Editing Nintendo Entertainment System emulators

{{Infobox console
|title = Nintendo Entertainment System
|image = Family Computer.png
|image2 = nes-t.png
|imagecaption = The Family Computer (above) and Nintendo Entertainment System (below).
|developer = [[:Nintendo]]
|type = [[:Category:Home consoles|Home video game console]]
|generation = [[:Category:Third-generation video game consoles|Third generation]]
|release = 1983 (Famicom)<br/>1985 (NES)
|discontinued = 1995 (NES)<br/>2003 (Famicom)
|predecessor = [[Color_TV-Game_emulators| Color TV-Game]]
|successor = [[Super Nintendo emulators|Super Family Computer / Super Nintendo Entertainment System]]
|emulated = {{✓}}
}}
{{for|emulators that run on the Nintendo Entertainment System|Emulators on NES}}
The '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System Nintendo Entertainment System]''' (NES) is an 8-bit, third-generation console originally released as the '''Family Computer''' or '''Famicom''', in Japan, on July 15, 1983. The Famicom retailed for ¥14800. The console would be redesigned as the NES and released on October 18, 1985 in North America. The NES retailed for {{Inflation|USD|179.99|1985}}. It had a Ricoh 2A03 CPU at 1.79 MHz with 2 KBs of RAM.

The earliest games released on the Famicom suffered from significant hardware constraints due to the way the Famicom was designed: limited memory addressing (which meant games had a small maximum ROM size), how the graphics were loaded onscreen, just the native sound processing was available, no saving... To solve this problem, Nintendo came up with two solutions:

* The '''Family Computer Disk System''' (FDS). A Japan-only [[#Hardware features and accessories|add-on]] that played games from a semi-custom variant of Mitsumi's Quick Disk format. It offered slightly higher data storage and slightly enhanced sound processing. It also had a microphone never found anywhere else. There were plans to release it in the US; however, since the NES had its launch delayed to late 1985, and the mapper solution obsoleted it, the [[#Hardware features and accessories|add-on]] was never exported, and some of its exclusives were ported as regular cartridge releases.
* '''Memory Management Controllers''' (MMC), also known colloquially as '''[[#Mappers|mappers]]'''. They solved every aforementioned problem with bank switching for much more data, onboard FM audio chips, and much more. Most games released after 1986 that really pushed the system to its limits used mappers. A similar solution was used for the Game Boy.

Emulation for the Famicom/NES is robust, with many high-quality emulators for various systems and cycle-accurate emulation possible on even moderately powerful devices.

