Download a game console emulator. The best game console emulators for Windows

The most popular and efficient emulators for Android were collected. A survey about the topics of the next collection was also posted there. The option of creating a selection of console emulators for Windows won by a large margin.

In this material, I tried to collect a large number of time-tested game console emulators for Windows. With these programs you can easily turn your PC into a retro gaming console and enjoy classic games, from which only the best impressions remained.

Perhaps something was not included in the selection. If so, indicate the missing emulator in the comments, I will add it to the main material.

The principle of working with a set-top box emulator

A game console emulator is a software shell that emulates the operation of the hardware of the device itself. Developing an emulator is not so easy - it requires both programming experience and knowledge of accurate information about the operating principles of the original device. Most emulators can be divided into two groups, including "simple" and "compound" programs. Many emulators provide even more functionality than older consoles (for example, saving in games for Dendy and Sega).

There are no problems with simple ones - you need to install the program, download the game image, and that’s it - you can enjoy the process of playing through it. There are minimal settings in such programs. “Compound” require additional components - this is the BIOS of the set-top box (usually a .bin file) and various dll plugins. BIOS files are protected by manufacturer rights, so emulator developers cannot embed them - otherwise such an emulator will not be included in the Google program directory. You need to search for the BIOS on the Internet - there are many sites where these files are made publicly available.

We also need images of games. Emulator developers also do not have the right to integrate them into their software. The images, or ROMs, are available online. For Sega or PlayStation, the number of ROMs reaches many hundreds. Nowadays you can find images of even very rare games on the Internet that were previously difficult to get in stores.

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Technically, the classic Nestopia emulator is no longer supported by its developers. But there is a port that is supported - NESTOPIA UE. In this case, UE stands for "Undead Edition", which is the unofficial version of NESTOPIA. The advantage of the program is its simplicity. There are minimal settings here, but the emulator works with almost all old NES games, ensuring the highest quality display. NESTOPIA UE is one of the best eight-bit console emulators.

FCEUX

This is one of the most versatile NES emulators. All-in-one application offers ample opportunities both an ordinary gamer and an advanced player who wants to gain maximum control over the processes occurring in the emulator. There is a debugging tool, the ability to record gameplay, tools for working with ROMs and an auxiliary tool for creating speedruns - the process of speeding through the game. This emulator has ports for Windows, Max OS X and Linux.

Higan

This emulator is a continuation of Bsnes. The first version was released in 2005. Initially, the emulator worked under Windows, but then ports appeared for Linux, OS X and FreeBSD. This is an excellent NES emulator that is compatible with very a large number various games.

The emulator continues to develop - the author is actively working to support his project. In 2008, the British magazine WebUser recommended the emulator to all old-school gamers. In 2009, a Japanese magazine advised all fans of old games to try out the emulator.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Bsnes-mercury

This emulator is a SNES module for RetroArch. The program is a fork of the BSnes emulator, to which a number of useful functions have been added. The current version of the emulator has the ability to load BIOS files, which was not previously available in SNES9X. The emulator supports very large number games, almost all images of SNES games that are on the Internet work with it. If you have this emulator, chances are you will never have any problems.

SNES9X

SNES9X is definitely one of the most successful SNES emulators. It can even work with the latest Super Famicom releases, something that some other emulators can't handle. The developers have equipped the emulator with a large number of features, including video and sound settings, support for cheats and multiplayer. Ports of this emulator have been released for Windows, Max OS X, iOS, Android. SNES9X is also available as a core for RetroArch.

ZSNES

ZSNES is a free SNES game console emulator written by mostly in assembler, for Linux, MS-DOS, and Windows platforms. Development of ZSNES began on July 3, 1997, and the first version of the program was released on October 14, 1997, for the MS-DOS platform. Official ports for Windows and Linux were later released. The emulator became open source and was released under the GPL license on April 2, 2001. In March 2006, the program's source code repository was moved from SourceForge.net to BountySource.

Main features of the emulator:

Emulation of most SNES expansion chips
Image interpolation support
Video recording capability
Cheat code support

Nintendo 64

Project 64

Project 64 is one of the most compatible Nintendo 64 emulators with all games. This program does not require BIOS. The plugins are configured by default and everything works great. Emulation soundtrack and the video of the original console works very well. Not here large quantity settings so as not to complicate the user’s life. But there is support for multiplayer, support for cheats. You can adjust the screen scale, providing yourself with maximum gameplay convenience.

