Dolphin Wii Emulator gets close to perfection with 97.8% playability
PC gamers can now play 97.8% of all Wii and GameCube games using the Dolphin Emulator
Game preservation is becoming increasingly important, and emulation plays a vital role in that. As much as we love our classic consoles, they won’t last forever. Preserving their games outside of their hardware matters, and few emulation projects shine brighter than the Dolphin Wii and GameCube emulator. Today, the project rates 97.8% of Wii/GameCube games as “Playable” or better.
Over the past few years, Dolphin’s progress has focused on making playable games perfect. In 2023, we reported that Dolphin could play over 97% of Wii/GameCube games. Back then, only 38.2% of games were rated as “Perfect”. Today, 69% of Wii’s library runs perfectly on Dolphin.
For a perfect rating, games need to run on Dolphin with “no issues at all”. To be rated as “Playable”, games need to run well and only have “minor graphical or audio issues. Both ratings require games to be playable from start to finish. As it stands, practically all major Wii games can be played through emulation.
Dolphin brings the Wii’s library into the HD era and beyond
If you want to play a Wii or GameCube game today, emulation is likely the best option. Neither console is an HD console, and both lack HDMI support, making both ill-suited to modern TVs and monitors. Dolphin can run these classic games at higher resolutions than their original counterparts by adjusting their “internal resolution”. This can make Nintendo classics look better than ever by pushing resolutions to 1080p, 1440p, 4K, and beyond. Many games can also be played at higher framerates, allowing many games to look and play best on Dolphin.
Dolphin is progressing towards perfections
Last week, we reported that over 75% of all PlayStation 3 games are now “Playable” using RPCS3. With Dolphin, 69% of games now have a higher rating of “Perfect”, showcasing how mature Wii emulation has become. Dolphin isn’t aiming for just playability anymore; it wants to deliver perfect emulation, and it is succeeding.
Today, all of Wii/Gamecube’s biggest games run on Dolphin with ease. This includes Super Smash Bros Melee, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, and all Wii/GameCube Legend of Zelda titles.
Right now, the only emulator (that we know of), that documents a higher playability rating than Dolphin is PCSX2. However, the Wii claims a higher percentage of “perfect” ratings. Today, PCSX2 has over 99.5% of all PS2 games rated as “Playable” or higher.
You can join the discussion on the Dolphin Emulator’s progress towards perfection on the OC3D Forums.
