Emulators on macOS: Difference between revisions
Change link for Mesen to MesenCE |
→PlayStation 4: shadPS4 has dropped MoltenVK for KosmicKrisp. This means it will not work at all on Intel Macs. Added KK column |
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! scope="col"|OpenGL | ! scope="col"|OpenGL | ||
! scope="col"|MoltenVK | ! scope="col"|MoltenVK | ||
! scope="col"|KosmicKrisp | |||
! scope="col"|Metal | ! scope="col"|Metal | ||
! scope="col"|Gamepad Support | ! scope="col"|Gamepad Support | ||
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| {{Na}} | | {{Na}} | ||
| {{Na}} | | {{Na}} | ||
| {{Ya}}<ref group="N">Only | | {{Ya}}<ref group="N">Only Arm Macs running Rosetta are supported. Intel Macs cannot run KosmicKrisp</ref> | ||
| {{Na}} | |||
| {{Na}} | | {{Na}} | ||
| {{Na}} | | {{Na}} | ||
Revision as of 12:39, 13 June 2026
| Developer | Apple |
|---|---|
| Initial release | March 24, 2001 |
| Latest release | 26.6.2 / August 17, 2026 |
| Preceded by | Classic Mac OS, NeXTSTEP |
| Emulated | ~ |
- This page is about emulators that run on macOS (previously Mac OS X).
- For software that emulates macOS on other hardware, see macOS emulators.
- For emulators that run on Classic Mac OS, see Emulators on Legacy systems#Classic Mac OS.
The Mac has changed considerably over the years, both in terms of hardware and software. It is important to understand these changes so you can choose the best emulators for your Mac.
- Operating System - Classic Mac OS | macOS
The Mac has had two main operating systems over its history: The "Classic" Mac OS versions 1 through 9, and Mac OS X (Ten, not pronouced as "Ex") which is now referred to simply as macOS. Classic was a closed-source proprietary OS, whereas macOS is based on an open-source Unix variant called Darwin. This Unix base helps with Linux compatibility.
The first several releases of macOS up to 10.4 Tiger contained support for Classic applications, but this was later dropped.
- CPU Architecture - PowerPC | x86 | x64 | Arm64
macOS has supported three major cpu architecture changes: IBM PowerPC (PPC), Intel x86/x64 and most recently Apple Silicon (Arm64). There have also been minor architectural changes such as moving from 32-bit PPC processors to the 64-bit PPC G5, or from Intel's 32-bit x86 to 64-bit x64. Each time there was a hardware transition, Apple provided ways to continue to support older software on the new systems.
Rosetta was a software emulation layer that helped PPC applications to run on x86/x64 Macs. It was built into 10.4.4 Tiger, but was an optional install in macOS 10.6 Snow Leopard and not available at all for 10.7 Lion. Rosetta 2 currently facilitates x64 software to run on Arm Macs. While Rosetta performs very respectably for most software, it adds extra overhead which can reduce performance on demanding games and emulators.
Apple also introduced Universal Binaries that bundle software for different architectures into a single app bundle. For example, Universal 2 app bundles contain x64 and Arm versions of software in one app. This is very useful for portability, or for people who don't know or care about their Mac's specs. If you know what CPU your Mac has, the advantage of getting the specific version for your CPU is that it will have a smaller file size than the universal binary. However the size difference is usually tiny, so just using the universal binary is usually the way to go.
- Graphical Backend - OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal
Another aspect to consider is the graphical backend of the emulator. For many years OpenGL was the main cross-platform standard for developing graphical software. However in recent times this has changed. More modern backends such as Vulkan and Metal are superseding it. OpenGL on macOS has now been marked as deprecated, meaning it is stuck on the older OGL 4.1. It doesn't receive any support or bug fixes and will someday be removed from macOS completely. Apple recommends for developers to create native Metal backends for their apps.
One issue with this is that a lot of emulators are cross-platform, and Metal is only for Apple's platforms. The Vulkan backend for Windows and Linux is similar to Metal, but does not have support on macOS. So many emulators will develop a Vulkan backend and use the MoltenVK translation layer, which will take Vulkan instructions and convert them into their respective Metal equivalent. However not every Vulkan instruction has a Metal version, so either workarounds have to be designed, or some features cannot be supported at all.