Mupen64plus

Another module for RetroArch, a universal emulator, which we will talk about at the very end of the article. Moreover, this module is the only one. There are a huge number of settings here. If you want, you can easily change a lot - and color scheme display, and sound and everything that can be changed. There are ports for Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and Linux.

Nintendo GameCube and Wii

Dolphin

Dolphin is the only decent Nintendo GameCube and Wii emulator. It works almost better than the game consoles themselves, which this software is supposed to emulate. In addition to anti-aliasing and the ability to quickly save games, you can play at 1080p. This feature was not present in the original consoles. Of course, there are a few bugs, but not that many. In addition, the work on the emulator is carried out by enthusiasts, so there can be no special complaints against them. All you need to know is that the emulator works almost perfectly, providing high-quality graphics and comfortable gameplay.

Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance

VBA-M

There are several emulators for Game Boy systems, but the best is Game Boy. It can work both as a standalone emulator and as a module for RetroArch. Color rendition, sound, gameplay - everything is almost perfect. A demanding user can work with graphic filters, adjust the sound to his liking, and modify some other settings. The emulator has been ported to Windows, Mac OS X, Linux. The emulator requires Microsoft DirectX to work, preferably latest version.

Nintendo DS (and DSi)

No$GBA

This emulator began its journey into the world of games as an emulator of the Gameboy Advanced system. But now it is the most versatile NIntendo DS emulator, and the only one that supports DSi. It is also the fastest emulator, which was not so easy to achieve given the presence of two displays and processors in the set-top box itself. Some functions are missing in the emulator (for example WiFi and multiplayer), some games are not displayed perfectly. But in the vast majority of cases, this emulator provides completely comfortable game. There are a lot of settings here, so if you see a problem, it can most likely be solved by setting it. there is also a debugging tool for developers.

DeSmuME

An excellent core for RetroArch, although there are a number of limitations, especially when comparing this emulator with standalone ones. However, you can play most games without any problems; there are a number of settings. The software also supports GBA emulation.

Sega

Kega Fusion

An almost perfect Sega emulator - and not just one Sega Mega console, but a whole series, including Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD. There is no Saturn or Dreamcast support here. All other consoles are emulated perfectly, with almost complete compatibility with games for supported platforms. There is support for cheats, quick saving, video and audio recording, online play and support for various gamepads. Full screen mode, scaling and a number of video filters complement the emulator's capabilities. Ports are available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Genesis X Plus

And this is a module for RetroArch. Also supports emulation of platforms such as Genesis, Mega Drive, Sega/Mega CD, Master System, Game Gear & SG-1000. Most games are supported, there are many settings. It is also possible to load the BIOS, if necessary.

Dreamcast

There are problems here. There is practically no normal emulator for this console for Windows. There are a number of attempts to emulate the console, including DEMUL or nullDC. But very few games are supported here, there are a large number of compatibility problems, and you won’t be able to play consistently. Interestingly, there is an excellent Dreamcast emulator for Android - this is ReiCast, I wrote about it in the previous collection. But under Windows - nothing. It’s also bad that almost no one is developing an emulator at the moment.

Demul

DEmul is a Dreamcast emulator and the successor to Chankast, another application for running Dreamcast games on PC, which is currently no longer supported. Demul is a multi-system emulator of Sega game consoles and machines, originally intended exclusively for emulating the Sega Dreamcast game console. Currently the emulator also supports emulation slot machines based on Sega Dreamcast: Naomi, Naomi 2 and Atomiswave. In development, support for Sega Model 3, Sega Hikaru, Sega Saturn. However, for this you will need Dreamcast BIOS, which is not included with this emulator. On at the moment DEmul can perfectly emulate over a hundred games, including Marvel VS. Capcom, Crazy Taxi, King of Fighters, Sega GT, Sonic Adventure, Star Wars Demolition, Virtua Fighter 3 and Virtua Tennis 2.

