# ZSNES

23 Hacker News commenters recommended ZSNES and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free 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.

## Why people recommend it

- Nostalgia for childhood emulator memories (4 comments): "I'll never forget the snowy menu of ZSNES, it was so beautiful for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47931880)) "sweet memories playing at less than 10fps using zsnes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46560272)) "these guys rocked early on when I was younger" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47927825))
- Video filters and widescreen mode (3 comments): "video filters that could improve the experience on a modern screen quite a bit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50319835)) "its upscaler is nicer than the Switch and the mini SNES" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50321834)) "The widescreen mode is surprisingly functional" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47926086))
- Fast, runs on old hardware (2 comments): "the code doesn't seem all that impressive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935650)) "No problems on a Pentium 60 MHz." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47925408))

## What people warn about

- New UI loses original look (2 comments): "the transition from the original ZSNES User Interface from my childhood to the UI of Super ZSNES was jarring to say the least" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47926606)) "Not at least slapping a pixel font on there is an odd choice given the purposeful nostalgia goal." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47927473))
- Super ZSNES not finished yet (2 comments): "I don't see anything worthwhile in this Super ZSNES project yet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47948961)) "I understand Super ZSNES is not there yet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47928802))
- Enhancements unclear and accuracy claims doubted (2 comments): "I'm concerned with all there 'super enhancements' while claiming far more accurate processing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47950992)) "The enhancement engine sounds great, but it'd be nice to know which games it's for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47926003))
- Assembly codebase hard to maintain (2 comments): "ZSNES is written almost entirely in assembly so it was always kinda asking for trouble." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47350263)) "the code doesn't seem all that impressive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935650))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [DOSBox](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dosbox.md): 37 recommend
- [MAME](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mame.md): 21 recommend
- [RetroArch](https://hackerapproved.com/p/retroarch.md): 21 recommend
- [DOSBox-X](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dosbox-x.md): 19 recommend
- [DuckStation](https://hackerapproved.com/p/duckstation.md): 8 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "ZSNES", https://hackerapproved.com/p/super-zsnes/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).