How to Play Your Childhood Games on Dolphin Emulator [2024]
- The Dolphin emulator, released in 2003, allows users to play Nintendo Wii and GameCube games on various platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.
- Dolphin remains the only reliable emulator for both consoles, running almost all games perfectly, and became open-source in 2008.
- Installing Dolphin on PC involves downloading the emulator, extracting the files, and setting up the game folder; on Android, it requires downloading from the Play Store and transferring games from a PC.
Growing up, Nintendo consoles were a part of everyone’s childhoods. While the console you may have had might differ depending on your generation, there is always that one console that was so infamous everyone had to have it. For Nintendo, this was the Wii. Wii Sports, arguably the most well-known game of the Wii, propelled the console to stardom.
Another forgotten Nintendo console of that time period is the GameCube. While it wasn’t exactly popular, it did reintroduce some classics and allowed the our generation to experience fan-favorite franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Super Smash Bros. Nevertheless, if you’re looking to relive the good old days, you’re going to definitely need the Dolphin emulator.
Table of Contents
What is the Dolphin Emulator?
The Dolphin emulator is an emulator designed to run Nintendo Wii and GameCube games. It is a pretty old emulator; it was released in 2003 and was primarily intended to emulate the GameCube to preserve its games. Later the developers expanded its capabilities to emulate the Wii due to popular demand. Dolphin was always free, and became completely open–source 5 years after its initial release.
History of Wii and GameCube Emulation
The GameCube was released in September 2001 and the Wii in November 2006, nearly 5 years apart. In fact, Dolphin was the first emulator for the GameCube and after it went open-source in 2008, it also became the first and, really, the only emulator that was able to run Wii games.
Even today, Dolphin remains the only option for emulating the 2 consoles. Any other emulators are probably fakes or forks (modified copies) of Dolphin. At the time of writing, Dolphin is able to run almost all Wii and GameCube games perfectly.
READ MORE: The Best Emulators for Nintendo Switch in 2024 ➜
How To Play Wii and GameCube Games on Dolphin?
Dolphin, being an old emulator, is available on almost all platforms; Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and even on iOS via an unofficial port. Running Dolphin on Windows is pretty easy but you will need to fulfill the following requirements:
- Windows 10 or higher
- A modern CPU (3 GHz and Dual Core, not older than 2008)
- A reasonably modern graphics card that supports Direct3D 11.1/OpenGL 3.3 at the minimum.
- A graphics card that supports Direct3D 11.1/OpenGL 4.4 is recommended.
↪ Playing games on the Dolphin emulator on PC
Once these requirements have been fulfilled, follow the steps below to get Dolphin running on your PC:
- First off, download the latest version of the Dolphin emulator.
Download the latest version of the Dolphin emulator - Once the file finishes downloading, use 7–Zip to extract it to anywhere you’d like.
Use 7-Zip to extract the files - Congratulations! The Dolphin emulator has been installed on your PC. Now, make sure the games you want to run are present on your PC and navigate to where you extracted the files and open up the emulator.
Double-click on “Dolphin.exe” to launch the emulator - The emulator should open up on the screen. Double-click on the empty space to designate a folder for all your games.
Double-click on the empty space and select the folder containing your games - Once you’ve selected the correct folder, the games should show up before you.
The games will show up before you - Finally, just double-click on your choice of game and start playing!
Double-click on any game and it should start running
READ MORE: The Ultimate Guide to Emulating Pokémon Games on PC ➜
↪ Playing games on the Dolphin emulator on Android
Dolphin has been around on Android for quite some time now, therefore, it doesn’t demand much from your phone. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher
- A processor with support for 64-bit applications (either ARMv8 or x86–64).
- A graphics processor that supports OpenGL ES 3.0 at the minimum.
Modern phones satisfy these requirements quite easily, so if you’re using a mid-range phone that was released after 2020, you should have no problems running Dolphin. As for the Dolphin Android set-up; it’s pretty similar to the PC version. Just download the emulator from the Google Play Store, copy the game from your PC to your phone and you’re good to go!
READ MORE: The Best Nintendo DS Emulators in 2024 for All Games ➜
Conclusion
Even though emulators like Dolphin are legal, they end up being used as forefronts for piracy. So make sure to get your games legally by buying them from thrift stores or online stores like eBay. Once you’ve got a hold of them, just copy the game data and get Dolphin running!
FAQs
Dolphin is a free and open-source Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii emulator that allows you to play games belonging to the 2 consoles. It is available for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux and macOS.
Currently, the Dolphin emulator is the only emulator for the GameCube and the Wii, and it can run almost all games near perfection.
No, the Dolphin emulator itself is not illegal. However, the games are usually acquired through nefarious means, therefore one must buy their games from legitimate sources.
