Comprehensive guide to the best emulators for retro gaming. All emulators listed are actively maintained, well-supported, and recommended by the emulation community.
Legal Notice: Emulators themselves are legal. However, downloading ROMs of games you don't own is illegal in most countries. Only use ROMs of games you legally own.
RetroArch is the ultimate all-in-one emulation frontend. It uses a modular "cores" system to support dozens of different consoles and systems through a single unified interface.
ares is a modern multi-system emulator focused on accuracy and preservation. It's a continuation of the higan emulator with improved user experience.
Mesen is widely considered the best NES/Famicom emulator. It offers cycle-accurate emulation with an excellent debugger for ROM hacking.
Snes9x is the most popular SNES emulator, offering excellent compatibility and performance. It strikes a great balance between accuracy and speed.
bsnes is the most accurate SNES emulator available. Created by the same developer as ares, it focuses on perfect accuracy over performance.
Dolphin is the premier emulator for GameCube and Wii. It offers incredible HD enhancements, netplay, and can even use real Wii Remotes.
mGBA is the best Game Boy Advance emulator, offering accuracy, speed, and great features. It also supports original Game Boy and Game Boy Color.
DeSmuME is a mature and reliable Nintendo DS emulator with excellent compatibility. It supports both screens and touchscreen input.
Lime3DS is the continuation of Citra, the Nintendo 3DS emulator. It offers improved performance and compatibility for 3DS games.
Mupen64Plus is a highly compatible N64 emulator with plugin-based architecture. It offers great accuracy and performance.
DuckStation is the fastest and most feature-rich PS1 emulator. It offers excellent upscaling, texture filtering, and wide-screen hacks.
PCSX2 is the premier PS2 emulator, offering HD enhancements and excellent compatibility with the massive PS2 library.
RPCS3 is the first and only PS3 emulator. It has made incredible progress and now runs most PS3 games at playable speeds.
PPSSPP is the definitive PSP emulator. It's incredibly fast, supports HD enhancements, and runs on almost any device.
Vita3K is the first and only PS Vita emulator. While still in development, it can run many commercial games.
Genesis Plus GX is the most accurate Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulator. It also supports Master System, Game Gear, and Sega CD.
Flycast is the best Dreamcast emulator, offering excellent compatibility and HD rendering. It's the successor to Reicast.
MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is the gold standard for arcade emulation. It aims to preserve arcade gaming history through accurate emulation.
FinalBurn Neo is a user-friendly arcade emulator focusing on speed and playability. It's easier to use than MAME while maintaining great compatibility.