Citra – 3DS emulator How to play Nintendo 3DS games on android

As the years have passed by the hardware on mobile phones has grown stronger, faster and quite capable of rendering heavy games! As someone who travels a lot not having a portable gaming system is quite inconvenient which had me scrolling the google play store for a while in the hunt for a good single-player game to play on my android device and nothing quite intrigued me. As someone who grew up playing the N64 and 3DS, I would be more than happy to replay my favourite 3DS games while travelling. In this guide, I will share how you can play Nintendo 3DS games on your android devices using the Citra emulator.

Is it possible to play Nintendo 3DS games on your android device?

With the evolving hardware of mobile phones emulating games from old consoles like the ‘3DS’ has become possible. Citra emulator allows users to play the Nintendo 3DS games on their android devices. Citra emulator is more than capable of running your favourite titles from the iconic Nintendo console on your android device.

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Citra emulator android requirements :

• Processor:
  • Qualcomm SNAPDRAGON – SD 625
  • Kirin HiSlicon – Kirin 659
  • EXYNOS – Octa – 7420/ Hexa – 7872
  • MediaTek – Helio P25r /Helio – X20
• Hardware Requirements: –
  • Android 6.1 or Higher
  • 64Bit Ram
  • 4 GB or above

Even though the minimum requirements of the emulator state that an SD 625 should be enough to run the game, it is highly advised that you go for a flagship device with silicone preferably as good as that of a Snapdragon 845. Hence why it is always recommended for android gamers to go for an old flagship device instead of a new budget phone.

Citra Emulator for android Installation guide

Download the Citra emulator here

• Install the app.
• Save your games in (.CCI, CCIX,.3DS, or .3DSX) format on your android device. Citra supports games only in these formats, game files can be found easily on google or if you own an old 3DS console you can dump those files to your phone using this guide.
• Open the Citra emulator.
• Click on the ‘Add to Library’ button then, find the games saved on your device in the Citra emulator and launch the game.

Citra optimal settings for best performance

The following settings will speed up your emulation on android devices and allow you to play the game much better. These settings are highly recommended however, you are free to experiment as games and devices vary and may perform differently

• Go to the settings menu by clicking the settings icon at the top right of your screen.
• Enable ‘Use Dual Core’
• Leave screen layout to default
• Internal resolution depends from game to game and a lot on your device’s hardware. If the game emulates flawlessly on your device feel free to crank it up.
• Keep Accurate multiplication to off as it slows down the game significantly.
• Leaving the rest of the settings at default is recommended.

Some great Nintendo 3DS games you can play on android phones.

The Citra emulator for Nintendo 3DS is highly optimised on android and allows you to play a myriad of games without issues granted that you have a decent enough device. Here, we have listed titles that not only work well but also are some of the best games 3DS has given to us.

• The legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D
• The legend of Zelda Majoras Mask
• Resident evil revelations
• Pokemon X and Y
• Mario Kart 7
• Spider man edge of time
• Super Mario 3D land
• Monster hunter 4 Ultimate

Read our guide on how to play the Ocarina of Time 3D and Majoras Mask (3DS version) on android devices using the Citra emulator.