PlayStation 1 & 2

PCSX

There is no perfect PlayStation emulator. But PCSX is close to being the best. The developers of this emulator have done everything to ensure that the player feels immersed in the original Play Station atmosphere when playing with PCSX. In order for the emulator to work, the official BIOS of the set-top box is required, as well as several video plugins and sound plugins. There are versions of the emulator for Windows, Max OS X, Linux. There is also a separate module for the universal RetroArch emulator, the module is called “PCSX-Rearmed”. A very weak PC will not be able to work normally with this emulator, you need more or less modern system.

ePSXe

EPSXe is an emulator for the PlayStation game console. The program was released on October 14, 2000. ePSXe is distributed under a freeware license.

Like most modern emulators, ePSXe uses plugins to emulate the graphics and sound processors, as well as the optical drive of the set-top box. In addition, to run ePSXe, you need a BIOS file obtained as a result of a PlayStation dump; for this reason, the emulator developers cannot be accused of violating Sony's copyrights, and using the emulator is considered absolutely legal if the user independently removed the BIOS from a personal PlayStation or if they have I downloaded this console from the Internet.

EPSXe can run games from a CD or from various images located on your hard drive. With a few exceptions, the program can run many PlayStation games flawlessly; Plugins and their settings play a certain role.

About 95% of games run perfectly on versions 1.5.x, and for many games there are special .ppf patches that improve compatibility or help solve certain problems.

PCSX2

PS2 emulator. The program is still supported by its developers, who are actively developing the project. PCSX2 is compatible with most games from the original console. As in the previous case, this requires a BIOS, plugins for video and audio, drive, as well as game images (ROM/ISO). The emulator is released for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. But in this case, the PC characteristics must be at their best, otherwise you won’t be able to play - the emulator and games require a lot of resources.

PlayStation Portable

PPSSPP

An excellent PSP console emulator that supports most games for this device. If the PC specifications are high, then the game will look even better than on the console. The emulator allows you to double the resolution, which removes some of the artifacts on polygonal models. In addition, the emulator corrects and complements some textures, smoothing them out. BIOS is not required here, there are settings, quite a lot of them, but everything works fine and by default. PPSSPP is released for Windows, Max, Linux.

3DS & Wii U

Citra (3DS)

Work on the emulator is still underway, although it is already quite functional. Unfortunately, some games will not run at full speed. Even those games that launch normally will not look perfect. Perhaps in the future this emulator will work better - the developers are doing everything to make sure this happens. By the way, it is not so easy to get game images for this platform, this is another problem.

CEMU (Wii U)

Like the previous emulator, this one is still in the early stages of development. Very few Wii U games are supported. To play at least something, the computer must be very powerful. Currently, games such as Mario Kart 8 and Twilight Princess HD are doing relatively well. Others give you a start screen but won't load, and if they do load you won't be able to play them.

PlayStation 3

RPCS3

This is a relatively young PlayStation 3 emulator project. Unfortunately, this emulator does not support most 3D games, and even if it does, it requires a very powerful computer to run the game more or less normally. But 2D games for the PlayStation 3 run great - the same Sonic, for example.

RPCS3 started in 2013. At that time, the emulator was taught to run some large samples from the SDK, as well as a couple of home-made games. All this did not happen right away, the first builds of the emulator were unable to run even a self-propelled gun, there was only a square and texture outlines.

Now the emulator plays quite a lot of 2D games and a few 3D ones, although the latter are almost impossible to play. Nevertheless, the project continues to actively develop, and soon the developers promise to show a lot of interesting things.

Xbox 360

Xenia

Xenia Git is a working open source Xbox 360 emulator. Many craftsmen take part in its development. The emulator runs a lot of games, including 3D games, but, unfortunately, you won’t be able to play them all yet. This emulator has much fewer errors and problems than the PS3 emulator. Perhaps it will soon be able to run many games.

The development of the emulator began in 2014, then it was only a trial version, on which absolutely nothing worked. Now the progress is obvious - some games are launching, and they are launching well.

Universal emulators

RetroArch

This is probably the only representative of the family of universal emulators that is worth attention. Or rather, if you use this batch emulator, you are unlikely to need anything else. RetroArch is an all-in-one emulator that can run games from most well-known consoles. It supports regular consoles, Sega, Playstation 1 and others, and portable ones - Game Boy Advance and older.
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Programs in the list: 10 | Updated: 23-11-2014 |

One of the most common types of software in lately emulators of a wide variety of gaming systems have become. What's happened game console emulator ? Explaining in simple language is a program with which you can run programs created for a different system than the one on which the emulator is running. It’s even easier, for example, to run games designed for Sony Playstation 2 on Windows PC. That is, emulators are created specifically for a specific system. The most popular platform for which emulators are created has become the PC platform. The emulators that exist for it will be discussed further. However, it should be noted that there are also emulators for smartphones, PSP, PS2, PS3....

