Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups
Register | Login

Dolphin Emulator VS RetroArch

Compare Dolphin Emulator VS RetroArch and see what are their differences

Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

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 logo RetroArch

RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.
  • Dolphin Emulator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-02
  • RetroArch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-22

Dolphin Emulator features and specs

  • High Compatibility
    Dolphin Emulator supports a wide range of GameCube and Wii games, ensuring that most titles run smoothly.
  • Graphical Enhancements
    The emulator allows for resolution improvements, texture enhancements, and other graphical tweaks that can make old games look significantly better.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Dolphin Emulator is available on various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, providing flexibility to users.
  • Customizable Controls
    Users can configure and customize game controls to their liking, whether using a keyboard, mouse, or game controllers.
  • Save States
    The emulator supports save states, allowing players to save and load their progress at any point in the game.
  • Active Development
    The emulator benefits from an active community and frequent updates, ensuring ongoing improvements and new features.

Possible disadvantages of Dolphin Emulator

  • Hardware Intensive
    Running Dolphin Emulator can be demanding on system resources, requiring a relatively powerful CPU and GPU for optimal performance.
  • Game Compatibility Issues
    Despite high compatibility, not all games run perfectly, and some may experience bugs, crashes, or performance issues.
  • Setup Complexity
    Configuring the emulator and optimizing settings for specific games can be complex and time-consuming for less experienced users.
  • Legal Concerns
    While the emulator itself is legal, downloading ROMs of games you do not own may violate copyright laws in some jurisdictions.
  • No Official Support
    As a community-driven project, Dolphin Emulator does not offer official customer support, leaving users to rely on community forums and guides.
  • Occasional Glitches
    Some games may exhibit graphical or audio glitches that can detract from the gaming experience.

RetroArch features and specs

  • Versatility
    RetroArch supports a wide range of gaming platforms and can emulate many different system cores, making it highly versatile for users who want to play games from various consoles.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    RetroArch is available on multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, enabling users to have a consistent experience across different devices.
  • High Customizability
    Users can customize keybindings, video, and audio settings extensively. There are numerous shaders and overlays that can be applied to enhance the gaming experience.
  • Rich Feature Set
    Features like save states, netplay, rewind, and achievements add a modern twist to retro gaming and are robustly implemented in RetroArch.
  • Active Development Community
    An active development community continually updates RetroArch with new features, bug fixes, and emulation cores, ensuring ongoing improvements and support.

Possible disadvantages of RetroArch

  • Complex Setup
    The setup process for RetroArch can be complex, especially for newcomers. Configuring cores, bios files, and controller setups might require a steep learning curve.
  • Performance Issues
    Some cores may not run smoothly or may have compatibility issues depending on the user's hardware or the specific game being emulated.
  • User Interface
    The user interface, while powerful and feature-rich, can be daunting and unintuitive for those not familiar with emulation software.
  • Legal Concerns
    Users must be cautious about the legality of ROMs and BIOS files, as downloading them without owning the original game or system is illegal in many jurisdictions.
  • Resource Intensive
    RetroArch can be resource-intensive, potentially causing lag or crashes on older or less powerful hardware, especially when using advanced features like shaders.

Dolphin Emulator videos

+ Add

Ultimate Guide to Dolphin Emulator

More videos:

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

RetroArch videos

+ Add

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

More videos:

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Dolphin Emulator and RetroArch)

Dolphin Emulator

RetroArch

Gaming
28 28%
Gaming
72% 72
Emulators
25 25%
Emulators
75% 75
Gaming Tools
28 28%
Gaming Tools
72% 72
Roms
100 100%
Roms
0% 0

User comments

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

Reviews

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

Dolphin Emulator Reviews

  1. Guest
    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. Guest
    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...
Source: www.xda-developers.com
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...
Source: www.androidauthority.com

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.
Source: www.partitionwizard.com
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...
Source: www.xda-developers.com
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.
Source: www.techblitz.org
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?
Source: www.geckoandfly.com

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.

Dolphin Emulator mentions (150)

  • Replay old video games
    GameCube/Wii: Dolphin is the best GameCube/Wii emulator in my opinion: Download Dolphin. Source: about 1 year 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: over 1 year 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: over 1 year 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: over 1 year 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: 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: over 1 year 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: over 1 year ago
  • Malicious download links?
    Yes, only the retroarch.com and libretro.com websites were affected. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Recent update from supposed hackers
    I went to retroarch.com and it said "discord.gg/evaderz is big haxors" its unrespectable. Source: over 1 year 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: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

OpenEmu - Console and Arcade video game emulator for macOS.

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

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

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.

RPCS3 - RPCS3 is an open-source Sony PlayStation 3 emulator for Windows and Linux written in C++.

Loading...