bsnes vs Snes9x
bsnes
github.comSnes9x
snes9x.comSide by side
| Figure | bsnes | Snes9x |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · SNES Emulators | 8.2 (#6) | 8.4 (#5) |
| Spec score · Game Console Emulators | 8.2 (#10) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Purpose | bsnes is a multi-platform Super Nintendo (Super Famicom) emulator focused on performance, features, and ease of use. | Snes9x is a portable emulator for playing most games designed for the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom systems. |
Plans
In their own words
bsnes
bsnes is a free, open-source emulator for Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games, with support for Super Game Boy and Satellaview. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Graphics options include HD Mode 7 with optional supersampling, a multi-threaded PPU renderer, and OpenGL multi-pass pixel shaders. The emulator also provides low-level emulation for SNES coprocessors such as DSP-n, ST-01n, and Cx4. It accepts standard ROM files, optional higan game folders, and 7-zip decompression, and can apply BPS and IPS soft patches. Its games database has thousands of entries, and its cheat database covers hundreds of popular games. Save states can include screenshot previews and names, with undo and redo. Other tools include rewind, frame advance, cheat code search, movie recording and playback, and screenshots. Speed settings are 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, and 200%, with smooth audio output retained. The project lists nightly builds for Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD.
Snes9x
Snes9x is freeware for playing most games made for the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom systems. Desktop builds are listed for Windows, Linux, and macOS, with additional libretro core builds for Android, Emscripten, Wii, Switch, GameCube, and PSP. Running games requires SNES ROM images. Snes9x can save game state to freeze files and game data to SRAM files. Windows documentation describes Game Genie and Pro-Action Replay cheat formats, a cheat search feature, and recording gameplay actions for later playback. Netplay is documented for as many as five players, but the project notes that it has not been maintained or tested in a long time and might be broken. The Unix documentation says the emulator does not reproduce exact sub-cycle timing between major system components, so games with strict timing needs may not run. The project lists the software as free, with a plan price of free. Its listed platforms include Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows.