Nintendo DS

Introduction

Nintendo DS games often package graphics, sound, and two ARM executables (ARM7 and ARM9). By unpacking them, you can disassemble the logic or modify in-game text to retrieve hidden CTF flags.

Quick Reference

Unpack ROM: nds_unpacker.py game.nds
Load arm9.bin in Ghidra -> Processor: ARM v5 -> Base: 0x02000000
Test execution in DeSmuME

Tools

Tool	Purpose
DeSmuME	NDS emulator with debugging
NDSFactory	Unpack and repack NDS ROMs
Ghidra	Disassemble ARM binaries

Tips

Focus on the ARM9 code, it usually holds logic and flag comparisons.
Extract embedded assets like .bin or .dat, they may include hint text or images.
Run inside DeSmuME debugger to inspect VRAM or register states.