==Emulators==
Like for [[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Color]], tons of NES emulators exist. For a list of open-source projects, see this [https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=nes+emulator&type=Repositories GitHub query].
<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
! scope="col"|Latest version
! scope="col"|[[#Hardware_variants|Hardware<br/>Variants]]
! scope="col"|[[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]
! scope="col"|[[#Hardware features and accessories|Hardware features<br/>and accessories]]
! scope="col"|[[#Mappers|<small>Mappers Support<br/>Level</small>]]
! scope="col"|[[Emulation Accuracy|Accuracy]]
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="11"|PC / x86
|-
|[[Mesen|Mesen]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2#development-builds Dev builds]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<br/>[https://github.com/NovaSquirrel/Mesen-X/releases/ 2023-09-11] ([[Mesen#List_of_forks|Mesen X]])<br/>[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen/releases 0.9.9] (Mesen 1)
|{{~}}
|{{Y}}
|{{Y}}
|[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2/tree/master/Core/NES/Mappers Unlicensed]
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[puNES]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|FreeBSD}}
|[https://github.com/punesemu/puNES#floppy_disk-work-in-progress-wip-builds- WIP builds]<br> [https://github.com/punesemu/puNES/releases {{PuNESVer}}]
|{{~}}
|{{Y}}
|{{Y}}
|[https://github.com/punesemu/puNES#electric_plug-supported-mappers Unlicensed]
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[Nestopia|Nestopia UE]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Web}}
|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core] <br> [http://0ldsk00l.ca/nestopia/ {{NestopiaVer}}] <br> [https://gitlab.com/jgemu/nestopia/ Nestopia JG git]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{Y}}
|[https://github.com/0ldsk00l/nestopia/commits/master/source/core/board Unlicensed]
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[FCEUX]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Sol|Web}}
|[http://www.fceux.com/web/download.html {{FCEUXVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro (FCEUmm)]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{Y}}
|Unlicensed
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[ares]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://nightly.link/ares-emulator/ares/workflows/build/master <abbr title="Latest development build version">git Artifacts</abbr>]<br/>[https://github.com/ares-emulator/ares/releases {{aresVer}}]
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|?
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[BizHawk]]<br/><small>(QuickNES)(NESHawk)</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://gitlab.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/-/pipelines Dev Builds]<br/>[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|?
|?<br/><small>[[BizHawk#Supported_systems|(Core dependent)]]</small>
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[Nintendulator]]/NRS
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://unlicensed.games/libg/static.php?page=NintendulatorNRS 2023-12-23]<br/>[http://www.qmtpro.com/~nes/nintendulator/#downloads {{NintendulatorVer}}]
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|[https://www.mediafire.com/file/l56fw5ozxu1w36d/nintendulatorNRS-src-mappers_2022-09-12.7z/file Unlicensed]
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[3dSen]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[http://www.geodstudio.net/ {{3dSenVer}}]
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|[https://steamcommunity.com/app/954280/discussions/0/1643170903498517164/ <small>Only for selected titles</small>]
|Game dependent
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[MAME]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|<abbr title="Latest development version">git artifacts</abbr><ref group=N>[https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-windows/master CI-Windows] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-linux/master CI-Linux] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-macos/master CI-Macos]</ref></br>[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|[https://github.com/mamedev/mame/tree/master/src/mame/nintendo Unlicensed]
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[QuickNES]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Web}}
|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<br/>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180904003223/https://kode54.net/fb2k/QuickNES.zip {{QuickNESVer}} (legacy)]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrActiveonly>Libretro core is still active.</ref>
|{{✗}}
|-
|BeesNES
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/L-Spiro/BeesNES  git]
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|?
|Subcycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}} (WIP)
|-
|breakNES
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/emu-russia/breaknes/releases {{BreaknesVer}}]
|{{✗}}
|{{?}}
|{{✗}}
|?
|Gate-level
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}} (WIP)
|-
|[[MetalNES]]
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/iaddis/metalnes git]
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|?
|Transistor-level
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}} (WIP)
|-
|[https://jsgroth.dev/jgnes jgnes]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|Web}}
|[https://github.com/jsgroth/jgnes git]
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|Licensed
|Cycle-based
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|-
|[https://prilik.com/ANESE ANESE]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/daniel5151/ANESE/releases 0.9.1]
|?
|{{~}}<abbr title="Only supports widescreen hack, streamable compression support and fast-forward at the moment.">*</abbr>
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://fms.komkon.org/iNES iNES]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Solaris}}
|[https://fms.komkon.org/iNES {{INESVer}}]
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[HDNes]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9935#p109627 git]
|?
|{{~}}<abbr title="Only supports sprite replacement.">*</abbr>
|{{?}}
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[FinalBurn Neo]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<br/>[https://github.com/finalburnneo/FBNeo/releases/tag/latest WIP builds]
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|{{NC}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[higan]] (火眼)<br/>byuu (謬/view)
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/higan-emu/higan/releases {{higanVer}}]
|{{?}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|?
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[VirtuaNES]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://virtuanes.s1.xrea.com/ 0.97]
|?
|?
|{{?}}
|?
|Low
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[nemulator]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://nemulator.com/downloads.html {{NemulatorVer}}]
|?
|?
|{{?}}
|?
|Medium
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|Nesemu
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/tsalvo/nes-emu-ios {{NesemuVer}}]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|HalfNES
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/andrew-hoffman/halfnes {{HalfNESVer}}]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[Jnes]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://www.jabosoft.com/categories/3 1.2.1]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[NESticle]]
|align=left|{{Icon|DOS|Windows9x}}
|[http://web.archive.org/web/20070227191851/http://www.zophar.net/NESticle/nestcxxx.zip x.xx] (DOS) <br /> [https://web.archive.org/web/20070116124329/http://www.zophar.net:80/NESticle/nestc042.zip 0.42] (Win9x)
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|?
|Low
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[RockNES]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://rocknes.web.fc2.com {{RockNESVer}}]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|High
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[RetroCopy]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://segaretro.org/RetroCopy 0.960]</br>[https://www.emucr.com/2012/08/retrocopy-v100-beta-5.html 1.00 Beta 5]
|
|
|
|?
|?
|{{N}}
|{{N}}
|{{N}}
|-
|rew.
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://archive.org/details/rew12stx_202406/ rew12stx]
|?
|{{✗}}
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|-
!colspan="11"|Mobile / ARM
|-
|[https://docs.libretro.com/library/nestopia_ue/ Nestopia_libretro]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}
|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|Unlicensed
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://docs.libretro.com/library/fceumm/ <abbr title="FCEUMappersModified is an unofficial build of FCEU Ultra by CaH4e3, which supports a lot of new mappers including some obscure mappers such as one for unlicensed NES ROM's">FCEUmm_libretro</abbr>]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}
|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|Unlicensed
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://www.explusalpha.com/contents/nes-emu NES.emu]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Pyra}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalpha.NesEmu&hl=en_IN&gl=US {{.emuVer}}][https://github.com/Rakashazi/emu-ex-plus-alpha git]<small> (Android)</small><br/>[https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps/80 1.5.46.02]<small> (Pyra)</small>
|?
|?
|?
|Unlicensed
|?
|{{✓}}<br/><small>(Android only)</small>
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|FreeiNES
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Maemo}}<br/>{{Icon|Symbian}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fms.ines.free&hl=en_US&gl=US 6.1.4]<small> (Android)</small><br/>[https://fms.komkon.org/iNES/ines_3.6.5-1_armel.deb 3.6.5]<small> (Maemo)</small><br/>[https://www.mobiles24.co/downloads/s/229852-184-ines 3.6] <small>([[Emulators on Symbian|Symbian]])</small>
|?
|{{~}}<abbr title="Only supports netplay">*</abbr>
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|VGBANext
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fms.emu&hl=en&gl=US {{VGBANextVer}}]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|GPFCE
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|Pandora|GP2X}}<br/>{{Icon|Wiz}}
|[http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.gpfce.notaz 0.81.0.r2]<small> (Pandora)</small><br/>[https://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/gp2x.cgi?0,0,0,0,71,2136 0.4 r313] <small>(GP2X)</small><br/>[https://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/wiz.cgi?0,0,0,0,71,51 0.4+] <small>(Wiz)</small>
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|vNES
|align=left|{{Icon|Java|Symbian}}
|[http://web.archive.org/web/20111010231155/http://www.vampent.com/vnes.htm 1.7 (S60v3)][https://github.com/Summeli/vNes-Asha git]<br/>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061202055857/http://www.vampent.com:80/files/vNesJ2ME.zip 1.2][https://web.archive.org/web/20211119171128/https://emul.lark.ru/dendy/emu/vnes.html alt]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|Nostalgia.NES
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nostalgiaemulators.neslite 2.0.9]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|John NESS
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.johnemulators.johnness 1.09]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[Jnes]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jabosoft.silverarrow 1.2.6.26]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|nesemu
|align=left|{{Icon|Pandora|Wiz|Dingoo}}
|[https://code.google.com/archive/p/nesemu/downloads 0.2.3 Beta Preview]<br/><small> (Pandora)</small>[https://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/wiz.cgi?0,0,0,0,71,235 V1] <small>(Wiz)</small><br/>[https://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/dingoo.cgi?0,0,0,0,71,181 0.2] <small>(Dingoo)</small>
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[Nestopia]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Pandora}}
|[https://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=nestopia-app V2]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|Cycle
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|Nesemu
|align=left|{{Icon|iOS|AppleTV}}
|[https://github.com/tsalvo/nes-emu-ios git]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|Pocket Nester+
|align=left|{{Icon|WinMobile}}
|[https://www.zophar.net/wmsphone/nes/pocketnester+.html 0.9]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|nintaco
|align=left|{{Icon|Java}}
|[https://nintaco.com/ 2020-05-01]
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|?
|Unlicensed
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|-
|[https://eightbitwonders.gitlab.io/app 8-Bit Wonders]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://f-droid.org/packages/de.rainerhock.eightbitwonders 0.8] (F-Droid)</br>0.8 (Play)</br>0.8 (Amazon)</br>[https://gitlab.com/eightbitwonders/app git]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|roadmap
|-
!colspan="11"|Consoles
|-
|Nestopia
|align=left|{{Icon|PS4|PS3}}<br/>{{Icon|PSP|NGC}}<br/>{{Icon|Wii|WiiU|3DS}}<br/>{{Icon|360|Xbox}}
|[https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms libretro core]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|Unlicensed
|Cycle
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|QuickNES
|align=left|{{Icon|PS2|PSP}}<br/>{{Icon|PS3}}<br/>{{Icon|PS4|Vita|NGC}}<br/>{{Icon|Wii}}<br/>{{Icon|Switch|WiiU|3DS}}
|[https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms libretro core]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrActiveonly></ref>
|{{✓}}
|-
|FCEUmm
|align=left|{{Icon|PS2|PSP}}<br/>{{Icon|PS3|PS4}}<br/>{{Icon|Vita|NGC|Wii|WiiU}}<br/>{{Icon|3DS|NX|Xbox360}}
|[https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms libretro core]
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|Unlicensed
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[FCEUX|FCE Ultra GX]]
|align=left|{{Icon|GCN|Wii|WiiU}}
|[https://github.com/dborth/fceugx/releases {{FCEUXGXVer}}]
|?
|?
|{{~}}
|Unlicensed
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
| pNES
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita}}
|[https://github.com/Cpasjuste/pemu/releases git]
|?
|?
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|FCEUltra for PS2
|align=left|{{Icon|PS2}}
|[https://www.emuparadise.me/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_Emulators/Playstation_2/FCEUltra/146 0.9.3]<br/>[https://mundowiihack.wordpress.com/tag/fce-ultra 0.90i Mod]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|High
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[https://hcs64.com/neon64.html Neon64]
|align=left|{{Icon|N64}}
|[https://github.com/hcs64/neon64v2 git]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|nesDS
|align=left|{{Icon|NDS}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/nesds/files/nesds1.3a.zip/download 1.3a]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|{{~}}
|-
|PocketNES
|align=left|{{Icon|GBA}}
|[https://www.dwedit.org/gba/pocketnes_2013_07_01.zip 7-1-2013]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[Nintendo Switch Online]] <small>([[L-CLASSICS]])</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
|2.3.0
|?
|{{~}}
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[Virtual Console]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|3DS|WiiU}}
|N/A
|?
|?
|?
|Official
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[NES Remix]]<br/><small>([[Heritage]])</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|WiiU|3DS}}
|HeriC
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|VirtuaNES for 3DS
|align=left|{{Icon|3DS}}
|[https://github.com/TBirdSoars/VirtuaNES git]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|Low
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|NESBox
|align=left|{{Icon|XB1}}
|[https://nesbox.com v4]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|Mega Everdrive Pro
|align=left|{{Icon|MD}}
|N/A
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|NesterJ<ref group=N>AoEX is based on NesterJ 1.12 Plus 0.61 RM, which includes features like rewind, cheat code support, rotated/mirrored screen, sepia palette, support for rare mappers (the pirate bootleg FF7 works on it), etc. Its compatibility is inferior to 1.13 beta 2.</ref>
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
|[http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-nesterj-113-beta-2-f27533.html 1.13 beta 2]<br />[http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-nesterj-112aoex-r3-f29028.html AoEX]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|imbNES
|align=left|{{Icon|PS1}}
|[http://web.archive.org/web/20090221132233/http://imbnes.gamebase.ca:80/downloads.html 1.3.2]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
||[[Project Nested]]
|align=left|{{Icon|SNES}}
|[https://github.com/Myself086/Project-Nested/releases {{ProjectNestedVer}}]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[[NeMul]]
|align=left|{{Icon|MD}}
|[http://pscd.ru/games/smd/nsmd/1247-nemul.html 1.0]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="11"|Calculator
|-
|[https://zardam.github.io/webnofrendo numworks-nofrendo]
|align=left|{{Icon|Numworks}}
|[https://github.com/zardam/numworks-nofrendo git]
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/432/43217.html NESpire]
|align=left|{{Icon|Nspire}}
|[https://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/432/43217.html 0.30] <br> [https://github.com/tangrs/nespire-tangrs-mod git]<small> (tangrs-mod)</small>
|?
|{{✗}}
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[https://github.com/tswilliamson/nesizm NESizm]
|align=left|{{Icon|Prizm}}
|[https://github.com/tswilliamson/nesizm/releases/tag/v1.00 1.00]
|?
|{{✗}}
|?
|?
|?
|{{✓}}
|{{?}}
|{{~}}
|}
</div>
<references group=N />

