The Emulation Megathread!

The place for all your rom, bios, and emulation needs!

This site has been officially discontinued! Thank you everyone for being amazing people! I had a blast meeting you all! It was a pleasure to create this website to guide people on how to play retro games on their platforms! The wiki isn't going to be worked on anymore, but if you'd like to pick it up, and completely give it a makeover, you can send me a mail or contact my discord! https://bambaisbanned.carrd.co/

For info about emulators, https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page is being updated frequently.

  1. Romsites
  2. Bios Files
  3. Emulators
    1. Emulation On Windows
    2. Emulators on VR (Oculus Quest 2)
    3. Emulation On Android
    4. Emulation On iOS
  4. FAQ
  5. Useful Stuff
    1. Emulators to use on a weak PC.
    2. Dolphin on Linux
  6. Credits/Contact
  7. To do list:

Romsites

Use UBlock! Origin! It is strongly advised to use UBlock Origin so you avoid clicking fake download buttons some rom sites might offer!

-! Teknoparrot link free fr - Use this if you are looking to emulate modern arcade games (as example Mario Kart Arcade GP DX) on PC.
http://teknoparrot.link.free.fr/ WARNING: I downloaded Ikaruga off this site, and i seem to got a virus. This probably was a joke. but be REALLY cautious while getting games from, here. Set up Windows Sandbox/VMware Workstation/Virtualbox/any sandbox.

Bios Files

Emulators

Emulators are used to load up your roms and get retro gaming! There are various benefits using it such as using Save States, Fast Forwarding, Cheats, Upscaling and way more!
Keep in mind that Xbox Series X, PS5 and IOS emulators don't exist yet. Any video telling you they are are a scam! (

Emulation On Windows

List of emulators recommended by bamba. Sorry MacOS Users! (For Linux click here)

  • Emulation Game Tech Wiki - Emulation On Windows, big list, big thing, handy thing.
    https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Emulators_on_Windows
  • RetroArch - Multi system emulator, requires configuration but it will reward you with a simple to use emulator. launch retroarch, connect ps4 controller and game on!
  • NES
    Mesen - Mesen is a Emulator for NES, probably the best out of there in my opinion. Supports HD Texture packs and has a cool suspend function.
  • SNES
    Snes9X - A classic, and still rocks to this day!
  • GBA
    VisualBoyAdvance/MGba
  • GB/GBC
    Sameboy
  • DS
    MelonDS - With wifi support and DSI support! Requires Bios Use https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_FGrjlpPt3qVMLrXfAxWFmrLjMOYrG3e/view?usp=sharing as DSI Bios
  • N64
    Project64/Simple64 - Project64's support splash screen sucks ass though but the best to use for beginners.
  • PS1
    Duckstation - quack Requires BIOS
  • PS2
    PCSX2 - Requires BIOS
  • PS3
    RPCS3 - Requires BIOS Please keep in mind if you are asking support for RPCS3 that you watch out what you say, cause they reaaaally HATE piracy.
  • PSP
    PPSSPP - PPSSPP Has a VR Version which runs on a Oculus Quest 2 and Pico.
  • Wii/Gamecube
    Dolphin (For Linux click here)
  • Wii U
    Cemu
  • Switch
    Ryujinx/yuzu - Your choice what to use. I prefer Ryujinx but that is just me.
  • Sega Genesis, Mega Drive
    BlastEm
  • Master System | Game Gear | Genesis | Mega Drive | Mega CD
    Genesis Plus GX
  • Sega Dreamcast
    redream - It is worth nothing that to play DC games in HD you have to buy premium. Check Useful stuff to find a trick to get premium unlocked for redream on PC!
  • Nintendo 3DS
    Citra

Emulators on VR (Oculus Quest 2)

Hi there. I own a Oculus Quest 2, and i tried emulation and PCVR on it. Here is what i tried so far.

The Quest supports android apps too, so you could check out Emulation On Android

  • PPSSPP VR (Quest)
    PSP VR Emulator. I have only tried Persona 1 so far, but the VR Works! Keep in mind the GUI can be buggy.
    https://sidequestvr.com/app/12379/ppsspp-vr
  • Dolphin VR (PCVR)
    Wii/Gamecube VR Emulator. I have played Mario Kart Wii, and it was lagging on my PC. Using Frameskip helped. It was a interesting experience, but not something i would try again. It is quite buggy, so you gotta tweak your settings to the right configuration for every game.
    https://dolphinvr.wordpress.com/
  • 3DSEN (PCVR) Paid
    NES VR Emulator. A fellow friend Nano had 3DSEN work beautiful with the games he tried with it like SMB, Metroid, Megaman, etc. There is a Demo available.
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/954280/3dSen_VR/?curator_clanid=35762166
  • EmuVR (PCVR)
    Retroarch VR Emulator. It is really cool! You can invite friends to your virtual room to play games on a screen together in VR. It also has virtual stuff like GunCons and putting the game into the console yourself is just chef's kiss
    https://www.emuvr.net/

Emulation On Android

List of emulators recommended by yours truly, bamba.

