Ares: Difference between revisions
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|platform = [[Emulators on Windows|Windows]]<br/>[[Emulators on Linux|Linux]]<br/>[[Emulators on macOS|macOS]]<br/>[[Emulators on BSD|FreeBSD]] | |platform = [[Emulators on Windows|Windows]]<br/>[[Emulators on Linux|Linux]]<br/>[[Emulators on macOS|macOS]]<br/>[[Emulators on BSD|FreeBSD]] | ||
|architecture = x64, ARM64 | |architecture = x64, ARM64 | ||
|target = [[Atari 2600 emulators|2600]]</br>[[Nintendo Entertainment System emulators|Famicom / NES]]</br>[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulators|Super Famicom / SNES]]</br>[[Nintendo 64 emulators|Nintendo 64]]</br>[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy (Color)]]</br>[[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]</br>[[WonderSwan emulators|WonderSwan (Color), Pocket Challenge V2]]</br>[[SG-1000 emulators|SG-1000]]</br>[[Master System emulators|Mark III / Master System, Game Gear]]</br>[[Sega Genesis emulators|Mega Drive / Genesis]]</br>[[PlayStation emulators|PlayStation]]</br>[[PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) emulators|PC Engine (SuperGrafx) / TurboGrafx-16]]</br>[[Neo Geo and variants|Neo Geo]]</br>[[Neo Geo Pocket emulators|Neo Geo Pocket (Color)]]</br>[[MSX emulators|MSX2]]</br>[[ColecoVision emulators|ColecoVision]]</br>[[ZX Spectrum line|ZX Spectrum]]</br>[[My Vision emulators|My Vision]] | |target = [[Atari 2600 emulators|2600]]</br>[[Nintendo Entertainment System emulators|Famicom / NES]]</br>[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulators|Super Famicom / SNES]]</br>[[Nintendo 64 emulators|Nintendo 64]]</br>[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy (Color)]]</br>[[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]</br>[[WonderSwan emulators|WonderSwan (Color), Pocket Challenge V2]]</br>[[SG-1000 emulators|SG-1000]]</br>[[Master System emulators|Mark III / Master System, Game Gear]]</br>[[Sega Genesis emulators|Mega Drive / Genesis]]</br>[[Sega_Genesis_emulators#Hardware_features_and_peripherals|Sega/Mega CD, 32X, CD 32X]]</br>[[PlayStation emulators|PlayStation]]</br>[[PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) emulators|PC Engine (SuperGrafx) / TurboGrafx-16]]</br>[[Neo Geo and variants|Neo Geo]]</br>[[Neo Geo Pocket emulators|Neo Geo Pocket (Color)]]</br>[[MSX emulators|MSX2]]</br>[[ColecoVision emulators|ColecoVision]]</br>[[ZX Spectrum line|ZX Spectrum]]</br>[[My Vision emulators|My Vision]] | ||
|website = [https://ares-emu.net ares-emu.net] | |website = [https://ares-emu.net ares-emu.net] | ||
|support = [https://www.patreon.com/LukeUsher Patreon]</br>[https://ko-fi.com/LukeUsher Ko-fi]<br />[https://github.com/sponsors/LukeUsher GitHub Sponsor]<br/>[https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/lukepusher PayPal] | |support = [https://www.patreon.com/LukeUsher Patreon]</br>[https://ko-fi.com/LukeUsher Ko-fi]<br />[https://github.com/sponsors/LukeUsher GitHub Sponsor]<br/>[https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/lukepusher PayPal] | ||
Revision as of 14:10, 23 February 2026
| Developer(s) | Near (formerly known as byuu (謬/view)), LukeUsher |
|---|---|
| Latest version | v148 [+] |
| Active | Yes |
| Platform(s) | Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD |
| Architecture(s) | x64, ARM64 |
| Emulates | 2600 Famicom / NES Super Famicom / SNES Nintendo 64 Game Boy (Color) Game Boy Advance WonderSwan (Color), Pocket Challenge V2 SG-1000 Mark III / Master System, Game Gear Mega Drive / Genesis Sega/Mega CD, 32X, CD 32X PlayStation PC Engine (SuperGrafx) / TurboGrafx-16 Neo Geo Neo Geo Pocket (Color) MSX2 ColecoVision ZX Spectrum My Vision |
| Website | ares-emu.net |
| Support ($) | Patreon Ko-fi GitHub Sponsor PayPal |
| Programmed in | C++ |
| License | ISC |
| Source code | GitHub |
| Issue tracker | GitHub |
ares is a free and open-source, multi-system emulator. It is a descendent of higan and bsnes, and focuses on accuracy and preservation.
