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BY NILS 2. NOVEMBER 2014

EMULATION / FEATURED /
GUIDE

GUIDE: RETROGAMING

THROUGH EMULATION
(PART 2: EMULATOR
SOFTWARE)
2 NOV, 2014

EMULATION / FEATURED /
GUIDE

GUIDE: RETROGAMING

THROUGH EMULATION
(PART 1: ORGANIZING)
10 AUG, 2014

FEATURED / PROJECTS

PROJECT: UI AND
DESIGN OF

EMULATIONSTATION
V2.0 EMULATOR
FRONT-END
13 JUL, 2014
GENERAL

REPORTS OF MY DEATH
HAVE BEEN GREATLY
EXAGGERATED
20 JUN, 2014

In my last post I have described the basics of emulation and how to

organizeyourROM collection. This post is part 2 of my guide

Retrogaming through emulation. This time its all about the emulator
software you will need.

Emulation software (called emulator) exist for nearly every operating

system you can imagine. Of course, you will find the most variety for the

Windows operating system. Because of this its hard to pick the best one.

But guess what? This article aims to be the best guide on which emulator
you should choose! It covers the most important computers, video game
consoles, arcade machines and handhelds of the past.

But wait, what does best mean? Emulators are developed with mainly
two goals: To emulate the given system as accurate as possible and to

EMULATION / FEATURED / GUIDE

GUIDE: RETROGAMING
THROUGH EMULATION (PART 2:
EMULATOR SOFTWARE)
2 NOV, 2014

emulate it as efficient as possible, meaning that it even runs smooth on

older systems with low performance. Someemulators have additional

features which the original platform didnt have. For example changing

the graphics processing, adding cheats or making it possible to play two

player games over the Internet.

For this article I searched for the most recent, compatible and feature-

rich emulators for Windows. I separated them in four different types of

platforms:

EMULATION / FEATURED / GUIDE

GUIDE: RETROGAMING
THROUGH EMULATION (PART 1:
ORGANIZING)
10 AUG, 2014

COMPUTERS
Amstrad/Schneider CPC

Commodore 64

Apple II

Commodore Amiga

Apple

Atari 400/600XL/800/800XL
/65XE/130XE/1200XL
Atari ST

BBC Micro

Commodore Plus/4
IBM PC (MS-DOS)
MSX

ZX Spectrum

FEATURED / PROJECTS

PROJECT: UI AND DESIGN OF

EMULATIONSTATION V2.0
EMULATOR FRONT-END
13 JUL, 2014

Commodore VIC-20

GENERAL

REPORTS OF MY DEATH HAVE

BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED
20 JUN, 2014

CATEGORIES

Emulation (2)

VIDEO GAME CONSOLES

Panasonic 3DO

Philips CD-i

Atari 5200

Sony PlayStation 2

Atari 2600

Atari 7800

Atari Jaguar

ColecoVision

Fairchild Channel-F

Magnavox Odyssey
Mattel Intellivision

Nintendo Entertainment
System

Nintendo Virtual Boy

Super Nintendo Entertainm.

Sony PlayStation
Sega SG-1000

Sega Master System

Featured (3)
General (1)
Guide (2)
Projects (1)

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive &

32X/CD

Sega Saturn

Sega Dreamcast
SNK NeoGeo CD

NEC TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine

GCE Vectrex

System

Nintendo 64

Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo Wii

ARCADE MACHINES
MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator)

ARCHIVES

November 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014

HANDHELDS
Atari Lynx

Nintendo Game Boy/Game Boy Color

Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Nintendo DS

Gamepark GP32

Sony PlayStation Portable

Sega Game Gear

SNK Neo Geo Pocket/Neo Geo Pocket Color

Bandai Wonderswan

COMPUTERS
AMSTRAD/SCHNEIDER CPC
WINAPE

http://winape.net/
Windows

It says APE in its name, it has an ape in his logo but whats really meant
here is Amstrad Plus Emulator. It emulates the entire CPC computer

range very accurate and loads disk, tape and cartridge image files. You
can record movies, audio or take screenshots of what you are doing in

the emulator. It also provides a function totake snapshots of the current

state of the emulation. If you are familiar with the operating system the

CPC computers use, you can dive directly into the command line. A nice
feature for that is that you can create text macros to input bigger

amounts of text automated. WinAPE features a debugger as well as a Z80

Assembler for the more advanced users. You can configure the display

emulation to your liking, complete with color sets, interlacing and blur,
as well as sound and specific hardware related settings. WinAPE can
read all sorts of uncompressed image formats and zipped data.

