I’ve been a fan of emulation since the day I discovered NESticle and Genecyst. I’m always looking for the best emulators in terms of compatibility, performance, or what’s generally considered to be the best thing available for the job at the time. I compiled this list because there doesn’t seem to be many lists of its kind on the interwebs. While subjective, these are what I consider to be the best emulators. For variety, I’ve also included runners-up, which share similar functionality to my primary selections, as well as alternatives to emulators with multiple builds or that happen to be shareware.
All emulators listed here are Windows compatible and may or may not have builds available for other platforms. My choices do not reflect platforms other than Windows. I also use the North American names for each system, though most emulators –- if not all –- support multiple regions. So your favorite Genesis emulator should support Mega Drive as well. Since emulation is constantly (but ever so slowly) evolving, the list is subject to change. If you know of a better emulator than what I currently have listed, feel free to let me know.
| Hardware | Emulator |
|---|---|
| CPS1, CPS2, Neo-Geo | Kawaks; Runners-up: MAME, Raine |
| CPS3 | MAME; Runner-up: CPS3 Emulator |
| Sega Model 2 | Model 2 Emulator; Runner-up: MAME |
| Various | MAME; Alternative: MAMEUI32 |
Arcade| System | Emulator |
|---|---|
| Apple I, II, /// | Pom1 (I), AppleWin (IIe) |
| Atari 800, 800XL, 130XE | Atari800; Alternative Atari800Win PLus |
| Atari ST | SainT; Runner-up: Steem |
| Commodore 64, Plus/4, VIC-20 | VICE |
| Commodore Amiga | WinUAE |
| MSX, MSX2 | blueMSX |
| Sinclair ZX Spectrum | Klive |
Computer| System | Emulator |
|---|---|
| 3DO | FreeDO |
| Atari 2600 | Stella |
| Atari 5200 | Atari800; Alternative Atari800Win PLus |
| Atari 7800 | ProSystem |
| Atari Jaguar, Jaguar CD | Project Tempest – Note: Jaguar emulation is still poor. |
| Coleco ColecoVision | blueMSX |
| Commodore Amiga CD32 | WinUAE |
| Mattel Intellivision | Nostalgia |
| Microsoft Xbox | Cxbx, Dxbox, Xeon – Note: Xbox emulation is still primitive. |
| Microsoft Xbox 360 | None at this time. |
| NEC TurboGrafx-16, TurboGrafx-CD | MagicEngine (Shareware); Alternative: Ootake (Open Source) |
| Neo-Geo, Neo-Geo CD | NeoRaine |
| Nintendo 64 | Project64 (Requires donation post v1.6); Alternative: 1964 (Open Source) |
| Nintendo GameCube | Dolphin |
| Nintendo NES | Nestopia; Runners-ups: FCEUX, RockNES, VirtualNES |
| Nintendo Super NES | bsnes; Runners-up: ZSNES, Snes9x |
| Nintendo Wii | Dolphin |
| Sega Dreamcast | nullDC (Released as Open Source) |
| Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X | Gens/GS; Runner-up: Kega Fusion |
| Sega Master System | MEKA; Runner-up: Kega Fusion |
| Sega Saturn | SSF |
| Sony PlayStation | pSX; Runner-up: ePSXe |
| Sony PlayStation 2 | PCSX2 |
| Sony PlayStation 3 | None at this time. |
Console| System | Emulator |
|---|---|
| Atari Lynx | Handy |
| Bandai WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color | OSwan |
| Neo-Geo Pocket, Neo-Geo Pocket Color | NeoPop |
| Nintendo DS | DeSmuME; Runners-up: iDeaS, No$gba |
| Nintendo Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Super Game Boy | BGB |
| Nintendo Game Boy Advance | VisualBoyAdvance-M; Alternative: VisualBoyAdvance; Runner-up: No$gba |
| Nintendo Virtual Boy | Red Dragon |
| Sega Game Gear | MEKA; Runner-up: Kega Fusion |
| Sony PSP | Jpcsp |
| Tiger Electronics Game.com | MESS (Preliminary support) |
| Watara Supervision | Potator; Unofficial/continued: Potator2x |
HandheldIf one emulator doesn’t run a particular game correctly, even if it’s considered to be quite good, it doesn’t mean others will have the same results. Where one emulator lacks, another may excel. Looking for more options? Here’s some good places to start:
- List of computer system emulators (Source: Wikipedia)
- List of video game console emulators (Source: Wikipedia)
Last updated: August 27th, 2010 @ 2:11 PM
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