What files run on Dolphin Emulator?

The Dolphin Emulator supports playing games dumped in various formats, including GCM/ISO, GCZ, CISO, and WBFS, allowing users to enjoy their favorite GameCube and Wii games on their PCs. These formats enable Dolphin to run uncompressed dumps of games, with GameCube games typically being 1.4GB and Wii games being 4.7GB in size.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Information

1. Can Dolphin open ISO files?: Yes, Dolphin can open ISO files created by both Dolphin and Wii Backup Fusion, making it a versatile emulator for playing GameCube and Wii games.
2. Can Dolphin play zipped ROMs?: No, the Dolphin core doesn’t support compressed archives, but RetroArch can decompress the archive and load the decompressed file into Dolphin.
3. Does Dolphin need BIOS files?: Most Dolphin games don’t require BIOS files to run, and performance without them is generally great.

File Formats and Compatibility

4. What type of file should BIOS be?: BIOS update files or images usually have a .bin extension, while some come with a .rom extension.
5. Can Dolphin run GBA files?: Yes, Dolphin supports linking GameCube and Game Boy Advance titles through an integrated Game Boy Advance emulator.
6. Do DS roms work on Dolphin?: No, DS games are not compatible with Dolphin, which is specifically designed for GameCube and Wii games.

Emulator Performance and Requirements

7. Is Dolphin Emulator demanding?: While Dolphin doesn’t require a powerful graphics card, it needs efficient drivers that can handle unique tasks, which may impact performance on certain GPUs.
8. Why won’t Dolphin read my ISO?: If Dolphin can’t read an ISO file, it may be due to the file not being added to Dolphin’s paths, which can be resolved by adding the directory containing the ISO to the Config settings.

Emulation and ROMs

9. Why is GameCube so hard to emulate?: GameCube emulation is challenging due to the unique hardware and software combinations, which require specific compilation and execution.
10. Can 7zip open ISO files?: Yes, 7zip supports unpacking ISO files, along with various other formats, including 7z, XZ, BZIP2, and more.

Legal Considerations and Additional Information

11. Does Dolphin use ISO or ROM?: Dolphin supports playing games dumped in GCM/ISO format, which can be uncompressed or compressed using tools like Dolphin or Wii Backup Fusion.
12. What is an NKIT ISO?: An NKIT file is a disk image of data extracted from Nintendo Wii and GameCube games, which can be used with emulators like Dolphin, Swiss, and Nintendont.
13. Is it legal to use an emulator?: While emulators themselves are legal, ROMs are not, and downloading them without permission from the copyright holder is illegal.

Game Compatibility and Emulation

14. Does Dolphin run Wii roms?: Yes, Dolphin can play Nintendo GameCube and Wii games, including digital Wii games dumped using tools like CleanRip or Yet Another BlueDump MOD.
15. Can Dolphin emulate Wii U?: Dolphin can emulate Wii games, which can also run natively on the Wii U, and render them in HD with various enhancements and improvements.