Gamecube Emulator For Mac Download

Dolphin is a Wii and Gamecube emulator. It has been ported to libretro and an alpha version of the core is available now for Windows and Linux! Version for macOS will be released at a later date. For more information on Dolphin, visit the author's website here. See also our in-depth article here. It’s an open-source and cross-platform project that is suitable for a number of devices (Linux, Android, Mac, and Windows). In this review, we’ll show how to add Gamecube games to Dolphin emulators and run them: Download and install the emulator in advance; Open it and find the option “Config.”.

Operating systemWindows & Mac
File size4.004 KB Installer

GameCube Emulator(Dolphin) for Windows:


Nowadays mostly known as the sole working Wii emulator, Dolphin started as a GameCube emulator and still remains among the best.

System Requirements

Unlike Wii ROMs, emulating GameCube ROMs on the Dolphin emulator requires rather common specs

Minimum Requirements:

  • Windows XP or later release.
  • Intel Pentium 4.
  • 256MB of RAM
  • 128MB Video Card with Pixel Shader 2.0
  • DirectX 9 or later release.

Recommended Requirements:

  • Windows 7 x64
  • Quad Core Intel i5-2500K Processor.
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 512MB Video Card with Pixel Shader 3.0 and OpenGL 2.x
  • DirectX 9 or later release.

Runtime Library Requirements

Similarly to when running Wii emulations, the Dolphin GameCube Emulator will only work properly with the proper Runtime Library conditions.

  • MS Visual C++ Runtime 2008 SP1
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x64)

Installation and Basic Configuration

You can download the emulator on the official website of Dolphin.

Gamecube emulator for mac download


An archive file will then be obtained and required to be extracted in the folder of your choice. Then, simply launch the game by double clicking on Dolphin.exe

Once launched, simply click on “Config” to apply the basic configurations. The GameCube having rather low requirements, basic system configurations are thus unnecessary. Advanced users may however tweak the settings to optimize the emulation.


The most useful ones are:

  • Enable Dual Core
  • Enable Idle Skipping
  • Enable Cheats
  • Framelift
  • CPU Emulator Engine

Gamecube Emulator Mac Download

Configuring a GameCube Controller

Gamecube Emulator For Mac Download Mac

To be able to set up a GameCube controller, you must first start by browsing to Config > Gamecube. Once there, you will see the different controllers that have been plugged in your PC. If you don’t see any, it is recommended to close the emulator, unplug the controllers, plug them again and start the emulator.

After selecting the controller you wish to use, buttons can be set by left clicking the commands, and press the buttons on the controller. Erroneous inputs can be cleared by clicking on the mouse’s scroll. Once all commands have been assigned to a button, simply save the settings..

Download Gamecube Emulator Mobile

Another interesting setting is the Rumble option. If the controller connected and selected supports it, the Rumble functionality of the GameCube can be perfectly emulated on Dolphin. While there are different Rumble patterns to choose from, it is recommended for beginners to stay with the default option. Save the choices by clicking on OK.

Other optional settings include:

  • Background input. This option allows you to use the controller even if the Dolphin emulator has been minimized of lost its focus to another window.
  • Profile. This is where you will be saving the different GameCube controller configurations. This allows you to switch between different configurations to optimize the emulation of certain games.
  • Reset. This option should be manipulated carefully since it can easily deleted all the configuration inputs that have not been saved. It can however be useful by offering the possibility of resetting the button configs to the default one, or clearing all the configs.