EMULATORS and ROMs



Update: 8/16/00: If you're looking for warez, you're in the wrong place.
I've been informed that this page is receiving a lot of hits.
So in response, I'm going to remake this page and include some updates as well.
Be on the look out.

Updated: 7/27/99: UltraHLE, Snes
                 7/24/99: UltraHLE
                 7/23/99: Arcade@Home, MAME
                 7/22/99: UltraHLE

This page is dedicated to some of the sites I tend to visit quite often for video game Emulators and ROMs for your computer. The majority of all emulators are designed with Windows 9x operating systems in mind though I have crossed some Mac and Unix. Hard to find, though. Also I suggest at least a Pentium II (or equivalent processor) and at least 64M RAM.

My current system:
Pentium II 333 * 128M RAM * 12M Black Magic Voodoo2 * 32M ATI Rage Fury Video Card *
Sound Blaster Live! * Windoze 98 * Microsoft Sidewinder Gamepad

Neo Geo

I use the NeoRAGEx emulator. It's very stable and produces a nice GUI interface. It supports the Microsoft Sidewinder perfectly and games ranging from Mutation Nation to Art of Fighting 3 work flawlessly. Some of the Samurai Shodown and King of Fighter games have slightly distorted sound though the games still function properly.

Super Nintendo

Zsnes is the emulator I play with. Nicely done though the GUI interface has a look of out-of-date. But once the games begin, it's just like the actual console. Besides being able to save games as normal, you may save the state the machine currently is in at that moment...meaning you can save the game at any point and any time. Very handy. I couldn't get Mortal Kombat 2 working but Killer Instinct I have a blast with as well as Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series.
[Update 7/27/99] I've recently downloaded and tested another Snes emulator called Snes9x. It supports 3Dfx and has a much better graphic capabilities. Though joystick configuration was a bit of a hassle and trying to simply bring the menu bar down during a game was very annoying and troublesome. Hopefully they'll correct this as this is a very nice emu.

Nintendo

Nesticle has been the emulator choice for your Nintendo enjoyment. This emulator has been around for quite a while and it still kicks ass. The GUI interface is great and easy to use. Video settings are easily adjustable as well as your choice of input and sound. Play the classics such as Dr. Mario, Dragon Warrior, Double Dragon, Contra and the first ever Final Fantasy.

System 16

Now, the only reason why I got the System 16 was mainly for one game...Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. For those who are or were once true hardcore video gamers like myself, you would've remembered this arcade game in the late 1980s. Though cheesey, I get such a kick playing this game and the emulator simply named System 16 is the only one that plays this game. Easy GUI interface but only a handful amount of games to play.

Genesis

Genecyst is the emulator I use. Nice and easy to use GUI interface though I must admit, I was never big into anything Genesis. Yes, I was a Nintendo freak. But besides that point, I got the emulator as there are some very worth noting games for Genesis. Ecco, Toe Jam & Earl and the Sonic games just to name a few. Very good emulator.

Atari 2600

By far, the easiest and probably the most popular emulator for the Atari 2600 is Stella. With well over 500 games to play with hardly taking a dent in your hard drive space, this is a very good choice. The display is not full screen but only windowed though joystick is supported. These games bring back memories such as Adventure, Pitfall, Space Invaders, Asteriods and hundreds more. The whole program is very simple and not intended to provide complications.
[Update 6/18/99] I just upgraded to version 1.1 from my old version of 0.7. Fullscreen and a much better interface. But still not sure if I like it. I'll let you know more later on after playing some games on it.
[Update 6/21/99] Yes, I like the new version. =) You can find it here

Arcade

There are numerous arcade emulators out there but the one that supports the most games is the M.A.M.E. series. I currently use mame32 beta 35 as my emulator. It's a GUI interface though it seems to pick up quite a few flaws in some of game ROMs I have. Probably 10 of my ROMs don't work. There is a DOS version of M.A.M.E. as well and it seems more stable and able to play a bit more games but is a pain to start up and get running. I'll suffer the few games I lose for simplicity since this is, after all, just games. =) Some of the games I can get going are Magic Sword, Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden (the arcade, not the nintendo version), Moon Patrol, Satan's Hollow and ,yes, Street Fighter II works!
[Update 7/23/99] The new version of MAME is out yet still beta testing. Grab it here.

