a nintendo handheld can be cracked by following a guide, to then play any game released for it. this will require a $100-200 console.
for older consoles like the nintendo ds, you can emulate, like dolphin emulator for pc. i can even emulate a ps2 on my beefed up gaming pc. nevermind that though, any modern laptop or pc should be able to handle nintendo ds games on an emulator. i think that'd be a good start for you. in fact, even android phones can emulate it.
> nevermind that though, any modern laptop or pc should be able to handle nintendo ds games on an emulator
Laptops in general are prone to overheating which leads to lower performance. Mine has an i7-8750H CPU and it can't play many Nintendo DS games. RetroArch and its A/V synchronization contribute to the CPU load as well.
Perhaps a small form factor PC would be best suited for this purpose.
for older consoles like the nintendo ds, you can emulate, like dolphin emulator for pc. i can even emulate a ps2 on my beefed up gaming pc. nevermind that though, any modern laptop or pc should be able to handle nintendo ds games on an emulator. i think that'd be a good start for you. in fact, even android phones can emulate it.