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Emulators are the go-to solution for gamers who want to experience games available on certain platforms that might not be available in their geographical location. They are even used to experience modded games with enhanced textures and quality of life improvements.
These have always been subjected to ridicule due to the complexity involved with setting them up. However, in 2022, it is easier than ever to get almost any system up and running in no time.
Over time, a number of emulators for consoles like Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch, PS2, etc. have come out. Fortunately, low-end PCs can run most of them without any frame drops.
Note: We discourage the piracy of video games. You should only attempt emulating a title if you own it.
5 best emulators for low-end PCs that players should try out
1) Yuzu - Nintendo Switch Emulator
It is a free emulator for the Nintendo Switch that is available on Windows and Linux. According to the creators of Yuzu, the minimum specs are Core i5 4430/ Ryzen 3 1200, 8GB RAM, and NVIDIA GT 1030. These are quite low-end specs for today and most users should be able to run Yuzu smoothly without any hiccups.
With Yuzu, you can go through the entire Nintendo Switch library with brand new texture packs and mods. You need to have a NSP or XIC file of the game they want to play. Players should only extract NSPs of the games they own and refrain from piracy as it discourages the game developers.
2) Dolphin - GameCube and Wii emulator
Dolphin is the best Wii and GameCube emulator available for Windows yet. You can simply download it from the Dolphins website and get started. Over time, Dolphin has added a ton of features, including motion controls without a Wiimote.
Like most other systems, Dolphin supports cheats, changing of texture packs and general graphical fidelity upgrades. There’s no denying the fact that the Nintendo Wii has a breathtaking library of games, but now that most people have good PCs, playing on an old console in SD doesn’t make sense. Instead, you can play the Wii/GameCube games that you own on your Dolphin and have a better time compared to legacy console hardware.
3) DeSmuME - Nintendo DS emulator
Being a DS emulator, DeSmuME won't tax your PC at all. Low-end PCs should be able to run it without skipping a beat. The software is free to download and open-source. Nintendo DS has been home a lot of fan-favorites over the years. For new gamers who have just discovered the marvel that is the DS, DeSmuME is godsent.
Titles like Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Animal Crossing: Wild World, New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS are some of the most critically-acclaimed titles you should try your hands on once you get DeSmuME up and running.
4) NO$GBA - Gameboy Advance Emulator
As good as retro game preservation might be, getting access to old titles like Pokémon Emerald and Metroid Fusion is next to impossible nowadays. Let’s say you have the games at hand but your Game Boy Advance doesn’t function anymore, will you forget about your games forever? This is where a good emulator comes in.
NO$GBA was initially made for debugging, but when the developers realized it’s true potential, they released a fully functional software for the masses to download free of charge. It accepts .ROM files, so you can download the ROM files for the games you own to play on brand new hardware with enhanced quality of life features.
5) PCSX2 - PlayStation 2 emulator
It was considered a demanding software back in the day but now that even most low-end PCs are powerful enough, recommending PCSX2 is a no-brainer. 4GB RAM, a dual-core processor and an entry level GPU should be sufficient to play any game.
PS2 is home to some all-time classics like Ratchet and Clank, God of War, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Getting to experience these classics on modern hardware in HD should be quite an experience. To replicate the complete experience, playing with a controller would be the best bet.
