The Nintendo DS wasn’t exactly known for its excellent online multiplayer capabilities. Still, for those who spent any time trying to dust friends online in Mario Kart DS, you can remember just how hardcore that little racing game could get. Thanks to the excellent Delta emulator, those of us returning to our DS days on iPhone or iPad can now get extra excited. One of the developers behind Delta said he’s working to get online multiplayer working once more.
On Monday, the main face behind Delta, Riley Testut, wrote that online multiplayer is returning for select Nintendo DS games. In a post on Threads, he showed it working with Mario Kart DS, a game I’m personally very fond of, remembering it from my teen years. Testut wrote on Threads that he “messed up the drift at the end.” Yet, it’s an excellent display of what made the mobile version of Mario Kart so competitive, even when the netcode wasn’t particularly good or—hell—even playable at times.
The emulator developer wrote that he worked with others in the retro gaming community to add a reverse-engineered version of Nintendo’s WFC servers to the emulator. Testut said he’s hoping to have a beta available “within [the] next few weeks.” It will first hit Delta’s Patreon subscribers before coming to the wider public.
This should mean it will work on a modern WiFi network. It will allow online battling and trading in older DS games like Pokémon Black/White. Delta’s implementation will work on all current third-party DS servers, including Wiimmfi, AltWFC, and Kaeru. Testut added details about which online games were compatible in his Threads posts. He confirmed users could receive gifts in the older DS Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games.
Legions of DS owners already use services like Kaeru WFC to access a recreated form of Nintendo’s defunct online services. Testut told The Verge he used a 3rd-party program called melonDS to access the fan-made DS servers. It also means people on emulators can play directly with those still lucky enough to own a physical DS playing on the same servers. Since Delta is using these 3rd-party services, it effectively means the update will be free for anyone to use.
Nintendo ended the DS’ online capabilities in 2014. The sequel handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, had a much longer shelf life, but that is coming to an end. The legacy Japanese game maker ended support for the 3DS’ online services in April, alongside the Wii U. That also ended the eShop, making it much harder to play any of Nintendo’s best handheld hits from the 2000s and 2010s. Delta and other emulators remain your best bet for those who don’t feel like spending hundreds of dollars on second-hand hardware, even if emulation remains legally dubious.
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