Best Windows emulators for various platforms

chip · 02 October 2020, 15:46

This thread is just to collect what do you think are the best Windows emulators for various platforms

Please feel free to add your preferences

These are mine for 17 systems i like to emulate

Amiga - WinUAE
C64 - WinVICE
Atari ST - Hatari
Atari 8 bit - Altirra
SNES - Bsnes
GENESIS, MASTER SYSTEM, GAME GEAR - Kega Fusion
NINTENDO - Nestopia
CPC - WinCPC
MSX, MSX2 - FMSX
Game Boy, Game Boy Color - BGB
ZX Spectrum - Z80 Stealth
PC Engine - Turbo Engine
Sharp X68000 - XM6

Minuous · 02 October 2020, 15:49

Emerson Arcadia 2001, Interton VC 4000, et al. - WinArcadia (http://amigan.1emu.net/releases/)

It is generally acknowledged as the best emulator of these platforms for Windows. An Amiga port is available too, so for these platforms the Amiga is best-of-class alongside Windows. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I wrote it.

chip · 02 October 2020, 15:53

Thanks for the info Minous

That's the spirit of this thread .... the knowledge of what exist around

Retro-Nerd · 02 October 2020, 16:02

Amiga = WinUAE/FS-UAE
C64 = Denise
Atari 8bit = Altirra
MSX/MSX-2= BlueMSX
PCSX2 = PS2
NES = puNES

Via Retroarch:

Mega Drive & Master System = Genesis Plus GX
PC-Engine = Mednafen
Saturn & PSX = Mednafen
NES = Mesen
SNES = Bsnes
GBA = mGBA
GB Classic = Gambatte
N64 = Mupen64plus next
MAME= Arcade64
Sharp 68000 = PX68k
Dreamcast = Flycast/Redream

grond · 02 October 2020, 16:04

How is WinVICE better than any other version of VICE? I used VICE for some time a few years ago on a linux PC and in my opinion there wasn't anything lacking. Some people rather use WinUAE through WINE on linux than e.g. FS-UAE, is it also worth doing that for VICE?

DamienD · 02 October 2020, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Amiga = WinUAE/FS-UAE

How is FS-UAE the best Amiga emulator?

It's based off Toni's hard work and always behind WinUAE; which is the king of Amiga emulators for many decades now.

Back on topic:

FM-TOWNS / Marty = UNZ

Minuous · 02 October 2020, 16:11

Atari Lynx = Handy
MS-DOS = DOSBox

Anubis · 02 October 2020, 16:11

This topic is bound to fail, as 'best' is very annoying concept... For example, even Spectaculator is probably 'best' ZX Spectrum emulator, being 'paid only' in my opinion disqualifies it as only real ZX Spectrum enthusiasts and people who don't know better will get it. Thus for me, best spectrum emulator is Fuse, but Speccy is not bad either.

Add for start...
IBM PC - pcEM
IBM PC DOS - DosBox
MSX - BlueMSX
ZX Spectrum - Fuse

Being lazy, lately I use RetroArch for a lot of emulation, that includes NES, SNES, GENS/SMD, SMS, GG, GB, GBA,...

LaunchBox with RetroArch is emulation on windows dreams come true... Easy to start game, fairly similar key setups across systems...etc

Retroplay · 02 October 2020, 16:12

Amiga - WinUAE (Well, duh)
C16-Plus/4 - YAPE/YAPESDL
C64 - GTK3VICE/SDL2VICE
Genesis/MegaDrive - BlastEm/GenesisPlusGX (RetroArch)
32X - Kega Fusion (only choice there really is)
SNES - BSNES
NES - Mesen
Sharp X68000 - XM6 TypeG 3.31 L15
Fujitsu FM-Towns/FM-Towns Marty - MAME
Saturn - Mednafen
PS1 - Mednafen

chip · 02 October 2020, 16:12

I think "better" is subjective

Some emulator which is preferred by someone can be not used at all by another guy

The main goal of the thread is not an "emulators war"

But gathering the various info people have to get an idea of what around

Anubis · 02 October 2020, 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

How is FS-UAE the best Amiga emulator?

There are things with FS-UAE that are possible to do that you can't do with WinUAE. In past 2-3 years I use more FS-UAE than WinUAE for single reason - it works great with LaunchBox.

