Arcade emulators

From Emulation General Wiki
Revision as of 07:11, 13 January 2014 by SonofUgly (talk | contribs) (Emulators)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Example of a Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet.

Arcades are not a single console, but rather hundreds of separate arcade system boards. Most arcade emulators focus on emulating many systems in one program, with some focusing on a few systems, and others attempting to emulate every system.

Emulators

Name Operating System(s) Latest Version # of systems emulated Recommended
MAME Windows, Linux, OS X 0.150 ?
Final Burn Alpha Windows 0.2.97.29 ?
RetroArch (Final Burn Alpha) Multi-platform 0.2.97.28 ?
RetroArch (MAME 2003) Multi-platform 0.78 ?
RetroArch (MAME 2010) Multi-platform 0.139 ?
RetroArch (MAME 2013) Multi-platform 0.150 ?
Raine Multi-platform 0.63.4 1058
Kawaks Windows v1.63 3 - Neo Geo, CPS1, CPS2 ?
Model 2 Emulator Windows 1.0 1 - Sega Model 2 ?
CPS3 Emulator Windows v1.0a 1 - CPS3 ?
DEmul Windows 0.581 ? ?
Supermodel Windows, Linux, OS X v0.2a 1 - Sega Model 3
UOcps1psp PlayStation Portable 2.3.1 1 - CPS1
UOcps2psp PlayStation Portable 2.3.1 1 - CPS2

Comparisons

MAME is very extensive, with the majority of arcade system boards from the 70's, 80's and early90's supported. Do not expect support for more recent boards, such as atomiswave. MAME focuses on accuracy and archiving arcade games, which means it does not always focus on usability for the end user. Only the most up to date romdumps will work in the latest MAME. There are many MAME front-ends available.

Final Burn Alpha supports a few boards, such as Neo Geo, Capcom CPS1-3 and a few others. It is very good for the boards it supports. Rumor has it that Neo-Geo X system in fact uses FBA.