Emulating one system into another is not easy. And the creator of the emulator requires excellent knowledge of the architecture of both systems, what is being emulated and on what. There are no official game emulators in nature. Everything that exists is created by enthusiastic programmers. Complex emulators such as PS2 are developed by a group of independent programmers. Naturally, this is done free of charge and in free time, which is a significant limiting factor in the development of a particular emulator. In the world of computer science, there are two postulates regarding emulation:

1) The performance of the system on which the emulator runs must be greater than the emulated system.
2) The more accurate the emulation and the more complex the emulated system, the more hardware resources are required.

These postulates in general outline explain why there is still no Xbox360 emulator and PS3 emulator. But given the growing power of gaming PCs, their resources will soon be sufficient for high-quality emulation. Although the Xbox360 emulator will most likely suffer the same fate as the Xbox emulator, the development of which stopped ten years ago. According to rumors, Microsoft had a hand in this. The project remained forgotten, although if the Xbox emulator had been brought to fruition, then today even an average computer would be enough for a normal game. The emulators listed below have almost all reached one hundred percent development level. The quality of the game will depend largely on your computer, especially on a device such as a video card. This applies to emulators of recent generations of consoles such as Playstation 2, GameCube and Nintendo WII. So if you have a desire to make a multi-platform gaming machine out of your PC, do not skimp on such a detail.... So, below is a list of emulators for the most famous game consoles and consoles...

Tags: game console emulators download | Game console emulators for PC for free without registration

Emulators Dandy

The eight-bit Famicom game console appeared in the first half of the eighties. But in Russia it began to enjoy incredible popularity in the early nineties of the last century, under the name Dandy. It has become a symbol of childhood for more than one generation. And now, those who no longer have the original console can immerse themselves completely in childhood on their PC or laptop. Dandy emulators will help you out with this.

Ps2 Emulator - PCSX2 1.2.1

For more than ten years, this console has remained popular, replacing the PS1, and there are a huge number of games released for it, including quite a few exclusives, which can now be played on a PC using a PS2 emulator....

ePSXe Enhanced 1.7.0

Extended version of the Sony Playstation 1 emulator - ePSXe. This version works correctly on a 64-bit operating system. It also has some additional functions: the use of shaders to improve graphics, wrapper- a convenient browser for ps1 games.

ePSXe 1.9.2

The legendary console is known to absolutely every gamer. During its time on the market, PlayStation has spawned many series of games, the sequels of which are released on modern consoles. Possessing powerful potential by the standards of the mid-nineties, PlayStation quickly supplanted 16-bit systems and confidently became the market leader...

PSP Emulator - JPCSP 0.7

The best Portable Sony PlayStation emulator, for one reason only, because today it is the only one and more or less working. Emulation of game consoles on a computer has long gained momentum and achieved very serious success; with the advent of portable devices, emulators for PCs also appeared. Project Jpcsp - allows you to run PSP games on a PC. Before perfect emulation, its developers still have work to do

Dolphin 4.0.2

Nintendo consoles have always been successful, and if the Gamecube was unable to seriously compete with the PS2, the WII does it quite successfully with the PS3. There is only one emulator that can play Gamecube and Wii games on PC - Dolphin. It is worth noting that its creators have achieved serious success in this matter and all games run perfectly on a gaming computer.....

Sega Dreamcast Emulators

This console appeared a little earlier than the Ps2 and stayed on the market for much less time, but the Dreamcast at one time managed to win the love of millions of gamers around the world, demonstrating beautiful graphics. It was mistakenly considered a competitor to the PS1, but this is not so... the best Dreamcast games can only be ported to consoles of the PlayStation 2 level....

The Super Nintendo console showed all the charm and capabilities of sixteen bits, as it had more advanced and somewhat larger resources compared to the Mega Drive. Having existed on the market for quite a long time, this console left a very large number of colorful games...