APPLE
POM1

http://pom1.sourceforge.net/

Windows|Mac|Linux|Android

Pom1 emulates the first computer created by Apple. It only accepts

commands in form of HEX values. There is not much to say here. The
readme file contains some shortcuts for accessing functions in the

emulator. There is no menubar or context menu to reach settings. Youll

have to obtain programs in form of ASCII or binary files or as HEX codes.

I never tried it, because its a whole different world.

APPLE II
APPLEWIN

https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin
Windows

AppleWin emulates the Apple II series of computers including sound. It

can load uncompressed as well as zipped disk images. Like the original

Apple II you have two disk drive slots to load with disk images. You can

choose the Apple II model to emulate from the settings menu. There are
also settings for sound emulation (emulate sound card or

speaker/beeper), floppy and hard drive settings as well asinput

configuration which lets you use a mouse, too. The emulator also
features save states and a debugger.

ATARI
400/600XL/800/800XL/65XE/130XE/1200XL
ALTIRRA

http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html
Windows

Altirra emulates the Atari 400, 600XL, 800, 800XL, 65XE, 130XEand
1200XL computers as well asthe Atari XEGS and 5200 video game

consoles. Its focussed on emulation quality and has many features. The
emulator can loadvarious disk image formats uncompressed or as
zipped archives. Altirra comes with substitute BIOS ROMs to run

programs and games, if you want to improve compatibility you need to

use BIOS ROMs oftheoriginal Atari machines. The controller input
mapping is a real pain as you have to map each key manually by

selecting the right button from a drop down menu. Apart from that, the
emulator has the usual features like save states, audio and video

recording, a screenshot function, a debugger, a cheat module and a load

of system/hardware options that would go beyond the scope of this

guide.

ATARI ST
STEEM SSE

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem.htm
Windows|Linux

Steem SSE is an advancement of the original Steem with emulation

improvements, partly based on the other Atari ST emulator Hatari. The

emulator reads various disk image formats but if you have Atari ST disk
images in the .IPF format you need an additional support library

available for download at the website of the Software Preservation

Society. You have to download the 32-bit version 5.1. In any case the disk
images have to be uncompressed, zipped ROMs are not supported.

Features of Steam SSE are snapshots, a screenshot function, text paste

into emulator, a patcher module, a shortcut editor, a macro recorder,

settings profiles (you can create your own) and several graphics and

sound/MIDI options. You will need original Atari TOS ROMs to use Steem
SSE.

BBC MICRO
BEEBEM

http://www.mkw.me.uk/beebem/
Windows|Mac|Linux

BeebEm emulates the BBC Micro Model B, B+ and Master 128. It has a ton
of options for emulating the hardware. Features include save states, a
screenshot function, video capture and a debugger. For the extra bit

realism you can define motion blur to mimic the old CRT and TV screens
from the past. The emulator also simulates disk drive and beep noises.
Unfortunately BeebEm cant read zipped disk images, you will have to
unpack them before. A nice feature of BeebEm is that it can run disks
automatically without the need to tinker with the command line.

COMMODORE VIC-20, COMMODORE 64,

COMMODORE PLUS/4
VICE

http://vice-emu.sourceforge.net/

Windows|Mac|Linux|DOS|other

VICE, the versatile Commodore emulator doesnt have his name just by

accident. In fact, it emulatesthe Commodore 64, the Commodore 64 DTV,

the Commodore 128, the VIC-20, almost all PET models, the Plus/4 and
the CBM-II (aka C610). VICE has beentranslated in to numerous

languages, you can switch it directly in the main menu. The emulator
has an autostart feature to execute disk or tape image contents
automatically, but if you know what to do, you can also use the

console.VICE emulates drive sounds and CRT look for more realism and
it has an experimental netplay function. There is also an extended
snapshot function to save and later load the complete state of an

emulation session. VICE reads various disk, tape and datasette image
formats as uncompressed or zipped files. Describing all the settings

would blow this article, but its for sure that this is the best Commodore
emulator you can get.

COMMODORE AMIGA
FS-UAE

http://fs-uae.net/

Windows|Mac|Linux|FreeBSD|OpenBSD

As this guide is about retrogaming in emulation, the recommendation

for the best Commodore Amiga isFS-UAE because itsfocussed onvideo

games. The emulator derives from the original WinUAE which is the best
general-purpose Amiga emulator. FS-UAE has a nice intuitive interface
with a list of available games and disk images on the right and

everything hardware related to the left. A very nice feature is the

database connection to OAGD.net (free signup required)which enriches

the UI with meta data and screenshots/boxart and configures the

emulator to run the game perfectly. To add disk images, simply use the

scan function to search for disk images in the selected folders. FS-UAE
reads various Amiga disk image formats, even in zipped form. Notice
that you will need the original Amiga Kickstart ROMs for the various

Amiga models. The emulator lets you know which ones it needs. You

can get them by purchasing an Amiga Forever DVD. Input configuration

is very intuitive and should be no problem.

