Comparison of computer and video game console emulators

See also: Collection:Game ROM images

Emulator	Free inbuilt BIOS	Free inbuilt BIOS limitation	Android (64-bit):	F-Droid	Google Play (Aurora Store)	Libretro core (RetroArch AppImage/Flathub)	Libretro core (RetroArch Ubuntu package)	Libretro core (RetroArch Android 64-bit)	GNU/Linux:	Appimage (Trisquel compatible)	Appimage (appman)[5]	Appimage: Automatic update	AppImage: Nightly and/or continuous integration (CI)	Appimage: zsync files	Flathub	Binary	Binary: Automatic update	UI: Game compatibility column GNU/Linux	UI: Game compatibility column Android	Add exit options that prompt the user to save or discard progress
aps3e			Yes	No	Link	Requested			-	Working	-
ARMSX2			Yes	No	Yes	Requested	-II-	-II-	Yes: ARM	Working	-							?	?
Azahar			Yes	Rejected	Link	Yes	No	Yes		Not working	Yes	Requested	None		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Requested	Requested
Cemu			Alpha (Android 12 or later)[2][3]	-	-	Requested	-II-	-II-		Working	Yes	Yes	None		Yes	Yes		Requested	-	Requested
Citra (remove this entry when Azahar is avalible in RetroArch's Online Updater)			Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Yes (use it until Azahar libretro core has been released)	Use Azahar instead	Working	No	No			Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead	Use Azahar instead
DeSmuME	High-level emulation									Working	Unofficial				Yes
Dolphin	High-level emulation		Yes	5.0-20347	5.0-20347	Yes	No	Yes		Working	Unofficial		-		Yes			Not needed (stable)	Not needed (stable)
Eden			Yes			Still too young	-II-	-II-		Working	Yes				No
Flycast			Yes	Requested	Link	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Working	Yes	Requested	None		Yes			Not needed (stable)	Not needed (stable)
libretro-bsnes-hd						Yes	No	Yes		Working
MelonDS	High-level emulation									Working	Yes				Yes
MelonDS DS	High-level emulation								No	Working	No
NooDS	High-level emulation									Working	No
PCSX2			No	-	-	Known as "LRPS2"	No	No		Working	Yes	Yes	Nightly		Yes			Exists	-
Play!	Inbuilt	?	Yes	Requested	Yes		Experimental			Not working	Yes	Requested			Yes			Requested	Requested
PPSSPP	Simulated BIOS	No	Yes	1.18.1 (2024-12-21)	1.18.1 (2024-11-04)	Yes	No	Yes		Working	Yes	Fixed. Test it in v1.20.4 when v1.20.5 is released	Requested	Yes	Yes			Requested		Requested
RetroArch			retroarch.com	Synced with the latest release on retroarch.com (Missing data)	1.9.12 (2021-11-03)	-				Working	Yes	No	Nightly	Requested	Yes			No	No	Requested
RetroArch Beetle PSX core	OpenBIOS									Working
RetroArch Beetle PSX HW core	OpenBIOS					Yes	No	Yes		Working
RetroArch LRPS2 core	No									Working
RetroArch PCSX ReARMed core	Inbuilt high-level emulation BIOS	Yes[4]								Working
RetroArch SwanStation core	OpenBIOS									Working
RPCS3			Too early[1]	No		Requested	-II-	-II-		Working	Yes	Yes	CI		Yes (must be fixed: Add OpenGL support)			Exists	-	Requested
RPCSX			RPCSX-UI-Android	No	No (com.ps3.rpcs3emulator is fake)	Requested			-	Working								-	Requested
Ryujinx (Ryubing)			No	-	-	Still too young	-II-	-II-	Yes	Working	Yes	Bug	CI	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
ShadPS4									Yes	Not working	Yes	Yes			Yes
Vita3K			Yes	No	Link	Requested	-II-	-II-		Not working	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Exists	Exists
Xemu			No	-	-	Requested	-II-	-II-		Working	Yes	Requested	Nightly		Yes					Requested
Xenia Canary			No			Requested	No	No	Yes	Not working	Unofficial	Requested	Nightly		No	?	?