Download
| Official releases | |||||
| Official Nightly builds | |||||
| Flatpak ArchLinux AUR AppImage |
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| FreshPorts | |||||
Overview
ares began development as bsnes on October 14th, 2004. It is available under the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) license, which is a permissive license that is functionally similar to the BSD and MIT licenses. It used to be under the terms of the Creative Commons (CC) BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, which it made the ares emulator a non-commercial software that does not permit publishing modifications (forks) online. The reason for this was to prevent splintering development between higan and ares.
Most cores in ares are original and were started when the project was run by Near, although its Nintendo 64 core's graphics emulation is based on Themaister's ParaLLEl-RDP Vulkan renderer as well as MAME's software renderer, and an original Atari 2600 core was added later. Its most useful cores are the ones that have been in development the longest or that have few competing options. Its SNES emulation is derived from that of the original bsnes project and is the most accurate one around. Its WonderSwan and Neo Geo Pocket emulation are also the most complete and accurate, with the highest compatibility available (100% in the case of the WonderSwan). The Genesis emulation is highly accurate across the console and its add-ons, albeit slightly less compatible than some competing options. 32x and CD emulation both have >95% compatibility with commercial games, making ares by far the best option for the 32x across emulators.
Other cores are less useful, with known incompatibilities and other emulators available that are both faster and more accurate. The GBA emulation was derived from work done in bsnes for the ST018 coprocessor, but is slower and less accurate than mGBA. Its Atari 2600 emulation is well behind Stella and MAME, and its PlayStation emulation has some noticeable compatibility gaps that you won't find in DuckStation or Mednafen.
In terms of features, ares is one of the first emulators to make use of librashader, a project designed to provide a portable implementation of RetroArch's SLang shader engine. See Shader Presets for more information.
Additionally, support for Pioneer LaserActive LaserDisc format to play Sega Mega-LD games meant for Sega PAC (PAC-S10/PAC-S1) was added by v146 and support for NEC LD-ROM² games meant for NEC/PC Engine PAC (PAC-N10/PAC-N1/PCE-LP1) will be added by v147.
Features
- Native multi-platform UI
- Adaptive sync
- Dynamic rate control
- Save states
- Run-ahead
- Rewind and fast-forward
- Pixel shaders
- Color correction
- 6th-order IIR audio filtering
- Input multi-mapping
- Built-in games database
- Debugger
High CPU usage under Windows
On some Windows systems, the default audio driver causes very high CPU utilisation, even with no game actually running. Switching from WASAPI to SDL will resolve that issue on OpenGL video driver. If your video driver is Direct3D, switching to DirectAudio audio driver should resolve any audio crackles and instability.
External links
- PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) emulators
- WonderSwan/WonderSwan Color emulators
- Neo Geo Pocket/Neo Geo Pocket Color emulators
- Famicom (NES) emulators
- Super Nintendo emulators
- Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators
- Game Boy Advance emulators
- SG-1000 emulators
- Master System emulators
- Sega Genesis emulators
- Emulators
- Multi-emulators
- Console emulators
- Home console emulators
- Handheld console emulators
- Arcade emulators
- Computer emulators
- Atari 2600 emulators
- Nintendo 64 emulators
- WonderSwan emulators
- Pioneer LaserActive PAC emulators
- Pioneer LaserActive NEC/PC Engine PAC emulators
- Pioneer LaserActive Sega PAC emulators
- Super Game Boy emulators
- Add-on console emulators
- PlayStation emulators
- MSX emulators
- ColecoVision emulators
- ZX Spectrum emulators
- Windows emulation software
- Linux emulation software
- MacOS emulation software
- BSD emulation software
- Active emulation software