IBM PC (MS-DOS)
DOSBOX + D-FEND RELOADED
http://www.dosbox.com/

Windows|Mac|Linux|FreeBSD|OS/2|RISC OS|Solaris|BeOS

If you are a child of the 80s and 90s like me, you will know MS-DOS and
how to use it. DOSBox is just the right emulator for this and its really

good. The emulator is configured using a config file. You have to read the
documentation to be able to do that butthankfully there are some really
good front-ends for DOSBox. The most powerfulof them is D-Fend

Reloaded which comes with DOSBox out-of-the-box. With D-Fend

Reloaded you can create profiles with individualsettings for each game
and organize them in categories. A nice feature is the profile wizard
which helps you at installing or copying games into the DOSBox

environment. As said before, this tool is really powerful and has some
really useful additional features you wouldnt expect from a front-end

for instance an ISO image file creator or a floppy disk image file writer.
D-Fend Reloaded is multi-language, you can change the language
directly from the welcome screen or the settings menu.

MSX
BLUEMSX

http://www.bluemsx.com/
Windows

MSX is more a standard for a series of home computers than a single

device. There were dozens of MSX computers back in the time.

Nonetheless there exist emulators for these systems and the most

advanced of them is blueMSX. The emulator lets you choose the model
to emulate, for instance the MSX or MSX 2. You can also edit these

machine profiles to suit your needs. It has the usual features like save
states, cpu save states (snapshots), video and audio recording and a

screenshot function. Input configuration is straight-forward and easy to

use. In the video settings you can choose a monitor emulation to add
more nostalgia feeling to your game. Other features are a built-in
debugger and a trace logger, as well as a nice sound mixer panel.

blueMSX reads various uncompressed disk image and cartridge formats

as well as zipped ones.

ZX SPECTRUM
SPECTACULATOR

http://www.spectaculator.com/
Windows

Because this guide focusses onemulators with the most features and

the highest emulation quality, sometimes the recommendation goes to a

commercial product. So in this case, Spectaculator sells for 15.99 USD

and emulates the ZX Spectrum 16K, 48K, 128, +2, +2A, +3, Pentagon 128

and Scorpion ZS 256. Spectaculator has a ton of options for the different

ZX Spectrum models and its hardware. For instance youcanmimic a TV

screen withdifferent settings to achieve a more realistic look. Input
configuration is simple. You can also open a virtual ZX Spectrum

keyboard on-screen. Features of the emulator include audio and video

recording, a screenshot function, action replay (gameplay recordings in

different formats), a cheat/pokes module and a debugger. Spectaculator
can read various zipped and uncompressed disk image formats

including the .IPF format introduced by the Software Preservation

Society. The free alternative for this emulator is ZXSpinwith similar

features but without support for .IPF files.

VIDEO GAME CONSOLES

PANASONIC 3DO
4DO

http://www.fourdo.com/
Windows

4DO is the better one of the two available programs for emulating and

running 4DO disks or disk images. Its available in numerous languages.

Besides the usual features like save slots and graphics processing it has

also a Disc Browser which lets you explore the contents of a disk or disk
image and extract files from it. You will need a 4DO BIOS file in order to
run games.

ATARI 2600
STELLA

http://stella.sourceforge.net/
Windows|Mac|Linux

Stella isthe best Atari 2600 emulator andavailable for Windows, Mac

and Linux. It has its own GUI which can be a bit odd. The emulator has
some nice features. Besides the usual like input, video and sound

configuration or taking snapshots you can simulate a TV screen with

various effects to get the real retro feeling. It also has a built-in debugger
and you can audit your collection of Atari 2600 ROMs with it. It reads zip
compressed ROMs as well as uncompressed ones.

ATARI 5200
ATARI800WIN-PLUS

https://github.com/Jaskier/Atari800Win-PLus/downloads
Windows

Atari800Win-PLus is an enhanced version of the emulator Atari800

with many video and audio options. You can config a mouse, joystick or
keyboard to act as your controller. It also supports playing games over

network with another person running the emulator. Atari800Win-PLus

as the name suggests is also an Atari 800 emulator, but it also

emulates the 5200 as well as Atari XL/XE. Unfortunately it doesnt open

zipped ROMs, you will have to unzip every ROM to load it.

