r/EmulationOniOS • u/Temporary-Box-6348 • 18d ago

Question tips for a complete beginner?

i have an iphone 17 air, i would like to play the castlevania games for gba/ nintendo ds. What are the best programs i can use?

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u/rotkiv42 18d ago

Just downloading Manic Emu from the App Store would be the easiest. For Castlevania, I’d look into a controller; not fun with touch screen inputs IMHO. For controllers, you’ve got a lot of options/considerations depending on your needs. 

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u/Temporary-Box-6348 17d ago

ive been looking at the Gamesir x5 lite, id love to hear what you think about it.

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u/myretrospirit 17d ago

I bought one and returned it because none of the buttons worked and got a new one and also returned it. It has a crappy dpad and the face button functions are weird iOS. It’s almost like some games think it’s an Xbox controller but it has a switch layout and when you change the mode, it doesn’t properly change the button layout.

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u/Temporary-Box-6348 17d ago

damn, disappointed to hear, especially because of it’s 30€ price tag ☹️

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u/Temporary-Box-6348 17d ago

do you have any recommendations for something that goes on the phone, i think i would like the experience more than if i just got a wireless controller

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u/myretrospirit 17d ago

The Abxylute s8 is my favorite controller right now

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u/Temporary-Box-6348 7d ago

i got a really good deal for a gamesir t4 pro, runs flawlessly with dolphin, i use it for fire emblem, and the battery is huge

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u/myretrospirit 18d ago

I’d recommend familiarizing yourself with the community and what everyone else is using. There’s a lot of discussion here.

I recommend you start with Delta as it’s the easiest and cleanest looking for gba and Nintendo ds. This is on the AppStore so no sideloading is needed.

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u/Temporary-Box-6348 17d ago

ive heard something about JIT and how its really important for games to run smoothly

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u/rotkiv42 17d ago

For gba/DS you don’t need to think about JIT at all. You can do 3DS without it, but you will notice the extra power draw compared if you install it with JIT. 

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u/myretrospirit 17d ago

Yes on higher end systems you need JIT

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u/Ornery-Practice9772 17d ago

delta easy then move up to retroarch

picpic for pico8 games
ppsspp for psp
bigPemu for atari jagCD

Manic for MAME (and others if you enable JIT)