Best of the Best

[kainemaxwell]

Here might be a good time to revive the "Best of the Best" emulators topic for those of us returning and for the new comers once they find their way here!

The best of:
Atari 2600
Colecovision
Nes
Snes
SMS/GG
TG-16
Genesis

I leave any other good ones out?

[zektor]

We'll continue our best of the best segment. If I had more time tonight I would post a ton of links, but I'll do that during the week. As for now, check this site for Magic Engine...the greatest Turbografx 16 emulator on the planet!

http://www.magicengine.com

Try it and I guarantee you'll love it. Emulates just about everything TG and SGX related...including TG CD's! It's a pay emu, but worth the whole darn $16 you'll spend, if not more!

[zektor]

Another addition to the best of the best....

http://neopop.emuxhaven.net/


A Neo-Geo Pocket emulator entitled "Neopop". And what an emulator it is! It has been constantly updated in the past few days, and the emulation is first rate to say the least! If you like this neat little handheld...check it out!

[zektor]

More "best" picks (in no particular order):

Genesis:

http://gens.consolemul.com/

Gens of course! 32x support, Sega CD support. Hell, you can use a ripped Sega CD iso and ripped MP3's from that cd and play the game exactly the same as you would the original. Unreal. No other emulator can even come remotely close at this point in my opinion, so I will not list any others!


Snes:

http://www.zsnes.com/

Zsnes: My personal farvorite. Snes9x and Zsnes are at about the same level of emulation compatibility at this point, but something about the so very sweet Zsnes GUI just hits the right spot with me.

http://www.snes9x.com

Snes9x. Ported to just about every platform...very popular. It works. It works well. It works very very well.


SMS:

http://vecna.verge-rpg.com/chasms/
<link updated>

ChaSMS: The emulation is right on target (SMS/GG), with built in bios to boot. Hasn't been updated in a year, but is still a top contender in my book. While it lacks support for a few peripherals and a much needed zip-rom support, it still extremely kicks ass. Email the author and tell him you love it...which I am absolutely sure you will.

http://www.smspower.org/

Omar's SMS site. You will find links to "Meka"... the phenominal SMS/GG/Colecovision emulator as well as newly dumped romfiles here. I love this emulator to death....just don't sit there playing with the themes and GUI and play the games!

http://freezesms.emuunlim.com/

FreezeSMS. Its nice. Real nice. But it just seems to bulky an emulator for my tastes. Try it and decide for yourself. Definitely worth a try however.


Thats all for now...but rest assured there is more to come!

[Lady Jaye]

And for Mac emulation newbies: the best place is www.emulation.net
They list all the emulators available for Mac (arcade, console and computer) with recommendations. The site is updated whenever there's an update on some emulator.

[digitalpress]

NES:

FCE ULTRA. It's simply the most compatible NES emulator there is. It seems to play everything (at least I haven't run into any issues). Not too big and very easy to use.

http://xodnizel.net/fceultra/files/
<link updated>

[gamergary]

it has trouble running world heros the pirated game. The graphics are all jumbled up when i try to play it.

[zektor]

Those pirate games use some strange mappers and/or custom chips. They are some of the most difficult to emulate.

[gamergary]

ok thank you zektor

[digitalpress]

Since I'm REALLY digging it at the moment:

Intellivision: NOStalgia
http://www.gotmaille.com/nostalgia/nostalgia.html

In incredible job of doing a system that seems to be a problem to emulate well. MESS doesn't support Intellivision, and other emulators to date have been either cumbersome to set up or somewhat clunky in their emulation. NOStalgia is really, really nice. Simple to set up and quite good at reproducing the game's look and sound.

[NE146]

My vote for best NES emu goes to NesterDC. Plays most of the games but the biggest selling point is it makes it easy to play most any NES game on the good old tv by using your dreamcast. :) (and before you tell me about your video-out card just know I'm talking about the tv downstairs during the day, the tv upstairs at night, the tv at your girlfriends house, the next door neighbors, etc) :P

[zektor]

Neopop. Since the NeoGeo Pocket is pretty much dead, I see no harm in chatting about the emulation of this system. This emulator absolutely rocks!

http://neopop.emuxhaven.net/

[ventrra]

I'd say that Zektor's recomendation to me of VirtuaNES as an NES emulator is a good one, if you can find it. Not only does it emulate the NES well, but if you have roms that aren't mapped correctly, you can use this emulator to change them to the correct ones.

[zektor]

Here's that link to VirtuaNES:

http://virtuanes.s1.xrea.com/

Keep checking the site since the emulator is updated here and there. Just scroll down the page and download the English version.