Extended table

Free software evaluation	High Priority Projects category, Collection/Project Team	Type	Runs in free distros	Development stage	Packaged for free distros	Review link	Review outcome	Notes
aps3e		7th generation: PlayStation 3			-			Source files have license headers but license files are missing
ARMSX2	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	6th generation: PlayStation 2		Alpha (crashes on many devices)
Azahar		8th generation: Nintendo 3DS	Flatpak tested in Trisquel 11		No			Azahar is a project which aims to revive and continue work on Citra. Citra is discontinued because Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit against Tropic Haze LLC.
Cemu	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	8th generation: Nintendo Wii U emulator	cemu-2.0-ubuntu-20.04-x64.zip, and Appimage tested with OpenGL settings in Trisquel 11	Stable	No	Requested Craig		https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemu
Citra (remove this entry when Azahar is avalible in RetroArch's Online Updater)		8th generation: Nintendo 3DS			Use Azahar instead			Citra is discontinued because Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit against Tropic Haze LLC. However, currently it is the only Nintendo 3DS libretro core for RetroArch.
Citron	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	8th generation: Nintendo Switch emulator						https://citron-emu.org/
DeSmuME		7th generation: Nintendo DS
Dolphin		7th generation, and 6th: Wii, and GameCube			No
Eden	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	8th generation: Nintendo Switch emulator						https://eden-emu.dev/
Flycast	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	6th generation: Dreamcast			-
Kenji-NX	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	8th generation: Nintendo Switch emulator	Not tested		No			Kenji-NX is a forked continuation of Ryujinx
libretro-bsnes-hd	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	4th generation: Nintendo - Super Nintendo			No			1280x1080 resolution without wide streching the screen! bsnes cannot do that.
MelonDS		7th generation: Nintendo DS
MelonDS DS		7th generation: Nintendo DS
NooDS		7th generation: Nintendo DS
PCSX2	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	6th generation: PlayStation 2			Yes
Play!		6th generation: PlayStation 2
PPSSPP		7th generation: PlayStation Portable			No
RetroArch Beetle PSX core		5th generation: PlayStation
RetroArch Beetle PSX HW core	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	5th generation: Sony PlayStation			No			Increase the resolution up to 12x! libretro-beetle-psx cannot increase the resolution at all.
RetroArch LRPS2 core		6th generation: PlayStation 2
RetroArch PCSX ReARMed core		5th generation: PlayStation
RetroArch SwanStation core		5th generation: PlayStation
RPCS3	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	7th generation: PlayStation 3 emulator	Appimage tested in Trisquel 11	Alpha	No			https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPCS3
RPCSX		7th generation: PlayStation Portable			-			Source files have license headers but license files are missing
Ryubing	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	8th generation: Nintendo Switch emulator	Flatpak tested in Trisquel 11		No			https://git.ryujinx.app/ryubing/ryujinx
ShadPS4	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	8th generation: PlayStation 4 emulator	Appimage requires GLIBC 2.38		No
Vita3K		8th generation: PlayStation Vita			No
Xemu	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	6th generation: Microsoft Xbox emulator	Appimage tested in Trisquel 11	?	No
Xenia Canary	Collection:Computer and video game console emulators	7th generation: Xbox 360	Requires GLIBC_2.38

DMCA takedown

• Nintendo Switch Emulators
  • https://github.com/eden-emulator/Releases
  • https://github.com/pkgforge-dev/Citron-AppImage
  • https://github.com/Kenji-NX/Android-Releases
  • Yuzu
  • Suyu
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryujinx

References

• 1:

## Use case
Games released for handheld game consoles don't have non-network multiplayer mode. So handheld game console emulators installed on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc) cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, you have to install home video game console emulators on the mobile device.

For example:
* ''Tekken 6'', distributed for PlayStation Portable (handheld game console), does not have a two player mode.
* ''Tekken 6'', distributed for PS3 (home video game console), has two player mode (called "VS Battle"). It would be possible to play it on a smartphone if a RPCS3 for Android version was released, by connecting two or game pads to the Bluetooth on the phone.

• 2: "There is currently an effort underway to port Cemu to Android over at https://github.com/SSimco/Cemu" - https://github.com/cemu-project/Cemu/issues/1351
• 3: Games released for handheld game consoles don't have non-network multiplayer mode. So handheld game console emulators installed on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc) cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, you have to install home video game console emulators on the mobile device.
• 4: "In case the PCSX ReARMed core can find no BIOS files named like this in RetroArch's system directory, it will default to a High-Level Emulation BIOS. This decreases the level of compatibility of the emulator..." - https://docs.libretro.com/library/pcsx_rearmed/
• 5: appman is a package manager for AppImages: https://github.com/ivan-hc/AM/