  • Lemuroid - The TOP pick. Multi emulator with NES, SNES, GBA, GBC, GB, PSX, Sega and more. And the best of it? No ADS!
  • Retroarch Multi System Emulator. It is worth setting up if you have a gamepad, but runs bad on weak phones.
  • PS1
    Duckstation - The best free and open source
  • PS2
    AetherSX2 - Has ads now due to some drama going on. Older apk's don't have them.
  • PSP
    PPSSPP
  • PSVita
    Vita3K
  • Switch
    Skyline
  • Wii/Gamecube
    Dolphin
  • Nintendo DS
    MelonDS (For weak devices use Drastic)
  • Nintendo 3DS
    Citra
  • Nintendo 64
    Mupen64Plus FZ - Sadly has ads now, but you can just download a older apk or get the pro one.
  • GBA
    Pizza Boy GBA
  • GBC/GB
    Pizza Boy GB
  • SNES
    Snes9x EX+ - I can't find another good SNES emulator, but i recommend using Lemuroid.
  • NES
    Lemuroid
  • Dreamcast
    Reicast/redream
  • Conclusion: Use Lemuroid for old consoles. Others have ads, and i ABSOLUTELY HATE ads.

Emulation On iOS

List of emulators for iOS recommended by AxeOne.

Emulation on ios is a bit harder than on android. You need a pc with AltStore to install the IPA(an ipa is basically an APK but for IOS) for emulators.

  • Retroarch
    Retroarch can be used on iOS but its a bit of a trouble to use it (works on both jailbroken and un-jailbroken devices).
  • Provenance EMU
    Provenance EMU is an multi-emulator frontend simillar to retroarch that works on "cores". It doesn't require a jailbreak since it can be installed with AltStore. It has cores for Atari, Bandai, NEC, Nintendo(everything till wii), Sega, SNK and Sony(PS1,PS2 PPSSPP). For more info visit the official website: https://provenance-emu.com/.
  • Delta
    Delta is the go to emulator for iOS . It has emulation for NES, SNES, N64, GBC, GBA and DS. It can be used in both portrait mode and landscape. Portrait mode has a cool skin that can be changed(there are online skins for all emus that delta has) and it can also work with a controller (i recommend bluetooth controllers). For more info visit the github page: https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta
  • Playstation 1
    As far as i know PSX4iphone is the only emulator for ps1 and it sucks. Provenance EMU has a PS1 core that works a lot better than this. Use that instead of PSX4iphone.
  • Playstation 2
    Play! is a pretty good emulator for ps2. It runs decently well and doesnt crash much. I dont use it a lot but overall its better than any other ps2 emulators i tried. Provenance EMU also has a Play! core if you'd rather use that.
  • Wii/Gamecube
    The only Wii emulator i know of is Dolphin iOS(despite its name, its a separate project from the PC and android dolphin emulator). It sometimes lags and crashes on older iPhones but on newer (8+) its runs well. There is now also a Dolphin core for Provenance EMU that may work better on older devices but i haven't tested.
  • PSP
    Just like on android, PPSSPP. Its just good. Both ios and android. Provenance EMU also has a core for PPSSPP.
  • Dreamcast
    I recommend Flycast.Only problem i had with it is it didnt recognise some of the games i tried to play on it.

PS: Notice how i didnt mention NES, SNES, N64, GBC, GBA and DS? Thats because delta is the best for all of them.

FAQ

Useful Stuff

Emulators to use on a weak PC.

Hi there, bamba here. I used to own a weak PC and weak Laptop. I did emulation on it, and i am going to share you my experiences i had.
I had a laptop with Intel Celeron N4120?, 4gb DDR4 and Intel UHD 600 Graphics, so if you have a system like this, you might want to check this out. I really recommend upgrading if you have the chance to do so.

  • Retroarch
    It performed worser, and lagged on N64 games, so i didn't like retroarch at all.
  • Project64
    Aside from the support screen, it ran pretty well using Glide64.
  • Dolphin
    Dolphin worked, but i didn't reach 100% at all games on native settings.
  • Cemu
    I was very suprising to run Super Mario 3D World at full speed with noticeable dips here and there! I used the Texture Pack to run some graphical sacrifices, such as changing the resolution of the game to a smaller resolution. Mario maker playable too.
  • Citra
    Couldn't reach full speed, i was really figuring out how to reach full speed on Mario Maker, but i just used the Wii U Version instead.
    I was reaching 50% speed at most times, so i gave up on that.
  • MelonDS
    It couldn't reach full speed at all times, sad.
  • Other Retro Consoles
    Emulators such as VBA, SNES9x just ran well. The older consoles before the Gamecube released.
  • CXBX
    I was able to run xbox games faster with CXBX. I only tried Metal Slug (the arcade title) and it ran well.

Dolphin on Linux

Made by CymBIOseD

Sources used here will be at given at the end .This might be subjected to changes. This is a broad stroke, since Linux has an absurd amount of distros I cannot possibly test all of them.

