Summary

  • Azahar releases its first Nintendo 3DS emulator build for Android, urging users to test and report glitches.
  • Encrypted 3DS games are not supported and require adjusting the files from .3DS to .CCI
  • Azahar includes optimizations, like disabling right-eye rendering for better performance.

3DS emulation on Android seemed lost forever after Nintendo managed to shut down Citra ealier this year. But now there’s a new contender. Enter Azahar.

Mario Kart displayed on a Steam Deck gaming console


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The Azahar development team posted a release candidate on Github over the weekend (via Android Authority). This is the first public build of the emulator for Android, although it is not yet considered a stable version. The developers are urging users to test it out and report any issues, and warn there may be minor glitches here and there.

Lower-end Android
devices can expect performance limitations.

Here’s what to expect from this first release

Azahar released a build for PC a few weeks ago, and this latest release shows the devs have their eyes on Android. This first build does not support encrypted 3DS games by default, relying instead on CCI files for launching games. Users will need to manually adjust their game files before loading them into the emulator.

Renaming a .3DS file to .CCI will work on most files

The developers included a few important optimizations in this early release, such as the ability to disable right-eye rendering. The Nintendo 3DS played in stereoscopic 3D visuals and rendered both left and right eye visuals independently. However, this does not translate well on a 2D phone screen, and could cause massive performance drain. Simply disable the right-eye rendering for a 50% boost in performance.

This early build won’t offer perfect performance. The developers warn users who expect a hassle-free experience to skip this version for the time being.

Now we wait for Nintendo’s reaction

It all comes down to how Nintendo will react to this latest emulator. Nintendo is famously litigous and aggressive in going after emulators. It was the company’s legal pressure that forced Citra to shut down and have its gits scrubbed. However, Azahar has an active development team and some new features to improve mobile performance. Time will tell if it can continue development without facing the same fate as Citra.

For now, anyone wanting to try 3DS games on Android can test this latest release. If it seems too early, there are plenty of

Android emulators
for other systems out there to try, as well.