement DLDI support for FAT access, so software that depends on that access may not work. Games listed as known to run include Super Mario 64, Mario Kart DS, and Animal Crossing: Wild World, along with several demos. Pokémon Diamond/Pearl is reported to save but crash at the load menu. For 3D, the maker says a high-end Core 2, i5, or i7 is pretty much mandatory in the described context. Windows users are advised to choose XAudio2 over DirectSound.

Pilas-melonDS is a free HTML5 and WebAssembly browser frontend for the melonDS Nintendo DS emulator. It opens.nds,.dsi, and.srl files, runs in DS mode by default, and offers experimental DSi mode. Controls include keyboard, Gamepad API, touch, and DS touchscreen input. Users can choose Canvas 2D, WebGL 2, or WebGPU rendering, with audio through WebAudio. Cartridge saves and browser save states use IndexedDB, with as many as six save-state slots per ROM. The frontend can install DSiWare.cia files into DSi NAND or virtual SD storage. Camera and microphone input for DSi require browser media permission and a localhost or HTTPS origin. Browser internet mode provides a compatibility shim for DHCP, DNS, ARP, and basic TCP/HTTP, but it cannot provide arbitrary raw UDP/TCP internet or decrypt HTTPS traffic within the browser sandbox. DSi menu boot requires legally dumped BIOS files and a writable NAND dump; normal DS direct boot can use the built-in FreeBIOS fallback. The project is licensed under MPL-2.0.