===Comparisons===
*[[Mesen|Mesen]] is a [[Emulation_accuracy|cycle-accurate]] NES emulator. Also, it is very user-friendly and supports lots of [[#Enhancements|enhancements]], [[#Hardware features and accessories|hardware features and accessories]], [[#Hardware_variants|variants]] and [[#Mappers|mappers]] that other emulators are missing. It also supports [[GoodTools|goodmerged]]. Latest versions require [https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet .NET 6]. This is the most compatible NES emulator of the cycle-accurate variety.

*[[puNES]] is another [[Emulation_accuracy|cycle-accurate]] NES/FDS emulator. It is deemed as the second most compatible NES emulator of the cycle-accurate variety.

*[[Nestopia]] also is a [[Emulation_accuracy|cycle-accurate]] NES/FDS emulator. Nestopia has issues with [[Wikipedia:The_Young_Indiana_Jones_Chronicles_(video_game)|''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'']] and doesn't display the status bar in [[Wikipedia:Mickey%27s_Safari_in_Letterland|''Mickey's Safari in Letterland'']] correctly (among other problems). Nestopia Undead Edition is a fork of Nestopia meant to keep it alive and fix the aforementioned bugs. This version is generally recommended over vanilla. Even the libretro core for Nestopia is the Undead Edition.

*[[Nintendulator]] also is a [[Emulation_accuracy|cycle-accurate]] NES/FDS emulator. NintendulatorNRS is a fork of Nintendulator that supports the Famicom Disk System, rare mappers, VRT chipsets, and many unlicensed and bootleg carts and systems.

*[[FCEUX]] is a [[Emulation_accuracy|highly-accurate]] NES/FDS emulator and it supports lots of [[#Mappers|unlicensed mappers]], on top of this it's a [https://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources recommended emulator on TAS Videos]. The New PPU implementation is more [[Emulation_accuracy|accurate]] than the Old PPU implementation. The emulator is very useful; thanks to its robust Lua scripting and incorporating FCEUmm into its feature set. Included with BizHawk as NESHawk.

