Since Apple officially liberated the App Store and allowed game emulators to be put on the shelves, many well-known retro game emulators such as Delta, PPSSPP, RetroArch, etc. have been put on the shelves.
Recently, the first 3DS simulator “Folium” has also been officially launched on the App Store. In addition to supporting Nintendo 3DS, it can also run Nintendo DS and GBA simulation games. It can basically be used directly on iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and Apple Vision devices. By playing, this article will take you through the relevant settings of the Folium emulator to how to start the game.
Folium emulator: the first Nintendo 3DS emulator on the App Store platform
Folium is the first emulator that can run Nintendo 3DS games on iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices. After being launched on the App Store in June 2024, it is currently the only Nintendo 3DS emulator available on the App Store.
The Folium simulator was mainly developed by Jarrod Norwell. It is a secondary development based on the open source 3DS simulator. It can read the game ROMs of .nds and .cia 3DS simulators. It also supports Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS game simulators. However, Folium is a one-time purchase, priced at NT$150 (US$4.99). There are currently mixed reviews on the App Store. Many users think the price is too high and there are huge compatibility issues, making it not worth the price.
Known Folium emulator issues
Currently, the Folium emulator cannot run 3DS games at 100% performance. This is because Apple restricts iOS Apps from using the just-in-time compilation technology “JIT” (Just-In-Time), which makes many game emulators unable to perform 100% of the game performance. Smoothly logging into the App Store platform will cause obvious lags on most older iPhone models when running games. It seems that only the iPhone 15 Pro series can run 3DS smoothly.
Mr. Crazy has also tested the Folium simulator for many days and found that this simulator currently has many problems. Even if it is run with an iPhone 15 Pro Max mobile phone, it is easy to encounter freezes or the game will start to crash and cannot be played. It is estimated that The author went online directly before the test was completed. It is expected that the solution will have to be continued to update and optimize the Folium simulator. Of course, you can also purchase it first. If the experience is not satisfactory, then apply for a refund from the App Store.
Folium emulator game platform and game controller support
Game platform compatibility
- Nintendo 3DS
- Nintendo DS
- Game Boy Advance
Game controller compatibility
- Backbone One
- Nintendo Switch Joy-Con
- Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
- PlayStation DualShock 4
- PlayStation 5 DualSense
- Xbox Series S
- Xbox Series X
Folium iOS version iPhone simulator download
Whether it is iPhone, Mac or Apple Vision, you can directly purchase, download and install the “Folium” game simulator through the App Store (buyout price is NT$150). The minimum system requirements are iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12 and M series chips. Above Mac computers. (If it is Apple Vision, the minimum requirement is visionOS 1.0)
The author also recommends iPhone 13 or newer models to run 3DS games smoothly. If it is an iPad device, you will need iPad (10th generation), iPad Air (4th generation), iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) or newer models.
Reminder: There are complete tutorials on downloading the Folium iOS simulator game, starting the simulator and setting up the simulator later. Be patient and read the tutorial in full.
- 3DS game emulator download:Folium
Folium simulator tutorial: Complete tips from downloading games on iOS to starting simulator settings
The Folium tutorial settings in this article will use iPhone (iOS system) as an example. The basic operation settings are the same whether it is iPadOS or macOS. The following will use 3DS games as an example.
1. Download 3DS ROM games via iPhone
After the Folium simulator is installed on an iPhone, there will be no built-in game in the simulator. You must first download the 3DS ROM game resources before you can play it. You can directly search for “3DS ROM Download” on Google to find the relevant game resources. Share a few resource websites that can download Nintendo 3DS ROM:
After opening the 3DS ROM web page with the Safari browser, find the 3DS game you want to download, click on the introduction page, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the game download link. Please be reminded that the Folium emulator currently only supports the .cia format (some resource websites will indicate the format ), unable to read .3ds format, need to wait for subsequent App updates to correct it.
After downloading the 3DS ROM game via iPhone, the “blue download icon” will be displayed on the toolbar. Click on it and select “Download Item” to click on the newly downloaded 3DS ROM game.
