[2019] best / most compatible emulator for...
[2019] best / most compatible emulator for...
Let all of us come together and do this again, r/emulation community. Right now it's basically the same list as last year, but I will update this consistently.
I'm very curious to see what changed and which new emulators we will find.
Keep in mind that this list is really subjective because most of the time it's really hard to define what is the best emulator of a system. Yes, it tries to show a top list, but primarily it's a general view of great emulators.
Last year: [2018] best / most compatible emulators for...
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Edit:
25.07.2020: Last update for this year.
10.01.2020: That was a lot of input. Even more than last year! I think we now have a really great list. Thank you, everyone. :-)
03.01.2020: Another update
02.01.2020: Wow. First few hours and we have already found a lot of new stuff and emulators that no longer exist. Updated. Thanks! :)
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MS-DOS
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DOSBox (best two forks which have all SVN changes and some more features: DOSBox ECE and DOSBox-staging)
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DOSBox-X (Fork of DOSBox with focus on accurate emulation of the hardware and many more ways to tweak and configure DOS)
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PCem (focus on accurate emulation)
Windows 95 / 98
Nintendo Entertainment System
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Nestopia UE (active development has ceased)
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FCEUX (not cycle accurate like the others, but has a lot of great features)
Virtual Boy
Game & Watch
Super Nintendo
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bsnes (same core, different UI with less features: higan. In general bsnes is the best choice, because it has way more features than higan. Just disable every enhancement option and bsnes is as accurate as higan.)
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Mesen-S (balance between super accuracy (bsnes/higan) and performance (snes9x). Amazing UI and a ton of debug tools.)
Nintendo 64
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m64p (mupen64plus+GLideN64+a GUI)
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ParaLLEI N64 with Multithreaded Angrylion (libretro core)
Nintendo GameCube / Wii
Wii U
Nintendo Switch
Game Boy / Game Boy Color
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Sameboy (SNES emulator bsnes is using this core for Super Game Boy emulation)
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Gambatte (has ceased development. Just libgambatte exist now.)
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo DS
Nintendo 3DS
PlayStation
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Beetle PSX HW (libretro core)
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Portable
Xbox
Xbox 360
Sega Game Gear
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Genesis Plus GX (libretro and bizhawk core)
Sega Master System
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Genesis Plus GX (libretro and bizhawk core)
Sega Mega Drive
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Genesis Plus GX (libretro and bizhawk core)
Sega Mega-CD
Sega 32X / CD-32X
Sega Saturn
Sega Dreamcast
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Flycast (libretro core. Standalone build: https://flyinghead.github.io/flycast-builds/ )
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DEmul (Malware? At least some users said this here, so I don't link to the site)
WonderSwan / WonderSwan Color
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Beetle Cygne (libretro core)
3DO
PC Engine / TurboGrafx 16
Commodore 64
Commodore Amiga
Atari ST
Atari 8-Bit computer (Atari 400/800, 1200XL, 600/800XL, 130XE, XEGS, and 5200)
Atari Lynx
Atari 2600
Atari 7800
Atari Jaguar
MSX
Macintosh
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SheepShaver (PowerPCs -> MacOS 7.5.2 - 9.0.4)
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Basilisk II (68K Macs.)
Apple
Acorn Archimedes
Neo Geo Pocket
PC-FX
ColecoVision
Vectrex
Sharp X68000
Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Gamate, Casio PV1000, Casio PV2000, Tiger electronics handhelds
Watara Supervision
BBC Micro and Master 128