Using one of these backends is not mandatory, of course. Some emulators may use a different backend or handle graphics themselves.
- Before diving in;
- Remember that emulators can have different levels of completion or compatibility. If a game you are trying to run does not work properly with a recommended emulator, try a different one. All this means that to find an emulator that works well for your Mac you should understand its specs first. Choose an emulator that supports your CPU architecture natively where possible. The emulators shown here will indicate the processor architecture it supports. Generally you should choose an emulator that supports Metal where available if you are on a modern Mac. MoltenVK should be more performant than OpenGL, although there may be compatibility issues. OpenGL may work, but some emulators need to use a version newer than OGL 4.1 that macOS doesn't support. In cases like this the emulator will be marked as not having OpenGL support. This list shows the latest versions of the emulator software. If you have an older CPU and the latest version does not support it, some emulators will keep archives of older versions that might, check out their website.
- See each Wiki Category Consoles, Computers and Arcade for individual dedicated system pages to see provided up-to-date listings and in-depth information on specific aspects like hardware features, peripheral support, compatibility and also enhancements features etc.
- Some games have native Source ports on macOS, which can be better than playing through an emulator. Also see Game engine recreations and source ports page for a list for all platforms.
Frontends
A frontend is a graphical user interface (GUI) that uses one or more emulator cores under the hood. They could replace the GUI of the official emulator, or they could provide a GUI for command-line-only emulators like MAME or Mednafen. They are also very useful for consolidating games into a single library.
There are two types of frontends:
- Desktop frontends are designed to be navigated with a mouse and keyboard. These can give a Mac-native user interface to command-line or cross-platform emulators
- Fullscreen frontends are designed to be navigated with a game controller. These are very useful if you want to connect your Mac to a TV (or mirror your screen to an AppleTV) and use it as a mini-console
OpenEmu
OpenEmu is an excellent desktop frontend designed for macOS that provides a clean iTunes-like interface. The systems emulated are listed here. In keeping with their goal of simplicity, some advanced features such as upscaling are generally not available.
There is currently no Arm build of OpenEmu, but an unofficial Arm build can be found here.
EmulationStation
EmulationStation Desktop Edition is a fullscreen frontend that integrates many emulators, including both command-line and standalone apps. To work properly with standalone apps they usually need to be configured to enter fullscreen automatically on launch.
RetroArch
RetroArch is fullscreen frontend that supports many cores. It is popular but the UI is poor, it is not user-friendly and many of the cores are not updated.
Attract-Mode
Attract-Mode is a fullscreen frontend that supports many cores. There is only an x64 build available on the website. It currently cannot be built from source as the macOS source code has not been maintained.
Fightcade
Fightcade is a desktop matchmaking frontend for playing many arcade fighting games online with other players. There is currently no Arm build.
Ample
Ample is a frontend for MAME specifically for emulating the Apple II.
Game-Specific Emulators
Some emulators target specific games rather than emulating whole systems, with ScummVM alone supporting over 300 games from various systems and more being added all the time.
