Despite the fact that gaming has improved leaps and bounds over the last 3 odd decades, there’s nothing like the amazing fix of nostalgia that you get from playing classic SNES games from the 90’s. However, because of the fact that SNES-style consoles are way out of fashion these days and getting your hands on a working model could prove to be a herculean task, enjoying games like Super Mario or Donkey Kong could prove to be a hassle. In order to play classic SNES games you’re now required to use emulators and even though there are quite a few options to choose from, not all of them are capable of delivering the same experience that you’d get from playing the game on an old-timey console. So if you’ve been looking for ways to enjoy your favorite classic SNES game, here are the 14 best SNES emulators for PC, Mac, and Android that you should try.

  • RetroArch
  • higan
  • SNES9x
  • BizHawk
  • ZSNES
  • OpenEmu
  • Nestopia UE
  • SNES9x EX+
  • NES.emu
  • John NESS
  • BSNES
  • The Mega S.N.E.S Rock Retro
  • ClassicBoy Gold
  • No$SNS

Note: While emulators themselves are legal, downloading ROMs or ISO images of games that you intend on playing on the emulator falls under the category of piracy. So, in order to prevent any legal issues, it’s advised that you only play games that you already own or ones that you’ve ripped from the CD or cartridge yourself.

1. RetroArch

Kicking off the list is RetroArch, a great SNES emulator which comes with cross platform support, allowing users to enjoy SNES games on a variety of different platforms. RetroArch is often described as a front-end for emulators which runs programs converted into dynamic libraries called liberto cores. Essentially, the software provides a polished interface for the user to play a wide range of classic games, making it quite easy to use. The emulator includes support for a number of different controllers and it offers several advanced features like shaders, netplay, and rewinding.

Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Web

Taking the second spot is higan, another great emulator that supports multiple consoles, including SNES. higan (formerly known as bsnes) emulates the original hardware as accurately as possible, offering a gameplay experience that you wouldn’t find with any other emulator. However, because of the way the emulation works, higan is a fairly demanding emulator and won’t work well on low-end or older devices.

On the bright side, the emulator is capable of running every commercial SNES title ever released, making it the perfect choice if SNES games are all that you care about. Currently, higan includes support for 12 systems, including Nintendo Famicom, Nintendo Super Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive, NEC PC Engine, NEC SuperGrafx, Bandai WonderSwan, and Bandai WonderSwan Color.

Next up is SNES 9x, an easy to use emulator that doesn’t require any significant adjustment and allows users to immediately launch games right after first extraction. The emulator is capable of running virtually all SNES titles without any noticeable issues and it works fairly well on relatively dated hardware.

4. BizHawk

If you’re a fan of speedruns and want to complete a game in the fastest time possible, then you should definitely take a look at BizHawk. The emulator has been specifically designed around the production of Tool Assisted Speedruns (TAS) and it works equally well for casual gaming.

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ZSNES is another great Super Nintendo emulator that you can use to run most popular SNES games with relative ease. Even though the emulator’s development stopped back in 2007, it’s still quite capable and easy to use, which is why it’s still quite popular among emulation enthusiasts.

Price: Free

If you’re on a Mac and are on the lookout for a multi-system emulator that works well on your system, then you should take a look at OpenEMU. Development on OpenEMU started back in 2007 and it was initially just a port for the NEX/Famicom emulator Nestopia. The emulator is a lot like RetroArch, due to the fact that it’s more of a front-end for a bunch of different emulators, requiring you to download additional cores to play games.

Supported platforms: macOS

Nestopia is a high accuracy NES emulator which is capable of playing most NES games without any trouble and includes features like texture scaling and net play. However, in its original form it’s more or less dead as its developers halted the development back in 2008, which is where Nestopia UE comes in. Nestopia UE (Undead Edition) is a RetroArch core emulator which you can use in case you don’t want to go through the hassle of setting up RetroArch.

The emulator comes with some cool features like game-specific custom palettes, cheat support, Famicom mic support, that make it a great option for emulation fans out there. As you’d expect, Nestopia UE is fairly simple to set up and has a user-friendly interface which allows you to install and run games in no time. The emulator also comes with VSync support, but prepare for some input lag if you plan on using the feature.

In case you’re looking for a great SNES emulator for your Android smartphone, then you should definitely check out SNES9x EX+ – the Android port for SNES9x. The emulator includes all the basic features you’d expect from any SNES emulator, including save/load states, on-screen controls, support for a variety of file types and game pad support.

9. NES.emu

In case SNES9x EX+’s design bothers you, you can also check out NES.emu, another great NES emulator for Android that runs quite well on pretty much all Android devices that have at least a 1GHz processor. The emulator includes a ton of cool features, including backup and save state support, cheat support, on-screen multi-touch controls, and a lot more.

John NESS is the successor of popular SNES emulator, John SNES. It was pulled down from the Play Store due to copyright infringement issues. However,  the developer has released a new emulator with support for all the older games and of course, the new additions. At this moment, John Ness is one of the best SNES emulators on Android after perhaps SNES9x EX+. The UI of the emulator is quite good and it makes the gameplay very comfortable. The developer states that the app is using the original SNES engine which means will have a great time playing the classic games with a focus on accuracy over performance. As for the features, you have cheats, high-quality rendering, zipped file support, customizable keys and more. Not to mention, the emulator also supports Bluetooth/MOGA controllers which is awesome. Overall, John NESS is a capable SNES emulator on Android and you should definitely give it a try.

BSNES was one of the oldest SNES emulators, but it was abandoned after some time. Currently, there are many emulators which are based on BSNES and one of them– higan– is also on this list. However, the BSNES emulator is live again as the developer, byuu has taken it upon himself to revive the project. The main goal of BSNES is to offer a near-perfect emulation accuracy with good performance. And since higan is pretty complex to use for general users, BSNES is intended to make it easier to play classic Nintendo games on its emulator. There have been a total of 3 releases as of now, but the HD build seems to be the best one for high-quality graphics rendering. All in all, if you are looking for an accurate SNES emulator for Windows or Linux then BSNES is the right pick.

The Mega S.N.E.S Rock Retro is a relatively new emulator, but it has quickly gained popularity among the Android community. The best part about this emulator is that it’s pretty fast and has wider game compatibility. Further, you can play SNES games on Full HD Graphics setting which is great. Apart from that, the emulator has a long list of features like controller customization, support for popular cheat codes, compatibility with Bluetooth controllers and more. There is also support for mouse, but it’s limited to few selected games only. Simply put, if you are looking for a new SNES emulator on Android then The Mega S.N.E.S Rock Retro is the perfect pick.

Once a highly popular SNES emulator, ClassicBoy became an abandon-ware back in 2014 before coming back from the dead last year. Its latest update in January 2021 brought full compliance with Google’s Developer Program Policies. ClassicBoy is a very powerful all-in-one emulator that lets you play classic games not only using a gamepad but also by gestures and sensor. It supports a whole host of classic and vintage consoles, including:

ClassicBoy leads gestures mapping into game controller, which is helpful for gaming on smartphones or tablets. For gesture control, the software supports 8 swipe directions on each side of the screen and each one can be mapped to a game button. The emulator also supports the accelerometer to simulate D-pad. You also get a calibration console for fine adjustment of tilt parameters.

Price: Free, with in-app purchases

As is evident from its name, the No$ (read: NoCash) line of classic console emulators are free (albeit proprietary) software that help recreate the magic of classic console games on older PC hardware. Developed by Martin Korth, the emulators are available for various classic consoles, including the original PlayStation, GBA, NDS, Atari 2600, Commodore 64, SNES and more.

Price: Free