*BeesNES is aiming for [[Emulation_accuracy|subcycle accuracy]]. Currently it is a work-in-progress, but it is already including [[#Enhancements|enhancements]] like; [[NTSC_filters#NTSC-CRT_by_LMP88959_.28EMMIR.29|NTSC-CRT]], [https://github.com/L-Spiro/BeesNES#other-features debugger, disassembler, assembler and various TAS features].

*breakNES is aiming for [[Emulation_accuracy|gate-level accuracy]]. Currently it is a work-in-progress and requires [https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet .NET 6].

*MetalNES is aiming for [[Emulation_accuracy|transistor-level accuracy]], however it is a currently work-in-progress.

*For official emulation, there is Nintendo's own [[Virtual Console]] or [[L-CLASSICS|Nintendo Switch Online]]. The Wii has a significantly larger library of NES games to choose from than the 3DS or Wii U, especially from third-party publishers.

There are many other NES emulators not listed here, as the NES has more emulators than any other system (new ones are started all the time). Only those that are well-known or stand out in some ways are covered here.

==Mappers==
A key difference between many emulators nowadays is how many mappers they support.
* '''No mapper:''' Supported on every emulator, even official Nintendo emulators.
* '''Official mappers''' (UNROM, AOROM, MMC1-6): Most emulators, as well as Nintendo's Virtual Console (but not their GBA emulators), will cover these.
* '''Third-party mappers''' (Various: e.g., Konami's VRC6/VRC7) While officially licensed by Nintendo, they were not allowed outside Japan. As a result, for their Western releases, many games that took advantage of their features (advanced ROM mapping, extra sound channels) were reprogrammed significantly and shipped on the official mappers, often with simplified soundtracks. A lot of fan emulators worth their salt will cover these. With those, you cover the entire officially licensed library.
* '''Unlicensed mappers:''' Mostly used by pirate cartridges, often long past the console's official commercial lifespan. Only the most active and recommended emulators will even bother covering them in a whack-a-mole quest for every new one discovered to this very day. If you're not interested in '''unlicensed''' Chinese or Russian bootlegs or newer unofficial NES demakes, it isn't a problem.

The NES ROM information isn't sufficient to describe the cartridge and emulate it, so emulators have to include the layout and behavior of these mappers in their code. At the same time, the ROM header tells the emulator which mapper to choose. So unlike with other consoles, no matter how accurate a given NES emulator will get, it will still never be able to run newly discovered ROM dumps from cartridges that used a so-far unknown mapper. Thus, Unlicensed NES support will be inevitably incomplete and a constant work-in-progress, hence claims some emulators are "inaccurate".

Related to this issue: This is why most emulators won't run unheadered NES ROMs. Newer versions of Nestopia can open those, but they're handled in a slightly different way: the information that would have been included in the iNES header is instead provided in emulator configuration files that get summoned as long as the ROM's hash matches exactly the No-Intro dump of that given game (which is inconvenient for ROM hacks).

==Enhancements==
{{Stub}}
<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;width:100%"
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! colspan=2 | Name
! Mesen
! FCEUX
! puNES
! Nestopia UE
! ares
! QuickNES
! MAME
! BeesNES
! breakNES
! MetalNES
! Nintendo Switch Online<br/><small>([[L-CLASSICS]])</small>
|-
| rowspan=3 | Graphics
| [[Resolution|Resizable Internal Resolution]]
| colspan=11 | For emulation of 2D systems, the resolution can only be upscaled, making the pixels more apparent.
|-
| [[Widescreen_hacks#NES|Widescreen hack]]<br/><small>Using [https://prilik.com/blog/post/widenes/ wideNES] technique (similar to [[Widescreen_hacks#Emulators_.282D.29|wideGB]]); it can automatically “map-out” levels and worlds in NES games.</small>
| colspan=11 | Exclusive to [https://prilik.com/ANESE ANESE] emulator at the moment.
|-
| [[Texture_packs#NES|Sprite Replacement]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/hdpacks.html *]
| {{N}}
| {{Y}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
|-
| rowspan=1 | Performance
| [[Overclocking#NES|Overclock]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/emulation.html#overclocking *]
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| {{N}}
|-
| rowspan=5 | [https://tasvideos.org/Emulatorresources/Features TAS features]
| [[Wikipedia:Macro_(computer_science)|Macros/Scripts]]/[https://tasvideos.org/LuaScripting Lua]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/debugging/scriptwindow.html *]
| {{Y}}
| {{N}}
|
|
|
| {{Y}}[https://docs.mamedev.org/plugins/inputmacro.html *]
|
|
|
|
|-
| Rewind
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/emulation.html#general-options *]
| {{N}}
| {{Y}}
|
|
| {{Y}}
|
|
|
|
| {{Y}}
|-
| Fast-Forward/Turbo Speed
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/emulation.html#general-options *]
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
|
|
| {{Y}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| Savestates
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
|
|
| {{Y}}
|
|
|
|
| {{Y}}
|-
| [https://tasvideos.org/Movies Movie recording/playback]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/tools.html#movies *]
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
|
|
|
|
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
|
|-
| rowspan=4 | Post-Processing
| [[Shaders_and_filters|Filters]]
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{Y}}
|-
|[[Shaders_and_filters#AI-powered filters|AI-powered filter compatible]]<br/><small>([https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/gfecnt/nvidia-freestyle-ansel-enhancements-geforce-experience-article/ Freestyle])</small>
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|-
| [[Shader_Presets|Shader Chain]]
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{N}}
|
| {{Y}}
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
|
|
|
|
|-
|[[High_dynamic_range#Inverse_tone_mapping|Inverse tone mapping compatible]]
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|-
| rowspan=6 | Quality of life
| Per-Game Profiles
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/video.html#overscan *]
| {{?}}
| {{Y}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|-
| Command Line Options
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/gettingstarted.html#command-line-options *]
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|-
| Built-in [[Cheats_and_patches|Cheat Manager]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/tools.html#cheats *]
| {{?}}
| {{Y}}
| {{?}}
| {{Y}}[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1ay6fm1/ares_v136_released/krslaki/ *]
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|-
| Built-in [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106405 Custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes]<br/><small>For using this on Windows OS you need [http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1009#p1009 CRT Emudriver].<br/>Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility".</small>
| colspan=11 | Exclusive to [https://docs.libretro.com/guides/crtswitchres/ libretro cores] and [[GroovyMAME]] at the moment.<br/>Also there is a [https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTer project] for achieving software emulators like  libretro cores and GroovyMAME send the raw RGB data over a network to a core running on MiSTer, it basically turns the MiSTer into a GPU for the emulator allowing for easy setup and use with CRT TVs/Arcade monitors.
|-
| [[Save_disk_space_for_ISOs|Streamable compression format]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/emulation.html *]
|
|
|
|
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|
|-
| [[Frontends#Graphical_User_Interfaces_.28GUIs.29|Big Picture Mode]]
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA>Exclusive to [https://docs.libretro.com/library/fceumm/ FCEUmm], [https://docs.libretro.com/library/mesen/ Mesen], [https://docs.libretro.com/library/nestopia_ue/ Nestopia] libretro cores. Also there is a [https://github.com/RetroAchievements/RANes modified version of fceux] that supports RetroAchievements.</ref>
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{N}}
| {{Y}}
| {{Y}}
|
|
|
| {{Y}}
|-
| rowspan=1 | Controls
| [[Input_lag|Input lag-mitigating technique]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/emulation.html *]
|
|
|
|
| {{Y}}
|
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
|
|-
| rowspan=5 | Misc
| [[Netplay#NES|<abbr title="Should not be confused with Famicom Modem emulation, see #Hardware features and accessories section for more information.">Netplay</abbr>]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/tools.html#netplay *]
| {{Y}}
| {{N}}
| {{Y}}
| {{X}}
| {{Y}}
| {{N}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{Y}}
|-
| AI Service<br/><small>With the help of <abbr title="optical character recognition">OCR</abbr> and other techniques, the AI service can provide a live translation of a game, or text-to-speech capabilities for the visually impaired among other things, either on demand or automatically.</small>
| colspan=11 | Exclusive to [https://docs.libretro.com/guides/ai-service/ libretro cores] at the moment.
|-
| [[Virtual_reality#VR_game_room_simulations|EmuVR support]]
| colspan=11 | Exclusive to [https://www.emuvr.net/wiki/Installation_Guide#Downloads libretro cores] at the moment.
|-
| [https://retroachievements.org/gameList.php?c=7 RetroAchievements]
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{N}}
| {{~}}<ref group=N2 name=RA></ref>
| {{N}}
| {{Y}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
|-
| [[Wikipedia:Category:Debugging|Debug features]]
| {{Y}}[https://www.mesen.ca/docs/debugging.html *]
| {{Y}}
| {{N}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{N}}
| {{Y}}[https://docs.mamedev.org/debugger/index.html *]
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{N}}
|}
</div>
<references group=N2/>

