DeSmuME vs NO$GBA

DeSmuME is a free emulator that attempts to reproduce the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite handheld consoles. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and supports the D-pad, buttons, and touch screen, along with a Lid control for changing the emulated system's folded state. Graphics options include a software SoftRasterizer and an OpenGL-based renderer. Audio samples can use linear or cosine interpolation, or no interpolation; microphone input can come from hardware audio or software-generated samples. The Windows port can capture screenshots, AVI video, and WAV audio, as well as record TAS gameplay movies. Users can save and load game states, though the Windows manual warns that states may break between emulator versions. Cheat search and editing are available, and Action Replay codes are supported in post-0.9.2 development builds. Wi-Fi support is experimental and unsupported, and the project discourages end users from using it. The software is distributed under the GNU General Public License. DSi emulation is not supported.

NO$GBA is freeware that emulates Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and DSi systems on Windows. Downloads include separate Windows debug and gaming versions plus a DOS gaming version. The debugger provides Code, Data, Stack, and Registers windows; its Data view can display and modify memory dumps. It accepts.ELF, DWARF2, and.SYM debug information and shows execution timing and profiling details. Conditional breakpoints, tracing, and optional warnings for suspicious actions such as ROM writes or invalid memory access support investigation. For emulation, NO$GBA can link up to four GBAs for multiplayer and save or restore complete hardware state to a file. Its upload function runs programs up to 256K in attached GBAs’ Work RAM through an xboo cable. DSi emulation requires several system files users may not have. The downloads page lists version 3.06 dated 14 Apr 2025. The Free plan costs nothing, and the maker is Martin Korth.