The RG351P is a key player in the retro emulator handheld console market.
With just a 3.5 inch screen this powerhouse allows players to play almost any game on any home computer or console from the 1970s until the mid 2000’s.
For those players heavily into retro gaming I don’t have to explain how incredible that is.
There is a legal side of course to playing games on emulators, and the official legal and copyright side is the player must own the game in its original form to download the ROM.
It’s well known that older retro games such as Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Atari ST and even up to SNES play well on the RG351P – but what about Nintendo DS games?
The RG351P has the ability to play Nintendo DS games using the built-in DraStic emulator. Many DS ROMs play well on the RG351P although some of the more powerful games can run slow at times. Reconfiguring the DraStic emulator settings to Buffering mode can help with performance.
Nintendo launched the first DS handheld console back in 2004.
Many retro players think the DS first launched in the 1990s, but it wasn’t until just before the Sony PSP launched that Nintendo DS got to market first.
The successor to the GBA of 2001, the dual DS screen allowed a different type of gameplay than previously seen in handhelds before.
The franchise didn’t end there as Nintendo went on to launch the DS Lite, the DSi and also the 3DS soon after.
The dual screen allowed players to combine elements within a game, or use inventory always on screen without having to swap menus, or simply provide a map on one screen whilst deep absorbed in the gameplay on the other.
The stylus was also introduced to handheld gaming which brought a different type of older generation into the market with games such as Brain Train and even art software where the use of the stylus was very instrumental.
We put our RG351P to the ultimate test against a range of good quality Nintendo DS games, as well as comparing these to our own DS handheld to see whether we really can create a great Nintendo DS game playing experience on the RG351P.
Playability of Nintendo DS Games on the RG351P
The most noticeable difference between the Nintendo DS and RG351P is the dual screen.
The dual screen was pretty fundamental for some games, and this of course can’t transfer to the RG351P very easily.
It doesn’t try to cater for two screens, but instead displays the primary top screen. This can make some games hit and miss, and also without a stylus the RG351P struggles to play some games altogether, such as some of the Pokemon games.
This doesn’t mean games are not compatible, it just means the number of DS game choices with high playability on the RG351P may be somewhat reduced.
Also games which require a stylus also may not play well, or not at all.
To test the playability of the DS games on the RG351P we played them side by side against our original Nintendo DS.
Photos of each game on both devices are shown further below.
Fortunately even without the dual screen and stylus there are still a number of retro gaming gems that play fantastically.
The original DS featured a d-pad, four buttons (X, A, B and Y) and left and right shoulder buttons.
There were no analogue sticks on the Nintendo DS , but the analogue sticks of the RG351P can be configured as part of the DS emulator setup, which improves the overall gameplay of some titles.
Nintendo DS Games on RG351P vs the DS Console
What better way to test how well the RG351P manages DS games than to play them together on both consoles!
We chose a selection of games which used dual screens as well as stylus to see whether playing our beloved games of the past was even possible.
New Super Mario Bros
Mario manages to rear his head every time there’s a Nintendo launch, and has been that way since 1985.
He appeared before that of course. Way back in 1981, over 40 years ago now, Mario appeared on the legendary classic Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong as a character hasn’t done too bad either, but Mario became the mascot of Nintendo and helped sell millions and millions of games and consoles.
Launched in 2006, New Super Mario Bros launched with excitement, and this excitement continues to this day as I launched the game on our RG351P.
Once the game launches (I almost said ‘loads’ then, that takes me back to 30 minute game loading waiting times on the ZX Spectrum!) the dual screen of the Nintendo DS is replaced with a side by side horizontal view on the RG351P.
This clever feature allows the player to choose which game type they want to launch, as well as choosing through all the options available.
Unfortunately this dual horizontal screen remains throughout the game.
Trying to properly emulate the DS which has two screens on the RG351P that has only one at 3.5 inches, and in widescreen format too, meant something would have to give.
Although there is a really good feature built into the DS emulator.
The R2 button will make full screen whichever of the windows appears on the right.
If this isn’t the screen you wish to make full size then press L2 and the small windows swap places – then press the R2 button for the playable screen to become full size.
The graphics are good, controls are decent but the game runs a little slow, and I’d almost forgotten about the amazing super sized invincible Mario!
Comparing this to our playing New Super Mario Bros on the actual DS I found the gameplay slow there too, so this isn’t a failing of the RG351P.
The Nintendo DS screen measures approx. 2 inches by 2.5 inches, whereas the playable screen on the RG351P measures just 1 inch by 1.5 inches, but in full screen mode the RG351P screen size is larger than the original DS!
I also prefer the controls of the RG351P to the d-pad and buttons of the traditional DS, so there is that advantage too.
