Nintendo SNES Emu Comparsion (Juli 2005)
After quite some time, many WIPs and finals of several emulators, I am about to crosstest current emulators again today. But some preface first: since I crosstested SNES emus the last time, there were some newcomers. They're named BNES and SNESGT. I considered how to stress even capable emulators like SNES9x or ZSNES. I don’t want a scorcher because of only rudimental special chip support, so I won't crosstest BSNES, SNESGT and SNEeSe. The choosen set of ROMs would be a insuperable roadblock for them. Rating them under this circumstances would be unfair. Emulators, tested this time:
SNES9x v1.43 final
ZSNES 1.42 (WIP Build - 19.05.2005)
SNES9xPP se (Build - 02.05.2004)
UoSNES (Build - 22.06.2005)
Function tests were done with this ROM-Set. Every ROM will give max. 2 points (function and accuracy)
Chrono_Trigger_(U)_[!].smc
(for checking Transparency Capability)
Final_Fantasy_III_(U)_(V1.1)_[!].swc
(special sound problems or not?)
Street_Fighter_Alpha_2_(E)_[!].smc
(S-DD1 chip emulation, _without_ GFX Pack)
Jikkyou_Oshaberi_Parodius_(J).smc
(testing SA-1 chip emulation)
Mega_Man_X_2_(E)_[!].swc
(testing C4 chip emulation)
Top_Gear_3000_(U).smc
(testing DSP-4 chip emulation)
SD Gundam GX (J).smc
(testing DSP-3 chip emulation)
Ace_wo_Nerae!_(J).smc
(testing DSP-1 chip emulation)
Suzuka_8_Hours_(U).smc
(testing DSP-1 chip emulation again)
Vortex_(E)_[!].smc
(testing SFX1 chip emulation)
Doom_(U).smc
(testing SFX2 chip emulation)
GUI Scores:
The GUI Rating is being splitted up into Setting Amount (10 points), Ease of Use (10 points), Stability (6 points), CPU Load (4 points)
[
Preface/Introduction ] - [ SNES9X ] - [ SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [ Summary ] - [ Conclusion ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
SNES9x v1.43 Final
Emulation Testing:
Chrono_Trigger_(U)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points.
Chrono Trigger seemed to work flawlessly.
Final_Fantasy_III_(U)_(V1.1)_[!].swc - 1 out of 2 points
SNES9x did a better Job this time but there are still some problems to solve. Some sounds like the character switching "blink" sound a little distorted, some are too loud, some sounds seem to be played in background.
Street_Fighter_Alpha_2_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points
(Corrected) Seems to work wo. emulation problems, as those loading times are normal.
Jikkyou_Oshaberi_Parodius_(J).smc - 0 out of 2 points
This game wasn’t playable at all. As soon as I started a game, SNES9x hang itself up for good. No points this time.
Mega_Man_X_2_(E)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
Capcoms mechie was playable without any problems.
Top_Gear_3000_(U).smc - 1 out of 2 points
Were playable but the GFX are messed up badly.
SD_Gundam_GX_(J).smc - 0 out of 2 points
I was able to start a game, but as soon as I choosed any of my units, SNES9x hang itself up again. Not even theoretically playable yet.
Ace_wo_Nerae!_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
Was playable with no problems.
Suzuka_8_Hours_(U).smc - 1 out of 2 points
Was playable with no visible bugs. Just the perspective wasn't correct.
Vortex_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points
Seemed to work without problems.
Doom_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
Worked flawlessly.
Emulation overall: 15 out of 22 points
The GUI
SNES9x provides the most advanced GUI. Nearly everything to think of is configurable. Input settings, adding cheats (both Game Genie and Action Replay!) - even netplay does work when combined with Net Sprocket. It is sometimes a little bit confusing to find the right setting though, but this is probably the price for having this amount of settings. The CPU load moved between 40-60% (Athlon XP 2200+).
Setting Amount: 10 out of 10 points
Ease of Use: 8 out of 10 points
Stability: 6 out of 6 points
CPU Load: 2 out of 4 points
GUI Overall: 26 out of 30 points
Total Score: 41 out of 52 points = 79% = 4 Stars
[ Preface/Introduction ] - [ SNES9X ] - [
SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [ Summary ] - [ Conclusion ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
SNES9xPP se (Build 02.05.2004)
Emulation Testing:
Chrono_Trigger_(U)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points.
As I expected: There were no problems.
Final_Fantasy_III_(U)_(V1.1)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
The Same here. :)
Street_Fighter_Alpha_2_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points (Corrected) Seems to work wo. emulation problems, as those loading times are normal.
Jikkyou_Oshaberi_Parodius_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
The game was playable without any problems.
Mega_Man_X_2_(E)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
Capcoms Title Hero didn’t have any problems too.
Top_Gear_3000_(U).smc - 0 out of 2 points
Didn’t work at all. DSP-4 is not emulated yet.
SD_Gundam_GX_(J).smc - 0 out of 2 points
The ROM didn’t even boot.
Ace_wo_Nerae!_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
Playing Tennis were no problem at all again.
Suzuka_8_Hours_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
Everything is nice here too. Even that perspective effect were displayed correctly.
Vortex_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points
Smooth! Wink - Everything's all right.
Doom_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
Piece of Cake! :-) - No Probs here.
Emulation Overall: 18 out of 22 points
Die GUI
Well there's not much to debate or complain about. The Emu is build on SNES9X after all. But some things have been modified. Many settings are more easy to find now. In exchange, I missed any netplay option. The CPU Load almost matched SNES9X. It moved between 47 and 60% (Athlon XP 2200+) The most culpable thing was the absence of Resolution settings. That caused minor problems to find the correct stting for Scan lines. Snes9Xpp SE runs as stable as SNES9x did. No problems yet.
Setting Amount: 7 out of 10 points
Ease of Use: 8 out of 10 points
Stability: 4 out of 4 points
CPU Load: x out of 6 points
GUI Overall: 23 out of 30 points
Total Score: 41 out of 52 points = 79% = 4 Stars
[ Preface/Introduction ] - [
SNES9X ] - [ SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [ Summary ] - [ Conclusion ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
UoSNES (Build 22.06.2005)
Emulation Testing:
Chrono_Trigger_(U)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points.
Our Debutant managed to avoid any mistakes and gets the full points.
Final_Fantasy_III_(U)_(V1.1)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
UOSNES performed clean here too.
Street_Fighter_Alpha_2_(E)_[!].smc - 1 out of 2 points
Guess what.... right!! :-) But no bugs besides that one.
Jikkyou_Oshaberi_Parodius_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
No problems here.
Mega_Man_X_2_(E)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
The same here :-)
Top_Gear_3000_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
DSP-4 Emulation is working fine.
SD Gundam_GX_(J).smc - 0 out of 2 points
The ROM booted as usual but emulation failed as soon as I choosed the first command for a chosen unit. ("The same procedure as every year..." ;P)
Ace_wo_Nerae!_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
I had no problems playing Tennis with uoSNES.
Suzuka_8_Hours_(U).smc - 1 out of 2 points
The perspective effect isn’t there; No other bugs.
Vortex_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points
There was no problem here.
Doom_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
The same here.
Emulation Overall: 19 out of 22 points
Die GUI
The GUI is similar to SNES9xpp SE. Sadly, this aims for resolution switches for fullscreen emulation and netplay too. There were no further problems to find. The CPU Load comes up to any SNES9X emulator and moves between 42 and 63%. (Athlon XP 2200+)
Setting Amount: 7 out of 10 points
Ease of Use: 8 out of 10 points
Stability: 6 out of 6 points
CPU Load: 2 out of 4 points
GUI Overall: 23 out of 30 points
Total Score: 42 out of 52 points = 81% = 4 Stars
[ Preface/Introduction ] - [
SNES9X ] - [ SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [ Summary ] - [ Conclusion ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
ZSNES (CVS 21.05.2005)
Emulation Testing:
Chrono_Trigger_(U)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points.
Since ZSNES was one of the first emulators to play Chrono Trigger, I didn’t expect any other result here.
Final_Fantasy_III_(U)_(V1.1)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
ZSNES was the first emulator to get complete FF3 Emulation. Everything worked fine this time too.
Street_Fighter_Alpha_2_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points (Corrected) Seems to work wo. emulation problems, as those loading times are normal.
Jikkyou_Oshaberi_Parodius_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
The game was playable without any problems.
Mega_Man_X_2_(E)_[!].swc - 2 out of 2 points
Capcoms Title Hero didn’t have any problems too.
Top_Gear_3000_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
DPS-4 Emulation seems to be okay. So everything worked fine here.
SD_Gundam_GX_(J).smc - 0 out of 2 points
The Rom failed to load. DSP-3 doesn’t seem to be fully emulated yet.
Ace_wo_Nerae!_(J).smc - 2 out of 2 points
Therefore it was no problem again to play some Tennis. :)
Suzuka_8_Hours_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
It was no problem to do some racing too.
Vortex_(E)_[!].smc - 2 out of 2 points
Everything's emulated correctly.
Doom_(U).smc - 2 out of 2 points
The fastest FX Chip is emulated correctly. No problems here.