For the sake of transparency currently used machine runs:

OS: EndeavourOS Linux x86_64

Kernel: 6.2.9-arch1-1

CPU: Intel i5-4200U (4) @ 2.600GHz

GPU: Intel Haswell-ULT

Memory: 1545MiB / 15895MiB

These hardware and distro specs are equally subjected to future changes. when in doubt remember "google is your friend" & "read your distribution's documentation".

=================================================================

Debian: sudo apt install dolphin-emu

This version is severely outdated and should not be used. My recommandation is to build from source check the documentation on this

==================================================================

Ubuntu: Ubuntu users have the option to add several PPA's that are supported by either running the following commands for the STABLE version:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:dolphin-emu/ppa sudo apt update sudo apt install dolphin-emu

OR the DEVELOPMENT version by running the following commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:dolphin-emu/ppa sudo apt update sudo apt install dolphin-emu-master

I am going to omit the instructions for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS users since no reasonable person oughta be using a version this outdated.

==================================================================

Fedora: run the following command:

dnf install dolphin-emu

the required dependencies will automatically be installed.

==================================================================

openSUSE: install from the software page for dolphin-emu
http://software.opensuse.org/package/dolphin-emu

or alternatively run the following commands:

zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/Emulators.repo zypper ref zypper in dolphin-emu

==================================================================

Arch Linux: run the following command:

sudo pacman -S dolphin-emu

for the official repo package (WARNING THIS VERSION IS SEVERLY OUTDATED)

alternatively there are several packages available on the Arch User Repository (AUR)

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages?O=0&K=dolphin-emu

These are unofficially maintained packages

==================================================================

outside of official packages, user maintained packages stale repos and unstable repos. there is also the option to build Dolphin from Source.

seeing how this is the only way you get the latest version of Dolphin available since most packages are outdated or orphaned,Dolphin devs no longer update linux packages. and this works for distributions outside of the previously mentioned ones I HIGHLY advice this method over any of the previous ones if you are comfortable with it.

I will be building, compiling and running Dolphin on an Arch based distro so instructions will be for the aforementioned. if you run a diffirent distro consult the following page + your Distro's documentation

https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Building_Dolphin_on_Linux

==================================================================

Arch install build dependencies: the following dependencies are needed before building Dolphin

⎗
✓
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git
cmake
pkg-config
gcc
libwxbase3.0-dev
libwxgtk3.0-dev
libgtk2.0-dev
libxext-dev
libreadline-dev
libgl1-mesa-dev
libevdev-dev
libudev-dev

next install git if you haven't already

sudo pacman -S git

next well clone get a local copy of the repository by running:

git clone https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin.git dolphin-emu

after it's done we'll need to change our current directory to ne freshly cloned repo's one by running:

cd ./dolphin-emu

if you want to make sure you are in the right directory just run

pwd

to print out the current directory

next we'll pull the git submodules by running:

git submodule update --init --recursive

in the future should we want to update the local copy without repeating all the previous steps we run the following command inside the dolphin-emu directory:

git pull origin

if you want to build the current stable version (5.0) instead of the development version we run (NOTE: check out the "HOWEVER" section first before you blindly run the command):

git checkout tags/5.0

HOWEVER! I am building the development version today since Dolphin tends to have months to years of important and functional updates between their development/unstable/experimental/nightly builds and their stable builds

next create a subdirectory and cd into it I'll be using "DolphinEmu" but you can choose any name for it you want.

We'll be configuring our build in the next step. sometimes you will to do this in the dolphin-emu directory instead of than our newly created "DolphinEmu" subdirectory. but for now let's create it first and change into it by running:

mkdir DolphinEmu && cd DolphinEmu

now we configure our build. I can configure my build just fine in the DolphinEmu subdirectory and can build just fine with gcc version 12.2.1 so I will just ru the following:

cmake ..

next up we'll "make" our build by running:

make -j$(nproc)

This is a resource heavy process so if you have potato hardware like me it'll take a while.

Tip! if you're cold now's a good time to put your feet up or next to your PC to get em nice and toasty :)...or y'know go make a cup of coffee like a normal person idc lol. I took the time to pop a pizza in the oven.

now that our build is made we'll install it by running:

sudo make install

congratulations you build the latest version of Dolphin from source!
you can run it by running:

dolphin-emu

you can now set up your controls add games and ofc play them

=================================================================

Credits/Contact

Want to contribute to the megathread? Do you have a cool link, idea or whatsoever to add, or a problem or just a question?
Contact bambaisbanned#6312 on discord, or AxeOne#2531 !
I might post some stuff related to emulation but im not sure so here's mine aswell: https://www.youtube.com/@axeonee I'm no longer affiliated to this wiki.
Special thanks to CymBIOseD for the Dolphin on Linux part!

To do list:

Add Jailbreak/Console Modding tab
More info for Linux/MacOS users
do some tidying?

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Pub: 28 Mar 2023 21:08 UTC
Edit: 27 Nov 2024 08:44 UTC
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