NDS that would look great on a CRT

KelSolaar · Apr 25, 2026

Planning to get a downscaler device that allows me to downscale Wii U to 240p and play the NDS games on a CRT.
The Castlevania games and Chrono Trigger are probably the ones I believe would look great on a CRT. Which games do you think would suit best for CRT?

IC · Apr 25, 2026

Tetris DS, maybe? If you can really get it pixel-perfect.

IC · 2026-06-22T11:08:05+0100

I liked the idea so much that I decided to try it myself!
I set a custom VGA resolution of exactly 256x192 pixels with a refresh rate around 165Hz, and used melonDS emulator.
It's absolutely stunning on a VGA CRT computer monitor! The physical scanlines are amazing!

I wouldn't know how to pull this off on a standard CRT TV, though. With 240p, you would still have to leave quite a bit of empty space around the 256x192 picture in order to keep it pixel-perfect without any scaling artifacts.

There's also the Composite TV-out mod possible on the DS lite, I will have to look into installing it onto one of my units one day.

Provare · 2026-06-22T13:00:33+0100

Are we sure we need downscaling? Because CRT TVs and CRT monitors can adapt to multiple frequencies and resolutions. For example, I managed to get a 480-line CRT TV to play 720p, as the cannons will follow the trajectories for 720p images even though they have a 480p separation mask (in my case, the Cromaclear type).
Also in the PS1, Saturn and N64 era, most games ran at 240P or lower without any black space issues, so as mentioned above, you could directly use the composite output of the TV-out mod.

The Catboy · 2026-06-22T14:04:47+0100

I feel like the main series Pokemon games would be an interesting experience

Kwyjor · 2026-06-22T14:13:46+0100

IC said:
Tetris DS, maybe? If you can really get it pixel-perfect.

... Isn't the whole point of using a CRT that it isn't "pixel-perfect"?

Also, why would you play Tetris DS on a CRT when it was never intended for a CRT display..? Or the Pokemon games, for that matter.

NDS that would look great on a CRT

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