Tom's Guide: 9 Nintendo Emulators for Desktop PCs

By Jane McEntegart
published

Check out Tom's Guide's latest story on Nintendo emulators!

Today's games might have stunning graphics and intricate story lines, but it's hard to beat the classics from the early days of video games, isn't it? Last week, the Tom's Guide team rounded up a few Sega emulators for fans of old Sega classics. Now it's time the Nintendo fans had their turn. Be sure to check out '9 Nintendo Emulators for Desktop PCs' and prepare to dust off your collection of games!

Last week, we took a look at a few emulators written to allow users to play classic Sega console games on their desktops. This week, we're going to focus on programs written to emulate various Nintendo consoles on desktop PCs. Have a hankering to revisit your classic NES, SNES, Gameboy and Gamecube games? Read on!9 Nintendo Emulators for Desktop PCs

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Jane McEntegart
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • TunaSoda
    Why would I want to run an emulator on my PC's 26" LCD when I can just use my actual NES with my 50" TV and my two wireless NES Advantage arcade controllers? :D
    Reply
  • Angry Bellic
    LOVE IT!!! OR GET LOST!
    Reply
  • TunaSodaWhy would I want to run an emulator on my PC's 26" LCD when I can just use my actual NES with my 50" TV and my two wireless NES Advantage arcade controllers?I agree, but some of us have a broken nes that doesn't work and i am tired of blowing into the cartage till tears flow down my cheeks and chest.
    Reply
  • dextronaut
    jupiter optimus maximusI agree, but some of us have a broken nes that doesn't work and i am tired of blowing into the cartage till tears flow down my cheeks and chest.
    lmaoooooooo thats the funniest thing Ive read all day and possibly week.
    I personally rock the SNES.
    Reply
  • TunaSoda
    jupiter optimus maximusI agree, but some of us have a broken nes that doesn't work and i am tired of blowing into the cartage till tears flow down my cheeks and chest.Way easy & cheap fix
    Reply
  • elbert
    Ill stick with nesticle for my Nintendo emulation. Zsnes is about the best one I have used for super Nintendo. For the super Nintendo I have always used ultrahlp and project 64.

    I know this isn't the place but I have found stella to be about the best Atari emulation.
    Reply
  • TunaSoda
    What about RockNESX? Best I've used
    Reply
  • filenotfound
    are you kidding me?
    no$GBA is your listed best NDS emulator?.... its utter trash...
    it has horrid compatibility with games
    the way it handles game saves is horrible
    it has no extra features or settings
    its been a dead project for over 3 years

    DeSmuME is a FAR FAR FAR better emulator, and has been for a few years now....


    As for the comment above about emulation vs console
    quite a few of the emulators can play games as good as consoles can, with the added bonus of texture mods, HQ filters and AA/AF, HD resolutions...
    you go ahead and play an nes on a 50" tv at like 420x240 resolution....

    and you can use an hdmi cable from your computer > a tv.... like really... its not like its that hard to do or that uncommon....

    Like i own every console, but i prefer emulators, since you can do much more with them. GC/WII/PS2 at 1080P with like 3-6x IR and 2-8AA! ppssh, after playing like that, the use of real consoles should be illegal...

    Gaming on a pc is ALWAYS better then gaming on a console, even when you playing a console system/game on a pc.
    Reply