==Hardware features and accessories==
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Name
!Mesen
!Emulator 2
!Emulator 3
!Emulator 4
!Emulator 5
|-
|Zapper Lightgun
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|Power Pad Side A B
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Family Trainer Side A B
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Arkanoid Paddle
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|SNES Controller
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|SNES Mouse
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Virtual Boy Controller
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|old Famicom P2 Controller Microphone
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|
|-
|Microphone
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Hypershot Lightgun
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Hypershot Pad
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Turbo File
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Battle Box
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Barcode Battler
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Exciting Boxing
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Top Rider
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Multitap
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Game Genie
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Action Replay
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Trackball
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Pachinko
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Partytap
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|-
|Oeka Kids Tablet
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|
|-
|Disk System
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|Disk 1 2
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Datach Card
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|-
|Family BASIC
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|
|-
|Data Recorder
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|-
|3D Glasses
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Miracle Piano
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Network System
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|
|
|
|-
|Mahjong
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Soft Reset and Hard Reset
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Copy, Cut & Paste for Family BASIC
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Cartridge Hot Swapping for new NES and old and new FC (an example: [https://bilibili.com/BV1AT411k7t3?p=1 Super Mario Bros. + Tennis])
|higan support it, so ares may also support
|
|
|
|
|-
|[https://errors.fandom.com/wiki/Cartridge_tilting Cartridge Tilting]<abbr title="for new NES and old and new FC">*</abbr>
|
|
|
|
|
|}
There were many accessories released for the Famicom and NES but Emulation in General only covers accessories that are truly differentiated data streams from the basic controller. For example, the Power Glove is, in actuality, just a really complicated NES controller designed to convert motion into D-PAD, SELECT, START, A, and B button commands. The same goes for R.O.B. and his  ''Stack-up'' and ''Gyromite'' games because he was really just the second player. Strangely, the Famicom has a lot more peripheral hardware to emulate than the NES.<ref>[[Wikipedia:List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories|List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories]]</ref><ref>[https://problemkaputt.de/everynes.htm#controllers ProblemKaputt: NES controllers]</ref>

