Citra Emulator remains the definitive solution for playing Nintendo 3DS games on PC, though its development history took a major turn in 2024. While the original official project was discontinued, the software continues to thrive through community-driven successors like Azahar and Lime3DS, which have merged to keep the "Citra" core alive and updated for late 2025. This open-source software allows users to enjoy their library of handheld classics with visual fidelity that far exceeds the original hardware, offering features like 4K resolution scaling and advanced controller support.
Key Features
- High-Definition Upscaling: Breathes new life into jagged 240p titles by rendering them at up to 10x internal resolution, making games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D look crisp on modern 4K monitors.
- Vulkan API Support: Utilizes the modern Vulkan graphics backend to significantly reduce stuttering and improve framerates, particularly on systems with AMD graphics cards or integrated GPUs.
- Save State Manager: Allows players to instantly save and load their progress at any exact moment, bypassing the limitations of in-game save points—perfect for difficult platformers or RPGs.
- Custom Screen Layouts: solving the dual-screen dilemma by letting users toggle between large-screen, side-by-side, or single-screen views to fit their monitor setup and gameplay preference.
- Texture Replacement: Supports loading custom high-resolution texture packs created by the community, completely overhauling the visual assets of supported games.
- Emulated Local Wireless: Replicates the handheld's local connectivity features over the internet, enabling multiplayer matches and trading in titles like Pokémon without needing physical proximity.
Use Cases
Citra is essential for content creators and streamers who need to capture high-quality 3DS gameplay footage without expensive physical capture card modifications. It also serves preservationists and gamers who wish to revisit their physical cartridge library on a laptop or desktop PC, often with better performance than the original console provided.
By leveraging the active development of the Azahar project, Citra Emulator ensures that the vast 3DS library remains accessible and visually stunning on Windows 10 and Windows 11 well into the future.
Version 2123.3 — December 2024
Added:
- Secondary display support for dual-screen Android devices
- Native support for Android devices with 16kb memory pages
- macOS binaries built with Xcode 16
Improved:
- Secondary display handling on Android devices
- Platform support for modern systems
- Vulkan renderer stability with external displays
Fixed:
- Issue where disconnected secondary screens caused emulation problems
- Games not closing properly when switching between titles
- Compilation failures with newer Clang versions
- Qt widget corruption on newer macOS versions
