ares vs BizHawk
ares
ares-emu.netBizHawk
tasvideos.orgSide by side
| Figure | ares | BizHawk |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 0 |
| Spec score · Game Console Emulators | 9.0 (#1) | 7.7 (#20) |
| Spec score · Game Gear Emulators | 9.0 (#1) | 7.7 (#18) |
| Spec score · Multi-System Emulators | 8.9 (#2) | 7.6 (#34) |
| Spec score · Sega CD Emulators | 9.0 (#1) | 7.7 (#13) |
| License | The source code is distributed under the ISC license. | The repository says the BizHawk team's original work is provided under the MIT License, while warning that repository licensing is heterogeneous and advising users to contact the team about licensing details. |
| Purpose | ares is a cross-platform, open-source multi-system emulator focused on accuracy and preservation. | BizHawk is an emulation project whose EmuHawk app is a multi-system emulator with recording, playback, and debugging tools. |
| Windows requirements | Official Windows downloads support Windows 7 or newer, while AMD64 builds require at least Intel Nehalem or AMD Jaguar architecture. | Windows users must run the prerequisite installer first; the README says current releases require the MSVC++ redistributable and target Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 21H2 and later. |
Plans
In their own words
ares
ares is a free, open-source emulator for multiple systems, with a stated focus on accuracy and preservation. It supports systems including Arcade, Atari 2600, WonderSwan, ColecoVision, NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation, though some listed systems are experimental. Playback options include save states, run-ahead, rewind, and fast-forward. Pixel shaders and optional color correction can alter display characteristics, while Virtual Game-Pads let users configure controls for use across emulated systems. The interface framework uses WinAPI on Windows, Cocoa on macOS, and GTK2 or GTK3 on POSIX platforms. Simple debugging features such as trace logging support development of original software for supported systems. Windows builds support Windows 7 or later; AMD64 binaries require at least Intel Nehalem or AMD Jaguar architecture. macOS binaries require Catalina 10.15 and support Intel and Apple Silicon. The project prefers Linux users compile from source and points to third-party packages rather than official Linux binaries. Source code uses the ISC license. Android is not supported, and a BIOS is required.
BizHawk
BizHawk is an emulation project centered on EmuHawk, a multi-system emulator written in C#. It targets tool-assisted speedrunners with recording, playback, and debugging tools. EmuHawk records rerecordable movies for 45 or more systems, while the integrated TAStudio provides a piano-roll workspace for composing movies with savestates that rewind and adjust inputs. Other functions include save slots, named savestates, speed control, frame stepping, rewinding, screenshots, audio and video recording, and memory viewing, searching, and editing. Lua and C#.NET can control the frontend and emulator cores programmatically, and keyboard, mouse, and gamepad hotkeys can be rebound. Supported systems include Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Sony PlayStation, arcade machines, and DOS/Windows. BizHawk is free and open source, with the team’s original work under the MIT License. Installation instructions cover Windows and Unix, but current EmuHawk does not work on macOS; Android and iOS are unavailable.