Game Boy

The emulator I have is SMYGB. It does your standard Game Boy as well as Color Game Boy ROMs. It's good as an emulator. I'm sure there's better but I don't plan on getting jiggy with this system anytime soon.

Others

I don't have all of these and the ones I do I'm still testing and reviewing, but I keep up-to-date on the latest news.

Bleem!

There is a Playstation emulator out called Bleem!. I have a test version on my computer and, yes, it was able to read and play the intro of my Bushido Blade game. But it was very sluggish so I'm going to wait for a bit while they work on this. Check out the latest on Bleem! here

N64 UltraHLE (Ultra High Level Emulator)

There is in works some N64 emulators. A few are out but I've yet to see any of them to work. They're still in early stages, are very buggy and most likely won't work (mine didn't). Give it some time.
[Update 7/22/99] The emulator UltraHLE for N64 seems to be heading nowhere. The original coders gave up and any plans for making this emu work seems it won't be happening anytime soon.
[Update 7/24/99] I couldn't believe it. I got the N64 UltraHLE emulator to work. Was playing Super Mario 64 and it looks fantastic...though the controllers don't work and ended up having to use the keyboard which somewhat sucks. You need to have at least a Pentium II 300, 64M RAM and a Voodoo 3D accelerator to play these games.
[Update 7/27/99] I've found a profile for Microsoft Sidewinder. **site is down**

Handheld Consoles

There are working Game Gear and Atari Lynx emulators out for those wanting to play the hand-held games. I've seen working emulators for both out there though their names slip me. If you search hard enough, you'll find them easily.

Turbo-Graphix 16

I had a Turbo-Graphix 16 emulator though it lacked sound so I tossed it. There're are a few other emulators available as well but I've never cared enough in wanting to play Bonk. =)

Misc.

Other emulators for Coleco, Atari 5200 and 7800, Amiga and the Commodore are out there as well as other obscure ones (Apple II?). Check out the links I have below for guidance.

Arcade@Home

[Update 7/23/99] I've recently downloaded Arcade@Home. It basically does the same thing MAME32 for windows does. It's an interface to run the DOS version of MAME. So far it's not too bad. For some reason it won't recognize my Microsoft Sidewinder yet it sees a generic 6-button gamepad. Right now I'm testing it with the new MAME32. Pretty cool to play news games like Street Fighter Zero (Alpha).

I can't guarantee all the links to be linkable at these sites. I've noticed in my hard search for these places that they go down often or suddenly change. That's what happens when you tip-toe on the bounds of copyright infringement. =) But I hope to keep this page updated as often.

Classic Gaming Vault

A good site for all sorts of ROMS and a few emulators. I got a good number of my Neo Geo ROMs here. Don't be suprised if you get a bit lagged or have trouble getting a game here. This site is fairly popular but realiable during internet off-peak hours. So far, this site seems stable and isn't going down anytime soon.

The Emulation Zone

A bit rustic look but offers alot of links to emulators and ROMs. Not all links are still functioning. It became a bit frustrating getting 'Site Down' when I wanted a particular game. But still, the library is huge and with patience of weeding through all the links, you'll find some goods ones.

Rom Finder

A real good site if you're in the search for ROMs. Basically, you choose the emulator you want which then takes you to a list of sites that have ROMs for the choosen emulator. It lists the site's name and what games it has before entering that site. Though a few links may be lost, I recommend this site as a place to start for your ROM collection.

The Wonderful World of Emulation

Site is down
Not a bad place. Most of the ROMs are broken links. Some of the emulators I listed above can be found here. It's worth checking out.

EMUX.com

This site kicks ass. All the links are good for both ROMs and emulators. Plus, it gives a history of all gaming consoles made. This is a site you should not miss! Great place to find most of the emulators I have listed above.


A Few Tips


It took me a while to figure this out. Not all ROMs are suppose to be unzipped but rather stay in their zipped forms in order to work. But...a few other emulators require their ROMs to be unzipped. So anways, MAME, System 16, NeoRAGEx must have their ROMs stay in zipped format. Nesticle, Zsnes, Genecyst, SMYGB and UltraHLE must have their ROMs unzipped.

Place your ROMs in a seperate folder as well. Makes it a bit neater as over time they get numerous and unorganized.

Don't ask me to email you a ROM or emulator or where you can find a certain game. If you can access this site, then you're big enough and smart enough to simply follow the links I have up above.