The best snes emulator

[Subzero100]

What is considered the best snes emulator on the net? It's zsnes for me even if it hasn't been updated in years.

 

[KazoWAR]

best as in what? speed, compatibly, balance of speed and compatibly?

compatibly would be higan, speed... idk i guess zsnes?

 

[trumpet-205]

If you have modern capable computer, it is HIgan (formerly known as bsnes).

Otherwise for embedded or low power/old PC, Snes9x.

 

[DinohScene]

Bsnes.
It achieved 100% perfect emulation an year orso ago.

You'll need a beefy PC to perfectly emulate some games iirc.

 

[YayMii]

ZSNES is considered to be very far behind the other emulators in terms of compatibility and accuracy, and has a dated looking GUI (although if you like the GUI there's a custom one for Snes9X/bsnes that looks just like it).

Personally, I just Snes9X as it's the only emulator (other than maybe ZSNES) that allows for fullscreen at custom resolutions. Higan/bsnes only allows for borderless fullscreen (instead of true fullscreen), which adds input latency on Windows 8/8.1 and causes blurriness (unless you use integer scaling, but then it doesn't fill the screen). Not to mention it doesn't support filters nor does it support custom refresh rates, so I can't set up the emulator to look the way I want it to on my CRT monitor (Blargg's NTSC filters for maximum nostalgia/detail, 180Hz refresh rate for minimum eyestrain).

The sad thing is, I can't find any other emulator for any other system that meets my needs (or at least supports custom refresh rates), so I'm pretty much SOL due to my pickiness.

 

[the_randomizer]

Avoid Zsnes, like YayMii has said, it is extremely outdated, has numerous emulation issues with special chip games (Star Fox runs too fast, Super Mario RPG freezes randomly, etc) and the sound emulation is pure garbage. Higan is the most accurate, Snes9x 1.53 however, is still very accurate (esp. in the sound dept like Higan) while keeping system requirements down, but most end users won't be able to tell much of a difference. I personally prefer Snes9x due to the GUI being user friendly, and still having very high compatibility and near-perfect audio emulation.

I personally prefer it over Higan due to the ease of the GUI and custom resolutions.

 

[trumpet-205]

byuu wrote Snes9x DSP core. Snes9x uses LLE in sound emulation.

As for fullscreen thigh, I prefer borderline, since it preserves aspect ratio.

 

[TheCasketMan]

i use the website vizzed.com
I can play almost all games from atari 2600 through the n64 legally and without downloading!

 

[the_randomizer]

byuu wrote Snes9x DSP core. Snes9x uses LLE in sound emulation.

As for fullscreen thigh, I prefer borderline, since it preserves aspect ratio.

Ah yes, that would explain why the audio emulation is the same as Higan, heck, I can't tell a difference between that and real hardware, I believe either Blaarg helped him or was allowed to use his code for the S-SMP core, correct? I forgot it uses LLE for audio

I hope people don't suggest Zsnes....no one should have to suffer

 

[Subzero100]

Lol this is rich some retard on this one gaming site was making a inaccurate reply about the best snes emu, and somehow thinks that you need a 3 gig computer in order to achieve that. I have the perfect emu it runs all the snes games just as it should, and it's called zsnes.....i don't think u even need a p4 to run it.

 

[the_randomizer]

Lol this is rich some retard on this one gaming site was making a inaccurate reply about the best snes emu, and somehow thinks that you need a 3 gig computer in order to achieve that. I have the perfect emu it runs all the snes games just as it should, and it's called zsnes.....i don't think u even need a p4 to run it.

Snes9x is a lot better than Zsnes in overall emulation, has accurate sound and doesn't require a beefy CPU. Zsnes doesn't even run many games at the correct speed, like Star Fox or Star Ocean. I do NOT recommend Zsnes at all Snes9x is helluva lot better for many reasons. The sound is perfect and all you need is a decent CPU to run it

Hate to say it, but Zsnes is pure garbage, but rest assured, I would never recommend Higan/Bsnes to anyone. Besides, Zsnes hasn't been updated in over seven years.
http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Nintendo_emulators

Reasons why Zsnes is not recommended http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/ZSNES

Games like Earthworm Jim 2 do not have sound effects on Zsnes
Many games lock up randomly
Many games like Kirby's Dreamland 3 have weird transparency bugs
Sound effects in all games are effed up bad (I'd be more than willing to post a comparison )
Overall sucks at playing games properly, thus ruining the experience.