ATARI 7800
EMU7800

http://emu7800.sourceforge.net/
Windows

EMU7800 is a simple but the most compatible emulator for Atari 7800

and in active development. Key binding is pretty simple and restricted to

predefined keys and there are only basic graphics options. Everything

before starting the game takes place in one window. You can search for
games with different criteria, for instance games which use a certain

controller or by the machine they run on. It reads zipped files which is
good for your collection.

ATARI JAGUAR
VIRTUAL JAGUAR

http://www.icculus.org/virtualjaguar/
Windows|Mac|Linux| BeOS

Virtual Jaguar is under active development and available for all major
desktopoperating systems. Unfortunately CD support is not yet

implemented. Apart from this its a very compatible emulator. Its not as
fast as Project Tempest the first Jaguar emulator ever created, but

with nowadays computers it should be no problem. You can open zipped

ROMs as well as uncompressed ones. Dont get confused by the filename

extensions. The emulator also loads ROMs named with .j64. In order to

play games, you either have to place all ROMsin a path you can define in

the settings or you just drag and drop your zipped or uncompressed ROM
onto the executable.

COLECOVISION
BLUEMSX

http://www.bluemsx.com/
Windows

blueMSX is actually a MSX emulator but it also supports other hardware

like the ColecoVision. A central feature of the emulator is the simulation

of different TV screens (effects). It can also capture audio and/or video or

take screenshots of the game. There is also an embedded debugger.
Creating save states is of course a base functionality. You can open
zipped ROMs directly.

FAIRCHILD CHANNEL-F
MESS

http://www.mess.org/

Windows|Platform independent (source code)

MESS is a multi-system emulator and I really wanted to avoid them

because emulation quality is mostly worse than with emulators

specifically made for a platform. However, in the case of the Fairchild

Channel-F the MESS emulator is the only choice. Please read the MESS
wiki to know how to set up everything.

MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY
O2EM

http://o2em.sourceforge.net/
Windows

O2EM is the only emulator for the Odyssey. Its GUI comes as a separate

download. The GUI is fairly simple. You have to define a path where your
unzipped ROMs are, then you can choose the game you want to play
from the list. It also shows a screenshot of the selected game.

Unfortunately input configuration cant be changed. You can take

screenshots and there is a built-in debugger.

MATTEL INTELLIVISION
NOSTALGIA

http://www.intellivision.us/intvgames/nostalgia/nostalgia.php
Windows

Nostalgia is a Intellivision emulatorwhich displays your ROMs in a list

along with a box shot of the selected game. You will have to unzip your

ROMs in to a folder and set the path to it in the settings of Nostalgia. The
emulator doesnt have that much options but you can configure your

input device as you want. A nice feature is the built-in Kaillera client

which allows to play 2-player games with people over the internet. Other
features include audio and video capture, screenshots and support for

Intellivoice, the voice synthesizer of the Intellivision.The alternative to

Nostalgia is Bliss which has a more clean GUI.

NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

NESTOPIA

http://nestopia.sourceforge.net/
Windows|Mac|Linux

Nestopia is compatible with nearly all NES games and has a good feature
set which include save states, video and audio recording, screenshots,
support for different NES input devices, Netplay over Kaillera, input
configuration and cheat system. The emulator supports ROMs

compressed as 7Z, ZIP and RAR. A nice feature is the built-in game

launcher which displays detailed information for every ROMand lets

youlaunch gamesfrom there. The alternative to Nestopia is FCEUX
which has similar features and some really advanced
debugging/hacking functionalities.

NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY

VBJIN

https://code.google.com/p/vbjin/
Windows

VBjin can open zipped as well as uncompressed Virtual Boy ROMs.

Features include gameplay, video and audio recording and a memory

watcher. As the original Virtual Boy was a console with stereoscopic

view, you can alter this in the emulator, for instance to display only one
side to get rid of the stereoscopic effect. There is also a hotkey

configuration which lets you define the keys used to control emulation.

Input configuration is straight forward and should be no problem. The

emulator also supports Lua scripting.

SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

SNES9X

https://github.com/snes9xgit/snes9x/releases/
Windows

Snes9x is the most popular SNES emulator. It has the standard features
such as multiple save game slots, video recording and a cheat system

and also has netplay built-in. You can emulate every input device that
was released for the SNES and you can of course configure up to five

different joypads which you can enable or disable as you like. This is

handy if you want different configurations for different games. Beside

these features you will find the usual audio and video settings such as
sample rate window size and bilinear filtering. Snes9x can open your

ROMs in zipped form. The alternative would be Higan but be advised

that it uses its own organization structure which can be annoyingfor

some people.

