Here's my review:
What this emulator isn't
Being in love with a UI is a pretty good reason to remaining attached to an emulator if you ask me. There has been some attempts to keep Zsnes somewhat modern while keeping its iconic UI, notably
ZMZ in 2013 for example, which uses a libretro backend while recreating the classic look.
Other attempts include using a updated version of the source code from the original emulator that was released sometime after its initial launch,
such as this one, which focuses on fixing bugs, making it compatible with modern architectures and linux distros, as well relying on SDL2 or SDL3 to achieve better portability.
Super Zsnes is neither of those things, going back into closed source and using Unity this time. Which seems to be convenient for its current programmers for sure, but not the most accessible option for possible contributors or for those who prefer less bloated options.
While the modern UI certainly follows the same layout, it does not look like the old one.
So why bother
Emulation has advanced a lot as time went by, but if there's something that there's still room for improvement is a convenient UI. A reason why I still bother to use the official (although hacked) emulators on the Switch.
Navigating through the emulator was simple enough, even simpler than the classic Zsnes, save for the file selection menu which couldn't properly accommodate the file names and looked broken. On top of that you can also resize the windows freely unlike its predecessor. It aim for that "windows-like" menu experience, but is designed to look big, sharp and stylized to fit a big screen couch experience. It's the middle-ground between traditional computer GUI and those "videogamey" emulation interfaces that are the polar opposite.
Speaking of convenience, on one of its main selling points is being able to toggle enhancements bundled with the emulator right after pausing the emulation, which is a nice thing to have. This is what makes convenient interface to me, having the most important options easily accessible instead of tucking everything in elaborated menus.
Do the enhancements look good though? You can't look at pixel rounding filters with critical lenses and not think of that "Looking good" Funky Kong image, and here is no exception. Playing Super Mario World with the textures on was a pleasant artistic experiment though. I had to "squirt my eyes" a bit to feel the magic that the pixelated filter and the partial widescreen hack was trying to give in conjunction, but it did made me really wish for a human-made HD texture pack for SMW, and I don't wish for this sort of treatment for games often.
If playing enhanced games conveniently is what they're going for, my hope is that they bundle this emulator with community-made texture packs (and other enhancements) in the future and automatically loads them depending on the game.
Is it for me?
If you feel at home after trying the new UI and don't mind the limitations and bloatness compared to other modern emulators, then yeah, otherwise no. I see some potential in it for future releases though.
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