Recommended Emulators

So, you're looking around the wiki, find some good games to play for the older consoles, but you don't actually have it. And you're not willing to buy a new console just to play it, or as a result of time passing, dem bricks have jacked up their price tags on eBay beyond your budget. So what do you do? Use the emulator. This page has the best emulators for each console, along with it's features.
Note: Emulators aren't perfect. Depending on the game, you might get some glitches. Few of these should be game-breaking, though. Also, some games may flat-out not work, so you may want to check compatibility lists. PS3/360 emulation is in bare infancy. Expect to wait a decade for those. Xbox emulation is still extremely rough.

• Admin note: Don't link to ROMs or any .exe direct-install links. (This note is just to cover the site's collective ass, and I apologize for the need of it.) - Derpiko

There's another wiki that is better maintained: Emulation General

Desktop

Screenshot	Title	Console	Stability	Operating System	Description
	DeSmuME	DS	Decent	Windows, macOS, Linux	For better or worse, this is the only real option for DS emulation. Requirements range from fairly low to moderately high. Games may rarely need a stronger CPU than general PS2/Gamecube emulation, though most games should be fine. However, there's no option to increase resolution and forced stretching to apply filters makes it poor in the graphics department. Not to mention there's no multiplayer support and less we talk about the compatibility with the mainline Pokemon games, the better. Despite all its problems it's highly compatible and supports microphone, dual-slots, lua scripting, and a fairly large amount of customization. Recently, however, there are alternatives that are still being worked on in an attempt to make DeSmuME obsolete, so be on the look out for years to come.
	Dolphin	Wii and Gamecube	Excellent	Windows, macOS, Android	Notable for being the only emulator out there to play Wii games, which is a godsend for pirates. Aside from that, it's a very great emulator, and is updated often. Includes support for the Wiimote, so you don't have to use the mouse for it (you're on your own for a sensor bar though), and allows you to output to even 3D 1080p. Hell, it's also really good for N64 emulation, though that's only assuming the Virtual Console actually supports certain games. It should be said, that if you're gonna download Dolphin, be sure to download development versions, as stable releases tend to be far behind, resulting in them being outdated in the long run. Also note that Dolphin has some really steep requirements. If your computer can barely cut it, there's always the Ishiiruka build with its Async shader compilation.
	DOSBox	DOS	Let's Get Dangerous.jpg	All computer OSes, numerous forks for consoles	Probably the most famous emulator, DOSBox emulates the old IBM PCs of the '80s and early '90s. Plays everything from Duke Nukem to The Oregon Trail. Although made for playing games, it's built around FreeDOS, a DOS clone, so other programs are supported. You can even install Windows! HUGE WARNING: This is a complex, dangerous emulator with a fair amount of bugs. Read the instructions, check compatability, and please, do NOT set your drive to C:\. This does have a chance of fucking up your computer if you're not careful. It's not totally sandboxed, and can do many things the Command Prompt can. BE WARNED. The last "stable" version was 0.74, back in 2010 Out of the fucking blue, the original team made a new version eight years later, but it's just patched versions to make them more compatible for new updates of operating systems. Fortunately, there's development builds and some forks that are still maintained, so if you ever get your hands on a DOS game through digital distributions, replace the older versions with a newer one instead. Check it
	PPSSPP	PlayStation Portable	Great	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Meego	Vastly superior to JPCSP, so forget about that. It features moderately low requirements, built-in shaders, up to 10x internal resolution (that's 4800x2720), the superb xBRZ texture filter, a fantastic UI with automatic update checks, and large compatibility. Stable releases have become infrequent, though dev builds are released daily. The downsides are the barely noticeable input delay and inability to play PSN titles. Ad-hoc support is in the early stages, but a handful of games work flawlessly. Setup/networking tutorials and general info for ad-hoc can be found here. Via CWCheats, many games have been given 60fps patches. Compatibility List Stable Release Latest Dev Builds.
	SNES9X	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Great	Windows, macOS, Linux, PSP, Android, iOS, and more	Another excellent SNES emulator. No visual eye-cancer like ZSNES, but you will get more accurate sound with this one, and it plays games even better. There are ports for tons of systems, both official and unofficial, including a GP2X version you can play with an OpenPandora. Version 1.55 and later support MSU-1 co-processors, so that's cool. Dev Builds EmuCR Builds
	bsnes	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Excellent	Windows, macOS, Linux	The most accurate SNES emulator out there, though it can be a pain in the ass sometimes. It has much higher system requirements than the others, but can play most, if not all, games perfectly. If your computer isn't cardboard, this is probably your best choice. Note: The developer only provides a Windows version, so if you're on macOS or Linux, use RetroArch with the bsnes/higan core. Now part of the super band emulator Higan, although recently byuu decided to make his/her/their (byuu jumped on the Twitter idpol/furry bandwagon) own fork of bsnes, simply titled "bsnes offical". It returns to the Qt GUI that it abandoned before its merger with higan and has a much faster multi-threaded PPU renderer, giving it the performance of the old bsnes-balanced core while retaining the accuracy of the bsnes-accurate core. Link
	SSF	Sega Saturn	Decent	Windows	Shockingly compatible Saturn emulator, even though it's still a beta. It took quite some time due to the Saturn's terribly complex setup of processors, but now you can play some (if not most) of your favorite Saturn games on your computer. It doesn't run disc images natively, so you have to either play the originals or burned discs, or mount the images with something like DaemonTools (Warning). You'll need a reasonably mid-tier computer to run games at full speed, and you may also want to use the Saturn BIOS to make the system settings easier to manage, and improve compatibility. Also note, that every new release breaks compatibility with other games, so read here to find out which game works for certain versions. Also, read this for troubleshooting. With that said, mednafen's Saturn core is supposedly a lot more accurate, maybe even better, than SSF, but requires a more beefier computer than what SSF requires.
	mGBA	Game Boy/Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance	Excellent	Windows, macOS, Linux, 3DS, Wii, Switch and PS Vita	This spot was originally reserved for VisualBoy Advance, but in recent years, mGBA came out of the wood-work and blew VBA away with its accuracy, functionality, portability, and higher compatibility (from WarioWare: Twisted!'s rumble and tilt sensor to Boktai's solar sensor). Also included for RetroArch. Download Higan's GBA core is also good, but less speedier than mGBA's, so your mileage may vary.