NINTENDO 64
PROJECT64

http://www.pj64-emu.com/
Windows

Nintendo 64 emulators are working with pluginsfor each component of

the system. This means you have a sound plugin, a video pluginand a
input plugin. This gives the user incredible freedom of choice. My

recommendation for a emulator is based on which one is able to work

properly out of the box with the included plugins. Project64 includes the
popular pluginsfrom Jabo for audio, video and input. The video plugin
allows some enhancements like higher resolution, anti-aliasing and

anisotropic filtering which increases the graphics quality dramatically.

The main window of Project64 acts as a games list, you have to choose
afolder where your ROMs (uncompressed or zipped) are located, then
the emulator scans it and displays the titles in a list along with

compatibility info and more. The emulator is available in various

languages, changeable from the File menu. For netplay, you will need

an additional plugin called AQZ Netplay. It replaces the input plugin but
you can plug your actual used input plugin on top of it. Be sure to place
the plugin DLL file inside the Plugin/1.6 Plugins folder.
There are two alternatives for Project64:

1964has the Kaillera netplay client built-in and a similar feature set as
Project64 and a better video plugin called 1964Video (you can use the
DLL in Project64).

Mupen64++also has two versions of theKaillera netplay client built-in

and also similar features as Project64. It has the popular Rice Video
video plugin included.

NINTENDO GAMECUBE
DOLPHIN

https://dolphin-emu.org/
Windows|Mac|Linux

Dolphin isaNintendo GameCube emulator available for Windows, Mac

and Linux. After setting a folder where your disc images of GameCube

games are located, Dolphin displays them in a list in the main window.
You can also run games from burned discs, original discs are not

supported. Be advised that you need to own the original disc to be

allowed to own a copy. A defining feature of Dolphin is its Netplay

functionalitywhichbuilt into the emulator, you can either host or join

game. Besides that, Dolphon hasthe usual features like a screenshot
function and multiple save slots. You can also record movies ofyour

gameplay. The graphics settings allow some nice enhancements like

higher resolutions, anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering or special postprocessing effects. You can configure up to four input devices.

NINTENDO WII
DOLPHIN

https://dolphin-emu.org/
Windows|Mac|Linux

Besides the Nintendo GameCube, Dolphincan also emulate the

NintendoWii. Its recommended to own a real Nintendo Wii Remote

(with or without Motion Plus) together with a sensor bar(like the

DolphinBar) for gameplay how its meant to be. You can also use an

emulated Wii Remote and use your keyboard, mouse or gamepad to play,
but its more complex than the originalhardware. Read the paragraph
above for more information on the emulator itsef.

PHILIPS CD-I
CD-I EMULATOR

http://www.cdiemu.org/
Windows

Apart from MESS which is a multi-system emulator and ignored in this

guide, there is only one dedicated Philips CD-i Emulator named exactly
the same. It needs a BIOS ROM file of the CD-i to work. You can load
various disc image formats with the emulator. There is no input

configuration. You can set the video mode to PAL or NTSC and the

emulator has a simple debugger. Unfortunately the beta version only

runs for three minutes. You will have to pay 35 USD for the Unlimited
edition.

SONY PLAYSTATION
EPSXE

http://www.epsxe.com/

Windows|Linux|Android

Sony PlayStation emulators are workingwith pluginsfor each

component of the system, like the Nintendo 64 emulators. This means

you have a sound plugin, a video pluginand a input plugin. This gives

the user incredible freedom of choice.Unlike the Nintendo 64 emulator

Project64 ePSXe doesnt come with plugins. You will have to pick your

own plugins for video, audio and netplay functionality. Controller config
and CD-ROM functionality is built-in so you dont need a plugin here. I

will recommend the best PlayStation emulator plugins for the other stuff
later. As the feature set highly depends on them, the emulator itself has
not so much to offer. It can load games from real PlayStation discs,
various disc image formats, PlayStation executables (.EXE dont

confuse with Windows executables) and run the BIOS alone. Speaking of,
you need a BIOS ROM file to use ePSXe. The emulator also allows to use
two virtual Memory Cards to save your progress in game. You can
manage their contents when booting in to the plain BIOS. As an

alternative you can save your game using save slots which saves the

complete state of the current game. The alternative to ePSXe is PCSX-

Reloaded which may run some more games and comes with a netplay
plugin.

