Best Console Emulators (Windows/Linux)

CrimsonKnight13

CrimsonKnight13

Lord Stabington of [H]ard|Fortress
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
8,439
In reference to this thread, I've been wondering what my fellow [H]ers recommend for emulators.

NOTE: Please do not post any links to ROMs, ONLY emulators. I'd rather that this thread stay alive w/o incident & closure from [H] staff. Thanks.

Please choose your favorite consoles (handhelds, too) from the link below & list your favorite emulators [strike=meh]with what OSes they run on[/s]. Also, please provide links to project pages. I'll update this OP when possible (any mod/admin can do so as well if they please).

List of video game consoles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_consoles
List of video game emulators (w/ activity status) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_emulators

GameCube/Wii
Dolphin - http://www.dolphin-emulator.com/

SG1000/SC3000/Master System/Game Gear/Genesis/Megadrive/SegaCD/MegaCD/32X
Kega Fusion - http://www.eidolons-inn.net/tiki-index.php?page=kega
Gens32 Surreal - http://gens32.emubase.de/

NES/SNES/Game Boy/Game Boy Color/Game Boy Advance/Super Game Boy/BS-X Satellaview/Sufami Turbo
higan - http://byuu.org/higan/

Super NES
ZSNES - http://www.zsnes.com
SNES9x - http://www.snes9x.com/

NES
Jnes - http://www.jabosoft.com/categories/1

N64
Project64 - http://www.pj64-emu.com

Dreamcast
Chankast - http://chanka.emulatronia.com/
nullDC - http://code.google.com/p/nulldc/

Saturn
SSF - http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~phantasy/ssf/

Playstation 1 (PS1/PSX)
ePSXe - http://www.epsxe.com/
pSX - http://psxemulator.gazaxian.com/

Playstation 2 (PS2)
PCSx2 - http://code.google.com/p/pcsx2/

Commodore 64
CCS64 - http://www.ccs64.com/

Game Boy Advance/Game Boy Color (GBA/GBC)
Visual Boy Advance - http://vba-m.com/

Playstation Portable (PSP)
PPSSPP - http://www.ppsspp.org/

PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16
Magic Engine - http://www.magicengine.com/

3DO
freeDO - http://www.freedo.org/

MAME
MAME32++ - http://www.kaillera.com/download.php
MAMEUI64 - http://www.mameui.info
MAMEPlus - http://mameplus.sourceforge.net/
 
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GC / Wii - Dolphin, which has a billion different builds, some specific to certain games due to quirks (Xenoblade for example has a stutter/audio issue that requires either a NASA pc or a very specific one-off build)
 
stop using your PC and get an original wii for $40-60 and a good sized SD card. :D take it anywhere and have all your games with you.

the homebrew on the wii is rock freakin' solid. The best emulators I have used are for the wii. give it a try!
 
Gooch3008 said:
stop using your PC and get an original wii for $40-60 and a good sized SD card. :D take it anywhere and have all your games with you.

the homebrew on the wii is rock freakin' solid. The best emulators I have used are for the wii. give it a try!
Click to expand...

I'm considering doing that soon. :)

tuaarita said:
Uuhh.. Just go to http://www.emulator-zone.com and look for the highest rated emulator for each console.

Site only deals in emulators, but no roms or bios so it's legit. Been up for forever too.
Click to expand...

I wanted to know personal preferences, not necessarily the most popular. That is a great site though.
 
I use Dolphin for Wii/GC. Some games have audio clipping issues but for the most part it works great. I also have a Dreamcast emulator (will check the name when I get home) but I haven't had great luck getting it to recognize my XBOX 360 controller every time I boot the emulator. It's rather frustrating. My N64 emulator can be a bit quirky as well. All in all I am currently playing Wii/GC/SNES/N64/Genesis games on my PC.

I would really like to play some arcade games on MAME, but configuring the emulator has proven to be a bitch for me.

What all consoles do you guys emulate?
 
The consoles I'd like to emulate are Genesis, Wii, GameCube, SNES, NES, N64, Dreamcast, Saturn, GB, GBA, DS, PSP, PS1, & PS2.

I had a whole ton of them saved but I lost them recently, so I'm trying to build up a slimmed down list of 1 good emulator per 1 or more systems.
 