<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
! scope="col" style="width:200px"| Picture
! scope="col" style="width:200px"|Name(s)
! scope="col" style="width:300px"|Description
! scope="col" style="width:150px"|Game(s)
! scope="col" style="width:100px;text-align:center"|Support emulator(s)
! scope="col" style="width:300px"|Note
|-
|[[File:NES Zapper.png|200px]]
!Zapper
|An electronic light gun accessory that allows players to aim at the display and shoot various objects that appear on the screen.
|''[[Wikipedia:The Adventures of Bayou Billy|The Adventures of Bayou Billy]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Barker Bill's Trick Shooting|Barker Bill's Trick Shooting]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Day Dreamin' Davey|Day Dreamin' Davey]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Duck Hunt|Duck Hunt]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Freedom Force (video game)|Freedom Force]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Gotcha! The Sport!|Gotcha! The Sport!]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Gumshoe (video game)|Gumshoe]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:The Hunt for Red October (console game)|The Hunt for Red October]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Hogan's Alley (video game)|Hogan's Alley]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Laser Invasion|Laser Invasion]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:The Lone Ranger (video game)|The Lone Ranger]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Mechanized Attack|Mechanized Attack]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Operation Wolf|Operation Wolf]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Shooting Range (video game)|Shooting Range]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:To the Earth|To the Earth]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Track & Field II|Track & Field II]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Wild Gunman|Wild Gunman]]''
|Various
|Emulated in the form of a mouse click (PC), tap (for mobile), remote ([[Wii emulators|Wii]] ports of NES emulators), or faked pointers using a controller.
|-
|[[File:ArkanoidVausController.jpg|200px]]
!Arkanoid/Vaus Controller
|A specific game controller with one button to "fire" and a dial to control back-and-forth movement.
|''[[Wikipedia:Arkanoid|Arkanoid]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh|Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Chase H.Q.|Chase H.Q.]]''
|Various
|N/A
|-
|[[File:NES-power-pad.jpg|200px]][[File:Family Trainer.jpg|200px]][[File:FamilyFunFitness A.png|200px]][[File:FamilyFunFitness B.png|200px]]
!Power Pad<br/>Family Trainer<br/>Family Fun Fitness
|A game controller that allows players to step on a gray floor mat with 12 pressure-sensors embedded between flexible plastic to control gameplay.
|''[[Wikipedia:Stadium Events|Stadium Events]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Dance Aerobics|Dance Aerobics]]''<br/>''Athletic World''
|[[FCEUX]]
|N/A
|-
|[[File:NES-Four-Score.jpg|200px]][[File:NES Satellite.png|200px]]
!NES Four Score<br/>NES Satellite<br/>4-Player Adaptor
|A multitap accessory that enables up to 4-player gameplay using infrared wireless communication.
|''[[Wikipedia:R.C. Pro-Am II|R.C. Pro-Am II]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Bomberman II|Bomberman II]]''<ref group=N>Up to three players only.</ref><br/>''[[Wikipedia:Gauntlet II|Gauntlet II]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Nintendo World Cup|Nintendo World Cup]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)#Video games|A Nightmare on Elm Street]]''
|Various
|Emulated by having the option to switch between 2-player and 4-player mode or just enabling/disabling Player 3 and Player 4's controller.
|-
|[[File:Family Computer Disk System.png|200px]]
!Family Computer Disk System & FDS
|''See above''
|''[[Wikipedia:Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels|Super Mario Bros. 2]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:The Legend of Zelda (video game)|Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Metroid|Metroid]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Kid Icarus|Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Castlevania (1986 video game)|Akumajō Dracula]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Ice Hockey (1988 video game)|Ice Hockey]]''
|<small>[[Mesen]]<br/>[[puNES]]<br/>[[Nestopia|Nestopia UE]]<br/>[[ares]]<br/>[[BizHawk]]<br/>[[Nintendulator|Nintendulator NRS]]<br/>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/fceumm/ FCEumm_libretro]<br/>[[FinalBurn_Neo]]<br/>[[higan]]<br/>[[MAME]]<br/>[https://fms.komkon.org/iNES iNES]<br/>[[Jnes]]<br/>[[RockNES]]<br/>[https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Nintendo_Entertainment_System_emulators&diff=58606&oldid=57673#Emulators Others...]</small>
|The BIOS file (which can be found [[Emulator_Files#NES_.2F_Famicom|here]]) is required for FDS emulation. Note that there are two versions of the BIOS: one that comes with FDS and another that comes with Sharp's [[Wikipedia:Twin Famicom|Twin Famicom]]. They function identically despite showing a different intro during the first boot.
|-
|[[File:DATACH JOINT ROM SYSTEM.png|200px]]
!DATACH <br> <small><i>Datach Joint ROM System</i><small>
|Bandai add-on that lets the Family Computer play a few suitable games. Swiping cards to obtain a character.
|[https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z:_Gekit%C5%8D_Tenkaichi_Bud%C5%8Dkai Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budōkai]<br/>[[Wikipedia:Crayon Shin-Chan: Ora to Poi Poi|Crayon Shin-Chan: Ora to Poi Poi]]<br/>[https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Yu_Yu_Hakusho:_Bakutou_Ankoku_Bujutsukai Yu Yu Hakusho: Bakutou Ankoku Bujutsukai]<br/>[https://retrostuff.org/2019/03/23/bandai-datach-ultraman-club-spokon-fight-barcodes-for-mame/ Ultraman Club: Supokon Fight!]<br>[https://retrostuff.org/2019/05/12/bandai-datach-sd-gundam-gundam-wars-barcodes-for-mame/ SD Gundam: Gundam Wars]<br>[[Wikipedia:Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament|Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament]]<br>[[Wikipedia:J. League Super Top Players|J. League Super Top Players]]
|[[MAME]]<ref group=N name=barcode>Input box by entering the barcode number on the card.</ref><br>[[Mesen]]<ref group=N name=barcode>Input box by entering the barcode number on the card.</ref><br/>[[puNES]]<ref group=N name=barcode>Input box by entering the barcode number on the card.</ref><br/>[[FCEUX]]<ref group=N name=barcode>Input box by entering the barcode number on the card.</ref>
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Famicom Controller Microphone.png|200px]]
!Microphone
|A Japan-exclusive, built-in feature in the original Player 2 Famicom controller that allows players to use an external sound source (e.g., the player's voice) as input.
|''[[Wikipedia:Atlantis no Nazo|Atlantis no Nazo]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Jinsei Game#Famicom|Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Jinsei Game#Famicom|Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Doraemon (1986 video game)|Doraemon]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Family BASIC|Family BASIC V3]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Kid Niki: Radical Ninja|Kaiketsu Yanchamaru]]''<br/>''Kamen Rider Club: Gekitotsu Shocker Land''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Kid Icarus|Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Star Luster|Star Luster]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Star Soldier (video game)|Star Soldier]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Little Ninja Brothers|Super Chinese 2]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Takeshi's Challenge|Takeshi's Challenge]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Hyrule Fantasy: Legend of Zelda]]''
|[[Mesen]]<ref group=N name=microphone>Cheated by pressing any specific key ("M" by default).</ref><br/>[[puNES]]<ref group=N name=microphone/><br/>[[VirtuaNES]]<ref group=N name=microphone/><br/>[[Virtual Console]]<ref group=N>Through an actual microphone.</ref>
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Family BASIC.png|200px]]
!Family BASIC
|A Japan-exclusive peripheral with an enhanced [[Wikipedia:BASIC|BASIC]] programming language dialect. It allows users to create programs in the Famicom. It has a specially designed cartridge, keyboard, and Data Recorder.
|''[[Wikipedia:Family BASIC|Family BASIC]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Family BASIC|Family BASIC V3]]''
|[[Mesen]]<br/>[[Nestopia|Nestopia UE]]<br/>[[FCEUX]]<br/>[[puNES]]<br/>[[VirtuaNES]]
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Famicom Data Recorder.jpg|200px]]
!Family Computer Data Recorder
|A Japan-exclusive compact cassette tape data interface as an addition to the Family BASIC to save data from BASIC programs created by users. The Data Recorder was also used in a select number of games as a method of saving data.
|''[[Wikipedia:Family BASIC|Family BASIC]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Family BASIC|Family BASIC V3]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh|Arkanoid II]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Castlequest|Castle Excellent]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Excitebike|Excitebike]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Lode Runner|Lode Runner]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Mach Rider|Mach Rider]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Nuts & Milk|Nuts & Milk]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Wrecking Crew (video game)|Wrecking Crew]]''
|[[Mesen]]<br/>[[Nestopia|Nestopia UE]]<br/>[[puNES]]<br/>[[VirtuaNES]]
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Famicom 3D System.jpg|200px]]
!Family Computer 3D System
|A Japan-exclusive active shutter glasses headset that allowed compatible games to display a stereoscopic image for a 3D experience.
|''Attack Animal Gakuen''<br/>''Cosmic Epsilon''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Falsion|Falsion]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:List of Mario racing games#Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally|Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally]]''<br/>''Fuuun Shourin Ken: Ankoku no Maou''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Rad Racer|Highway Star]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner#Sequel|JJ: Tobidase Daisakusen Part II]]''
|[[RetroArch]]<br/>[https://discord.com/channels/976404869386747954/976412672486678568/1183159919864713256 Ares?]
|[https://github.com/libretro/glsl-shaders/tree/master/stereoscopic-3d GLSL shaders] are needed for RetroArch to simulate the 3D experience with a [[Virtual reality|VR]] headset, 3D TV, 3D projector or Android phone with cardboard.
|-
|[[File:Miracle Piano Teaching System.png|200px]]
!Miracle Piano Teaching System
|An accessory that used an electronic MIDI keyboard as input.
|''[[Wikipedia:Miracle Piano Teaching System|Miracle Piano Teaching System]]''
|[[MAME]]<br/>no$nes<br/>Nintaco<br/>[https://forums.nesdev.org/viewtopic.php?t=17135 FCEUX mod]<br>[[MiSTer]]
|N/A
|-
|[[File:ASCII TurboFile I.png|200px]][[File:ASCII TurboFile II.png|200px]]
!ASCII TurboFile<br/>ASCII TurboFile II
|A Japan-exclusive external storage device for saving game positions on Famicom.
|''[[Wikipedia:Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord|Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds|Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:River City Ransom|Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari]]''<br/>''[[Wikipedia:Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord|Haja no Fūin]]''
|[[VirtuaNES]]
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Oeka Kids Tablet.jpg|200px]]
!Oeka Kids Tablet
|A Japan-exclusive drawing tablet for the Famicom ''Oeka Kids'' series.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160927112920/http://www.ne.jp/asahi/oroti/famicom/ish15.html ファミコンの周辺機器が大集合!　ザ☆周辺機器ズ　15] (Archived)</ref>
|''Oeka Kids: Anpanman no Hiragana Daisuki''<br/>''Oeka Kids: Anpanman to Oekaki Shiyou!!''
|[[Mesen]]<br/>[[Nestopia|Nestopia UE]]<br/>[[FCEUX]]<br/>[[puNES]]<br/>[[VirtuaNES]]
|N/A
|-
|[[File:RacerMate CompuTrainer Pro.png|200px]]
!RacerMate CompuTrainer Pro
|A rare series of peripherals for the game ''RacerMate Challenge II''. It has an interface box, a bike trainer, and a handlebar display.<ref>[http://www.nesmuseum.com/racermate.html NES Museum: RacerMate Challenge II]</ref>
|''RacerMate Challenge II''
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|[[File:NES Game Genie.png|200px]]
!Game Genie
|A pass-through device that is attached between a cartridge and the console that allows the player to manipulate various aspects of games and access unused assets and functions by temporarily modify game data.
|Various
|[[FCEUX]]<ref group=N name=gamegenie>Cheat authentically by using a Game Genie ROM.</ref><br/>[[puNES]]<ref group=N name=gamegenie/>
|Most emulators have a GUI to manage cheats and don't rely on real hardware cheating devices.
|-
|[[File:Family Computer Network System.png|200px]]
![[Early_Online_Services|Family Computer Network System]]
|A Japan-exclusive network peripheral that allowed users to connect to a Nintendo server that provided extra content such as jokes, news, game tips, weather forecasts, horse betting and downloadable content via dial-up modem.
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|[[File:SNES Mouse.png|200px]]
!SNES Mouse
|There have been quite a few NES romhacks coming out that add support for the SNES mouse to NES games.
|[https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/7718/ Maniac Mansion Mouse Hack]
|[[Mesen]]
|There is a feature request for [https://github.com/libretro/libretro-fceumm/issues/566 adding this to fceumm-libretro].
|-
|
!Famicom Network Controller
|A Famicom controller that adds a number pad, used on [[Early_Online_Services|early online services]].
|
|[[FCEUX]]
|
|}
</div>
<references group=N/>