[Kidcritta]

In my opinion ANY emulator of ANY system that can be played in full screen mode without losing graphic quality is the best.And as MAME is the only emu i know of that can do this MAME gets my vote.does anyone else know of any emu that has full screen capabilities please post here!!!!!!! @_@

[zektor]

In my opinion ANY emulator of ANY system that can be played in full screen mode without losing graphic quality is the best.And as MAME is the only emu i know of that can do this MAME gets my vote.does anyone else know of any emu that has full screen capabilities please post here!!!!!!! @_@

There are many that can go fullscreen and not lose any quality. MagicEngine (tg16) is the first to come to mind for some reason. The fullscreen is just superb!

http://www.magicengine.com

[chadtower]

Okay, so with this in mind, let's answer the next question: What is/are the best controllers for use with emulators?

[zektor]

I must add to the best of the best section regarding SMS/GG emulation. Here's a great one:

http://www.zophar.net/genesis.html
(Scroll to Kega Lazarus R5)


Let me explain. I absolutely LOVE Meka, although it seems to me with the windows version (The only one I can use with WinXP) it is still somewhat slow and kind of a pain to get it full screen right off the bat. Some configuration is needed by editing a config file or using an external program. Not user friendly for someone who doesn't know how to do all of this stuff, but it works, but the upside is that it supports ALL peripherals. Dega is another emulator I really like, but no support for the external BIOS (Sega Master System logo at the start of the game and snail maze secret game) is a downer. Also has MAJOR problems with Astro Warrior...one of my favorites. ChaSMS is somewhat aged, but runs in a 32-bit environment AND has the SMS BIOS built in like Meka. But it has no zip rom support.

Here is why I am loving Kega:

Zip rom support
SMS/GG is at 100% compatibility rate as far as I can tell
No known problems with Astro Warrior (YAY!)
Uses the SMS BIOS ROM (as an option)
Emulates the SMS border (can be shut off, but it is the only emu I know to emulate the true SMS border)
Is FAAASSST...100% accuracy in speed/sound on this end
Supports Genesis and SegaCD games too!!!!

The only thing I really wish this emulator had was peripheral support for the SMS games (lightgun, 3-d glasses, Woody Pop controller..etc) 32X support like GENS, and the ability to just boot to the BIOS of a given system. FM support is not present (I never used it in Meka anyway) and no support for SG1000 or SG3000 systems, but this isn't a big deal to me either. Other than that this emulator is worth checking into! Great stuff!

[zektor]

Okay, so with this in mind, let's answer the next question: What is/are the best controllers for use with emulators?

Sorry for the very delayed response (I rarely look at the best of the best topic...my bad) but here:

http://www.x-arcade.com/

NICE joystick all around!

http://www.hanaho.com/products/HotRodJoystick/

Another sweet one!

http://www.wishtech.com

I loved these adaptors. Worked great with everything I ran. I sold mine off unfortunately. They don't make them anymore, but try Jandaman (where I got mine) or ebay.

[zektor]

More to add:

N64:

http://www.pj64.net/

Project64 v1.5 . I have tried the others and it just seems to me this is the emulator of choice at this point for the system. I am running a 1gz P3 with a somewhat outdated video card (Riva TNT2 32mb) and the emulation is just kick ass! I would love to hear from others that are using the emulator on faster systems and more powerful video cards!

Gameboy/Gameboy Color:

http://www.bgbemu.cjb.net/

BGB:

An awesome GB/GBC emulator. The best around in my opinion. It can emulate the gameboy screen to precision. The sound is stereo of course and right on the mark. Just try it for yourself and see what I am talking about!

[badinsults]

Best NES emulator: Nestopia

Although it was only first released a few weeks ago, it is in my opinion the best. The only thing missing is gamepad support, so you have to use a keyboard, but it is my understanding that its compadibility is unmatched. The current website is down (we had a DoS, hence why my site is down as well), so search on sourceforge.net to find it.

[gamergary]

Whats the best emulator for Msx 1 and Msx 2?

[WiseSalesman]

Are there any good emulators for saturn?

[zektor]

Sega Genesis:

Kega Lazarus r5

This rides right along side of Gens in my opinion. The only thing it does not emulate that Gens does is the 32x portion of the emulation. It does, however, support the emulation of the Sega CD, as well as emulating the SMS and Game Gear. The compatibility rate is top notch and the emulator runs just like the real hardware. Looks and sounds awesome on this end. The only downside I see is that the home page seems to be gone. I'm not sure if work has ceased, but the last updated version was from June of 2003. Even if it is dead (I hope not!) it is still an awesome emulator. A MUST download. Get it here:

http://www.zophar.net/genesis.html
(Scroll down to Kega Lazarus SE R5)

I know I listed this emulator a few posts above as a great SMS/GG emulator, but I just have to post about it again. It is REALLY good and deserves to be utilized! This is the updated link to the SMS/GG emulator I listed in the above post as well. Thanks to Zophar for being basically the only reliable place to get this great emulator.