Recommended PlayStation emulator Plugins:

Video:Petes OpenGL2 PSX GPU 2.9

Audio: Eternal SPU 1.5b2(1.41), P.E.Op.S. DSound PSX SPU 1.10b(1.9)

Controller: SSSPSX Pad 1.7

CD-ROM:P.E.Op.S. PSX CDR 1.4

Netplay: CyberPad Kaillera 1.4

SONY PLAYSTATION 2
PCSX2

http://pcsx2.net/

Windows|Mac|Linux

Like for the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation emulators, PCSX2 works
based on plugins for each component of the console. There are plugins

for graphics, sound, controls, disc drive, usb and more. You have freedom
of choice on which plugin to use. PCSX2 comes with plugins out of the
box. They work pretty well so I dont give recommendations forother

plugins here. PCSX2 can read various disc image formats and of course
load original PlayStation 2 discs. Its also possible to run PlayStation 2
executable files (.ELF). For this you need to switch to Plugin in the

CDVD menu and select the cdvdGigaherz plugin in the Plugin config
window. To actually run a game you need a BIOS ROM file of the

PlayStation 2.The emulator also allows to use two virtual Memory Cards

to save your progress in game.As an alternative you can save your game
using save slots which saves the complete state of the current game.

SEGA SG-1000
KEGA FUSION

http://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/
Windows|Mac|Linux

The Sega SG-1000 was the first video game console by Sega and was

released on the same day as the Nintendo Famicom.Kega Fusion is the

emulator of choice for this system. Read the paragraph on Sega Master
System below for more information on Kega Fusion.

SEGA MASTER SYSTEM

KEGA FUSION

http://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/
Windows|Mac|Linux

Kega Fusion can not only emulate the Sega Master System but

alsoGame Gear, Genesis/Megadrive, SVP, Pico, SegaCD/MegaCD and 32X!

It has a lot of features including a own built-in netplay functionality,

multiple save states, screenshot functionality, scanlines and tv-mode

simulation in the graphics settings. If you use MSN Messenger, it even

sets your status message while you are playing games. The emulator

also offers a Game Genie menu where you can entercheat codes. Kega
Fusion loads uncompressed ROMs as well as zipped ones. The

alternative to Kega Fusion is Gens Plus! which has the Kaillera client for
netplay built-in. Apart from that, its similar to Kega Fusion except it
lacks some graphics effects like the scanlines and tv-modes.

SEGA GENESIS/MEGA DRIVE & 32X/CD

KEGA FUSION

http://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/
Windows|Mac|Linux

Kega Fusionis also the reference forSega Genesis/Mega Drive & 32X/CD.
You can define BIOS ROMs for each supported system but except for

Sega CD, Kega Fusion runs without them. Read the paragraph above for
more information on the emulator.The alternative to Kega Fusion is

Gens Plus! which has the Kaillera client for netplay built-in. Apart from

that, its similar to Kega Fusion except it lacks some graphics effects like
the scanlines and tv-modes.

SEGA SATURN
YABAUSE

http://yabause.org/

Windows|Mac|Linux |FreeBSD |Dreamcast |PSP |Wii

Yabause is the most advanced emulator for Sega Saturn. Its available for
different platforms, including some video game devices. You can load

disc image files as well as original Sega Saturn discs with it, but you will
need an original Sega Saturn BIOS ROM to play any games. Yabausehas
the usual features like save states, a screenshot function, a cheating

module and a debugger. You can also use a simulated memory cartridge
to save your progress in games. Input configuration is very good as you
can simulate the different perpherials for the Sega Saturn and use your
gamepad, mouse or keyboard for it.

SEGA DREAMCAST
NULLDC

http://www.emucr.com/2013/03/nulldc-svn-r150.html
Windows

nullDC is the most compatible Dreamcast emulator. It has a plugin

structure like emulators for Nintendo 64 or Sony PlayStation 2. Graphics,

GD-ROM, sound, input (Maple) and external devices (e.g. Modems) are

controlled by these plugins. You also need the original Sega Dreamcast
BIOS files to play games with nullDC. There is a region free BIOS out

there which eliminates the need to switch betweenBIOS versions of

different regions all the time. If you want to use your gamepad or

joystick with nullDC, be sure to select PuruPuru Dreamcast Controller in

the first dropdown menu in the plugins settings. In the seconddropdown

you have to select Puru-Puru Pak [XInput]. After that you can configure

your controller from the menu Options > Maple > Port A > Config keys
for player 1. If you want to play with another person, you have to do the
same with Port B in the plugins settings window.

