Run Dolphin emulator? Yes, it runs quite well for me.
Run Cheat Engine? No, I believe that is Windows only, however Game Conqueror may be of some use to you.
Run DeSMumE? Seems there are plenty of folks confirming it to be a Linux application
Compile stuff? Linux is the go-to system for programmers. Can you compile stuff? You bet your ass.
Open command windows? We use the term Terminal, and yes, no Linux system would be complete without the terminal.
Get Google Chrome? You can use Google Chrome or you can use the community-maintained derivative, Chromium
And is the interface good? Personally, I am not a fan of the Unity desktop environment it comes packaged as it seemed to me that it was an interface tuned more for tablet-like devices. I run a variant of Ubuntu called Xubuntu that comes with XFCE instead, and it's highly personalizable to fit your preferences. You can always install whatever desktop environment you want on top of your system, so even if you go with the vanilla Ubuntu and decide you hate Unity, you can install the XFCE, KDE, or other packages that suits your tastes.