Kega Fusion is a Sega emulator, runs every Sega console prior to the Saturn. Wii/Gc, your only real option is Dolphin. Znes is the best SNES emulator as far as im concerned. Jnes for NES. Project64 for N64. Personally I use Chankast for dreamcast, it works pretty well. SSF is a good Satun emulator. Epsxe for ps1, PCSx2 for ps2. Not too sure about handhelds, never really played them much.
 
How is discussing emulators OK where roms is not? You can't use one without the other.
 
·PitBuLL·;1040083803 said:
Does anyone know of a nicely working PS2 emulator?
Click to expand...

xLokiX said PCSX2 is a good one. Have you tried that one already?
 
PCSX2 - http://pcsx2.net/ (OS - Windows XP, Windows 7 x64 and Windows 8 x64)
I have followed this emulator since alpha and compatibility and performance has increased significantly since then. It's one of the better Playstation 2 emulators out there. I can pop in Xenosaga, Final Fantasy X, Star Ocean Till the End of Time, and other games I own and it will load them and play them.​
ePSXe - http://www.epsxe.com/ (OS - Windows XP to Windows 8)
Got a broken PSOne or PS1 refuses to keep its lid shut? Here's your salvation. The best Playstation 1 emulators out there. It can play games ripped from your library to ISOs, just like PCSX2 can, and can play original discs you own like PCSX2. Compatibility is very good. The only issue you'll have like with the PCSX2 is finding the BIOSes and getting the plugins set up correctly. Once all that is done, it's practically near-native hardware performance. And, like with PCSX2, you can apply various graphical improvements such as anti-aliasing (AA).

Heck, if you own Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8, do not freaking buy the Eidos ports that are poorly ported in every single way. Save your money since you own the discs already, get this emulator, find the plugins and BIOS and mess with the settings. It will look ten times better than those crappy-ass Eidos ports. Once you see FF7 and FF8 with AA, texture smoothing and at a higher resolution than 640x480, it is better than staring at pixelated polygons on your TV.

It's either that or hunt down the rare-to-find FF7 high resolution mods. I am not sure if there were similar mods to FF8 for the PC.​
ZSNES - http://www.zsnes.com/ (OS - Windows 98 SE to Windows 8)
An oldie but probably the most used and most popular emulator that I can think of. Development has stopped years ago, but it is one of the best SNES emulators to date. Highest compatibility and really good performance. It can also emulate the specialized custom chips used for games like Megaman X and Star Fox FX. If you want to travel down nostalgia lane, this is one of the emulators to use. There are other SNES emulators and the next best or the one that ties with ZSNES is SNES 9x.

SNES 9x - http://www.snes9x.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4909 (OS - Windows 98 SE to Windows 8, Linux, iOS Jailbroken)​
Visual Boy Advance - http://vba-m.com/index.php?ind=downloads (OS - Windows XP to Windows 8)
Another very good emulator and it emulates the Gameboy Advance handheld console. It can also emulate Gameboy Color. How about that for nostalgia? It works very well and I have not had any issues with it. It's also one of the better known GBA emulators out there.​
PPSSPP - http://www.ppsspp.org/ (OS - Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS)
This PSP emulator that I've been testing recently currently replaces JCPSP, a Java-based PSP emulator. The compatibility and performance is a lot better and I haven't had any issues with it so far.​
Magic Engine - http://www.magicengine.com/uk_index.php (OS - Windows XP to Windows 8)
This is another emulator that has not been in active development for a very long time. However, if you are aware of the Japan-only PC Engine game console, this is one of the better emulators for it. In the US, this was released as the TurboGrafx 16 but with a much limited game library. Good luck trying to find a working original console today. But, if you ever manage to get a hold of an original DraculaX Rondo of Blood game disc from eBay, I highly recommend playing it. It's considered one of the best or the best Castlevania-based game released to a console, right next to Symphony of the Night and the NES and SNES Castlevania games. Of course, there are other games for the PC Engine and TurboGrafx 16.

Note: There is a 2.5D port of DraculaX to the PSP released several years ago. However, if you're a nostalgia freak like me, the 2D-only version of the original DraculaX is the way to go.​
 
Thanks, I use most of those, but That Saturn one I have not seen before. I've been looking for a reliable one to play Saturn games on.

Panzer Dragoon here I come!:cool:
 
Thanks to everyone for the info so far. I'll be testing a bunch of these out.
 
I kind of prefer SNES9x, but really only because it's a better citizen on Windows than ZSNES.
 