 

[trumpet-205]

Keep in mind that HIgan comes in 3 flavors, accuracy, balanced, and performance.

Only accuracy requires beefy computer, the remaining two flavors have much less system requirement. Performance profile is slightly better than Snes9x.

 

[TyBlood13]

I never had any issues with ZSNES, but that's probably b/c the only thing I used it for was EarthBound and some Mario World hacks. Didn't like bsnes back in the day since the main ROM site I used only gave .smc games instead of .sfc. Nowadays I use various ports of SNES9x, mainly on the Wii. Suits my needs rather well

 

[the_randomizer]

I never had any issues with ZSNES, but that's probably b/c the only thing I used it for was EarthBound and some Mario World hacks. Didn't like bsnes back in the day since the main ROM site I used only gave .smc games instead of .sfc. Nowadays I use various ports of SNES9x, mainly on the Wii. Suits my needs rather well

Glad you like Snes9x now, Zsnes is garbage and the fact that it being garbage can be backed up lol I've plenty of substantiated evidence to back it up

Keep in mind that HIgan comes in 3 flavors, accuracy, balanced, and performance.
Only accuracy requires beefy computer, the remaining two flavors have much less system requirement. Performance profile is slightly better than Snes9x.

Right, and I know about that version, what I don't like about it is how the GUI is set up, or how the ROM files are loaded, that and the fact I can't force-stretch the aspect ratio to fit the entire screen. Trivial, I know, but it is what it is I see no perceptible difference in performance between those two emulators, and I'm used to Snes9x's GUI.

 

[trumpet-205]

Didn't like bsnes back in the day since the main ROM site I used only gave .smc games instead of .sfc. Nowadays I use various ports of SNES9x, mainly on the Wii. Suits my needs rather well

Higan/bsnes now use cartridge folder instead of single ROM file. You should be able to import .smc file under higan, which it then would convert it to cartridge folder.

 

[the_randomizer]

I really hope Zsnes dies. Zsnes 2.0 was supposedly in the works, but I don't believe that for a second; even Snes9x took a short amount of time between 1.51 and 1.52. In order of accuracy, Higan>Snes9x>Zsnes

 

[Subzero100]

i meant it works better for me and the compatibility is better as it runs the fx chips games with no problem.

 

[the_randomizer]

i meant it works better for me and the compatibility is better as it runs the fx chips games with no problem.

Snes9x actually has higher compatibility, the framerate for the FX chips are clocked wrong. Earthworm Jim 2 is also missing most of the sound effects. S-DD1 games don't run properly, all special chips are poorly emulated; this is a well-known issue. The sound emulation is pretty bad, I can do some comparisons if that would help

 

[Subzero100]

Somehow all my roms work flawlessly it's probably the way i have mine set up. I dont use snes9x anymore it never worked good for me.

 

[the_randomizer]

Somehow all my roms work flawlessly it's probably the way i have mine set up. I dont use snes9x anymore it never worked good for me.

Can you explain the issue you had with Snes9x and when you last used it? Sounds like you may have used anything pre-1.52. You're likely used to Zsnes' emulation quirks, but Snes9x works just fine as of 1.52 and 1.53. I won't try and force people to change, but I will tell you that Zsnes is not doing it right. Have you tried Earthworm Jim 2? The game uses some form of audio streaming, which Zsnes does not emulate properly, therefore you only have music, no sound effects. Super Mario RPG crashes randomly, Star Fox runs at 25 fps as opposed to the the slower 12 or so.

Here's a short comparison between the two

Snes9x uses LLE or low-level emulation for the audio, which equates to practically perfect sound:
http://filetrip.net/view?GPW9dagFRI

Zsnes uses old HLE or high-level emulation for the audio, is broken and has many issues
http://filetrip.net/view?WFQ7khxs2C

The difference should be noticeable