Dolphin Emulator vs Cosmic Ascent
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dolphin Emulator
Relive classic gaming with this emulator. Easily import ROMs, play in portrait or landscape, and save progress. Customize your sound and enjoy a seamless retro gaming experience.
- Import game ROMs
- Portrait and landscape modes
- Save and restore progress
- Adjust sound effects
- Ad-free premium option
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Dolphin Emulator - Basic is your gateway to reliving the golden era of gaming. Whether you're diving back into childhood favorites or exploring retro classics for the first time, this game emulator makes it easy to enjoy the games you love. How to use: • Import game ROM files easily and start playing instantly • Run games in both portrait and landscape modes for flexible gameplay • Save and restore game progress anytime for a seamless experience • Adjust sound effects to customize your gaming atmosphere Currently supported game types: (NES) Other information: It's important to note that Dolphin Emulator - Basic should only be used with legally acquired game files. We do not endorse or support any form of piracy. Rest assured, Dolphin Emulator - Basic operates independently and has no affiliation with console manufacturers. The mention of related game console names in this statement is only used to describe the environment supported by the retro game emulator application. With Dolphin Emulator - Basic Premium you can unlock the ultimate experience: • Remove Ads: Enjoy an uninterrupted, ad-free journey to inspiration. • Unlock All Features: Get full access to every feature Unlock your gaming emulating potential—elevate your retro gaming experience with Dolphin Emulator - Basic Premium! Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/dolphin-game-emulator/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://sites.google.com/view/dolphin-game-emulator/terms-of-use
Cosmic Ascent
Defend Earth from incoming threats by strategically placing orbiting satellites. Progress through a 30-level campaign, expanding your defenses from a single planet to entire star systems as your civilization climbs the Kardashev scale. Explore diverse enemy doctrines and colonize new worlds to fuel your galactic ascent.
- Orbital satellite defense
- 30-level campaign
- Gravity-bending mechanics
- Planet colonization
- Diverse enemy types
- Generative soundtrack
- Procedural art
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Earth sits alone at the centre of the screen, and they are coming from every direction at once. Cosmic Ascent is an orbital tower defense about one civilisation's climb up the Kardashev scale. You do not build along a path — you ring a planet with satellites that orbit as it turns, and the enemy arrives from all 360 degrees under real gravity that bends their approach. Hold long enough and the map itself transforms. Earth becomes a solar system. The solar system becomes five star systems. Then the galactic core stirs, and spacetime starts answering to you. — THE CLIMB — Ascend from TYPE 0 to TYPE III across a 30-level campaign. Every tier rebuilds the arena, deepens gravity, and grows your reactor. The Sun appears. Planets open for colonisation. A Dyson forge harnesses a star. — NINE SATELLITES — Railgun, missile, cryo, tesla, lance, graviton, nova, singularity and Dyson collector — each with its own hull, damage type and role. Kinetic, energy and blast all matter, because the enemy fields hulls that punish the wrong choice. — AN ENEMY WITH A DOCTRINE — Scouts map your guns by dying to them. Wardens shield everything nearby. Menders repair the wounded faster than a loose fleet can finish them. Splitters die into two. Every hull you destroy unlocks its dossier in the codex. — COLONISE — Claim a world and a settler ship actually flies there. Colonies grow, feed your power grid, pay tithes — and can be besieged and lost, with everything you built on them. — NO TWO LEVELS THE SAME — Most levels open under a named directive: fewer but far tougher hulls, a browned-out grid that pays double salvage, a bounty run. Waves mutate. Comets pass. Meteor showers cross the arena and thin their lines for you. — BUILT WITH CARE — A fully generative soundtrack that ascends with your civilisation. Procedural art, from Earth's recognisable continents to each star's limb-darkened photosphere. Haptics on the beats that matter, and full Reduce Motion support. Free to play, all 30 levels included. An occasional ad appears between runs — one small one-time purchase removes every ad forever. No pay-to-win, no consumable currency, no accounts, and no cross-app tracking. iPhone and iPad.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Cosmic Ascent at 100% against Dolphin Emulator's 19%. Cosmic Ascent also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.0). Dolphin Emulator's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (196 vs 5). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Dolphin Emulator sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month and Cosmic Ascent sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Cosmic Ascent holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dolphin Emulator has 196 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Dolphin Emulator's written reviews are positive against 100% of Cosmic Ascent's.
| Parameter | Dolphin Emulator | Cosmic Ascent |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (196 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 196 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Irene Klein | Erick Murillo |
Customer experience
Dolphin Emulator
Cosmic Ascent
Bugs and requests
Dolphin Emulator
Reported bugs
2 issues- NES games not loading properly
- Redirecting to premium version when trying to open NES files
Requested features
3 requests- Add support for GameCube and Wii games
- Add support for Sega Genesis
- Add support for PlayStation games
Cosmic Ascent
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Dolphin Emulator
- Monthly Premium Subscription$2.991 Month
Cosmic Ascent
- Remove Ads$2.99








