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Post by zzz on Apr 22, 2008 5:03:14 GMT -5
To save everybody from having to ask for emulator recommendations, how about we dedicate this here thread to discussing which we've all found to work best? That way anybody who's looking for a good emulator for a specific platform can just take a look in this topic.
I'll start with a few of the basics.
SNES
ZSNES
For me at least, this is simply the best that there is. The more recent versions are pretty glitchy with Jikkyou Power Pro Wrestling 96 - Max Voltage, and don't seem to be able to run Super Final Match Tennis at all. All versions seem to have problems with Ghost Chaser Densei, as well. Otherwise it's pretty much perfect.
NES
nnnesterJ FCE Ultra
In my experience, these two just completely blow everything else away. nnnesterJ is REALLY old, but it works perfectly with everything that I've tried (which is basically everything) except for one of the Dig Dug games (I can't remember which exactly). FCE Ultra basically works the same way, but works perfectly with EVERY game, and allows a great deal of customization.
Gameboy Original & Color
Visual Boy Visual Boy Advance KiGB
These three are all great. Visual Boy is the easiest of them all, but Visual Boy Advance will also play GBA games and is better for taking screenshots. KiGB is probably the best overall for emulating the platform, as it is very customizable and is the only emulator that can run the 64 megabit GBC games (like Densha de GO! 2).
Genesis
Gens Plus!
Sega Master System
Gens Plus!
Game Gear
Gens Plus!
The best emulator by far for all three of these platforms. I've found it difficult to go back to anything else after trying it.
Arcade
MAME32
Self-explanitory.
CPS-1 & CPS-2
WinKawaks
Great, great emulator for these two arcade hardware systems. Definitely preferable to MAME.
Neo Geo
WinKawaks NeoRage X
WinKawaks is great for this arcade system, obviously. Most people will tell you that NeoRage X is pure shit, but I've always liked the simplified interface. Though it is horribly out of date.
Other Arcade
Final Burn Alpha Raine
Final Burn Alpha is really good for late period Toaplan shooters, early Cave shooters, and a few other games. Raine is great for a shitload of misc. games by Taito and many other developers. Especially if you have a shitty computer.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
NeoPop
Basically the only NGPC emulator worth a damn. Doesn't take screenshots, though, but neither do any other emulators for the system.
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Post by Atma on Apr 22, 2008 6:11:11 GMT -5
Good idea, actually. I always have people bugging me over what to get. All these are Atma tested, Atma approved.
(I hope you don't mind I'm stealing your formatting here~)
NES
Nestopia Okay, first and foremost, get ready to hear ME LOVE FRAMESKIP about 5 billion times in this post. That said...well, I do like frameskip! This and stability/compatability are my #1 things I look for in an emulator before anything else. And Nestopia gives me the sweet skipping I so desire whereas pretty much every other NES emu I've tried hasn't. No sound or game compatibility issues on my end have ever been experienced. ALSO TRY: FCEUltra.
SNES
Snes9x I love this thing. Windows nicely, screen fitting settings, multiple sound/compatibility tools, frameskip, nice stable netplay. While ZSNES may be your King, Snes9x is mine for giving me the least grief ever. ALSO TRY: bsnes
GAME BOY/COLOR/ADVANCE
Visual Boy Advance The undisputed champ. Filters, options and some insanely nice frameskip make this a must. Accept no lesser emulators!
N64
Project64 Extremely high compat list and a wide array of plugins to choose from make this the must have emu. Only complaint: having to reset the game when I change plugins.
PLAYSTATION
ePSXe Can run pretty much anything perfectly with just the most minor of tweaking. Extremely smooth and easy setup menu. Do try the ePSXeCutor frontend.
SEGA MASTER SYSTEM/GENESIS/32X/CD/GAME GEAR
Gens Plus! It does everything but cook you breakfast. Hot damn.
NEO GEO
NeoRage X I'm gonna have to agree with zzz here. I've never had a single problem with this emulator. Sure it's HUGE and iN YOUR FACE, but it works really smoothly and that's what matters to me.
ARCADE
MAME32 You really can't go wrong with this. Just use it. ALSO TRY: WinKawaks
PC ENGINE
Hu-Go! So simple yet so perfect.
I've found Logitech gamepads work perfectly with every single one of these.
hey you guys frameskip
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2008 7:19:27 GMT -5
So is Gens Plus better than Kega Fusion? I've always heard people preferring either Gens or Kega Fusion, but never Gens Plus until now.
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Post by ReyVGM on Apr 22, 2008 8:32:35 GMT -5
FCE Ultra has frameskipping also! By the way, anyone know how to emulate GP32 or Ngage? I know for sure there's a way to emulate GP32, but I've tried and tried and never gotten anywhere. Someone here on the forums offered me the emulator some years ago but I didn't pay much attention to it. As for Ngage, I've seen emulated screenshots, though I don't know if those are taken directly from the system. Also, some guys are hoarding a Game.Com emulator here: gamecom.guruwork.de/Basturds.
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Post by Haz on Apr 22, 2008 10:48:54 GMT -5
Some of mine:
NES
VirtuaNES - Pretty much a perfect NES/FDS emulator that emulates pretty every expansion and device ever made for the system in Japan and the US with perfect accuracy. It has simple options for simple users, and expert options for expert users. It's online interface is simple to use, doesn't use Kaillera, and is lag-free. It records movies and can even output them as AVIs. This kills FCEultra.