Other projects are more considered source ports rather than emulators. See Source ports on macOS
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Games List | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScummVM | 2026.3.0 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | List | ✓ |
| DREAMM | 4.0.0 Beta Releases |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | List | ✓ |
Arcade
Most Arcade Cabinets
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
Sega Atomiswave
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flycast | 2.7 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
Sega Model 3
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supermodel | 0.3a | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓[N 2] | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
Sega NAOMI/NAOMI 2
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flycast | 2.7 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
Sega-Nintendo-Namco Triforce
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphin | 2606a[N 3] | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
SNK Neo Geo MVS
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| FinalBurn Neo | 1.0.0.2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Non-commercial | ~ | ~ |
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
Arcade LaserDisc
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Hypseus Singe | 3.0.2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
Nintendo
NES/Famicom
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| GoNES | 0.2.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | Apache 2.0 (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| TetaNES | 0.17.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| MetalNES | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ✗[N 4] |
| Nestopia | 1.99.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗[N 4] |
| SwiftNES | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ! | ✗ | ✗[N 4] |
| Nin | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ~ |
Super Nintendo
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| bsnes (Official) |
v115 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| SUPER ZSNES | 0.300 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ✓ | ! | ✓ | ✓ |
| bsnes-hd (forked bsnes) |
beta 10.6 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Snes9x | 1.63 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Non-commercial | ✓ | ~ |
N64
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mupen64Plus | 2.6.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 5] |
| Gopher64 | 1.1.34 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| simple64 | v2021.5.30 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗ |
| Rokuyon | Releases | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗ |
GameCube
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphin | 2606a[N 6] | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lazuli | 2026/07/10 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ! | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Gecko | Release | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ! | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
Wii
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphin | 2606a[N 6] | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gecko | Release | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ! | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
Wii U
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cemu | 2.6 Nightlies |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N 7] | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N 7] | ✓ | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
Switch
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryubing (Ryujinx Fork)[N 8] |
1.3.3 Canary git |
✗ | ✗ | ~[N 9] | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Astris (Ryubing with SwiftUI)[N 10] |
1.0.27 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | (UI only) Proprietary | ✓ | ✓ |
| Kenji-NX (KeatonTheBot's Ryujinx Fork) |
[https://git.ryujinx.app/projects/Kenji-NX/releases/latest This page is a candidate for deletion. The reason is:
If you disagree with the candidate, explain why at the talk page or improve the page and remove the Remember to check for any active links to the page and its history before deleting. git |
✗ | ✗ | ~[N 9] | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hydra | 0.4.2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Eden (Yuzu fork) |
0.2.1 Nightlies |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
Game Boy/Color
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Game Link Support | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SameBoy | 1.0.3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| SkyEmu | v5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| mGBA | 0.10.5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| KiGB | 2.09 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ~ | Proprietary | ~ | ~[N 11] |
| Gearboy | 3.8.15 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| VisualBoy Advance-M (VBA-M) | 2.2.3 Nightlies |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~ |
| Swift-plays-Pokemon | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗[N 12] |
| Gambatte | r571 | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ! | ! | ✗ | ! | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗ |
Game Boy Advance
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Game Link Support | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyEmu | v5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| NanoBoyAdvance | 1.8.3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hades | 1.1.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ! | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| mGBA | 0.10.5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Boycott Advance | 0.4.4 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ~ | ~[N 11] |
| Gearboy | 3.8.15 | ✗ | ! | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ! | ! | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| VisualBoy Advance-M (VBA-M) | 2.2.3 Nightlies |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
DS
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeSmuME | 0.9.13 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| MelonDS | 1.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| NooDS | Releases | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~ |
| Dust | WIP | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Medusa | Beta | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗ |
3DS
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azahar[N 13] | 2126.1.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mandarine[N 14] | 1.3.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Panda3DS | 0.9 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ~[N 15] | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tanuki3DS | 0.5.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Borked3DS | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗[N 16] |
| 3Beans | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
Sega
SG-1000
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| RetroVM | 2.1.20 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Proprietary | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gearsystem | 3.9.18 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| ZEsarUX | 13.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPL (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Master System
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| RetroVM | 2.1.20 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~ |
