The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is known as Super NES, SNES, or Super Nintendo. It was initially released in 1990 in Japan and then released in North America, Europe, and other territories. It is a 16-bit video game console and even the best-selling 16-bit game console of its era.
There are plenty of SNES emulators for the Super Nintendo and some of them have high emulation accuracy. What’s the best SNES emulator? Well, there are some recommendations for you. Pick one from them randomly.
Higan
Higan is regarded as the best SNES emulator because of its accurate emulation. As one of the best SNES emulators, Higan is famous for emulating the original hardware as accurately as possible through low-level and cycle-accurate emulation.
It’s the best SNES emulator for Windows, but your computer should be fast enough. In addition to Windows, Higan can also run on other platforms as it is a multi-system emulator. It is capable of emulating the following consoles.
- Nintendo Famicom (NES)
- Nintendo Super Famicom (Super Game Boy, BS-X Satellaview, Sufami Turbo)
- Nintendo Game Boy/Color
- Nintendo Game Boy Advance
- Sega Mega Drive
- NEC PC Engine
- NEC SuperGrafx
- Bandai WonderSean/Color
Also read: Game Boy Advance BIOS (GBA BIOS): Safe and Free Download
SNES9x
SNES9x is a free and portable SNES emulator, which allows you to play most games designed for the SNES and Super Famicom Nintendo game systems on your computer or workstation. Actually, it is the result of well over three years worth of part-time hacking, coding, recoding, and debugging.
This SNES emulator is coded in C++, with three assembler CPU emulation cores on the i386 Linux and Windows ports. At present, there are many available SNES9x ports. Different from Higan, SNES9x doesn’t require a fast PC. It means that SNES9x can also run on a slow PC. Additionally, it has a more friendly UI.
SNES9x is available on Windows, Android, jailbroken iOS phones, Nintendo 3DS, PSP, etc. There are more than one versions of SNES9x. For instance, you can use SNES9x EX+ or SNES9x Next (also available as a Libretro Core) on mobile devices. There’s even a version for Pocket PCs.
You may also like this: iOS Jailbreak: How to Do That with Professional Jailbreak Tools
SNES Mini/Canoe
SNES Mini/Canoe is a custom emulator built by Nintendo. Though it doesn’t emulate all of the games included on the SNES Classic correctly, it’s serviceable, has low overhead, and has the advantage of being the basis of a micro-console for that price.
With Canoe, you can enjoy classic SNES games without owning a vintage SNES. You can turn the adorable little thing into an emulation machine by using Hakchi2 CE – a custom firmware for the SNES Classic. However, you can’t download Canoe to use the SNES Classic Edition independently.
If you have a limited gaming budget, Canoe is an ideal SNES emulator. It is an easy and legal option. With it, you can sit down and enjoy it within minutes of ripping the SNES Classic from its box.
ZSNES
Compared with the above SNES emulators, ZSNES is the least accurate one. Besides, it is absolutely dreadful in its execution. Since ZSNES was so popular when SNES ROM hacks and ROM hacking tools became popular, many of them used the emulator to test out their games.
ZSNES takes the advantage of running on a turnip. As it has stunningly low overhead, ZSNES is a good option if you are stuck on old Windows ME Hewlett-Packard. Importantly, it has paltry PC requirements and the exclusive ability to run hacking tools.
You can download ZSNES and other SNES emulators online on this page.
Further reading:
If you want to have a good game experience, try using MiniTool Partition Wizard. It can help you increase disk space, back up game data, check and fix hard drive errors, etc. In addition, it offers you tips to optimize Windows 10 for gaming.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Having writing articles about computer tech for a long time, I am rather experienced especially on the aspect of computer optimization, PC enhancement, as well as tech terms explanation. The habit of looking through tech forums makes me a great computer issues collector. And then, many articles related to these issues are released, which benefit plenty of users. Professional, effective, and innovative are always the pursuit of an editing worker.