Best Emulators for
Linux

Mednafen is a high-accuracy multi-system emulator with best-in-class cores for Saturn, PS1, PC Engine, Neo Geo Pocket, Virtual Boy, NES, SNES, and Game Boy. A first choice for accuracy-focused emulation.

RetroArch is an all-in-one frontend for emulators, game engines, and media players. It brings hundreds of emulator cores under one roof with a unified interface, shader support, and cross-platform availability.

EmulationStation Desktop Edition is a polished frontend for your emulator collection available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Steam Deck. It integrates with RetroArch and standalone emulators, offering beautiful themes and scraping.

Mesen 2 is a high-accuracy multi-system emulator covering NES, SNES, Game Boy, and GBA. It features cycle-accurate emulation, advanced debugging tools, and excellent game compatibility.

FCEUX is a mature NES/Famicom emulator with wide mapper support. It includes a built-in debugger, RAM search, and TAS recording tools favored by the speedrunning community.

Nestopia Undead Edition is a fork of the classic Nestopia emulator focused on accuracy and broad software compatibility with the full NES and Famicom game library.

SNES9x is the most widely used SNES emulator, available on virtually every platform. It offers excellent compatibility, a large feature set, and easy configuration for beginners and veterans alike.

bsnes is the gold standard for SNES accuracy, achieving near-perfect cycle-accurate hardware emulation. Ideal for users who prioritize authenticity over raw performance.

Mupen64Plus is a cross-platform N64 emulator with a plugin-based architecture. It is the backbone of many other N64 emulators and front-ends including simple64 and RetroArch cores.

simple64 is a modern Nintendo 64 emulator based on Mupen64Plus with tight integration of parallel-RDP and parallel-RSP, offering excellent accuracy and performance.

mGBA is a fast and accurate emulator supporting Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. It runs on desktop and Android and is widely regarded as the best GBA emulator available.

Gambatte is an accuracy-focused, open-source Game Boy Color emulator. It has high hardware fidelity and is used as a core inside RetroArch for ultimate GB/GBC accuracy.

VisualBoyAdvance-M is a community-maintained fork of the classic VBA emulator with improved speed, bug fixes, and enhanced features for GB, GBC, and GBA emulation.

melonDS is a modern, open-source Nintendo DS emulator aiming for accuracy and performance. It supports Wi-Fi simulation, DSi emulation, and OpenGL rendering.

DeSmuME is one of the oldest and most feature-complete Nintendo DS emulators, with support for a wide range of games and a long list of enhancement options.

DuckStation is the leading PlayStation 1 emulator, supporting upscaling up to 16×, widescreen patches, PGXP geometry correction, and near-perfect game compatibility.

BlastEm is a high-accuracy Sega Genesis / Mega Drive emulator targeting cycle-accurate hardware emulation. It is the most accurate open-source Genesis emulator available.

Kega Fusion is a highly compatible Sega multi-system emulator covering Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD, 32X, Master System, Game Gear, and SG-1000. Excellent compatibility and easy to use.

Gens/GS is an enhanced fork of Gens supporting Sega Genesis, Mega CD, 32X, Master System, and Game Gear. A classic choice for easy Sega emulation on Windows and Linux.

Flycast is a multi-platform Sega Dreamcast, NAOMI, and Atomiswave emulator with wide game support, upscaling, and active development. Available on all major desktop and mobile platforms.

Redream is a user-friendly Sega Dreamcast emulator supporting upscaling up to 8× resolution. The free version covers most games; a premium unlock removes resolution limits.

MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) preserves thousands of arcade games and home computers. It is the most comprehensive and accurate arcade emulation solution available.

FinalBurn Neo (FBNeo) is an open-source arcade emulator covering CPS1/2/3, Neo Geo, Capcom, Konami, and hundreds of other arcade boards. Great performance on low-end hardware.

VICE (Versatile Commodore Emulator) is the definitive Commodore 64 emulator, also covering the C128, VIC-20, PET, PLUS/4, and CBM-II. It is open-source and runs on every major platform.

openMSX is an open-source MSX emulator that strives for perfection in terms of accuracy. It supports MSX, MSX2, MSX2+, MSX turbo R, and also includes ColecoVision emulation via its Coleco machine definition.

fMSX is a portable MSX/MSX2/MSX2+ emulator available on Android, Windows, and Linux. It is one of the oldest MSX emulators still actively maintained, with broad game compatibility.

ColEm is the most widely used ColecoVision emulator, available on Windows, Linux, and Android. It supports the full ColecoVision library and various expansion modules.