It will automatically jump to the download folder of the iPhone’s built-in “File” App. Click on the 3DS ROM compressed file to automatically decompress it. You will see the 3DS game “xxxx.cia” inside, and you can move all the games to a fixed location. The game folder is easier to manage. It is not recommended to put it in the Folium folder under the iPhone directory to avoid clearing the entire folder after deleting the app.
[Reminder]Some ROM resource websites use 7z or RAR format compression, so you need to use “iPhone Decompression 7z, RAR File Tutorial” to decompress it normally.
2. Load the 3DS key file
After opening the Folium emulator for the first time, you will find that the missing aes_keys, bios7, bios9, and firmware warning windows pop up. This is mainly due to the lack of BIOS files, so you need to manually load the BIOS of NDS and 3DS to allow the emulator to operate normally. The BIOS will be shared below. Firmware files and loading methods.
Download 3DS BIOS firmware package
Download directly through iPhone using built-in Safari browser “Folium Bios Firmware Pack”, click the download button in the upper right corner, and click “Download”.
Similarly, directly from the lower left corner of Safari, click “Download Item” and open the file location.
The iPhone’s built-in file app will automatically open. Click Folium-keys_mrmad.com.tw.zip to automatically unzip it. The folder will be divided into two folders: “3DS” and “NDS”, which will contain the BIOS files corresponding to Folium. .
Manually load the 3DS BIOS file
Open the “Folium Emulator” App, click on the first aes_keys item, and enter the “3DS” folder from the file list to select “FOLIUM KEYS SNOWLA.txt” to load the file.
The remaining BIOS files of Nintendo DS are operated in the same way. Manually click on the bios7, bios9, and firmware files to load. After they are all loaded successfully, you will see the following screen, which means that the Folium emulator can basically start normally.
3. Load game ROM from emulator
The recipient can load the 3DS game ROM through the iPhone, click the “+” in the upper right corner to add an “Import” file, and then directly select the 3DS ROM game file just downloaded.
You will see the newly loaded Nintendo 3DS game in the Folium game emulator. Remember not to delete the game ROM to avoid the game being unable to open.
4. Run 3DS games through iPhone Folium emulator
Next, click on the game and you can play Nintendo 3DS games directly through your iPhone! Remember to turn on the phone sound and enjoy the super classic handheld game sounds. For example, Super Smash Bros. can be played smoothly on the iPhone 15 Pro. There will be a slight lag during the menu selection process, but it will not affect the game. experience.
Even the Crossover Project 2: Brave New World 3DS game can also be played, but don’t hold on to the Folium game emulator. Every game can be opened and started smoothly. Currently, I have tested several Mario Kart 7 games from different sources. It crashes immediately after confirmation at the beginning of the title. Whether you can play or not really depends on luck.
Folium emulator 3DS game settings and save methods
At present, this Folium emulator does not support game saving, and it does not even have a cheat function. It is basically a work launched by the author to rush to the App Store.
Folium simulator settings
As for the Folium simulator itself, there are also related settings that can be adjusted, such as changing the core, region, renderer and audio.
If you encounter a ROM game with restricted areas, the default is to automatically adjust, or you can manually modify the cross-region through Region.
Shaders, textures and layouts can also be adjusted in the Renderer section. Usually the presets have been adjusted and there is little need for manual adjustment unless you want to manually customize or try other effects.
Function summary
Currently, the only way to play Nintendo 3DS emulator games on iPhone is through Folium. However, it does not matter if you have to pay for the game itself. The point is that even game support compatibility is a big problem. It is ok just for experience. If If you are looking forward to being able to play various 3DS games smoothly, it is recommended to first confirm whether your iPhone, iPad or Mac meets the minimum hardware requirements. Basically, don’t waste too much time testing iPhone 13 and previous models, as it is basically difficult to run smoothly.
Maybe you can first consider paying for Folium for a free trial, and make sure within three days whether the device can run 3DS games smoothly. If you find too many problems, you can directly apply for a refund from the App Store, which is equivalent to being able to experience it for free without feeling like you have spent money. Can’t achieve the desired effect.
If you don’t plan to spend money on a Folium emulator, there are still other ways to replace it. If you want to play GBA and Nintendo DS, you can play it directly through the “Delta emulator”. As for the 3DS emulator, you may have to wait and see if RetroArch will be available in the future. support.
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