Nestalgia vs NET-NES
Nestalgia
tiagohm.github.ioNET-NES
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Nestalgia | NET-NES |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · NES Emulators | 7.9 (#8) | 7.4 (#13) |
| Compatibility | The site lists support for NES, Famicom, Famicom Disk System, Dendy, Vs. System, NSF and NSFe emulation. | The README says it passes nestest CPU instruction tests and lists many tested games as working, while noting some games may show glitches or freeze. |
| Downloads | The download section links Windows, Linux and Mac versions. | The project lists downloadable builds for win-x64, win-x86, osx-x64, osx-arm64, and linux-x64. |
| License | The GitHub repository identifies the project as GPL-3.0 licensed. | The software is distributed under the MIT License, which permits use, copying, modification, and distribution subject to the license conditions. |
Plans
In their own words
Nestalgia
Nestalgia is a work-in-progress emulator for NES and Famicom systems, built in Kotlin for Linux, macOS and Windows. It also emulates Famicom Disk System, Dendy, Vs. System, NSF and NSFe, and lists support for 305 mappers. The emulator includes save states, battery saves, overclocking and cheat codes, along with fullscreen display and screenshots. Audio, video, controller and emulation settings are configurable. More than 20 controllers are supported, including the NES Controller, Zapper, Power Pad and Four Score. The project lists passing CPU, video, audio, mapper and input accuracy tests. Windows, Linux and Mac downloads require Java 21 or newer. The project is free and open source under GPL-3.0, with no plan limits stated. Android is listed with an uncertain “Coming soon...or not :(” status. Developers can add its core library through JitPack using Gradle instructions. Nestalgia implements the emulator but does not include debugging tools.
NET-NES
NET-NES is a free Nintendo Entertainment System emulator written in C# that can run some NES games. Downloadable builds are listed for Windows, macOS, and Linux, including win-x64, win-x86, osx-x64, osx-arm64, and linux-x64. Launching the executable opens a basic graphical interface with options to open a ROM and view the manual. Command-line options include ROM loading, a CPU JSON test, window scaling, an FPS counter, and debug mode. Mapper 0 is supported, while Mappers 1, 2, and 4 are implemented experimentally. The project says it passes nestest CPU instruction tests and lists tested games as working, but some games may glitch or freeze. Its PPU uses scanline timing rather than dot-by-dot timing, so it is not cycle accurate and some games may be affected. A debugger, Mapper 3, player 2 controller support, and audio are listed as upcoming features. The project distributes the software under the MIT License.