Dolphin is a GameCube and Wii emulator that allows you to play games for these two platforms on PC with improvements across Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.
The emulator addresses the problem of playing legacy GameCube and Wii titles on modern hardware by implementing a full software emulation layer. It handles the architectural differences between these platforms and contemporary systems through CPU emulation with SSE2 support and graphics rendering via Direct3D 11.1 or OpenGL 3.3 on desktop, and OpenGL ES 3.0 on Android. The project supports both native compilation and Android builds through Gradle and CMake.
Dolphin suits anyone wanting to replay GameCube or Wii games on contemporary systems without original hardware. Desktop users need a reasonably modern graphics card and processor, though performance improves significantly with hardware supporting Direct3D 11.1 or OpenGL 4.4. Android users require devices running Nougat or later with 64-bit processor support. The project provides platform-specific building instructions for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android, with OpenBSD support marked as unsupported. The README emphasizes consulting the FAQ before use and notes that graphics driver quality significantly affects performance.
The project maintains active infrastructure including a continuous integration buildbot, dedicated forums, and a wiki with comprehensive documentation. Development follows a defined coding style guide and uses a centralized issue tracker separate from GitHub. The tool is distributed under GPLv2 or later and supports internationalization through a translation management platform.
