A New 3DS Emulator Has Been Released Called Lemonade

When Nintendo's lawsuit kicked Yuzu and Citra, the leading Nintendo Switch and 3DS emulators, it was pretty bleak for a moment. But, after seeing Suyu come to life, I started to have a little bit of hope the 3DS would be brought back as well. It didn't take long, but it seems that time has come sooner rather than later. And now, we have Lemonade.

SteamDeckHQ does not promote, encourage, or tolerate piracy in any way, shape, or form, but we do value emulation and the necessity it brings for game preservation.

As described on their website, Lemonade is an open-source, experimental emulator that will allow us to emulate the functionality of the 3DS system on Windows, Linux, and Android (Mac OS build-in testing). Lemonade is based on "The Base," which conveniently links to a Wikipedia page of what the old emulator they are basing this one off of had as a logo/name and aims to fix the issues while improving performance and compatibility.

There doesn't seem to be any mention of Patreon, KoFi, or donations; it's just a link to their Discord server saying that they are welcoming any programming contributions to help make the emulator more stable and better overall. I am extremely happy to see this, and I hope that it can be a version of the emulator that might be able to stick around.

As far as downloading goes, you can find the download links on their website or GitHub. The Linux version for Steam Deck uses a .appimage, so you should be able to download and open it immediately. My download is extremely slow, so it may be that way for you as well, but I can confirm that it does open and run!

There was a new recent update too, which improved Luigi's Mansion 2 performance, initial support for Windows and Linux, a UI rebrand on Android, and more!

I also got a chance to talk to Gamer64, the main developer behind Lemonade, and I asked him a couple of questions regarding the project. And, from his answers, I learned a few things about what he wants:

• Lemonade started as soon as Citra was taken down, and the plan is to continue the project.
• He is a little worried about Nintendo coming after Lemonade, but hopes that it won't be on their radar as much due to it being an older console.
• There are no current plans to take donations or make a Patreon page.
• He would love for the emulator to be included in RetroDECK or EmuDeck platforms.

I am definitely going to be watching Lemonade's development and hoping we can see some major performance improvements, especially on the Steam Deck!

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back!