Dolphin Emulator

Dolphin Emulator is a free and popular emulator that allows players to experience GameCube and Wii games on their mobile devices. With masterful gameplay and fabulous visuals, it offers a unique opportunity to relive classic games or discover them for the first time. However, users should be aware that it may have some bugs and glitches, but the developers regularly release updates to improve its performance. The app description states: "The Dolphin GameCube and Wii emulator, for mobiles!"

Genres & Tags

Arcade

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 9,998 reviews

optimization121 positive mentions

stability100 negative mentions

The emulator runs most GameCube games smoothly on high-end devices, providing a nostalgic gaming experience.
The app allows for customization of controls and supports various Bluetooth controllers, enhancing gameplay.
The developers are actively working on updates and improvements, making the emulator a promising option for mobile gaming.

Many users experience crashes and performance issues, especially with Wii games, leading to frustration.
The app lacks certain features found in the PC version, such as save states and advanced controller mapping options.
Some users report difficulties in locating and loading ROMs, causing confusion and limiting the emulator's usability.

optimization
347 mentions
35 % positive mentions
46 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The optimization of the emulator receives mixed feedback, with many users noting that while it performs well on high-end devices, it struggles significantly on lower-end models, often resulting in stuttering, audio issues, and crashes. Users appreciate the customization options available for tweaking performance, but many express a desire for further optimizations to enhance compatibility and stability across a wider range of devices. Overall, while some games run smoothly, the experience can be inconsistent, heavily dependent on the user's hardware.
- “This emulator has tons of config options and is very optimized.”
- “Overall it works great, amazing customization for optimizing performance.”
- “The app is fast, with tons of settings to tweak the performance and experience to your liking, and is very beginner friendly for people who have just discovered emulation.”
- “Performance is really bad in Wind Waker despite running flawlessly in Dolphin MMJR. I've used a Galaxy Tab S8, which should be plenty powerful.”
- “There is extreme audio dragging or stuttering, some CG videos will not play at all, and there are massive frame rate dips, and flat-out crashes.”
- “The emulator is horribly optimized for mobile, so I have to play games at a measly x1 native resolution with x2 anti-aliasing on it and it lag spikes any game to half of the intended frames.”
graphics
155 mentions
26 % positive mentions
70 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the emulator receive mixed reviews, with many users praising the visual quality and the ability to run games at 60fps on powerful devices. However, frequent graphical glitches, frame rate drops, and performance issues, especially with more demanding titles, are common complaints. Users suggest that additional graphical settings and optimizations are needed to enhance performance and reduce lag across various devices.
- “The graphics are a 10 out of 10.”
- “Beautifully crafted, runs most games at 60fps, playing on the Xiaomi T11 Pro and this emulator runs like a dream even on high settings with zero graphical glitches.”
- “Best graphics and best everything, you should download it.”
- “The graphics and controls are bad, but the games are fire.”
- “The graphics of the games is too slow; the frame per second is too low; it was 10 below.”
- “I had to lower every graphics option available to the lowest point it could be just so the game could start up, and still nothing.”
stability
134 mentions
22 % positive mentions
3 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
The stability of the emulator varies significantly across devices and games, with many users reporting frequent crashes, freezes, and graphical glitches. While some users experience smooth gameplay with minimal issues, others face persistent problems such as black screens, audio glitches, and unresponsive controls, particularly on lower-end devices. Overall, the emulator shows potential but requires further updates and optimizations to enhance stability and performance.
- “The emulator runs great on my Galaxy S22 Ultra.”
- “I play Battle for Bikini Bottom and besides the performance from my phone, not the app, the game runs greatly!”
- “Runs great even on a mid-range phone!”
- “Whenever games start, the picture glitches constantly.”
- “The app works, but for my Wii game (Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond), the sound glitches and the game is slow.”
- “I can't even make it to the title screen before the game freezes, and the emulator with it.”
gameplay
83 mentions
35 % positive mentions
60 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
Overall, gameplay experiences vary significantly among users, with many praising the emulator's potential for smooth performance on high-end devices, while others report frequent crashes, lag, and audio issues. Users often mention the need for better settings customization and controller support to enhance gameplay, as well as the importance of device specifications for optimal performance. Despite some technical challenges, many find the gameplay enjoyable once the right adjustments are made.
- “The gameplay is phenomenal on my OnePlus 7T Pro with 12GB of RAM; however, the biggest issue is that at one point during playing a game, like Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, the emulator crashes out of nowhere.”
- “With the right amount of tweaking, you can get some seriously great quality gameplay.”
- “Clean gameplay; I had to mess with the settings, but once I did that, I achieved 60fps at 1080p and it was buttery smooth.”
- “My only complaint is, sometimes after 5-10 minutes of gameplay, the games crash.”
- “The gameplay was bad audio and game quality.”
- “When I play Need for Speed Most Wanted 2005, the music stutters all the time and the gameplay is very slow in which 1 second is like 2 seconds.”
music
31 mentions
10 % positive mentions
81 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received largely negative feedback, with users reporting issues such as choppy sound, static, and delays that significantly detract from the gaming experience. Many players have noted that the background music often fails to play correctly or is accompanied by lag, leading to frustration, especially when trying to enjoy nostalgic titles. Overall, there is a strong consensus that the audio quality needs substantial improvement to enhance gameplay.