[zektor]

Are there any good emulators for saturn?

Well, there is one entitled "Satourne":

http://satourne.consollection.com/

At this point I wouldn't bother however if you are looking to play games. I have tested the emulator and while I can get to the startup screens and such, those are VERY SLOW. The Saturn has a very complex chipset and processors, and is going to be a tough system to emulate at a reasonable speed. It'll happen, but who knows when.

[zektor]

Whats the best emulator for Msx 1 and Msx 2?

Sorry for the delay, but I would say NLMSX:

http://nlmsx.generation-msx.nl/

It has never failed me, and I play alot of the MSX goodies! :)

[gamergary]

Thanks Zektor.

[zektor]

MorphGear:

http://www.morphgear.com/

A multi-console emulator for the Pocket PC and Windows. I do not own a Pocket PC so I cannot vouch for that end of the emulation, but the Windows port (which supports SNES, Genesis, and TG16) is pretty nice. It does not have every option I want personally (6 buton Genesis support for one) but it is being updated constantly and looks very good at this point. Easy install and easy to use. A newbie to emulation would love this above everything. And, a very good emulator to boot. Try it!

[zektor]

SMS emulator. It's relatively new, but don't make that stop you from trying it. The compatibility is right on target and the emulation is superb. It definitely belongs in this thread:

http://imperiopso.brinkster.net/sayarx/eng/index.htm

Saya RX-SMS. Try it, and when you decide that you love it drop the author an email giving some thanks!

[whoisKeel]

good saturn emu is giri giri but it doesn't run full speed on my machine (1800+/512pc2100/radeon8500le128). i think it is pay now...i even heard that sega bought the rights to it. i have a ahem 'version' that came with a downloaded nitm.

as for controllers, i can recommend enough those playstation->usb connectors...although the analogue doesn't seem, well, analogue. The controls are damn responsive...i can pull off all the moves/combos for the SF series in mame and snes...something i've never been able to do with my sidewinder and aftershock.

FCEultra users...does it support scanlines? I didn't see that option, so i use VirtuaNES.

[soupforare]

Okay, so with this in mind, let's answer the next question: What is/are the best controllers for use with emulators?

As far as pads go, I still love the old gravis gamepad pro (http://www.gravis.com/products/pro_eli_d1019.html)

[Astro Lad]

Magic Engine does look great full screen!

What mode do you use? I turned on 'TV' mode. The scanlines are weird at first but you get used to them really quickly and I just can't stand normal, unfiltered mode on pretty much ANY emulator.

Too bad (for me) that you have to pay for it. I'm poor as hell right now since the semester's almost over. I could justify the fifteen bucks if it came with a nice romset since all the TG-16/PCE/etc. roms/etc. are a bit of a pain to locate, but I don't think I can swing it for just he emu. That's two days worth of food! I could prolly find a copy for free somewhere, but that just feels wrong (and yes I realize the irony of my saying this).

[whoisKeel]

http://www.zophar.net is a good place to find emulators. They list every emu i've ever seen, and give short reviews for each. If you're looking for an emulator for some weird system, go here first. it's pretty comprehensive.

they also have cool things on the site like nesticle recorded movies for games (bah nesticle, but still).

[whoisKeel]

http://www.zophar.net is a good place to find emulators. They list every emu i've ever seen, and give short reviews for each. If you're looking for an emulator for some weird system, go here first. it's pretty comprehensive.

they also have cool things on the site like nesticle recorded movies for games (bah nesticle, but still).

[Sand_monkey]

http://www.dcemulation.com/dcemu-smsplusdc.htm

By far THE best master system emu for the Dreamcast!
Perfect sound and graphics and even the ability to save game states to a VMU! Easy to use and burn, I managed to make one with 150 MS games on :) it can have up to 1200 games! In each folder!!!

[Ed Oscuro]

MEKA updated two days ago, and while it still hasn't changed some "features" I find highly aggravating (i.e. the boated GUI and savestate loading being a hassle), it's the best SMS emulator out there. It looks like DirectX troubles have been cleared up now as well.

VirtuaNES is at .90CE and VisualBoy Advance is at 1.7 non-beta, as well. Try 'em out!