Brain Train
Brain Train was the game that took the DS into a mainstream adult market and audience.
Literally marketed as training for your brain, the TV adverts featured middle-aged to older men and women seemingly exercising their gray matter with a number of cryptic puzzles and games.
It was a game that appealed to all ages with a variety of game challenges.
It was probably one of the first games, outside exercising on the Nintendo Wii, that games were seen as healthy.
Brain Train of course plays amazingly well on the DS, but how does the RG351P compensate for not having dual screens?
Well, not very well.
The opening menu displays sideways in a bid to display as much of the text in a readable format as possible.
Fortunately, unlike our mobile devices, the screen isn’t trying to rotate as you turn the device around, so that was a positive.
Once the device is turned vertically the top analogue stick (ordinarily the right one) becomes a makeshift mouse where you use it to control a mouse cursor and select the type of game you wish to play (Quick Play, Daily Training or Sudoku).
The A button on the RG351P acts as the mouse button.
And, by pressing the R2 button, the top main display window becomes full screen, which is a really nice touch built into the emulator.
All games are playable, as long as the player can get used to using the RG351P in a vertical way and the analogue stick as a mouse, but I really enjoyed this.
It’s much easier to play on the NIntendo DS of course, but if you own the game but no longer the console, and want to download the ROM to play on the RG351P, it’s a really great and fun alternative.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
Handheld consoles such as the Nintendo DS are perfect for playing such in-depth games such as Pokemon.
Graphics and gameplay greatly improved from the Gameboy Color and GBA of the 1990s, as well as how in-depth the game was and how immersed the player could be.
I was excited and intrigued to know how well such an adored game as Pokemon would play on an emulator.
Graphics were never going to be a problem for the RG351P, it can handle much more thrown at it than a Nintendo DS game, but of course with the dual screens – even with the large screen hack on the RG351P – adds to the overall gameplay on the DS.
Could the RG351P stand up in terms of ability?
Well the first hurdle is the challenge set to touch the center of the PokeBall with the DS stylus.
Of course the RG351P has no touch screen, but fortunately by using the right analogue stick as a cursor, and the A button as the mouse button, this is easily achieved.
Once you get going, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl plays amazingly well on the RG351P.
You will notice, like all DS games, that the dual screen is presented horizontally in two tiny windows, but the combination of the L2 and R2 buttons will see the screen of your choice become full screen, and bigger than the original Nintendo DS screen (2.5 inch vs 3.5 inch).
Playing Pokemon DS game ROMs on the RG351P is a joy!
How to Install Nintendo DS ROMs on the RG351P
Ambernic managed to load everything into the RG351P, as well as configure all the frustrating elements which often hold back players from buying a Raspberry Pi and creating a Retropie.
The RG351P comes pre-configured with the Nintendo DS emulator (DraStic) already installed ready to go.
This means new users can simply download and add the ROMs for DS games onto the ‘NDS’ folder within the FileManager of the SD card.
This can be done in a couple of ways but the easiest is to simply remove the micro SD card from the RG351P, insert it into a PC through either a built in SD card reader or USB media card, and then copy the DS ROM from your PC to the SD Card using the DS folder within the ROM parent folder.
Once the game is copied across to the micro SD card simply eject the SD card from the PC, remove the SD card and slot it back into your RG351P.
If your laptop or Mac do not have an SD card slot, there are USB card readers that can be purchased cheaply on Amazon that do the job well.
Then, with the new Nintendo DS ROM transferred to the SD card, switch on your device, scroll to the Nintendo DS category and your newly installed game should be ready to play.
Suggested Reading: Can the RG351P play PS1 Games
Limitations of the RG351 Playing Nintendo DS Games
The plan was to complete this section explaining how small a screen the RG351P is when playing Nintendo DS Roms due to catering for the dual aspect screen.
In reality, the screen on the RG351P is better!
By enabling each ‘side’ of the RG351P to be enlarged through the L2 and R2 buttons it gives the player a large screen than if their were playing on their DS, as you can see in our comparison photo below:
The control function also fairs better than the DS, in my opinion, due to the analogue sticks and better functioning buttons.
Of course, the RG351P isn’t a DS.
It doesn’t have a touch screen, it doesn’t have a stylus and as a result some games and education software are more challenging to use.
This is probably the main limitation of using the RG351P to play DS games, and possibly only one.
Some games require a touchscreen press or tap in order to pass a security or copyright feature, but on the games we tested this was achievable using the right analog stick as a mouse along with button A.
Depending on the game, the RG351P can provide a better experience, but at times it can reduce game playability.
It does depend on your go-to games, but the DraStic emulator built into the RG351P does an amazing job at giving players the best and most creative DS gameplay imaginable without a dual screen and stylus.