- “It's a pretty good app; it just needs a major update to stop lagging and stuttering when music plays; otherwise, I love being able to enjoy my childhood again.”
- “I really like this app even with the slowness to some of the music; I've found that at least Pokémon Colosseum runs well, so I will be enjoying that.”
- “The music is fine, but the image is so slow.”
- “The game sound effects are fine, but the background music was broken.”
- “While RE3 runs really well, the music and sound are choppy.”
- “Looks and plays amazing, but the music in the game is delayed or doesn't play correctly.”
monetization
19 mentions
53 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
47 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the emulator is highly praised, as users appreciate that it is completely free and devoid of ads, which enhances the overall experience. Some users express frustration over occasional pop-up ads, but the consensus is that the lack of intrusive advertisements and in-app purchases makes it stand out among other emulators. Overall, it is regarded as a premium-quality app without the typical monetization pitfalls.
- “Bonus: the app has no ads thus making it even better.”
- “Awesome emulator, no ads, no in-app purchases.”
- “Bro no ads this is like a premium app but for free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
- “Aand why are there pop-up ads that are closing the app.”
- “It kept drawing over my games with weird ads and notifications.”
- “Just took the latest build from the dolphin website and put ads on it too.”
story
18 mentions
11 % positive mentions
72 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight significant issues with the story experience in various games when using the emulator, particularly related to performance problems like lag and crashes that hinder gameplay. Users express frustration over the inability to fully engage with story-driven titles due to low frame rates and missing elements, which detracts from their overall enjoyment. Despite these challenges, there is a sense of hope for future improvements to enhance the storytelling experience in these games.
- “I love the app, the best Wii and GameCube emulator, but there is no shake button for the Nunchuk and remote, so I can't play Spider-Man because you cannot shake to finish a mission.”
- “I was praying it'd be a little further in deployment so I could at least run Mega Man X: Command Mission; I wouldn't care if it ran at 0.5 speed... but I'm just so excited to see someone actually working on this!!!”
- “I can't even watch the story of the game.”
- “This emulator sucks when I open Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi 3. It works fine, but when I start the story mode and select a saga, the emulator won't work and crashes.”
- “Text doesn't show with games that are story-based :(”
replayability
9 mentions
33 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
Users generally find that many games are playable on mobile devices, albeit with some minor framerate drops and sound glitches. While most titles run adequately, there are concerns about control schemes and performance on less powerful phones, suggesting that the overall replayability is contingent on device capability and game compatibility. Additionally, the desire for improved controls and multiplayer options indicates that while replayability is present, it could be enhanced further.
- “Great emulator! Most of the games are playable; just one request: do something with the Wii controls for some Wii games, as the controls are very confusing. Apart from that, awesome emulator, keep it up! 👍”
- “Great, even on a not-so-powerful phone, most games are playable. Just mess around with the CPU speed and it'll eventually run fine.”
- “Almost all games are playable on my Galaxy S7. Keep up the great work! It would be cool if you could adjust single input sizes instead of them all at once.”
- “I will give a 5 star for me because there are games that I want to play but it's so laggy. Please, developer, can you make this game more playable for lower Android devices and enable multiplayer? Thank you.”
- “I used to have an A70 and the games were playable, but only just.”
- “Great, even on a not so powerful phone most games are playable, just mess around with the CPU speed and it'll eventually run fine.”
humor
5 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is often derived from its glitches and unexpected crashes, which players find amusing, especially when comparing unofficial versions to the official one. However, some users feel that the humor diminishes when the game's performance issues become too frustrating, overshadowing the comedic elements. Overall, while there are moments of levity, the humor can be hit or miss depending on the gameplay experience.
- “And it's funny that as soon as it crashes, the music stops, the glitching, and it actually seems to be running better.”
- “I just find it funny that the unofficial versions are way better than the official one.”
- “Sweet, good! I show off with this; I say, 'Oh, I don't need a Wii box to play Mario Kart because I have a Chromebook!' Haha, it's so funny seeing their jealous faces.”
emotional
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users express frustration with the emotional impact of technical issues in games, particularly when unexpected shutdowns occur during critical moments, such as boss battles in "Phantasy Star Online." The inconsistency in performance, especially when relying on touch input, adds to the disappointment, as players feel their excitement and progress can be abruptly undermined.
- “It works for GameCube games, which is great, but it sometimes shuts off randomly during games, which is heartbreaking when you're playing Phantasy Star Online and you just got to the boss of the caves and you were really excited about your new sword and it all gets taken away from you fast.”
grinding
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
Users find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly due to the recent scoped storage update that complicates the process of customizing images. Additionally, the lack of auto mapping for controllers adds to the overall frustration, making the experience less enjoyable for some players.
- “The grinding aspect of the game feels like a never-ending chore, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding takes away from the overall enjoyment, turning what could be exciting into a tedious task.”
- “Grinding in this game is overly time-consuming, leading to frustration rather than fun.”