Best NES Emulator

[SoulBlazer]

I know, many people here prefer to play the real thing, but the emulators DO have some advantages. :P

Anyway, I'm just getting back into checking out NES Emulators after a year or so....mostly to play Earthbound Zero and some other recenly translated games. As opposed to many other consoles, though, where they are one or two emulators of choice, there seems to be five or six emulators for the NES that all 'suggested'.

If you use a NES emulator now and then, which one and/or two are your favorite? Is there a site anywhere which is kept up to date on 'ranking' them and suggestions? I know Zophar's Domain has some but it's out of date.

[Dimitri]

I use FCE Ultra myself, though I remember liking NESten a lot, as well. Both have good compatibility, and FCEU in particular has a nice simple interface. For the most part, though, it's a matter of preference over interface and features, and if your very favorite game runs or not...it doesn't really matter all too much, just don't listen to anyone telling you to use Nesticle. :P

[yoursisterspretty]

I personally use RockNESX, but I know its not the best. It gets the job done though. And there's nothing wrong with using Nesticle, especially if you're on a 486. Then its basically your only choice. =)

Is Zophar's Domain really out of date? I just figured the whole emu scene has calmed down, but I could be wrong.

[pseudonym]

i prefer fceu.

[sabre2922]

RocknesX is my personal favorite ive never had any problems with it at all and it has perfect emulation and works well with almost any gamepad (as far as I know).

[Xantan the Foul]

I use JNes most of the time.

[Jorpho]

I would hardly say Zophar's is out of date.

I use Nestopia lately.

[jonjandran]

I use VirtualNes.
Never had a problem with any games with it.

[Nesmaster]

I will go ahead and vouch for FCE Ultra. its the one ive been using since i got into nes emulation and its perfect for everything i would need an emu for, including netplay :)

i'll always be Real > Emu though :P

[GobopopRevisited]

I used FCEUltra until Nestopia launched. FCEU is the most complete, but Nestopia is a lot easier to configure... plus it runs just as nicely and it has Kaillera!

[SoulBlazer]

I used to use RockNES, but the new RockNESX -- the menu at the top does'nt have a option for gamepads. :hmm:

Of course, I have a real NES controller hooked up to the computer I want to use and since I can't select input options I can't use it.

I have a ultra modern system with a high end video card and a 19 inch monitor, so finding a modern emulator that will play FULL SIZE -- or ALMOST full size -- is very important as well.

Talk about great hearing NES games played in stero through headphones, though. :)

[kainemaxwell]

JNes for me.

[zektor]

I use VirtualNes.
Never had a problem with any games with it.

Yep, so do I. FCE is great as well, but no current PC emulator matches the amount of mappers VirtuaNES supports, as well as peripherals and quite a bit of options. Just about everything plays perfectly. The launcher is a very nice feature as well.

[NESaholic]

I use FCE Ultra too,never had any probs with although i don't play it much,most of the time i'm playing Splatterhouse for the NES cause it's a japan release only.

[jajaja]

I used to use Nesticle until i discovered NESten.
Nesticle is also great, but it doesnt work with unlicensed games, atleast not the ones i've tried.

[Sotenga]

I gotta go with FCE Ultra. Before that, I used NESticle, but I couldn't get some of the sound channels to work on that one. FCE Ultra certainly alleviated that problem, though. I didn't even know Tecmo Super Bowl had voices before using FCEU! LOL

[SoulBlazer]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

One thing I'm looking for with a emulator is to get it to play full screen or full sized windowed mode while taking up all of my monitor space and try to minimize any strecthed look.

Having said that, I've done testing with both FCE Ultra and Nestopia. I like both, and they both seem about the same. Full sized windoed mode on the default resoultion I can see slight graphical differences in the game -- anyone know which one is more 'real' or 'better' then the actuall NES game?

One big strike aganist FCE Ultra in my book -- save states. One of the main reasons I play emulators. :P Yes, FCE Ultra has them but you have to select it from the windowed menu at the top (there's no keystroke), you have to type in the name of the file you want, and when you go to load the save is there but you can't SEE it. :hmm: So unless you remember what the name of the save is, you're screwed.

On the other hand, full windowed mode looks better in FCE Ultra. Go figure.

I'll try out Virtual NES next.

[badinsults]

There are several great NES emulators out there. I use Nestopia, but FCE Ultra, Rocknes, and NNNesterJ are all great.

[whoisKeel]

FCEultra...the best hands down. I really like the option to chop the 8 pixels off the end so you don't get gltichy graphics on the smb3/code name viper and other side scrollers....I've yet to see that option in another nes emu. FCE is also the most accurate emu from what i've heard (tho I could be mistaken). As a second pick I choose virtuanes for its nice options.

As always, the real thing is always the best...but emulation rocks if you use it as it was meant to be used.

[yoursisterspretty]

One thing I'm looking for with a emulator is to get it to play full screen or full sized windowed mode while taking up all of my monitor space and try to minimize any strecthed look.

Since your monitor and the NES rez is different its never going to be perfect. To be honest when I use RockNESX full screen I don't notice, but I'm not that picky (maybe).

[Zing]

FCE Ultra used to be the best. Now Nestopia has taken the crown.

[jajaja]

Are there any good NES emulators who allow you to make movies that can easaly be converted to .gif ?
I would like to make short movie clips as .gif

[LocalH]

One thing I'm looking for with a emulator is to get it to play full screen or full sized windowed mode while taking up all of my monitor space and try to minimize any strecthed look.

Since your monitor and the NES rez is different its never going to be perfect..
No, but it shouldn't be too hard to get close. Vertical resolution is fine (regardless of whether you run NTSC at 224 or 240 lines), just double it exactly. All that needs to be done then is to calculate the proper aspect ratio for the NES, and horizontally resize to the necessary width. It's definitely known that NES pixels are wider than average NTSC "pixels", since a real NES' output is wider than an emulator's 2x output in 640x480.

Another option would be to capture an NES' output at a standard 720x480, take the NES image size within that frame, and calculate the width needed to produce a similar image at 640x480. This method might be more of a hack than the first, but it should work well enough.

[gonzo90017]

For low end computers FCEU and Rocknesx are best. But for high end computers I would use Nestopia or VirtuaNES

[Solo Incision]

I used to just use Jnes untill certain games didnt run or the mappers werent supported :/ so I use Jness and FCEU.


We should set up a kalliera group or something :-P

[MegaDrive20XX]

JNes is the best one for Famicom Disk games imho