Games & consoles

The best emulators, according to hackers

20 emulators recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.

• Most recommendedDOSBox37 people recommend it
• Least regretDOSBox-X19 recommend, 0 criticize

All emulators

• DOSBoxRecommended for running DOS and early Windows games and software reliably, with easy setup and no OS install. Critics say it is outdated, with some emulation inaccuracies.37recommend
• 86BoxAccurate emulator of old IBM PC hardware for running vintage operating systems, games and software. Critics note it is slower than less accurate emulators and weak on ARM.25recommend
• ZSNESFree SNES emulator many recall from childhood, fast on old hardware, with save states and video filters. Critics say the Super ZSNES relaunch is not finished yet.23recommend
• MAMEFree emulator that preserves arcade games and vintage hardware, and is used to reverse-engineer devices. Critics note replays only run on the version that recorded them.21recommend
• RetroArchFree emulator frontend people recommend for playing classic console games on many platforms, with plenty of settings to tune. One critic finds it needlessly complex to set up.21recommend
• DOSBox-XFree fork of DOSBox that adds features and accuracy, widely recommended for running old DOS and Windows games with little setup or upkeep.19recommend
• SIMH emulatorFree emulator for old DEC and other early minicomputers, able to run systems like VAX/VMS, Unix and RSX-11 on modern machines. Setup takes patience, and people note that accuracy is not yet fully verified.13recommend
• Infinite MacLets people run old Mac OS and NeXTSTEP versions in a browser, including the original systems, for nostalgia, learning and teaching.11recommend
• ExecutorFree software that runs classic Mac OS applications by reimplementing its API, praised for speed; critics report some apps crash on it.9recommend
• DuckStationFree PlayStation 1 emulator recommended for its friendly interface, strong performance, and CRT filter that recreates the original look. Caveat: licensing forbids repackaging, and the developer has drawn criticism.8recommend
• MartyPCA cycle-accurate IBM PC/XT emulator written in Rust, praised for accuracy and for testing against real hardware; critics note limited hardware support and some bugs.8recommend
• PCSX2People recommend it as a PlayStation 2 emulator that runs games well and supports community mods and HD texture packs. Critics say it takes shortcuts and is not very accurate to the original hardware.6recommend
• WinUAEPeople recommend WinUAE as an excellent Amiga emulator for Windows, praising its easy setup, good defaults, and compatibility.6recommend
• EdenFree, open tool people recommend for avoiding platform lock-in and for making sparse checkouts workable with Sapling. The one caveat raised is poor performance.5recommend
• Amiga VisionFree, high-quality Amiga emulation package with integer scaling and near-zero setup, recommended by Amiga fans.5recommend
• Basilisk IIRecommended as a good way to run classic 68k Mac software, with people calling it the best option for later Macintosh systems alongside SheepShaver.5recommend
• XemuFree emulator for original Xbox games, praised as the most complete option for the original Xbox. Critics say it is not very accurate when it comes to failures.5recommend
• RPCS3Free PS3 emulator that people praise for steadily better performance and compatibility, though it is not yet fully compatible.5recommend
• PCjs MachinesPeople recommend it for running classic DOS and Windows software in a browser window. The most common caveat is sound cutting out.5recommend
• JVIC Commodore VIC 20 emulatorFree web-based Commodore VIC 20 emulator that people on Hacker News praised for its VIC 20 work. Commenters report slowness on old Android phones and a crash loading Frogger.5recommend