==Hardware variants==
===PlayChoice-10===
MAME is the only emulator that properly emulating the PlayChoice-10 system at the moment, [https://forums.nesdev.org/viewtopic.php?p=148572 most of the NES emulators only play the PlayChoice-10 games as a normal NES game].

===VS. System===
An arcade system based on the NES released for the US. It was released in two different cabinet variations: '''Vs. UniSystem''' and '''Vs. DualSystem'''. The latter has double chipsets on the PCB and is capable of handling two different programs or simply two separate copies of a single program simultaneously.

Most emulators support games in Vs. UniSystem cabinet by setting up different DIP switches. But only the MAME, [https://www.mesen.ca/docs/configuration/preferences.html#vs-dualsystem-settings Mesen], NintendulatorNRS, puNES and [https://nintaco.com/faq.html#VsDualSystem nintaco] are suitable for games in Vs. DualSystem cabinet. For commercial emulation, Hamster re-released several VS. System games from Nintendo and Konami as part of their ''Arcade Archives'' series (the former being exclusive to Nintendo Switch, the latter being also on PS4).

Since most VS. System games have palettes that differ from the standard RGB NES palette, ROMs made with VS. System, which are accidentally played in the emulator's NES mode (or vice-versa), will cause the colors to be totally garbled. This can occur when there is an issue with the emulator's configuration or the ROM's iNES header.

