What Is an SNES Emulator?

Overview

• SNES emulators are available for both PCs and Macs. An emulator is available as an executable (.exe) file through a number of emulator websites. When you download and install an emulator, it will open on your computer in the same manner as any other program. You must then download and install, usually through a process of unzipping, games from a site that has SNES emulator games available. To play these games, run the emulator and load the game through it.

Gameplay

• Though it's highly amusing to see your favorite Super Nintendo games on your computer, especially if you haven't played them in years, the gameplay is different. While the game itself is usually identical to the original SNES version, you must play the game using your computer's keyboard. Typically, you use the arrow keys to maneuver your characters and other keys, such as "Enter," "Ctrl" and the space bar to jump, run and shoot, depending on the game.

Games

• By searching on the sites that offer SNES emulator games, you can download and play almost every game that was released in North America for the Super Nintendo. An added perk of using an emulator is that you can often download and play games that were only released in Japan. Common games include Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Mario Kart.

Sites

• You can download SNES emulators on emulator-specific sites such as Emulator Zone, and also more well-recognized sites such as Download.com. On many of these sites, you can download other video game emulators, including emulators for Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64. These sites offer emulators such as "ZNES" and "SNES9X." The names are changed slightly from the term "SNES" to avoid copyright issues.