This simple tutorial shows how to install the Dolphin Emulator in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 on both amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Raspberry Pi) platforms.

Dolphin is a free open-source game emulator for GameCube and Wii. It runs in multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S.

Dolphin Emulator Features:

• Real Wii Remote support over bluetooth (a real MotionPlus can be used for games that require it)
• Wii Remote expansions support (MotionPlus adapter, Nunchuk, Classic controller, Guitar, Drums, Turntable)
• Support for multiple controllers with DirectInput or XInput support for emulated GameCube controllers and Wii Remotes with or without expansions (unofficial builds are available that emulate MotionPlus for games that require it)
• Jailbroken iOS devices can be used as emulated Wii Remotes through iController
• NetPlay for online gameplay for online unsupported games only with other Dolphin users
• Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online gameplay for WFC supported Wii games with other Dolphin users as well as real Wii users
• Anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering
• Hi-Res Texture Support, Texture Dumper, Free Look
• Post-processing pixel shaders
• OpenCL hardware accelerated texture processing
• Widescreen hack for forcing widescreen output on some games that don’t have widescreen. This hack may cause some graphic glitches, notably seen on Super Mario Sunshine
• Nvidia 3D Vision for 3D gameplay
• Ability to skip Wii Menu or GameCube BIOS when starting a game
• Ability to start a region-locked game from any region
• NAND emulation
• WAD (downloadable games) support (mostly used for WiiWare, Virtual Console, etc.)
• Support for Homebrew and XFB emulation
• And more.

Minimum System Requirements:

• SSE2 support
• 2GB RAM
• GPU with Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater. Some integrated graphics chips work but it depends on the model (and only with DirectX 9).

How to install Dolphin Emulator in Ubuntu:</3>

Option 1: Install Dolphin from system repository

Dolphin is available in system repository for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 20.04. It’s however a bit old, and somehow excluded in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 repositories.

For one of the previous Ubuntu editions, just press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command to install the game emulator:

sudo apt install dolphin-emu

If the command above does not work for you, try refresh system package first by running sudo apt update command first.

Option 2: Install Dolphin using Flatpak packag

For all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, the app is also available to install as Flatpak package, which runs in sandbox environment.

Tips: Linux Mint 21+ can directly search for and install the Dolphin Flatpak package from Software Manager

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open up a terminal window, then run command to enable Flatpak support:

sudo apt install flatpak

For other Linux, follow the official setup guide instead.

2. Then, install the app as Flatpak package by running the command below in terminal:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.DolphinEmu.dolphin-emu.flatpakref

Once installed, search for and launch the app either from start menu or GNOME overview depends on your desktop environment. Though, first time installing Flatpak app may need log out and back in to make app icon visible.

Uninstall Dolphin

To uninstall the package installed from system repository, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove dolphin-emu

To uninstall the Flatpak package, use this command instead:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.DolphinEmu.dolphin-emu

Also, you may run flatpak uninstall --unused to clear useless run-time libraries that can free up some disk spaces.