	Sameboy	Game Boy/Game Boy Color	Excellent	Windows, macOS	Originally Gambatte was the most accurate GB/C emulator, but it hasn't been developed since 2014 (although its libretro core is still in active development), so about a year later Sameboy entered the foray. Years down the line, Sameboy is hands down the most accurate Game Boy and Game Boy Color out there thanks to years worth of extensive hardware tests. It has the essentials that come with every modern emulator such as save states but it doesn't support game linking, as if that matters unless you're actually curious (in that case, use BGB). Also available on RetroArch. Despite all of this, Gambatte is still a pretty accurate emulator that's worth looking at, living on through RetroArch. If you happen to have an iPhone or a Raspberry Pi, then have a look at Gearboy
	Genesis Plus GX	Sega Genesis/MegaDrive, Sega CD, Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000	Excellent	Windows, Wii, GameCube	SSSSEEEEEEEEGAAAAAAAA!! Originally a homebrew application for both the Wii and Gamecube that's based on an old DOS emulator, this emulator has surpassed the more famous Kega Fusion in terms of emulation capabilities and compatibility for every game made for SEGA systems that aren't the 32x. To play on computer, RetroArch is your best option. For 32x Emulation, Kega Fusion and PicoDrive-libretro are solid choices, though Fusion hasn't been updated since 2010 and PicoDrive is best played on the PSP and RetroArch, so Kega Fusion's only purpose now is netplay for bro times in games like Sunset Riders.
	Reicast	Sega Dreamcast	Great	Windows, Linux, Android	An open-source emulator based on NullDC (made by the same team too) and has seen some improvements over the years, though compatibility isn't as great as Demul (granted some compatibility lists are outdated as hell), but it isn't a resource hog, so it's a pretty excellent choice overall. Available on RetroArch.
	Demul	Sega Dreamcast	Great	Windows	Another DC emulator. This one may have higher accuracy than NullDC, but at a performance cost. It too supports Naomi and Atomiswave arcade games, but it's also the only that support Windows CE, albeit not too well (Makaron is dead, so it doesn't count).
	Mesen	Nintendo Entertainment System	Near Perfect	Windows, Linux	Originally reserved for Nestopia, Mesen was born in 2016 with a goal to reach 100% accuracy and succeeded. Excellent emulator, compatible with everything - from your traditional NES titles to Famicom ones, and even the Famicom Disk System games. Miss Duck Hunt? Mesen has a mouse function to replace the zapper. Supports over 220 mappers, netplay, 4 players, and even custom HD textures. It also has a debugging tool if that's your thing. Seriously, what more can you ask for?! Of course, Nestopia (Undead Edition) and puNES are also very good choices in case you have a reason why you can't use Mesen, with the former being more speedier and the latter supporting Somari whereas Mesen doesn't (yet) nevermind... Available on RetroArch.
	Mupen64+	Nintendo 64	Great	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android	The best all around N64 emulator; it has high compatibility, can look great, and runs fast. Yet, it doesn't have a GUI, so if you plan on using this emulator, use this. The downside to this is the audio getting delayed, so for improved audio latency and sync, consider using mupen64plus-libretro through RetroArch.
	Project64	Nintendo 64	Good	Windows	The other best all around N64 emulator; it has high compatibility (even supports 64DD games), can look great, and runs fast, just like Mupen64+. Best if you want something with a GUI, just whatever you do, do NOT even try emulating Resident Evil 2, use Mupen64+ for that. Recommended N64 Plugins
	PCSX-Reload (PGXP build)	Playstation	Excellent	Windows, macOS, Linux	While not as well known as ePSXe, PCSXR is a plugin-based emulator that can let you play 3D-based game at a high resolution. It also lets you use the excellent PCSX2 controller plugins, and compatibility surpasses ePSXe. Be sure to get the latest SVN from emuCR, as the current stable build is quite old. Grab the shader pack while you're there. They are intended to be used with Pete's OpenGL2 plugin. "The PGXP fork adds texture perspective correction, reduced polygon culling, and reduced polygon jitter (more so than mainline PCSX-R's GTE hack). Mainline has a major issue where a hack written for WipeOut causes slowdowns in many games. This is fixed by making the hack an option (in CPU settings; off by default), and also adds an option for CPU overclocking. It is recommended to use this fork until mainline fixes this issue." (Quote from the Emulation General wiki) Windows Build macOS Build Launchpad Repo (Ubuntu) Recommended PSX Plugins Mednafen's PSone core is more ideal for 2D-based games, or for games that glitch on PSCXR, and is readily available on RetroArch. Even so, both of them are better than Sony's official emulator and ePSXe.
	Mednafen	Multi-system	Varies	Windows and Linux	If you're asking yourself, "What the fuck kind of name is 'mednafen'?", it stands for "My Emulator Doesn't Need A Frickin' Excellent Name". Anyway, mednafen comprises of several emulators that were likely modified from older versions. However, its own original emulators for Virtual Boy, Turbografx-16/PC-FX, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn are the ones you should look at, as they have a high degree of accuracy. Of course, there's also cores for the Neo Geo Pocket, Wonderswan, and the Atari Lynx that are forks of abandoned emulators, but they are all improved on, and are also highly recommended to use over every other emulator for those systems. That being said, mednafen is command-only, so try to find some front-ends that suit your taste, or better yet use RetroArch, as plenty of mednafen's cores are available (not sure why the PCE-Accuracy core wasn't included when its Fast core is).
	RetroArch	Multi-system	Varies	Windows, Linux, macOS, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, Android, and more	A multi-system emulator frontend for open source emulator libraries in format called "libretro". Allows you to play NES, SNES, GB/GBC, GBA, Arcade, Atari 2600, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx16, Playstation, and more, using the same settings and interface. It also has extensive support for pixel shaders in both .cg and bSNES XML format, which are similar to the filters in other emulators except they run on the GPU instead of the CPU and allow you to do more complex effects without slowing down the emulator (such as this shader that simulates a CRT TV screen). Guides to using RetroArch can be found here and here, and shader files can be found here (.cgp) and here (.glsl). PC-Engine CD and Playstation require BIOS files to be placed in "system" directory you define in Settings>General.
	PCSX2	Playstation 2	Great	Windows, macOS, Linux	A frequently updated PS2 emulator. The compatibility is quite amazing excluding a few problem games. The audio rarely has problems even with speedhacks enabled. It supports hardware and software rendering, deinterlacing, custom resolutions, MSAA, and texture filtering. What else could you want? Well, plenty of games have fairly high requirements, and it's unlikely that certain games will ever become playable. The official compatibility list isn't updated too often, so you may have to refer to the forums or wiki on occasion. Dev Builds Forums Wiki

PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Screenshot	Title	Console	Stability	Description
	POPS (PlayStation One Portable Station)	PlayStation One	Great (not all games will work)	An official PS1 emulator and the only option for the system. Some games are available for purchase on the Vita's PSN store while others need to be packaged as an EBOOT via PSX2PSP or Popsloader v4g. If you don't have a Vita, but want PS1 games, your best bet is to pirate them, as the PSP's store closed down in 2016 and it's too old to support WPA2 connection. The downside is the lack of the L2/R2 buttons and a right analog stick, but this shouldn't be an issue for some games, as you can just simply map them to either the d-pad or the analog stick.
	NesterJ	Nintendo Entertainment System	Good	A very good NES emulator made basically for PSP. Has neat features like the slow down/speed up buttons (A.K.A. L and R) as well as screenshots and savestates.
	Snes9xTYLme Mod	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Meh	SNES emulation isn't that great on PSP unfortunately, but this is the fastest and most compatible one out there (Snes9xtylcm is more suited for the Vita despite better options). Download
	DaedalusX64	Nintendo 64	Poor	The best N64 emulator for PSP. There's a big problem though: it's a N64 emulator for PSP. DowloadCompatibility list (outdated)
	Master Boy	Game Boy/Color, Master System, Game Gear	Excellent	Plays your GB/GBC or Master System/Game Gear games on the go.
	TempGBA4PSP	Game Boy Advanced	Great	A good GBA emulator that pretty much is the one and only for PSP. Has good features and supports most games. Said to work with Golden Sun.

Android

Screenshot	Title	Console	Stability	Description
	DraStic	Nintendo DS	Decent	The fastest DS emulator currently available for Android. Will run most games at good speed and audio on most modern devices (Snapdragon 800+). Performs alright on older chips. However it comes at a very steep price, so just pirate it (be sure to find the latest version). Fun fact: Using this one on an Android emulator outperforms DeSmuME by miles. How crazy is that?