NES & SNES
NES and SNES on the PSP
Nintendo's 8-bit and 16-bit consoles are among the most satisfying systems to emulate on the PSP. The NES is trivially easy for the hardware, while the SNES pushes the handheld harder but still plays the bulk of its library well.
NES Emulation
NES emulators run at full speed with sound and rarely need tuning. The library is enormous, and the PSP's controls map cleanly to the original two-button pad plus shoulder buttons for menus and save states.
SNES Emulation
The SNES is more demanding because of its richer graphics and special chips. Most games run smoothly, but titles that used enhancement chips such as the Super FX can slow down or behave imperfectly.
Save States Everywhere
A major advantage of emulation is save states. You can freeze a game at any moment and resume later, which is invaluable for cartridges that lacked battery saves.
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
| NES | Full speed, near-flawless |
| SNES | Strong; tune frameskip for heavy titles |
Getting Better Speed
- Raise the PSP CPU clock toward its maximum within the emulator.
- Enable a small amount of frameskip for the most demanding SNES games.
- Disable transparency or fancy filters if the picture stutters.
Place ROMs in the folder each emulator specifies, or it may not list your games.