For most of us, older consoles were a part of our childhood. Once such game console that revolutionised the portability factor of consoles was released in 2001, called the Nintendo GameCube. Since then, technology has improved by leaps and bounds, but the older games released for the GameCube are still loved and cherished by many.
This retro console shipped with some revolutionary technologies like online gaming through modem connection, small disk size, connection support with GameBoy advance, and much more. It may be hard for you to find a working GameCube in 2021, 20 years after the initial launch. But even if you manage to find one, the hardest part is finding the optical disks for the games in a working condition.
After the Nintendo GameCube was discontinued in 2007, slowly emulators started popping up. An emulator lets you recreate the system that GameCube featured, on an entirely different device. Using emulators, you can still play your favourite retro games on modern devices like your phone or PC. Get started with this comprehensive list of GameCube emulators we have compiled, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.
First, we will take a look at the best emulators for Android devices. After that we have a list of the best Windows alternatives too.
Contents
Best Nintendo GameCube Emulators for Android Phones
Dolphin Emulator for Android
Dolphin Emulator is widely regarded as the best option available to play Nintendo GameCube games on your devices. The Android version makes great use of your phones resources to emulate older games. It is also an open-source software, so it is available for free and is being continuously improved. You get regular updates, and some features that weren’t originally available in the GameCube.
The emulator also provides you with options to emulate the Wii console created by the same company as the GameCube, Nintendo. Dolphin Emulator supports devices with Android versions greater than 5.0. This emulator is still in its alpha stage for the android version, so you can expect very few bugs here and there.
Download – Dolphin Emulator
Read: 35 Best Android Emulators to Play Classic Old Games
DraStic DS and GameCube Emulator
This is one of the most optimized Nintendo GameCube emulators for android devices. This emulator also supports Nintendo DS games on Android Devices with well-equipped hardware. It also features resolution upscaling so you can enjoy the classics on modern resolutions. You can also configure the two-screen system of the Nintendo DS with this emulator.
The emulator also supports hardware keyboards if you don’t own a controller. It also lets you save and load your game states. Most GameCube ROMs work with this emulator, and the small price tag justifies its features.
Download – DraStic
EmuBox
EmuBox is one of the modern Nintendo Console emulator for android devices. It comes with Material UI for a sleek and modern interface. You also get support for Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advanced and Colour, NES and more. This emulator allows you to tweak your settings for playing your favourite retro games on low end devices.
You can get this app for free from the Google Play Store, but there are few ads here and there. The ads are largely unintrusive, so you shouldn’t face any of them while playing games on it.
Download – EmuBox
ClassicBoy
ClassicBoy is an all-in-one emulator that can play most games released for different Nintendo Devices. It lets you play games using the sensor on your phone, and also supports controller mapping. It can emulate more than 10 different handheld gaming consoles and the developers promise support for even more in the future.
You get the sensor and gesture controller features only in the pro version. As with most other emulators, you have to get your own game ROMs either by offloading them from the original media, or by getting them from the internet.
Download – ClassicBoy
Read: 10 Best Xbox One Emulator for PC (Xbox Games on PC)
MegaN64
This is one of the emulators that works very well with android devices. You get loads of customisation options that can help up the emulator according to your needs. MegaN64 is quite simple to use for newcomers to console emulation because there’s no initial setup required for playing your games.
It is also completely free to download and use, but you won’t find this app on the Google Play store. You can download this app from the link we have provided and sideload the apk on you Android device.
Download – MegaN64
Best Nintendo GameCube Emulators for Your PC
Now that we’ve covered the best android emulators for the Nintendo GameCube, let’s take a look at the ones available for your PC.
Dolphin GameCube Emulator (PC Version)
You may have already seen this emulator in the previous section for emulators for Android devices. Unlike the Android version, which is still in early access, you get a very well-polished version of Dolphin Emulator on Windows, Linux or MacOS. With this emulator you can play both GameCube and Wii games on your PC at full HD resolutions.
You also get great features like networked multiplayer, compatibility with most modern game controllers, and much more. You can also join GameCube multiplayer tournaments for many popular games using this emulator. Just like its android counterpart, this emulator is open source, and is free to download and use.
Download – Dolphin Emulator (PC Version)
SuperGCube Emulator
This is one of the basic emulators that can play a few of the popular games released on Nintendo GameCube on your PC. It has highly efficient emulation cores that can help you to play retro games smoothly on your computer.
Currently you can only get the interpreter mode of the SuperGCube emulator, but the developers plan on integrating a new recompiler for emulator to bring support for even more games. You can download and use the program for free.
Donwload – SuperGCube Emulator
GCEMU Emulator
If you are looking for a Nintendo GameCube Emulator that works on nearly every desktop operating system, then GCEMU is a great choice. You get most of the basic functionality for running GameCube games on this emulator, but a few of the features of other options listed here are missing in this one.
This emulator does not need BIOS images to run and provides an optimised Emulation model so that the games play smoothly on a variety of hardware. But due to low developer support you should not expect any new features soon.
Download – GCEMU
Read: 6 Best PS2 Emulators for Android
WhineCube Emulator
This is one of the GameCube emulators that you can get if you want to play the heavier retro games released for the GameCube. The stellar optimisation makes this emulator faster than some of the options listed here. You also get better resolutions and sound from your favourite games than you’d originally have playing on the actual console.
This app is programmed in C++ and thus it runs with excellent performance for DOL and ELF formats. However, this emulator mainly focuses on Homebrew games, and doesn’t support most commercial games. But if you could make a few customisations to the game itself, then it can run on this emulator flawlessly.
Download – WhineCube
CubeSX
CubeSX lets you emulate GameCube and Wii games easily. It is based on various PCSX codebases and provides emulation via Dynamic Recompilation and Interpreter. You also get support for most modern controllers, and vibration feedback too.
The emulator also has support for save states, and lets you load your games in the form of ISO, or DVDs. Note that this emulator is best used for homebrew games for the GameCube system, and this emulator most likely won’t play popular titles.
Download – CubeSX
Conclusion
Playing older retro games is one of the best ways to experience nostalgia for times past. Even with vast technological improvements, the new games just don’t give you the same feeling that GameCube and other handheld console games did. Thankfully, it is possible to emulate most of the classics using an emulator on modern devices.
We hope this list of the best Nintendo GameCube emulators for both your mobile devices and PC has helped you to make the right choice for playing your games.