| Gearsystem | 3.9.18 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| ZEsarUX | 13.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPL (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Mega Drive/Genesis
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Generator | 0.4.8 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
| Genesis Plus | 1.3.5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
Mega CD
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
32X
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
Saturn
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ymir | 0.3.3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Yabause | 0.9.15 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗ |
Dreamcast
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flycast | 2.7 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Redream | 1.5.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Proprietary | ✗ | ~[N 11] |
| nullDC | 2.0.0-pre git |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗[N 2] |
VMU
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DreamPotato | v0.3.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ? | ? | ? | ? | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
Game Gear
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gearsystem | 3.9.18 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
Sony
PlayStation
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DuckStation | Rolling Release Preview |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | ✓ | ✓ |
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ~ |
| PCSX-R | git PPC 1.6.0 Intel 1.9.93 |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✓ |
| PCSX-Redux | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~ |
| StarPSX | 0.8.3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| psxe | 0.10.5-alpha | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
PlayStation 2
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCSX2 | 2.8.2 | ✗ | ~[N 17] | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| AetherSX2 | 1.5-3939 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Proprietary[N 18] | ✗ | ✓[N 19] |
| ARMSX2 | [https://github.com/ARMSX2/ARMSX2/releases?q=macos&expanded=true This page is a candidate for deletion. The reason is:
If you disagree with the candidate, explain why at the talk page or improve the page and remove the Remember to check for any active links to the page and its history before deleting. |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~ |
| Play! | 0.77 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | BSD-2-Clause (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Iris | 0.20-alpha | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗ |
PlayStation 3
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPCS3 | 0.0.42 Alpha | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓[N 20] |
| ChonkyStation3 | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
PlayStation 4
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | KosmicKrisp | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| shadPS4 | 0.18.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓[N 21] | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 22] |
| Obliteration | github | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N 23] | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | LGPLv2.1 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗[N 24] |
PlayStation Portable
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPSSPP | 1.20.4 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
PlayStation Vita
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vita3K | 0.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N 25] | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓[N 26] |
Microsoft
MS-DOS
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxer | Fork[N 27] | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ~ | ✓ |
| 86Box | 6.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| DOSBox Staging | 0.83.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| DOSBox-X | 2026.08.02 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| DOSBox | 0.74-3 SVN |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~ |
| Dapplegrey | 9.9.2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ✓ | ✗ |
| PCem | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ~ | ✗ |
| MartyPC | v0.4.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗ |
MSX/MSX2
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| CocoaMSX | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N 28] | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | BSD-3-Clause GPLv2 |
✗ | ~ |
| fMSX | 6.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
| RetroVM | 2.1.20 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Proprietary | ✓ | ✓ |
| ZEsarUX | 13.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPL (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Xbox
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xemu | 0.8.136 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
Xbox 360
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xenia-Edge (Xenia Dev Branch) |
Rolling Releases | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | BSD-3-Clause | ✓ | ~ |
| XeniOS | 2.0.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | BSD-3-Clause | ✓ | ~ |
Commodore
Vic-20
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Power20 | 4.9.5 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✗ | ~[N 29] |
C64
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VirtualC64 | 6.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Denise | 2.8 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Frodo | 4.4.4 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
| VICE | 3.10 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Power64 | 4.9.5 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✗ | ~[N 29] |
Amiga
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vAmiga | 4.4 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv3 MPL 2.0 MIT |
✓ | ✓ |
| FS-UAE | 3.2.35 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Denise | 2.8 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ! | ✓ | ✓ |
| Amiberry | 8.3.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~ |
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗ |
Atari
Atari 8-bit family
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow | 1.6.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
Atari 2600
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stella | 7.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Atari 5200
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jum52 | 1.1.4 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Custom (Source-available) | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
Atari ST
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hatari | 2.6.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
Atari Lynx
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Handy | 0.9.11 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
SNK
Neo Geo AES/CD
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| FinalBurn Neo | 1.0.0.2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Non-commercial | ✓ | ~ |
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ~[N 1] |
Neo Geo Pocket/Color
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Neopocott | 0.5.5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
Coleco
ColecoVision
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mugrat | 0.5.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
| Gearcoleco | 1.7.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✗ |
| ZEsarUX | 13.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | GPL (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Bandai