[ Show youtube player ]

DamienD · 02 October 2020, 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anubis

There are things with FS-UAE that are possible to do that you can't do with WinUAE. In past 2-3 years I use more FS-UAE than WinUAE for single reason - it works great with LaunchBox.

[ Show youtube player ]

Your talking about the FS-UAE database etc... that doesn't make it a better emulator.

WinUAE is the most compatible / feature rich / innovative / supported / worked on Amiga emulator bar none.

As I've already said, if Toni wasn't kind enough to share all his decades of hard work / code then all the other UAE emulators that use / try to adapt it would be nothing...

ransom1122 · 02 October 2020, 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retroplay

Amiga - WinUAE (Well, duh)

Rotareneg · 02 October 2020, 16:45

None of that bourgeoisie 32, 16, or 8 bit stuff here, 4 bit all the way! HP48 - Emu48

Anubis · 02 October 2020, 17:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

Your talking about the FS-UAE database etc... that doesn't make it a better emulator.

WinUAE is the most compatible / feature rich / innovative / supported / worked on Amiga emulator bar none.

As I've already said, if Toni wasn't kind enough to share all his decades of hard work / code then all the other UAE emulators that use / try to adapt it would be nothing...

I never said that WinUAE is not great and Toni is da man, but just because I am getting more lazy with age, I am more for that 'click single button' to start game from menu and as I have said, FS-UAE + LauncBox and easy to access save state make just a lot of sense.

I sitll have WinUAE installed, but not up to last release...

dreadnought · 02 October 2020, 18:39

I haven't used dedicated desktop emulators for yonks. All my emulation was through Retropie, so it was all about Retroarch.

Have it installed on my PC now as well, because of its awesome shader library, which you can apply to all its emulators.

Recently I've also started using Retro Virtual Machine for ZX Spectrum and Amstrad emulation.

It's trying to be an "app" style emulator: there are minimal options, a lot of gfx and frills such as seeing a tape deck spinning a cassete. It sounds kinda daft but is strangely alluring and works for me.

It also has fantastic CRT filter (easily configurable with sliders) right out the box. I really wish there was a similar WinUAE interpretation.

Radertified · 02 October 2020, 18:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

How is FS-UAE the best Amiga emulator?

IMHO FS-UAE has two things going for it that WinUAE does not:
- Built-in netplay
- More Linux and Raspberry Pi friendly than WinUAE+WINE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

C64 = Denise

I've never heard of it. Will give it a try ASAP!

Retro-Nerd · 02 October 2020, 19:24

Denise is awesome. Also supports Runahead (via hotkeys) now, only in the current betas. Downloads are in the "Artifacts" links on AppVeyor.

https://ci.appveyor.com/project/piciji/denise/history

https://sourceforge.net/projects/deniseemu/files/

Sgt Jack V · 02 October 2020, 19:43

Personally, I actually prefer SNES9X over BSNES, it just feels a lot more "right" to me and more "accessible". ZSNES is absolute garbage though, crashed on Windows 10 when I tried to use it.

DamienD · 02 October 2020, 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radertified

IMHO FS-UAE has two things going for it that WinUAE does not:
- Built-in netplay
- More Linux and Raspberry Pi friendly than WinUAE+WINE.

Yes Netplay would be nice but Toni's not interested.

Linux / Raspberry PI friendly; personally I couldn't care less about either.

02 October 2020, 15:46	#1
chip Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Italy Age: 49 Posts: 2,946	Best Windows emulators for various platforms This thread is just to collect what do you think are the best Windows emulators for various platforms Please feel free to add your preferences These are mine for 17 systems i like to emulate Amiga - WinUAE C64 - WinVICE Atari ST - Hatari Atari 8 bit - Altirra SNES - Bsnes GENESIS, MASTER SYSTEM, GAME GEAR - Kega Fusion NINTENDO - Nestopia CPC - WinCPC MSX, MSX2 - FMSX Game Boy, Game Boy Color - BGB ZX Spectrum - Z80 Stealth PC Engine - Turbo Engine Sharp X68000 - XM6 Last edited by chip; 04 November 2020 at 18:24.

02 October 2020, 16:02	#4
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,453	Amiga = WinUAE/FS-UAE C64 = Denise Atari 8bit = Altirra MSX/MSX-2= BlueMSX PCSX2 = PS2 NES = puNES Via Retroarch: Mega Drive & Master System = Genesis Plus GX PC-Engine = Mednafen Saturn & PSX = Mednafen NES = Mesen SNES = Bsnes GBA = mGBA GB Classic = Gambatte N64 = Mupen64plus next MAME= Arcade64 Sharp 68000 = PX68k Dreamcast = Flycast/Redream Last edited by Retro-Nerd; 02 October 2020 at 16:12.

