Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

The best NES emulators for Android and PC

Relive the 8-bit gaming era with the best NES emulators for Android and PC

By

Though more than 33 years old, there’s still vast interest in the Nintendo Entertainment System and its iconic library of games. Just look at the mega-successful NES Classic Edition, the mini replica that packed in 30 of the console’s most popular games.

While the NES Classic is still available in stores today, but Nintendo isn’t planning on manufacturing additional units once current stock runs out. If you have one already, you may be happy to know that you can hack it to expand your library of 8-bit games.

Recommended Videos

Related

But what if you can’t get your hands on an NES Classic? You can get some NES games through Nintendo Switch Online and others from the Nintendo 3DS eShop. You won’t be able to get any game you want, though.

Related

Sadly, many NES games are virtually extinct due to high reseller costs or pure lack of availability. That’s where emulators for PC and mobile come into play. Emulators allow you to play basically any classic game your heart desires. Here are the best NES emulators for PC and Android.

Nintendulator (Windows)

Nintendulator is a great emulator for those who are looking for near-exact replicas of NES games. Emulation isn’t a perfect science. It’s hard to deliver the same experience that you’d find playing the original cartridge.

The developer behind Nintendulator has worked to remedy that with fairly frequent updates aimed at precise emulation. There are other emulators on this list with more features and better performance at times, but Nintendulator makes a valiant attempt at mirroring NES gameplay. It supports USB controllers, has Game Genie support, and even has the soft/hard reset features of the actual NES.

Download Nintendulator

FCEUX (PC, Mac, Linux)

FCEUX is one of the more popular NES emulators. And for good reason. After downloading FCEUX, all you have to do is open it and load a ROM. If you want to do more than simply revisit an old classic, FCEUX has plenty of features that make it an excellent all-in-one emulator.

From debugging tools to tool-assisted features for speedruns, FCEUX lets you do far more than just play retro games as they were originally intended. FCEUX is the culmination of several previous emulators of similar names. Though its most recent version released in 2016, FCEUX remains one of the most reliable and easy-to-use NES emulators around. FCEUX is available for PC, Mac, and Linux.

Download FCEUX

Nestopia UE (PC, Android)

Just how good is Nestopia? Well, more than ten years have passed since development stopped for this NES emulator, and it’s still on our list. With RetroArch, a front-end UI for emulators, you can download the Nestopia “core” to enjoy the official version of this excellent emulator. Admittedly, RetroArch is somewhat hard to get the hang of.

Thankfully, there’s another option: Nestopia UE. The “Undead Edition” is a stand-alone emulator that carries on what Nestopia started. FCEUX has more features for those who want to get into speedrunning and ROM hacking, but Nestopia UE and the RetroArch core of the original are still great options.

Download Nestopia UE

Mesen (Windows, Linux)

Though still technically in beta, Mesen has quickly become one of the most impressive NES emulators available. It supports every game for the NES and includes a bevy of features that will interest enthusiasts.

Along with video recording and debugging tools for speedrunning, Mesen allows overclocking, multiple video filters, a rewind feature, various sound effects, and even Netplay for online gaming. Mesen is one of the most accurate emulators around as well, rivaling the aforementioned Nintendulator. Look for Mesen to get even better over time, as it receives consistent updates.

Download Mesen

Nostalgia.NES (Android)

For mobile users, look no further than Nostalgia.NES. This Android-based emulator was designed using FCEUX, so it’s essentially a portable version of that tried and true emulator. Nostalgia.NES has a clean interface for touchscreen controls, but it also has a really cool feature that allows for up to four players to game wirelessly using separate Android devices as controllers.

You can also use standard Bluetooth Android gamepads if you aren’t a fan of touchscreen controls. Nostalgia.NES supports save states, rewinding, and does a pretty darn good job at emulating the NES Zapper for games like Duck Hunt. Before you download Nostalgia.NES, make sure you have a microSD card in your phone. All ROMs must be loaded onto the card in order to play.

Download Nostalgia.NES

Disclaimer: While downloading and sharing emulators is perfectly legal, downloading ROMs BIOS files is illegal, even if you own a physical copy of the game. This list is meant to be used as a reference. We do not advocate illegally downloading games. Nintendo also recently won a $12 million lawsuit against the operators two ROM sites.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Steven Petite
Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
All Flarlic locations in Pikmin 4
A Flarlic growing in a broken pot.

The Pikmin series has always highlighted the idea of commanding huge numbers of tiny creatures at once. With Pikmin 4 utilizing the power of the Switch, more Pikmin than ever can appear on screen, but that doesn't mean you can just grind out an entire army right off the bat. The game will limit you on how many total Pikmin you can control, forcing you to manage your forces between the different types. While this limitation will feel constricting at first, by collecting special plants called Flarlic, you can increase that number by 10. There are 12 total Flarlics to collect, with each stage having one on the surface and one in a cave to find, but you only need eight of them to reach the max Pikmin limit. Here's where to find all the Flarlic in Pikmin 4 so you can travel with a full army.
Sun-Speckled Terrace
The Flarlic you can find on the surface is way up north beyond the electric fence that you need Yellow Pikmin to pass. You'll need at least five Yellow Pikmin to toss up on the potted plant next to the fence in order to reach the Flarlic on the elevated mound.

The second is in the Last-Frost Cavern. Go to the top-left corner of the large northwest room and pluck it out of a sunken plant pot hidden behind some pots you need to smash.
Blossoming Arcadia
Our surface Flarlic is up north on the south side of the water and requires Blue Pikmin to bring back, or Ice Pikmin to freeze the water below it. It is tucked inside a wooden structure you need to toss some Pikmin up to collect.

Read more
The best puzzle games of all time
Two robots from Portal 2.

At their core, all games are puzzles. From Tetris to the Uncharted series, the medium has constantly challenged players to find solutions to problems, whether that problem is fitting the right blocks into a hole or navigating ancient booby traps. In this guide, we’re going to break down the best puzzle games of all time.

Still, even if a game has puzzles, we won't necessarily call it a puzzle game. No matter how many Riddler puzzles you solve as the world's greatest detective, Batman: Arkham Knight is still an action game first and foremost. So for this guide, we’re focusing on pure puzzle games, meaning that solving puzzles is the core mechanic of the game. There’s no combat or other systems, unless they relate specifically to solving puzzles.

Read more
All Sims 4 cheat codes (for PC, Xbox, PS4, PS5)
best sims 4 cheats money

The Sims franchise has been around for a while now and has become extremely successful thanks to its quirkiness and ability to rope players into its bizarre world. The most recent entry, The Sims 4, launched in 2014 and has continued the series' legacy, giving players a refined way to create a Sim, along with adding a hefty list of quality-of-life improvements. When you're ready to goof off and get even crazier, you might want to dive into the game's expansive selection of cheats, which grant you the ability to do all sorts of things, including a way to increase your stats, gain unlimited money, and negate (or cause) death.

Cheat codes in video games are mostly a relic of the past, but The Sims 4 still puts them at the forefront. There are dozens upon dozens of cheats. In this list, we'll share the absolute best ones, ranging from the most useful to the silliest, and everything in between. These are the best Sims 4 cheats.
How enable cheats on Sims 4

Read more