SNK NEO GEO CD

RAINE

http://rainemu.swishparty.co.uk/
Windows|Mac

Raine can emulate the Neo Geo MVS as well as the Neo Geo CD. It loads
zipped and uncompressed Neo Geo MVS ROM files and for Neo Geo
CDvarious disc image formats as well as original discs. The GUI is

similar to MAME. You can configure your gamepad or joystick to use

with Raine. The emulator has the basic features like save states, audio

recording and a screenshot function. There are also some video filtering
options.There are a few other emulators for Neo Geo CD (like NeoGeo
CDZ or Nebula) but none of them is able to read disc images, you will
have to use a tool like Daemon Tools Lite or Virtual CloneDrive to
mount the disc images.

NEC TURBOGRAFX 16/PC ENGINE

MAGICENGINE

http://www.magicengine.com/
Windows|Mac

MagicEngine is a commercial program andcosts 20USD, but its by far

the best emulator for NECs TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine console. There is a
demo version available for download but its limited to five minutes of
play time. There is a monthly contest on the website with a chance to

win a registered version of the emulator. MagicEngines comes with its

own GUI which is pretty nice. It also features save states, movie

recording and a screenshot function. You can add video filters to

improve image quality and configure your gamepad/joystick or keyboard

as input device. The emulator loads uncompressed as well as zipped

ROM files and original PC Engine CD-ROMs. The free alternative to

MagicEngine is Turbo Engine which has a lot of features and loads

ROMs and CD-ROMs. I noticed a weird scaling bug in windowed

mode,the image is jagged in a grid-like pattern. I think the bigger the

program window, the less this effect is visible.

GCE VECTREX
PARAJVE

http://www.vectrex.fr/ParaJVE/
Windows|Mac|Linux

This Java-based emulator is just awesome. It includes all the games

made for the GCE Vectrex. It even displays a canvas of the game around
the game window. If thats not enough, it also emulates the blur of the

vector screen in the original hardware. ParaJVE featues save states and
a screenshot function. You can also tweak the graphics settings to your
liking. The emulator allows you to use your mouse as analog stick, but
you can configure your gamepad/joystick, too. I had some problems

quitting the emulator. The emulation still continues after closing the
main window. The only way to really quit it is to kill the javaw.exe
process with the Windows Task Manager.

ARCADE MACHINES
MAME (MULTI ARCADE MACHINE
EMULATOR)
http://mamedev.org/

Windows|Platformindependent(source code)

MAME is actually no platform but an emulator for every arcade machine

that ever existed. Because of this, its the first choice for playing arcade

games. To use MAME, you need to have the correct ROM files (usually as
zipped archives), equal to the version of MAME you are using. Lets say
you have MAME 0.155, you will need ROMs that are authored in a way
this version of MAME recognizes. You can use authoring tools

likeclrmameprowhich I have described inthe first part of this guide.

Once you have these ROMs, you have to add the folder where they are to
the mame.ini file. You can also add paths to extras like game art in

mame.ini. Once you did that, you can run MAME. Its interface is very

unusual and simple. To search for a game, just type its name, otherwise

MAME displays a bunch of games randomly. I recommend using a frontend with MAME. There are dozens of them,some graphical and some as
Windows UI. I cant give a perfect recommendation here as I dont like
any of them but the following front-ends seem to be

popular:HyperSpin,Maximus Arcade,mGalaxy,GameEx.There is a nice

overview of different front-ends at theArcadecontrols Wiki.

HANDHELDS
ATARI LYNX
HANDY

http://handy.sourceforge.net/
Windows

Handy can not run all commercial games but its the only dedicated

Atari Lynx emulator out there. The emulator can open uncompressed as
well as zipped ROMs. It can save snapshots and has a screenshot

function. Apart from some graphics options and a non-functional

netplay function there is not much more to discover here.

NINTENDO GAME BOY/GAME BOY COLOR

BGB

http://bgb.bircd.org/
Windows

BGB emulates the Nintendo Game Boy as well as Nintendo Game Boy
Color. It uses a context menu for all operations. You can open

uncompressed as well as zipped ROMs with it. BGB supports Super Game
Boy, a module for the Nintendo Super Nintendo system which lets you

play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games with it. When playing certain
games, they are surrounded by a graphical border with game art. The

emulator has many graphics and sound settings, a debugger, a VRAM

viewer, a screenshot function, audio recording and a cheat module. You

can change the LCD color scheme on non-color games, which is nice. A
featureonly BGB has is the link support which enables you to play two
player games over LAN or internet.

NINTENDO GAME BOY ADVANCE

VISUALBOYADVANCE-M
http://vba-m.com/
Windows|Linux

Besides the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, VisualBoyAdvance-M also

supports the Game Boy and Game Boy Color including the Super Game
Boy module. The emulator has settings for audio and video, input

configuration is easy.Featuresinclude a cheat module, a screenshot

function, save states and a bunch of expert debugging and hacking tools

like a disassembler and a tile viewer. You can record audio and/or video,
too. It has link functionalitybut its incomplete so you only can play two
player games on one computer. VisualBoyAdvance-M can open zipped
as well as uncompressed ROMs.

