Emulators are one of the best things an Android device can have. Thankfully, an official Citra 3DS emulator was released on the platform.
Introducing Citra
Nintendo 3DS’ emulation has progressed a lot during the past years in PC platforms. The most promising of them is Citra, an open-source Nintendo 3DS emulator programmed via C++.
The application undergoes frequent updates to make it more stable in running games on the PC. While there are already a few Android emulators available in the Google Play Store, fans are hyped for Citra’s official release on the platform.
During the past years, Citra had an unofficial Android port on the PC. However, it was not stable enough but the emulator has progressed well. Now, 3DS fans can celebrate because an official release from the developers has been confirmed. The Citra 3DS emulator will be launched on the Google Play Store and it’s absolutely for free.
Greetings Citra fans, the wait has finally ended. Thanks to countless hours of hard work, Citra Android is finally here! You can now enjoy your favorite 3DS games anywhere, ???????? ???????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????. Download it from the Google Play Store now! https://t.co/c9ttt11Yij pic.twitter.com/XTz0hsCHcf
— citra (@citraemu) May 22, 2020
New features
Fascinatingly, there are a few features that will come with the application which were not included in the initial version. The developers said that these features will help in delivering an outstanding 3DS emulation experience.
These features include Amiibo support, motion control, camera, and mic support, and gamepad support. In addition, the developers promised more features to be released in the future.
A difficult past
The developers behind Citra documented and posted their journey on their official website. According to the post, the two previous unofficial versions were the stepping stones in making the official version.
Their first attempt was a failure since it was really slow in running games. On the other hand, the second unofficial version had better performance but needed polishing. Today, the developers are hyped to officially release a stable mobile version of the Citra 3DS emulator.
Phone requirements
The most frequently asked question by fans is what phones can run the 3DS emulator. According to the developers, the application runs smoothly on an OnePlus 8 Pro with games such as Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Mario Kart 7.
In addition, players with a good gaming phone can run Citra on high graphics and a 60fps rate. According to the developers, the minimum requirement to run the emulator is by having a phone with Snapdragon 835 or better.
The application’s performance will heavily be depending on the phone’s GPU. The developers also said that the emulator will run better on Exynos, Kirin, and MediaTek chipsets.
How to download
Players who want to play 3DS games in their Android devices can just easily download the Citra emulator on the Google Play Store for free. However, players who want Citra emulator’s additional features such as dark mode and texture filtering will have to pay $4.99 (7.60 AUD) to unlock them.
Featured image courtesy of AG CH/Youtube Screenshot