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Given how much libretro's N64 core has and continues to diverge and improve over the standalone version, which is sparsely worked on, it makes sense to give it its own comparison.
Although many Nintendo 64 emulators have been made and many games can be run between them, complete compatibility and/or accuracy still leaves a bit to be desired.
* [[Project64]] is currently the most compatible N64 emulator, and is a decent choice for emulating many games, both popular and lesser known. It is currently very actively developed, is capable of using a wide variety of plugins, and has a relatively user-friendly interface. However, it presently remains confined to Windows, though work is underway to port it to Android and Linux. It works well in WINE for the most part, but if you're on a different platform, use Mupen64Plus instead. Version 2.2 3 has various fixes over version 1.6.1 and is overall more accurate, even outclassing Mupen64Plus in some instances.
* [[Mupen64Plus]] is a cross-platform, open source emulator based on Hacktarux's Mupen64. It lacks a native GUI, instead being run either from the command line, or by dragging and dropping ROMs onto the executable and editing the config with a text editor such as Notepad++. There are several third-party GUIs made for it, but these often suffer from their own issues, though of which M64Py appears to be the most solid. Mupen64Plus has been ported to a number of different platforms, but upstream development has currently crawled to a near standstill. The [[BizHawk]] and [[OpenEmu]] use shallow forks of Mupen64Plus and its plugins for their N64 emulation. * [[RetroArch]] 's N64 libretro core of this emulator is heavily modified based on Mupen64Plus and has its plugins, but with heavy modifications. It introduces many features and optimizations not present in mainline alongside RetroArch's general features, including Project64-style overclocking for faster framerates, 3-point texture filtering, superior A/V sync and latency, and even an exclusive LLE Vulkan rendererbased on Angrylion's pixel-perfect plugin, making it a better alternative to the standalone version in most cases. [[BizHawk]] Its developers have expressed intentions to eventually rewrite the core and the experimental build of [[OpenEmu]] also use Mupen64Plus brand it as their N64 core of choiceits own emulator called ParaLLEl.
* [[CEN64]] is an up-and-coming emulator that aims for cycle accuracy, while at the same time aiming to eventually be usable on modern PC hardware. It currently lacks many features and has spotty compatibility, but it's gradually improving. It can already emulate some well-known edge cases, such as the picture recognition in Pokemon Snap.
* 1964, along with its various versions and forks, was once a decent, speedy open source alternative to Project64 and Mupen64, though it usually lagged behind the two in compatibility. Nowadays, it has completely fallen off the radar, as development has stopped, is Windows-only, and there is no longer a central code repo to speak of. There is little reason to use it nowadays outside of historical purposes, very specific edge cases, or if your device is too slow to run Mupen64Plus or Project64.
* Daedalus is an N64 emulator for the PSP, which has been ported to Windows, but results are even more hit-and-miss than on other emulators due to being made for PSP first and foremost. On PSP, most games are unplayable, but there's a [http://forums.daedalusx64.com/compat.php small amount of them that work really well] with the right settings (Quest 64, for example).
