Manic EMU vs Nexen
Manic EMU
github.comNexen
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Manic EMU | Nexen |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.42/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 0 |
| Spec score · TurboGrafx-16 Emulators | 8.9 (#2) | 7.2 (#21) |
| Spec score · SNES Emulators | 8.9 (#2) | 7.3 (#20) |
| Spec score · Multi-System Emulators | 8.8 (#6) | 7.1 (#47) |
| Integrations | Cloud import supports Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Baidu, Aliyun, WebDAV, and SMB. | Nexen exports symbols, code/data logging, cross-references, and source maps to Pansy as part of the Flower Toolchain. |
| License | The upstream Manic EMU source is licensed under GNU AGPL-3.0, with separate notices for bundled cores and dependencies. | The project says its additions are released under The Unlicense while the base code remains under GPL v3. |
| Save states | Premium supports unlimited manual saves plus 50 automatic slots, while the free tier provides three save states. | It provides unlimited timestamped saves per game, a visual picker, and 36 rolling checkpoints at five-minute intervals. |
| Supported systems | The project lists Nintendo, PlayStation, Sega, Atari, arcade, MS-DOS, J2ME, Commodore, Neo Geo Pocket, PC Engine, Nokia Symbian and related systems. | The README lists NES, SNES, Game Boy and Color, Game Boy Advance, Master System and Game Gear, PC Engine, WonderSwan, and Atari Lynx as fully supported. |
Plans
Manic EMU
- FreeFree
- SideloadFree
- Sideload / GitHubFree
- Premium Monthly$0.99 a month
- Premium Monthly Plan$0.99 a month
- Premium Annual Plan$4.99 a year
- Premium Annual$5.99 a year
- Premium Forever Access$9.99, paid once
- Forever Access$11.99, paid once
In their own words
Manic EMU
Manic EMU is a free retro game emulator for iPhone and iPad, supporting more than 30 classic platforms across consoles, arcade, DOS, Symbian, and J2ME. It includes save states, auto-saves, fast-forward, cheats, shortcuts, filters, screenshots, and custom skins. Cloud import works with Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Baidu, Aliyun, WebDAV, and SMB. The project says iCloud sync keeps games, saves, and settings encrypted in the cloud across devices. Manic EMU integrates RetroAchievements and supports local multiplayer and Netplay on eligible Libretro cores. The free App Store build limits fast-forward to 2×, save states and cheat codes to three each, and controllers to one player. Premium plans cost $0.99 a month, $4.99 a year, or 9.99 USD once for lifetime access, and include higher fast-forward speeds, more save states and cheat slots, and extra controller players. A free sideload build includes premium play features but does not provide iCloud save sync. The app does not include ROMs, BIOS files, or game data.
Nexen
Nexen is a free, open source multi-system emulator for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It lists eight fully supported systems: NES, SNES, Game Boy and Color, Game Boy Advance, Master System and Game Gear, PC Engine, WonderSwan, and Atari Lynx. CPU and PPU emulation is cycle-accurate, with full coprocessor support listed for several SNES chips. Each game can have unlimited timestamped saves, a visual picker, and 36 rolling checkpoints at five-minute intervals. Movie tools support frame-by-frame recording and playback, rerecording, and imports and exports for BK2, FM2, SMV, LSMV, VBM, and GMV files. A TAS editor provides a piano-roll timeline, undo and redo, greenzone seeking, alternate branches, and Lua scripting. Debugging tools include a disassembler, memory viewer, breakpoints, trace and code/data logging, and a profiler. Nexen also lists rollback netplay and exports symbols, code coverage data, cross-references, and source maps to Pansy for the Flower Toolchain. Sega Genesis, Atari 2600, and Fairchild Channel F support remain in progress.