Emulation Overall: 20 out of 22 points
Die GUI
Well... ZSNES GUI needs getting used to, but it does its job very well. It is easily operated and features every setting I could ever need: Display Settings (Resolutions, Eye Candy), sound, network and cheats; Any cheats to think of! It was really impressive to check ZSNES CPU Load in action: It moved from 20 to 39% - in average ZSNES does only need half of SNES9X's CPU time! Unfortunately, I found some bugs, how to crash ZSNES. As its hard to reproduce, it doesn’t make that bad impact on ZSNES rating. Indeed I wish to see this bugs fixed soon.
Setting Amount: 10 out of 10 points
Ease of Use: 10 out of 10 points
Stability: 5 out of 6 points
CPU Load: 4 out of 4 points
GUI Overall: 29 out of 30 points
Total Score: 49 out of 52 points = 94% = 5 Stars
[ Preface/Introduction ] - [ SNES9X ] - [ SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [ Summary
] - [ Conclusion ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
Used ROMs:
| | Chrono Trigger (U) [!] | Mega Man X 2 (E) [!] | Suzuka 8_Hours (U) | | Final Fantasy III (U) (V1.1) [!] | Top Gear 3000 (U) | Vortex (E) [!] | | Street Fighter Alpha 2 (E) [!] | SD Gundam GX (J) | Doom (U) | | Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius (J) | Ace wo Nerae! (J) | |
| Emulation | | Chrono Trigger | Final Fantasy III | Street Fighter Alpha 2 |
Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius | Mega Man X 2 | Top Gear 3000 | SD Gundam GX | Ace wo Nerae! | Suzuka 8 Hours | Vortex | DOOM | over-all | | SNES9X | GOOD (2) | ERR (1) | GOOD (2) | CRASH (0) | GOOD (2) | ERR (1) | CRASH (0) | GOOD (2) | ERR (1) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | 15 Pts. | | SNES9Xpp SE' | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2)
| GOOD (2) | CRASH (0) | CRASH (0) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | 18 Pts. | | uoSNES | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | CRASH (0) | GOOD (2) | ERR (1) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | 19 Pts. | | ZSNES | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | CRASH (0) |
GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | GOOD (2) | 20 Pts. |
| GUI | | Setting Amount | Ease of Use | Stability | CPU Load | over-all | | SNES9X | 10 Pts. | 8 Pts. | 6 Pts. | 2 Pts. | 26 Pts. | | SNES9Xpp SE' | 7 Pts. | 8 Pts. | 6 Pts. | 2 Pts. | 23 Pts. | | uoSNES | 7 Pts. |
8 Pts. | 6 Pts. | 2 Pts. | 23 Pts. | | ZSNES | 10 Pts. | 10 Pts. | 5 Pts. | 4 Pts. | 29 Pts. |
[ Preface/Introduction ] - [ SNES9X ] - [ SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [
Summary ] - [ Conclusion ] - [ Comments ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
Conclusion:
I excluded knowingly to cross test Functions like BS-X or Super System Emulation. I think, SNES Emulation itself doesn’t have to be concerned with it directly and so this Features should be tested for it self. Many things were done and fixed and my testing setup exposed again, something needs to be perfect, to quit development.
Unfortunately, SNES9xpp SE is quite dead now. It showed up many appendages, though there are (few) FX Chips to be emulated yet. As it stands now, SNES9xpp SE has to give off the lead to - Surprise! - ZSNES, which provides best FX chip emulation yet. Indeed, ZSNES isn’t faultless yet as I found some ways to crash it. As they are hard to reproduce, it doesn’t effect big times today; ZSNES rounds up to 5-Star Rating yet. Anyhow I have to praise the extremely low CPU Load, ZSNES produced, (It needs average half of SNES9x' CPU time!) which recommends it for use with weak (older) PCs. uoSNES did an impressive self-introduction within the big ones line-up. Sadly, there's no Resolution Setting for fullscreen Emulation but therefore, we get excellent sound. Snes9x is still familiar to most Emu Fans but its no more the best one to know. All this is nagging on highest standard and we should never forget that EVERY tested Emu is capable to play hundreds of games at optimal quality.
SNES9x has one Advantage versus uosnes and SNES9xpp SE: They're both using many Hacks to provide better 'Emulation'. This isnt technically correct even though it does seem to work better after all.
[ Preface/Introduction ] - [ SNES9X ] - [ SNES9Xpp SE' ] - [ uoSNES ] - [ ZSNES ] - [ Summary ] - [
Conclusion ] - [ Comments ]
© AEP 2005, written by Chaos, assistance by Tommy_, XTale & retroK
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