PC Engine/TG16
Ootake - The best free PCE emu available, with the author putting out new versions basically every week. It has features that would be a bitch to do on other emus, and it even has special modes for certain games. Don't mind the engrish menus though.
SG1000/SC3000/SMS/GG/Genesis/SCD/32X
Kega Fusion - Blows everything else away. If you don't have it already, get it.
PlayStation
pSX - If you're a Vista user like me, ePSXe won't work so well, so this is pretty much my only choice. All you have to get is the program - no stupid plugins or extras. It focuses on accuracy so it runs fast on almost every computer. And the interface was as simple as you can get without making you feel like a retard.
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Post by YourAverageJoe on Apr 22, 2008 18:35:01 GMT -5
Sega Saturn:
SSF
It's got a pretty good library of supported games, is updated at just the right frequency, works pretty fast, works great with all sorts of controllers, supports frame skipping, has great sound. Overall awesome emulator, especially considering the complex system.
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Post by Isao Kronos (BANNED) on Apr 22, 2008 20:45:10 GMT -5
ePSXe works fine on Vista for me.
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Post by YourAverageJoe on Apr 23, 2008 13:01:19 GMT -5
Same here.
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Post by Haz on Apr 23, 2008 20:46:30 GMT -5
That's weird =/ It always plays games with fucky framerates on mine, no matter what I do (I'm using PeOPS). I just use ePSXe as an alt to play Threads of Fate on.
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Post by r0ck3rz on Apr 26, 2008 13:57:39 GMT -5
This is gonna reflect a lot of everyone else so far, but the best is the best.
NES: Really, you'd be better off getting multiple emulators here. There's always that one mapper that most don't support, that one does. One that sticks out, if you're a wrestling fan(and it wasn't a terrible game or anything) is Wrestlemania Challenge. As far as I know, Nessie is the only emulator that handles it right. my personal choice, Nestopia.
Genesis/32x/Sega CD: Gens+ has one really huge advantage over the original. Diagonals. Again, if you're into wrestling, but I gotta imagine it'd also help with side scrolling beat em ups, and of course, you can't do 360's in fighting games without. It can also go full screen size in a window, that's the only disadvantage to Kega(personal preference speaking) that I've found. Never thought of it for Game Gear or Master System though. I usually use Meka, though I hardly ever play either system.
SNES: Get em both(SNES9x and ZSNES). Between the 2 of 'em, just about everything is handled, and it'd be a shame to decide not to play a really good game because you prefer one over the other.
Turbo Grafx 16/PC Engine/CD: Ootake. very good, and freeware. only thing is it doesn't allow you to shape the window to your own personal preference, but it can play in a large enough window anyway. The others that are freeware usually give me issue.
Arcade: Like already suggested, M.A.M.E., Kawaks, Raine, etc. Again, it never hurts to have more than 1 if you can. As good as M.A.M.E. is, it specializes in nothing, unlike the others, who play those games they specialize in much better.
Playtsation: Yet again, I suggest getting more than 1. definite top recommendations: ePSXe and pSX. You may still want to find more if you can. there are titles that even these 2 don't perform very well with.
Atari 2600: Cyberstella. I probably should get something else, but it's something else I hardly touch.
N64: yet more than 1 again if you can. Top: Probably Project64
Gameboy/Color/Advance: Visual Boy Advance. It's pretty much the perfect emulator for this. At least, I haven't come into an issue that requires another anyway.
Neo Geo Pocket Color: NeoPop. Another I hardly touch.
I could get into those old gaming computers, but I touch those even less than some of these so....
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Post by ReyVGM on Apr 26, 2008 18:48:26 GMT -5
Cyberstella for Atari 2600? What version is that one? I only have Stella. What are the advantages over the original?
Dreamcast: Chankast: Plays a lot of games, minor glitches, its VERY fast and it has cheats for a lot of games. NullDC. Plays more games than Chankast, with even minor glitches, but it's not as fast.
Neo Geo CD: NeoRaine. Seriously, this is the best NGCD emu. It plays everything, you can set the drive speed (or disable it), save states, layer disabling, etc.
zzz you should update the first post with everyone's suggestions and see if we can get this topic stickied so it becomes THE place to know about the best emus.
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Post by Weasel on Apr 26, 2008 21:04:15 GMT -5
NES: NESTopia is my favorite for just two reasons: Rewind (real-time rewinding, not that load-the-savestate-from-two-seconds-ago like ZSNES), and the NTSC filter which looks amazingly like a real TV.
SNES: I used to be a ZSNES devotee, and still use it for the games that use special chips, but my new darling is Byuu's bsnes - it aims to be 100% accurate, and while it's probably slower on weak machines than ZSNES, that accuracy makes things a lot more enjoyable when you're playing games that use wacky programming tricks. It also plays Equinox with no strange errors, whereas I have never gotten ZS or 9X to do the same.
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Post by YourAverageJoe on Apr 26, 2008 21:53:56 GMT -5
Does bsnes have those sound issues with Axelay that ZSNES has?
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Post by Weasel on Apr 26, 2008 23:16:54 GMT -5
I don't have a physical copy of Axelay to test against it, so I don't know what sounds "right".
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Post by YourAverageJoe on Apr 27, 2008 8:13:19 GMT -5
Well, the shooting sounds don't sound, well, like you're shooting a gun, real or no.
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