Mesen
| |
| Developer(s) | M. Bibaud (aka Sour) & NesDev |
|---|---|
| Latest version | 2.2.1 [+] |
| Active | Yes |
| Platform(s) | Windows Linux macOS 11/12 |
| Emulates | NES / Famicom Famicom Disk System SNES / Super Famicom Game Boy (Color) Game Boy Advance PC-Engine (TurboGrafx-16) Master System Game Gear SG-1000 WonderSwan (Color) |
| Accuracy | Cycle-Accurate |
| Website | Mesen.ca |
| Support ($) | Patreon |
| Programmed in | C++, C#, C |
| License | GPLv3 |
| Source code | Github GitHub(archived) |
Mesen is a free and open-source multi-system emulator for Windows, Linux and macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon). It can emulate the Famicom (NES), Famicom Disk System (FDS), Super Famicom (SNES), GB/GBC, GBA, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16, SG-1000, Master System/Game Gear and WonderSwan/Color consoles.
The version currently under development is Mesen 2.x, first released as a preview build in 2023. The older Mesen 0.x branch could only emulate NES, and SNES/GB(C) emulation was found in a separate emulator named Mesen S. The current Mesen Libretro core for RetroArch is still based on the 0.x branch, but receiving backports from the newer branch. For the sake of disambiguation, we will refer to the 0.x branch as Mesen 1 and the 2.x branch as Mesen 2.
Mesen's development and bug report is actively discussed by Sour at the NesDev forums.
As of April 2026, the main Mesen 2 repos development has stalled. The last successful automated build and commit from the lead developer (Sour) occurred on July 16, 2025 (Build #698). However, the Mesen fork MesenCE has continued development, being updated by Sour with other community members. As of June 4th, Mesen officially became MesenCE through a release by Sour[1].
Download
   
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official website |
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Github repo |
Overview
It has cycle-accurate emulation and offers numerous features, including:
- Support for over 290 mappers, (all licensed games supported.)
- FDS (Famicom Disk System) support
- Top loader NES variant support
- VS. System support
- Dendy support
- HDNes HD packs
- NTSC/PAL support
- NSF/NSFe support
- Video recording/playback
- Video filters (xBRZ, NTSC, etc.)
- Netplay
- Debugging tools
- Overclocking
- Custom palettes
- Sound effects (fake stereo, reverb, etc.)
- Rewind
Mesen 2 can also run GBA and also SNES games, which features some of the enhancements and hardware features such as Super FX and Satellaview support. Game Boy (DMG) and Game Boy Color (CGB) games can also be played on Mesen 2, but only Game Boy Color can play CGB games. For DMG games, you can choose either Game Boy or Game Boy Color, or run the game in Super Game Boy mode by loading the Super Game Boy BIOS (1 or 2) into the SNES core.
An exclusive feature not available in older versions is support for the PC-Engine, the CD-ROM², as well as the WonderSwan and WonderSwan Color.
Screenshots
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Screenshot of Mesen1. -
Mesen1 Logo. -
Mesen2 logo -
MesenCE logo
Hardware support
Mappers
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 |
| 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | ||
| 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
| 80 | 82 | 83 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | ||
| 96 | 97 | 99 | 101 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 111 | |||||
| 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 123 | 125 | 126 | |||
| 132 | 133 | 134 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | |||||
| 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 |
| 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | |||
| 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | |
| 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 |
| 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | |
| 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 238 | ||
| 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 249 | 250 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 |
List of forks
| Name | Platform(s) | Latest Version | libretro | Active | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesen 2-based | MesenCE | 
|
Maintenance Builds | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Nexen |
|
Releases | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| Mesen 1-based | Mesen (mkwong98) |
|
Beta Builds | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mesen-X |
|
2023-09-11 libretro core |
✓ | ✗ | ✗ | |
DO NOT USE Nexen FORK BECAUSE IT'S CODED USING AI, UNLESS YOU WANT TO[2]
Comparisons
- Mesen-X
- This fork was meant to centralise development efforts that were happening in multiple different forks of Mesen 1. No longer under active development, and now officially deprecated as of Mesen 2's release.
Trivia
Origins of the name essentially come from two things:
- It's "NES EMulator", backwards -> Mesen.
- It's the Japanese word used to talk about a person's gaze or point of view, (目線 - めせん - Mesen), which is the reason why the logo is an eye icon.[3]
References
- PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) emulators
- WonderSwan/WonderSwan Color emulators
- Famicom (NES) emulators
- Super Nintendo emulators
- Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators
- Game Boy Advance emulators
- Emulators
- Console emulators
- Home console emulators
- Multi-emulators
- Add-on console emulators
- Super Game Boy emulators
- Windows emulation software
- Linux emulation software
- MacOS emulation software
- Netplay
- Custom assets