Mednafen
Current version: | 0.9.29-WIP |
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Active: | Yes |
OS: | Multiplatform |
Authors: | Ryphecha, Mednafen Team |
Official website: | SouceForge |
Source code: | SourceForge |
Mednafen is a multi-system emulator, driven from the command-line. Many of its cores are ports of other emulators, but many of them are also original. Its Playstation and PC Engine original cores are notable for their high quality, compatibility and accuracy.
Mednafen is an acronym for "My Emulator Doesn't Need A Frickin' Excellent Name".
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It is command line only, so its interface might be hard to use to new users.
The most useful cores are those that are original. These are the PS1, PCE, PC-FX and Virtual Boy cores. The PCE core is one of the best emulators for that system, with a Fast and Accurate versions. The PS1 core is native resolution only, and features high degree of accuracy and compatibility. The Virtual boy core is one of the best, although it does not attempt to reproduce the 3D.
Other cores improve upon emulators that have been long abandoned and rarely updated. These include the Neo Geo Pocket, WonderSwan Color and Atari Lynx cores.
Other cores are less useful, as there are better options in stand-alone emulators. NES, Genesis, Master System and SNES. These cores might even be based on out dated versions. For instance, the SNES core is based on an old outdated version of bSNES. This is before the performance/accuracy/balanced cores - 0.50x territory - with a couple of changes by Ryphecha.
It is unknown at this time whether Mednafen's GBA core is better than VBA-M.
RetroArch uses the PS1, PCE, Neo-Geo Pocket, Virtual Boy, and WonderSwan cores of Mednafen so it might make sense to use that instead.
Using Mednafen
Its pretty easy to get up and running. You can use a frontend like medgui. However, a good text editor like notepad++ is all you need if you need to change settings.
To get setup all you need is to make sure you have the correct bios. Mednafen is picky it wants scph5501.bin for USA games, scph5502.bin for Europe, and scph5500.bin for Japan. If you have the correct files just create a folder called "firmware" in your mednafen folder and copy them into it. At that point you just need to drag and drop your rom or cuesheet onto the the .exe to play.
To setup your controller either use a frontend or open a text editor and change "psx.input.port1 gamepad" to "psx.input.port1 dualshock" if you want to make use of analog.
Then once your in game press alt+shift+1 and it will guide you through setting up your controller.
At that point everything else is personal preference how you want it to look and so on.
Expanded documentation can be found here http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/documentation/09x/psx.html
Host systems
- Linux, Windows, ISC OS
Supported systems
System | Based on code from: |
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Atari Lynx | Handy |
Game Boy Advance | VisualBoyAdvance |
Neo Geo Pocket Color | Neopop |
Nintendo Entertainment System | FCE Ultra |
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (only available in WIP) | bsnes |
Nintendo Virtual Boy (only available in WIP) | Original. NEC V810 CPU core based on Reality Boy. |
PC Engine | Original. CD-ROM interface based on PC2e. |
PC-FX | Original. NEC V810 CPU core based on Reality Boy. |
PlayStation (only available in WIP) | Original. |
WonderSwan Color | Cygne |
Sega Genesis (only available in WIP) | Genesis Plus |
Sega Master System and Game Gear | SMS Plus |
NetPlay
Cores that work with NetPlay:
- TG-16/PC Engine/PC-CD/SuperGrafx (option for both accuracy and fast cores)
- PC-FX
- NES
- Genesis (experimental but mostly functional; 2 Players only)
- Master System
- SNES
- Playstation 1
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It's recommended that you download a frontend
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