What about 3D0!?!?!

Road rash! Need for speed! Quarantine! Gex!

I have not really found a good 3D0 emulator, if anyone knows of one let me know.
 
xLokiX said:
Kega Fusion is a Sega emulator, runs every Sega console prior to the Saturn. Wii/Gc, your only real option is Dolphin. Znes is the best SNES emulator as far as im concerned. Jnes for NES. Project64 for N64. Personally I use Chankast for dreamcast, it works pretty well. SSF is a good Satun emulator. Epsxe for ps1, PCSx2 for ps2. Not too sure about handhelds, never really played them much.
Click to expand...

What is the difference between Kega Fusion and Gens? People only say it aims to be more accurate but it looks virtually the same to me. What every Genesis emulator lacks is a list of the game. Almost every MAME wrapper has one.

·PitBuLL·;1040083581 said:
I would really like to play some arcade games on MAME, but configuring the emulator has proven to be a bitch for me.
Click to expand...

Just get MAME32++. It has lots of nice features, and it is very easy to setup. Joypads just work, including in the game list/library.

Also has a pretty comprehensive multi-monitor support. You may also need to get yourself cabinet artwork and whatnot.
 
dgz said:
What is the difference between Kega Fusion and Gens? People only say it aims to be more accurate but it looks virtually the same to me. What every Genesis emulator lacks is a list of the game. Almost every MAME wrapper has one.



Just get MAME32++. It has lots of nice features, and it is very easy to setup. Joypads just work, including in the game list/library.

Also has a pretty comprehensive multi-monitor support. You may also need to get yourself cabinet artwork and whatnot.
Click to expand...

I'll check it out - thanks!
 
Tee said:
What about 3D0!?!?!

Road rash! Need for speed! Quarantine! Gex!

I have not really found a good 3D0 emulator, if anyone knows of one let me know.
Click to expand...

i dont need no stinkin 3D0 Emulator!

0523130055-00.jpg



:p
 
dgz said:
What is the difference between Kega Fusion and Gens? People only say it aims to be more accurate but it looks virtually the same to me. What every Genesis emulator lacks is a list of the game. Almost every MAME wrapper has one.
Click to expand...

Fusion supports resolution filters and plugins. Gens does not. Also Gens has lower (slightly) compatibility with 32X games.
 
List looks spot on. I use 9x as apposed to zsnes, but thats just personal preference.
 
Higan... google it.

It is the best NES, SNES, Gameboy, GBA emulator out there.
 
XvMMvX said:
Higan... google it.

It is the best NES, SNES, Gameboy, GBA emulator out there.
Click to expand...

Updated yesterday. Very nice.
Doesn't seem to be much info out on this one, but running in OpenGL instead of directdraw is something I have not seen in 16 bit emulation. I'm pretty interested in seeing where this one goes, anyone try it out yet?
 
wonderfield said:
I kind of prefer SNES9x, but really only because it's a better citizen on Windows than ZSNES.
Click to expand...

octoberasian said:
That and SNES 9x is better detected under XSplit or Open Broadcaster if you want to stream to Twitch.tv or other streaming sites.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the very accurate sound emulation thanks to byuu's contribution lifting the sound emulation from bsnes (a cycle accurate SNES emulator - AWESOME if you have the CPU horsepower to run it)

No love for pSX? While there are no graphics plugins to raise native rendering resolution, it works great and is very accurate.
 
dgz said:
What is the difference between Kega Fusion and Gens? People only say it aims to be more accurate but it looks virtually the same to me. What every Genesis emulator lacks is a list of the game. Almost every MAME wrapper has one.



Just get MAME32++. It has lots of nice features, and it is very easy to setup. Joypads just work, including in the game list/library.

Also has a pretty comprehensive multi-monitor support. You may also need to get yourself cabinet artwork and whatnot.
Click to expand...

I recommend MAME64UI. 64-bit CPU support and a graphical interface to boot.
 
Whatever happened to MAME32Plus? That came with the graphical interface and resolution filters built in. I can not find an updated version. Is there another MAME version with built in 2xSAI, 3x, 4x filters?
 
100% of the reason I bought a Nintendo Wii was for a little game called Fire Emblem. It doesn't even use the motion sensors.

Fire Emblem runs much better on the emulator then on the Wii.

If I could of just waited a year I wouldn't of even needed a wii.
 
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