NINTENDO DS
DESMUME

http://desmume.org/
Windows|Mac

The Nintendo DS handheld was the first one with two screens and

DeSmuME emulates them both. You can change the layout in which the
screens are displayed and you even can rotate them. The emulator has
some unusual graphics enhancement settings for scaling, too. The

original Nintendo DS has a microphone, with DeSmuME you can either

emulate one or use your physical microphone if present. You can also

define your DS avatars details. Like VisualBoyAdvance-M, DeSmuME has

a bunch of advanced debugging and hacking features like a

disassembler and various viewers, for instance memory, tiles, palettes.

Input configuration is easy. DeSmuME can open zipped as well as

uncompressed ROMs. If you want you can also define original BIOS
ROMs which should enhance compatibility.

GAMEPARK GP32
GEEPEE32

http://users.skynet.be/firefly/gp32/
Windows

GeePee32 is a basic emulator for Gameparks GP32 handheld. It can

openSmartMedia card images or GP32 binaries, but only uncompressed,

zipped files are not supported. Unfortunately GeePee32 does not support
sound. It has a built-in disassembler, a memory editor, a cheat module
and a screenshot function. Configuration options are limited and the
input configuration is limited to predefined keys or buttons.

SONY PLAYSTATION PORTABLE

PPSSPP

http://www.ppsspp.org/

Windows|Mac|Linux|Android|Symbian|Blackberry|iOS

PPSSPP has a very nice GUI that acts as a file browser to find your disk

image files which can be zipped or uncompressed. There are save states
and a screenshot function, advanced graphics and audio settings and

some expert tools likea debugger, a disassembler and a memory viewer.

Settings, including input configuration are accessed using the GUI which
is nice. It reminds me of the Android OS. PPSSPP features a few post
processing shaders to alter the visual appearance of the emulated
games. You can also change the internal rendering resolution to

improve graphics quality. There is also PPSSPP Gold, a paid version with

exactly the same features as the free version. Its more a donation for the
developers than a real product-wise benefit.

SEGA GAME GEAR

KEGA FUSION

http://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/
Windows|Mac|Linux

If you have read this guide from the top, you already know KegaFusion.

Its the reference for Sega Master System and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive &
32X/CDand its also the reference forSega Game Gear. Please read the

description of these two systems for more information on Kega Fusion.

There is an alternative for Kega Fusion named Meka but I personally
dont like it because of its strange GUI.

SNK NEO GEO POCKET/NEO GEO POCKET

COLOR
NEOPOP

http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/misc/neopop.html
Windows

NeoPop is not being developed further but its nonetheless the best

available emulator for SNK Neo Geo Pocket / Neo Geo Pocket Color. It
supports zipped as well as uncompressed ROM files. The emulator

features save states and a link function for two player games. Input

configuration is limited to predefined keys and it seems that the d-pad

can only be mapped to keyboard keys. You should use a tool like

GlovePie to remap the keys. Except for some graphics options, NeoPop
does not offer much more.

BANDAI WONDERSWAN
OSWAN

http://sourceforge.jp/projects/oswan/
Windows

Oswan supports the Bandai Wonderswan as well the color version. It

features save states, a screenshot function and some graphics options

for scaling and a few filters to improve image quality. Input

configuration works fine, the only problem is that some glyphs are not
displayed due to the japanese origin of this emulator. The predefined
keys will help you map the right new keys.

COMING SOON: PART 3 USER

INTERFACES AND FRONT ENDS

This was part 2 of my guide Retrogaming through emulation with focus

on emulator software. I hope you found this information useful because

most of the listings of emulators dont rate them. If you find any errors or
mistakes or missing things in my guide, please let me know. Feel free to
comment, I am happy about your feedback. Thanks for reading!

The next part of this guide will give you an overview of different general
front-ends for use with any emulator. The best one I know is of course
EmulationStation but lets see
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0

21

GUIDE:
RETROGAMING

PROJECT: UI AND
DESIGN OF

THROUGH
EMULATION
(PART 1:

EMULATIONSTATI
ON V2.0
EMULATOR

ORGANIZING)

FRONT-END

10 AUG, 2014

1 RESPONSE

Comments 1

13 JUL, 2014

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Toby

15. November 2014 at 19:51I am researching a

HTPC/emulation

build at the moment. I have the hardware picked out and this
guide is one of the best I have come across in many hours of
surfing. Many Thanks
Reply

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