These emulators only supports UniSystem cabinet: [https://github.com/0ldsk00l/nestopia/blob/master/source/core/vssystem/NstVsSystem.cpp#L292 nestopia UE], [https://github.com/libretro/libretro-fceumm/blob/master/libretro/libretro.c#L1490 FCEumm] and [https://github.com/TASEmulators/fceux/blob/master/src/vsuni.cpp#L187 FCEUX], [https://tasvideos.org/Forum/Topics/17971?CurrentPage=9&Highlight=443471#443471 BizHawk], [[FinalBurn_Neo#List_of_emulated_systems|FinalBurn Neo]]

===Famicom Box===
Also re-released later as Sharp's FamicomStation. The hybrid NES/Famicom arcade box [http://famicomworld.com/system/other/famicombox/ Nintendo Famicom Box] is a bulky metal cube with a slot to insert money and secured with tons of locks. The hotel would set the amount of time you could play on one token and choose the available games. You can see it in action in season 18 of [http://www.gamingcx.com/ Game Center CX]. It was distributed in select hotels and stores and can hold up to 15 select Famicom releases at once. It had many more hardware lockout chips and pins with different behavior than usual (it also only supported cartridges using memory mapper 0). Sports a unique boot screen for both models released. 

Both the Famicombox and the Famicomstation are emulated by [[MAME]] and all of their games have been dumped

===Dendy===
A pirate NES Famicom clone that was sold in Russia and Eastern Europe, with the blueprint later reused for other Famiclones. Here's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kne6AKyYUuM a link] to a CC-subtitled Kinaman video for more details. It's a very quirky NTSC NES optimized for 50 Hertz, with many other changes from the official PAL NES as well. Though these differences often break the compatibility of Dendy-specific releases on most emulators.

[[MAME]]/MESS supports this console, and some other emulators (such as Mesen, puNES, and FCEUX) have introduced support for it, as well as support for iNES 2.0 ROM headers (including the option to mark a ROM region as PAL Dendy). The cartridges themselves can still be played as long as the emulator supports broken carts.

===VTxx===
VTxx is a series of NOAC (Nintendo-On-A-Chip, a kind of chip that contains all the components of a Famicom/NES) chips that implemented multiple changes and enhancements compared to regular NES, manufactured by [http://www.vrt.com.tw/ V.R Technology].

Differences between VTxx series chips and regular NES could be checked on [https://www.nesdev.org/wiki/VTxx NesDev Wiki].

VTxx is often used in those low-quality, plug & play consoles or [[Wikipedia:Famiclone#Computer_type|keyboard-shaped]], so-called educational computers.

:V.R Technology provides an emulator called [http://www.vrt.com.tw/download.htm EmuVT] as official development & debugging tool, which supports the emulation of multiple kinds of VTxx series chips. It seems to be modded out of an old emulator called [https://web.archive.org/web/20110317151619/http://www.emulation9.com/nnnesterj/ NNNesterJ].

===NES Classic Edition===
{{main|wikipedia:NES Classic Edition}}
The NES Classic Edition is a mini console that emulates the experience of the Nintendo Entertainment System. It includes 30 classic NES games and is compatible with the Wii Classic Controller and NES Classic Edition controller.
Nintendo produced and sold about 2.3 million NES Classic Editions from November 2016 through April 2017, with shipments selling out nearly immediately. In April 2017, Nintendo announced they were discontinuing the product, leading to consumer confusion and incidents of greatly increased pricing among private sellers. Due to the demand for the NES Classic and the success of the Super NES Classic Edition console, Nintendo re-introduced the NES Classic on June 29, 2018. Production was discontinued again in December 2018.

==Emulation issues==
===QD FDS support===
Games dumped off the Famicom Disk System come into two major types:

* '''.fds format''': Most common format. Ubiquitous in ROM sets (GoodSets, No-Intro). Omits some checksum data.
* '''.qd format''' (stands for QuickDisk): Only ever used in official Nintendo re-releases. Almost identical to FDS, except QD is a full dump with checksum data. May omit padding.

The checksum data in question would be checked at BIOS startup to verify the integrity of the image and whether it was tampered with, in which case it will throw an anti-piracy error. [https://github.com/punesemu/puNES/releases/tag/v0.111 puNES added QD support in v0.111.] As of now, no other NES emulators support the alternate, more complete dumps and fudging that check's result to always return a negative. To emulate a .qd image with those, stripping the checksum data with a custom script is needed.

===Overscan===
{{Main|Overscan}}

[[File:Retroarch_2013-08-16_06-32-24-62.png|thumb|250px|Example of faulty visuals that are exposed when no overscan is cropped. Note the blank blue area to the left and the green garbage on the right. On NTSC CRT TVs, these areas may or may not be visible]]Several NES games need their overscan to be cropped to look proper. Unfortunately, there is no standard level of overcropping. Many games require different levels for the best results. For example, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3''] requires quite a bit of cropping. However, the same level of cropping will obscure the letters of the status bar in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania#Games ''Castlevania''] games.

===Color palette===
{{Main|Famicom color palette}}

Unlike consoles such as the SNES, which natively generate their image in pure RGB, the Famicom normally generates and outputs an encoded NTSC video signal. This must then be decoded by the TV's built-in NTSC decoder, which means the resulting color palette often varies depending on the display's decoder. For this reason, NES games will appear to have different colors on different TV sets. To properly emulate this part of the NES experience, many Famicom emulators have a variety of different palettes to choose from.

The Wii and Wii U versions of [[Virtual Console]] use extremely dark color palettes. This is apparently not an accuracy issue, but rather an anti-epilepsy measure. For the Nintendo Switch Online service, the games were directly edited to remove seizure-inducing patterns, allowing it to use a normal palette.

==Resources==
*[http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Nesdev_Wiki Nesdev Wiki] - A place for all your NES programming/NES emulator programming needs.
*[http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=2818 Nesdev Forum] - Discussion of NES Wii Virtual Console accuracy.
*[http://rec0ded88.com/play-nes-games Rec0deD:88] - Play a NES emulator.
*[https://www.copetti.org/writings/consoles/nes/ Copetti] - NES Architecture (A practical analysis by Rodrigo Copetti).
*[https://nintendo-emulator.com NES / FAMICOM] - NES Games Online
*[https://online-emulators.com Arcade / Consoles] - Arcade, NES, SNES, SEGA32X, PSX, N64, NDS...
*[https://supernintendoemulator.com SNES] - SNES online emulator
*[https://megadrive-emulator.com Mega Drive / Genesis] - Sega Mega Drive games
*[https://msdos-games.com MSDOS Games] Play DOS games with js-dos


==References==
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Nintendo}}

[[Category:Consoles]]
[[Category:Home consoles]]
[[Category:Third-generation video game consoles]]
[[Category:Nintendo consoles]]
[[Category:Nintendo Entertainment System emulators|*]]