02 October 2020, 19:24	#18
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,453	Denise is awesome. Also supports Runahead (via hotkeys) now, only in the current betas. Downloads are in the "Artifacts" links on AppVeyor. https://ci.appveyor.com/project/piciji/denise/history https://sourceforge.net/projects/deniseemu/files/ Last edited by Retro-Nerd; 02 October 2020 at 19:46.

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02 October 2020, 15:49	#2
Minuous Coder/webmaster/gamer Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Canberra/Australia Posts: 2,661	Emerson Arcadia 2001, Interton VC 4000, et al. - WinArcadia (http://amigan.1emu.net/releases/) It is generally acknowledged as the best emulator of these platforms for Windows. An Amiga port is available too, so for these platforms the Amiga is best-of-class alongside Windows. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I wrote it.

02 October 2020, 15:53	#3
chip Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Italy Age: 49 Posts: 2,946	Thanks for the info Minous That's the spirit of this thread .... the knowledge of what exist around

02 October 2020, 16:04	#5
grond Registered User Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Germany Posts: 1,923	How is WinVICE better than any other version of VICE? I used VICE for some time a few years ago on a linux PC and in my opinion there wasn't anything lacking. Some people rather use WinUAE through WINE on linux than e.g. FS-UAE, is it also worth doing that for VICE?

02 October 2020, 16:11	#7
Minuous Coder/webmaster/gamer Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Canberra/Australia Posts: 2,661	Atari Lynx = Handy MS-DOS = DOSBox

02 October 2020, 16:11	#8
Anubis Retro Gamer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Underworld Age: 51 Posts: 4,070	This topic is bound to fail, as 'best' is very annoying concept... For example, even Spectaculator is probably 'best' ZX Spectrum emulator, being 'paid only' in my opinion disqualifies it as only real ZX Spectrum enthusiasts and people who don't know better will get it. Thus for me, best spectrum emulator is Fuse, but Speccy is not bad either. Add for start... IBM PC - pcEM IBM PC DOS - DosBox MSX - BlueMSX ZX Spectrum - Fuse Being lazy, lately I use RetroArch for a lot of emulation, that includes NES, SNES, GENS/SMD, SMS, GG, GB, GBA,... LaunchBox with RetroArch is emulation on windows dreams come true... Easy to start game, fairly similar key setups across systems...etc

02 October 2020, 16:12	#9
Retroplay Lemon Curry ? Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Denmark Age: 49 Posts: 4,123	Amiga - WinUAE (Well, duh) C16-Plus/4 - YAPE/YAPESDL C64 - GTK3VICE/SDL2VICE Genesis/MegaDrive - BlastEm/GenesisPlusGX (RetroArch) 32X - Kega Fusion (only choice there really is) SNES - BSNES NES - Mesen Sharp X68000 - XM6 TypeG 3.31 L15 Fujitsu FM-Towns/FM-Towns Marty - MAME Saturn - Mednafen PS1 - Mednafen

02 October 2020, 16:45	#14
Rotareneg Registered User Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Kansas, USA Posts: 328	None of that bourgeoisie 32, 16, or 8 bit stuff here, 4 bit all the way! HP48 - Emu48

02 October 2020, 18:39	#16
dreadnought Registered User Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Ur, Atlantis Posts: 2,004	I haven't used dedicated desktop emulators for yonks. All my emulation was through Retropie, so it was all about Retroarch. Have it installed on my PC now as well, because of its awesome shader library, which you can apply to all its emulators. Recently I've also started using Retro Virtual Machine for ZX Spectrum and Amstrad emulation. It's trying to be an "app" style emulator: there are minimal options, a lot of gfx and frills such as seeing a tape deck spinning a cassete. It sounds kinda daft but is strangely alluring and works for me. It also has fantastic CRT filter (easily configurable with sliders) right out the box. I really wish there was a similar WinUAE interpretation.

02 October 2020, 19:43	#19
Sgt Jack V Registered User Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Orlando, Florida Posts: 64	Personally, I actually prefer SNES9X over BSNES, it just feels a lot more "right" to me and more "accessible". ZSNES is absolute garbage though, crashed on Windows 10 when I tried to use it.

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