How to play 3DS games on Android

Video game emulation is one of the greatest benefits of the Android ecosystem. With less restrictions than the iOS App Store, Android can emulate myriad consoles in an instant. But what is the best Android 3DS emulator?

In order to play Nintendo 3DS games on an Android phone or tablet, you’ll need a 3DS emulator app. However, you shouldn’t settle for mediocrity. Instead, you should use the best Android 3DS emulator possible. This means that you’ll have the best experience playing games on your device.

It’s worth noting that 3DS emulation on Android is incredibly heavy on portable hardware. With this in mind, make sure that your device is up for the task before being disappointed with poor performance. With that in mind, let’s get to the list.

Best Android 3DS Emulator: Citra

At the time of writing, this is only one Nintendo 3DS emulator worth using on Android: Citra. A mobile-specific conversion of the brilliant desktop program, Citra is not only the Best Android 3DS Emulator, but one of the best emulators to ever grace the Android ecosystem. If you’re looking for a app to show off the power of your device, this is the one.

Developed by a dedicated group of fantastic programmers, Citra is a free program available on the Google Play Store. However, for those who want to get the latest test version of the software, nightly builds are uploaded to the developers’ website. It’s worth noting that those builds can be very buggy.

Stable releases available on the Google Play Store are excellent. In our testing, we were able to run backups of Pokémon Ultra Moon, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Fire Emblem Fates, Dragon Quest 8 and more without many issues. Then again, you should expect some issues.

Even though its undoubtedly the best Android 3DS emulator, Citra is far from prefect. Some games will run worse than others; a few titles may have graphical glitches on effects like transparencies. If you want to know whether or not a game will run well, check out the Citra Compatibility Chart here.

On top of fantastic emulation and frequent updates, Citra also offers myriad options for tuning the experience to your liking. If you have the power, you can massively upgrade the resolution of 3DS games way above their default low-res appearance. This means that you can play 3DS games with console-like visuals on your phone.

Is Citra only for 3DS games?

While it may be the best Android 3DS emulator, Citra’s one shortcoming is that it’s 3DS only. You will only be able to play games made for the Nintendo 3DS on the program. This means that if you wish to play original Nintendo DS games on your phone, you’ll have to look for a DS emulator. That’s a list for another time.

Nevertheless, Citra is still a fantastic program for Android users. In the future, there is a possibility that Citra could play DS games on Android. However, it would appear that there are no plans to make that feature a reality anytime soon.

Are there any other 3DS emulators on Android

As it turns out, Citra is not just the best Android 3DS emulator, but the only option for 3DS lovers on Android. In actuality, there may be other options. The Google Play Store lists two other options, MegaZ 3DS and Citro 3DS. However, despite 500 thousand and 1 million downloads respectively, they have zero reviews. We would class this as something to be way of.

With emulators, there’s always the possibility of fake programs popping up on the Google Play Store. It’s always worth being cautious when looking for new emulators on your phone, but hopefully you’ll come to us just to keep safe.

What about Citra MMJ?

Citra MMJ is an off-shoot of the main Citra branch that’s attempting more complex things with 3DS emulation. However, it lacks a lot of common emulation features, including save states, so we’d suggest sticking with the main branch. 

If Nintendo 3DS emulation isn’t for you, maybe you’re more interested in PlayStation 2 emulation. We’ve got you covered there as well with our best Android PS2 emulator article!

Emulation nintendo Nintendo 3DS

Emulation gives you an accessible and affordable way to play older games that might be hard to come by these days. Your Android phone can emulate most home and handheld consoles up to the fifth generation of consoles, but even Nintendo’s later handhelds are no match for a modern smartphone.

Let’s talk about setting up and using a Nintendo 3DS emulator on your Android phone.

The best Nintendo 3DS emulator for Android

The first step, of course, is to choose an emulator. There are a surprising number of options, but the differences between the best ones come down to personal preference.

Citra and RetroArch are widely cited as the best 3DS emulators. Both are open source and available on most platforms.

RetroArch emulator

RetroArch can emulate a variety of consoles including 3DS, Wii, Wii U, GameBoy, PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, SNES, Sega Genesis and more. This is possible because RetroArch acts as a hub of sorts, consisting of many emulators built for different consoles.

It’s available on Windows, Linux, Android, macOS, and iOS – although it can also run on some consoles like the GameCube. RetroArch provides a full list of supported platforms on its website. For more details on customizability, see our RetroArch Windows Installation Guide, which covers the extensive configuration options.

Downloads: RetroArch (Free)

Citra emulator

Citra was the very first 3DS capable emulator developed for the PC. It is currently available for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android. The Citra team has a wonderful game compatibility list that even categorizes the supported games on a scale from untested to perfect, allowing users to see the progress of a game’s compatibility tests.

While RetroArch has the benefit of greater availability and more supported platforms, for this article we’ll be using the 3DS-focused Citra. The Citra team has maintained consistent and extensive support over the years, and the Android app is well optimized – it even includes gamepad support!

Downloads: Citra Emulator (Free)

Warning! Speaking of ROMs

It is our responsibility to remind you that acquiring ROMs by any means other than ripping them from a disc or cartridge you own is illegal. You may rip ROMs from games you own solely for your own use, not for distribution purposes. Nintendo is particularly strict about sharing and downloading their ROMs, so be careful.

However, as long as you don’t sell ROMs, you should be largely safe from legal troubles. If you get ROMs from online databases, make sure the source is reputable and the files are safe before downloading. ROMs will never be EXE files, and they will never ask for major access to your device.

How to set up and use Citra on your Android phone

Once you’ve downloaded Citra to your Android phone, you’re only a few steps away from playing your favorite 3DS games.

Prepare your games for emulation

Before launching the app, you may want to save your game files to a convenient folder on your Android device. It might even be best to create a new folder titled “3DS Games” or “Citra Games”.

This doesn’t need to be prepared before launching the app, but it will make your initial setup easier – the first time you launch Citra, you’ll be prompted to select the folder you want your games to launch from. This can be changed at any time by tapping the folder icon in the top right corner.

Games on the Nintendo 3DS use a CIA extension, but they must be decrypted before use – this extracted file uses the 3DS extension. You can extract the files with a tool like WinZip, but you can also use Citra to extract a 3DS file from the CIA right from the app’s home screen. Just tap the file icon, select Install CIA, and select the CIA file from your downloads. The rest is easy.

How to play games on Citra

With a small library of 3DS games ready to play, you can start playing.

1. Start Citra and accept the requested permissions. Mic access may be requested – this applies to DS games that use the mic for gaming purposes.
2. Select the previously prepared game folder and tap Select this directory.
3. Once your directory of decrypted games is selected, the home screen will list all your games accompanied by an icon.
4. Tap on the game of your choice to start it. A small loading box will appear when the emulator loads the required shaders. After that you can get started.

The best 3DS emulator for Android

When testing Citra, we picked two games from their compatibility list, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Resident Evil Revelations. The former was called “great” and the latter “poor” on the compatibility list. We found Super Mario to offer an overall enjoyable experience, with only the occasional stutter. Resident Evil, on the other hand, had a few texture and model bugs, as well as a crash.

We have no doubt that Citra is an excellent way to enjoy compatible games and the persistence of the team assures us that they will continue to expand and improve the compatible games available. Citra is an easy recommendation – perhaps the best way to emulate 3DS games.