Looking for the best SNES Emulators to play the classic games on any of your devices? We’ve got you covered. The SNES or Super Nintendo was a console on which many of us have spent the majority of our time. Now, it’s near impossible to find one anywhere. It’s a ghost of the past.
But, if your love for SNES is still strong and want to play SNES games on your PC or smartphones these Emulators will help you out. With these, you can play any SNES games. This guide will help you to find out the best Emulator.
There are lots of SNES Emulators present, but most of them don’t work correctly. The Emulators present in this list are working 100%, we’ve tested them. You will just need to find SNES games on your own, as Nintendo is harsh on those who provide their games for free.
Without wasting more of your time, here are the top 8 SNES Emulators. Let’s begin…
8 Of The Best SNES Emulators
RetroArch
Website: RetroArch
RetroArch is one of the oldest SNES emulators available out there. And the great thing about this emulator is that it is available across multiple platforms. It offers support for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and even Web. As a result, you can use RetroArch on all of your devices without any issues. This means that you can have the same experience across all of your devices while playing SNES games.
But the best part about RetroArch is that is one of the most stable SNES emulators. Due to this, you can expect great performance while playing all kinds of SNES games on your devices. It is able to offer great performance as it uses dynamic libraries called Liberto cores. And due to this, it is able to offer a smooth gaming experience. RetroArch users do not face any lag or stuttering issues while playing SNES games. It also offers support for multiple controllers so that you can play with your friends as well.
SNES9x
Website: SNES9x
If you wish to play SNES games on your computer, then SNES9x is one of the best SNES emulators out there. This emulator offers support for Windows, Linux, and even macOS. And no matter which platform you are using, SNES9x offers a great gaming experience. You can play most SNES games in this emulator without any performance issues.
Even if you have an older or weaker computer, you can run SNES9x without any issues. And this is possible due to the fact that SNES9X is one of the most efficient SNES emulators out there. As a result, SNES9x is a great option for low-end hardware for playing SNES games. SNES9X users do not face any lag or stuttering issues while using this SNES emulator on their computers. It even features some highly useful features including recording, game speed up, image processing, and much more.
BizHawk
Website: BizHawk
While there are a lot of SNES emulators available out there, BizHawk is a bit different. The BizHawk SNES emulator is made with speedruns in mind. If you are not familiar with a speedrun, it is simply trying to finish a game as fast as possible. And as you would expect, BizHawk offers various features and options that make it a great choice for speedrunners. It is one of the only Tool Assisted Speedruns SNES emulators available out there.
This means that it has a dedicated inbuilt tool which can be used for speedruns. But even if you just want to play SNES games casually, this emulator can still be a great option. It even supports various retro gaming consoles other than just SNES. You can play NES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, and SNES games using this emulator. Unfortunately, the BizHawk SNES emulator is only available for Windows.
Higan
Website: Higan
Higan is another great option if you are looking for SNES emulators that support multiple consoles. It is one of the oldest SNES emulators out there and was called BSNES earlier. The best thing about this emulator is that it emulates older hardware as accurately as possible. This means that if you have ever used the original SNES console, you will feel right at home while using Higan. A great thing about the Higan emulator is that it is quite easy to use.
And this is possible due to its simple and straight forward user interface. Even if you are new to SNES emulators, you can get used to Higan right away. It offers all of the options and features right on the home screen for easy access. Unfortunately, Higan is not the most efficient option as it does not work properly on older computers. Although, if you have a powerful computer with recent hardware, you will not face any lag or stuttering issues.
OpenEMU
Website: OpenEMU
As per its name, OpenEMU is one of the only open-source SNES emulators available out there. And this emulator even offers support for various other retro gaming consoles. Due to this, you can play a wide range of games in this emulator without any issues. All of the game ROMs offered by this emulator are properly managed and categorized. This allows you to easily and play the game of your choice.
If you are not able to play games of a certain console, then you can also download additional cores. These cores simply add the support for a certain retro gaming console in this emulator. The user interface of the OpenEMU is the simplest when compared with other SNES emulators. As a result, you can start playing games in this emulator right away. It offers a very smooth and lag-free experience while playing SNES games. But this emulator is only available for macOS users as of right now.
ZSNES
Website: ZSNES
ZSNES can be another great option if you are looking for SNES emulators. This SNES emulator is supported on Windows and Linux which means that you can use it on most computers without any issues. And a great thing about this emulator is that it offers a very similar user interface in both Windows and Linux. Both versions are quite easy and simple to use due to the simple user interface.
It offers all of its features and browsing menus right on the home screen. This allows you to start playing SNES games in ZSNES right away. ZSNES is one of the most efficient SNES emulators out there. You can use this emulator even on outdated hardware without any issues. And once you have installed this emulator on your computer, you can play most SNES games without any issues. Since the ZSNES emulator is highly compatible, you do not experience any lag or stuttering issues.
Nestopia UE
Website: Nestopia UE
Nestopia UE is one of the best high-performance SNES emulators out there. When compared with other SNES emulators out there, this one is quite accurate. It can be a great pick if you are a hardcore gamer and want an experience similar to that of playing on the actual console. One of the best things about this emulator is that it offers support for texture scaling and netplay. This results in great gaming experience while enjoying SNES games on your computer.
As you would expect, there is no delay or lag while emulating SNES games in this emulator. You also get the support for cheats in this emulator which will be appreciated by a lot of users. These cheats can be used in almost all SNES games that support them. You also get Vsync support in this SNES emulator. And you can use it to play SNES games on Windows, Linux, and even macOS.
NES.Emu
Website: NES.Emu
Last but not least, we have NES.Emu which is one of the best options if you are looking for SNES emulators for your Android device. And even though it is a smartphone, it offers various useful features and options. It is one of the only mobile SNES emulators that also offers support for a controller. You can use either a wired or a Bluetooth controller with your smartphone to play SNES games using this app. Even if you have an older smartphone, you can use this app for emulation without any issues.
Almost all SNES games run smooth and lag-free in this emulator on your Android smartphone. You can even find various useful features and options in this emulator which makes it quite practical. It comes with cheat support, game save, touch controls, and much more. Another great thing about the NES.Emu app is that you can play games even in landscape mode. When compared with traditional emulators that are in portrait mode, this offers an immersive experience. Unfortunately, this app is not free to download and you have to pay to get it from the Google Play Store.
Final Thoughts…
These were the best working SNES Emulators that we were able to dig out. We hope that you liked our list. You can use any of these Emulators to play SNES games. Most of them are free, only a few are paid ones.
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So, which one of these SNES Emulators is your favorite? Which game did you play the most on SNES? What’s your best memory about this console? Let us know in the comments below…