The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, known in Japan as Super Famicom, is the 16-bit home video game console by Nintendo. It is always cited as one of the best video game consoles with a library full of timeless classics like the JRPG yet-surpassed Chrono Trigger, arguably a genre on its own The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and the unequivocally unique Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.
Even at its height, the SNES has its formidable opponent: the Sega Genesis / Megadrive. The commercials for and against the respective consoles are branded into everyone’s brain, that gamers exclaim “Nintendon’t!” to poke fun at Nintendo’s conservative approach to its products.
The emulators listed can run on every possible hardware with accuracy and speed given the maturity of the emulation scene of this video game console, and also modern hardware just brute force the SNES.
Here are the best Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulators that will give you a blast from the past.
1. bsnes

bsnes means business. It is the emulator that is largely known to be super accurate and 100% compatible to play commercial games. It is the benchmark as to how an emulator should be just like how SNES is regarded as the pioneering video game console that seeped through the mainstream consciousness. bsnes is based on higan, a now abandoned emulator which also has several emulators basing its foundation on it.
bsnes itself has a lot of forks that pick up its greatness. bsnes-hd is the latest fork that, as the name implies, introduces HD to the emulator’s feature set. HD Mode 7, for example, which renders different angled backgrounds at HD resolutions. This fork of bsnes also introduces widescreen, as at this point in time, there is the aspect ratio for video games is square. This extends the scenes of the games without necessarily distorting them. Other features include disabling background layers, sprites, and windows effects during screenshots. Unlike the main bsnes branch, bsnes-hd is meant for visual enhancement in exchange for pixel-perfect accuracy.
The other bsnes fork that is worth your time is bsnes-mt. bsnes-mt is better than the main branch in the following features: (1) pixel-perfect integer-ratio scaling both vertically and horizontally, (2) in “Center” and “Scale” modes, the aspect ratio is actually 4:3 instead of 64:49, (3) screenshots are saved in the PNG format in its uncompressed state, (4) built-in hotkeys, (5) more bug fixes and performance improvements.
There are other bsnes forks but only the two above are faithful enough with the significant feature set.
Pros
- Accurate and compatible across the board
- While not active development, it is actually perfect
Cons
- No standalone ports for mobile devices
2. ares

Remember the legend that bsnes had its followers? One of the is ares, a multi-system emulator. Unfortunately, just like its foundation, ares is only available as a standalone emulator for Windows, Linux, and macOS hardware. It also lacks a Retroarch core since, although being open-source, it has special licensing restrictions that preclude branches.
ares’ feature set includes save states, rewind and fast-forward, run-ahead options to reduce lag, pixel shaders, and color correction.
Pros
- Accurate
- Well-maintained and actively developed
Cons
- Available only in a desktop environment
3. Snes9x

Snes9x is only inferior to bsnes in the performance department, and that gap is not that significant. However, Snes9x is available for a broad range of devices. It has derivatives capable of running on every gaming hardware possible, mainstream or exotic. From the iOS and Android handsets to the desktop environment (its primary platform), from the Nintendo consoles–Wii, 3DS, and WiiU to Xbox hardware like the Xbox 360 and even the original Xbox. Snes9x also runs on PlayStation hardware namely the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable.
Pros
- Can run on hardware where higan or bsnes cannot run on
- Simple UI
- High compatibility
Cons
- Others are, plainly, just better
4. Retroarch

Retroarch isn’t technically an emulator. It serves as the user interface for emulators. It makes use of software emulator “cores” to execute emulated games. The biggest advantage of using frontend programs over standalone emulators like bsnes is the ease of switching between many platforms. When compared to standalone emulators, this has the disadvantage of being substantially more difficult to set up, though not impossible.
You can choose whatever core you want for SNES emulation but of course, bsnes just is perfect even as a core. But if you like some other cores, if Retroarch can run on the device, then SNES emulation should be able to. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is not that hard to emulate as compared to other video game consoles.
Retroarch improves SNES emulation even more with its lag compensation tool and Retroachievements. Retroarch’s distinguishing characteristic is its ability to reduce input lag. This is particularly important in platformers such as Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country and Metroidvanias such as Metroid and Castlevania and even the beat-em-ups like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Sports games also had an uptick in this console with NBA JAM and Super Punch-Out! hence input lag must be minimized at all costs.
You can experiment with the VSync, Hard GPU sync, and Runahead options depending on the game. To get what you want, you must first read about it on message boards and experiment with the settings. It takes some work to set things up, but the granular setting is available for the tinkerers.
The achievements acquired through Retroachievements are another wonderful component of Retroarch. It allows gamers to earn awards while playing emulated games. Unlike its competitors, Nintendo does not offer a system-wide trophy, gamerscore, or achievements. At the very least, Retroarch will provide such a service to Nintendo fans.
Pros
- Highly configurable
- Miraculous input lag reduction
- Available in a surprisingly broad range of gaming hardware including the PSP and the 3DS
Cons
- Not beginner friendly
- Menu digging
5. Delta

To be clear, emulation on iOS devices is not encouraged because it is both difficult and expensive. Although this should change soon given the legislation against Apple disallowing third-party stores.
Delta is similar to Retroarch in that it is a frontend application that uses cores as emulators, and it does emulate the Super Nintendo Entertainment System using the same core as Retroarch. Delta employs Snes9x as its SNES core.
Other than the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, this emulator can run older Nintendo systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy / Game Boy Color, and Nintendo DS (although DS emulation is outright broken). It was made by the same individual that created AltStore, which is required to install this emulator on your iPhone or iPad.
Beautiful UI designed for iOS device display and resolution, controller compatibility for not just MFi controllers but also PlayStation 4 and 5 controllers and Xbox family controllers, custom skins, save and load states, quick forwarding, and device syncing are among the features.
Pros
- Good compatibility across different systems
- Works for iOS
Cons
- Stagnated development
- Complex installation
6. Provenance

Provenance, like Retroarch, emulates platforms by using ports of standalone emulators. Its Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator is based on Snes9x as well as Mednafen. It advertises itself as a highly accurate emulator with full-speed emulation. Save states, battery saves, customizable controller overlay opacity, controller support for MFi controllers and iCade, local multiplayer, and Taptic Engine Button feedback are all included. Provenance development is on a rapid pace. Updates and commits occur almost weekly.
Pros
- Good feature set
Cons
- Installing methods is complex as it is only for iOS
7. L-CLASSICS

L-CLASSICS are the NES/Famicom and SNES emulators utilized by Nintendo’s Online Service (NSO). The Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is a video game platform subscription service for the Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch Online features include online multiplayer, cloud storage, voice chat via a smartphone app, access to a library of Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) titles, and additional promotions and offers.
The L-CLASSICS emulator also allowed you to save and load game states, rewind the game, and play online multiplayer. It also provides special game variants, such as a fully completed game or having unlocked a certain challenging level if you finish the entire game, or just a wonderful starting point to begin a new game.
Pros
- Accurate
- Good feature set
Cons
- Needs active subscription
- Switch only
- Only around 70 games
8. ZSNES

While the SNES in itself is a nostalgia bomb, ZSNES puts nostalgia on your nostalgia. Anyone who is a teenager during the 2000s would have run SNES games on their PCs with Pentiums and Semprons and even Macs using ZSNES. This is not a recommended emulator since its development has stopped since 2007. ZSNES is included in this list to reopen healed wounds and rekindle past traumas.
Pros
- At some point in time, the only emulator you need
- Speedy
Cons
- Inaccurate
- Dead and forgotten like your Emo phase
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