Emulators Sega Mega Drive 2

The 16-bit Sega Mega Drive 2 game console was the next step in the development of the home computer entertainment industry. It has significantly greater capabilities for creating games compared to the previous generation 8 bit.

In this material, I tried to collect a large number of time-tested game console emulators for Windows. With the help of these programs, you can easily turn your PC into a retro gaming console and enjoy classic games that leave only the best impressions.

Perhaps something was not included in the selection. If so, indicate the missing emulator in the comments, I will add it to the main material.

The principle of working with a set-top box emulator

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

FCEUX

This is one of the most versatile NES emulators. The all-in-one application offers ample opportunities for both the casual gamer and the advanced player who wants to gain maximum control over the processes occurring in the emulator. There is a debugging tool, the ability to record gameplay, tools for working with ROMs and an auxiliary tool for creating speedruns - the process of speeding through the game. This emulator has ports for Windows, Max OS X and Linux.

Higan

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Bsnes-mercury

This emulator is a SNES module for RetroArch. The program is a fork of the BSnes emulator, to which a number of useful functions have been added. The current version of the emulator has the ability to load BIOS files, which was not previously available in SNES9X. The emulator supports a very large number of games; almost all images of SNES games that are on the Internet work with it. If you have this emulator, chances are you will never have any problems.

SNES9X

ZSNES

ZSNES is a free emulator of the SNES game console, written mostly in assembly language, for the Linux, MS-DOS, and Windows platforms. Development of ZSNES began on July 3, 1997, and the first version of the program was released on October 14, 1997, for the MS-DOS platform. Official ports for Windows and Linux were later released. The emulator became open source and was released under the GPL license on April 2, 2001. In March 2006, the program's source code repository was moved from SourceForge.net to BountySource.

Main features of the emulator:

Emulation of most SNES expansion chips
Image interpolation support
Video recording capability
Cheat code support

Nintendo 64

Project 64

Project 64 is one of the most compatible Nintendo 64 emulators with all games. This program does not require BIOS. The plugins are configured by default and everything works great. Emulation of the audio and video of the original console works very well. There are not a lot of settings here so as not to complicate the user's life. But there is support for multiplayer, support for cheats. You can adjust the screen scale, providing yourself with maximum gameplay convenience.

Mupen64plus

Another module for RetroArch, a universal emulator, which we will talk about at the very end of the article. Moreover, this module is the only one. There are a huge number of settings here. If you wish, you can easily change a lot - the color scheme of the display, the sound and everything that can be changed at all. There are ports for Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and Linux.

Nintendo GameCube and Wii

Dolphin

Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance

VBA-M

Nintendo DS (and DSi)

No$GBA

This emulator began its journey into the world of games as an emulator of the Gameboy Advanced system. But now it is the most versatile NIntendo DS emulator, and the only one that supports DSi. It is also the fastest emulator, which was not so easy to achieve given the presence of two displays and processors in the set-top box itself. Some functions are missing in the emulator (for example WiFi and multiplayer), some games are not displayed perfectly. But in the vast majority of cases, this emulator provides a completely comfortable game. There are a lot of settings here, so if you see a problem, it can most likely be solved by setting it. there is also a debugging tool for developers.

DeSmuME

Sega

Kega Fusion

Genesis X Plus

Dreamcast

Demul

DEmul is a Dreamcast emulator and the successor to Chankast, another application for running Dreamcast games on PC, which is currently no longer supported. Demul is a multi-system emulator of Sega game consoles and machines, originally intended exclusively for emulating the Sega Dreamcast game console. Currently, the emulator also supports emulation of slot machines based on Sega Dreamcast: Naomi, Naomi 2 and Atomiswave. In development, support for Sega Model 3, Sega Hikaru, Sega Saturn. However, for this you will need Dreamcast BIOS, which is not included with this emulator. Currently, DEmul can perfectly emulate over a hundred games, including Marvel VS. Capcom, Crazy Taxi, King of Fighters, Sega GT, Sonic Adventure, Star Wars Demolition, Virtua Fighter 3 and Virtua Tennis 2.

PlayStation 1 & 2

PCSX

ePSXe

EPSXe is an emulator for the PlayStation game console. The program was released on October 14, 2000. ePSXe is distributed under a freeware license.

About 95% of games run perfectly on versions 1.5.x, and for many games there are special .ppf patches that improve compatibility or help solve certain problems.