WonderSwan/Color
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Oswan | 0.8.6 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
Apple
Apple I + II + III
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| OpenEmulator | 1.1.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ~ | ✓ |
| KEGS | 1.38 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| Sara | 0.5.1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✗ | ! |
| GSplus | 0.14 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ! |
| GSport | 0.31 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ! |
| MAME | 0.289 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause |
✓ | ✗ |
Apple Lisa
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LisaEm | 1.2.7 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Macintosh 68k
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Snow | 0.1.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ! |
| Basilisk II | Download git |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| Mini vMac | 36.04 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Macintosh PPC
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTM | site 4.7.5 |
✗ | ✗ | ~ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Apache 2.0 (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| SheepShaver | 2.5 git |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
NEC
PC-98
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SL9821 | Website | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ~ | ✓ |
| Neko Project II (猫Project II) | Website | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✗ | ✗ |
PC-Engine/TurboGrafx/SuperGrafx
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mednafen | 1.32.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ~[N 1] |
| Mesen | 2.2.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Geargrafx | 1.7.22 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| TGEmu | 0.3.8 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ! | ! | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
Fujitsu
FM Towns
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | Gamepad Support | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsugaru (津軽) | 20260522 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | BSD-3-Clause (Permissive) | ✓ | ! |
Sinclair
ZX Spectrum
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ares | v148 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| ZEsarUX | 13.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPL (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
| Spectral | 1.16 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ! |
| RetroVM | 2.1.20 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ! |
| Fuzzbug | 0.0.5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ✗[N 11] |
| FUSE | Releases | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ✗ |
Sinclair QL
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sQLux | 1.1.2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ~[N 2] |
Tandy
TRS-80
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRS80GP | Website | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ✓ | ✓ |
| SDLTRS2 | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓[N 4] | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | BSD-2-Clause (Permissive) | ✓ | ✗ |
Dragon Data
Dragon 32/64
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XRoar | git | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Oric
Oric 1 / Atmos
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
Amstrad
Amstrad CPC
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Retro Virtual Machine | 2.1.20 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ! |
| ACE-DL | 20260914 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | ! | ✓ | ! |
| ZEsarUX | 13.0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPL (Copyleft) | ✓ | ! |
Acorn
Electron
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2026-07-23 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ✓ |
BBC Micro
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b2 | 20260322 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Horizon | 2.1.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
RISC PC
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPCEmu | 0.9.4a | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ~ |
Thompson
MO5
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MO5 | 2.6.7 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
TO7
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thom | 1.6.5 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
TO8
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEO | 1.8.7 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ! | ✗ | ✗ | Proprietary | ✓ | ~[N 11] |
VTech
V.Smile
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| veesem | 0.1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ISC (Permissive) | ✓ | ! |
Commander X16
| Name | Latest Version | PPC | x86 | x64 | ARM | OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal | License | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X16 Emulator | r48 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | BSD-2-Clause (Permissive) | ✓ | ~[N 2] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available here
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Command-line only application. No app bundle provided.
- ↑ Information about the Triforce can be found here
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Must compile from source.
- ↑ Only available as a core. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available here
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The last Dolphin release to support macOS 10.15 Catalina is 2503a, and the last development build is 2503-270.[1]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Arm support and the Metal renderer are in the nightly builds, but are not included in a major release yet.
- ↑ This fork has merged LDN and other previously incomplete features. Mostly focused on maintenance, crash fixes and QoL improvements.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Some games may work with an x64 Intel Mac, but performance will be bad
- ↑ This fork is based on Ryubing, but has a complete SwiftUI overhaul
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 Requires paid version to access extra emulation features
- ↑ No Audio. Must compile from source and run from command line.
- ↑ This project is a continuation of PabloMK7's Citra and Lime3DS
- ↑ This project is a fork of Citra
- ↑ Available on the SDL build only. Not available on the Qt build.
- ↑ This is an experimental Citra fork. Changes made here might be merged into Azahar
- ↑ Unofficial 32-bit builds and builds for older versions of macOS are available here. Compatible with macOS 10.9 Mavericks to 10.14 Mojave.
- ↑ Based on PCSX2, so it is partially Open-source. The ARM parts are Proprietary.
- ↑ Recommended on Apple Silicon except for where there are game-specific bugs that are fixed in PCSX2.
- ↑ Always download the compatibility database and use it to create a custom config for each game
- ↑ Only Arm Macs running Rosetta are supported. Intel Macs cannot run KosmicKrisp
- ↑ Very early in development. Currently has low compatibility.
- ↑ There is an Arm build available but there is no x86->Arm recompiler yet
- ↑ Very early in development. There is currently no graphics backend.
- ↑ Experimental Arm build available. Has major issues on some titles. Updater will automatically update to the x86 version
- ↑ Compatibility varies greatly depending on the title
- ↑ The fork of Boxer supports x64 and Arm
- ↑ No official Arm build. Needs to be built from source