For those that don't have the money to spend on ridiculous aftermarket prices
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There's really not a lot involved with pre-5th generation(Saturn, PS1, N64) console and handheld emulation. Find the emulator, find the roms, configure your controls, video settings(I personally recommend linear/bileaner filters, any additional blur filters, and scanlines, IF you care about accuracy at all), rom paths and stuff, File>Load Rom, find your game and go.
Some caveats here and there, like the NES palette. some people remember it differently depending on how their TV's ere configured, but let's just say bricks, ground, and Goomba's in the original SMB are NOT supposed to be orange(brown for the record, with enough red leaning that the bricks look reddish, but the other stuff is most definitely brown).
Anyway, recommended pixel cartridge era emulators(assuming you're on Windows, apologies, but I don't have other OS'):
Atari 2600 - Stella: Newer versions come with your choice of 32 or 64-bit depending on your OS. Lot's of classic single screen score attack games, not the best graphics retroactively, but it was the first majorly popular home console.
Atari 5200 - Kat5200: 5200 emulaltors usually also double as Atari 8-bit PC emulators as well. If nothing else, it has a really cool game based on the original Gremlins movie.
Atari 7800 - ProSystem: Good exclusives include Dark Chambers(predecessor of the Gauntlet series), Food Fight(at least, I think this is the only console port), and Ninja Golf(yes, this is seriously worth checking out)
Colecovision - ColEm: Oil's Well is the closest thing to a home console port of Anteater, which is a fun arcade exclusive otherwise.
Intellivision - Nostalgia: Don't sleep on this one, tons of innovative ideas for games, like Shark! Shark!, where you play as a small fish that needs to eat other fish it's size or smaller to grow, if not the tail of the shark itself. Dracula sees you playing as the vampire himself, trying to bite people. Just as a couple of ideas.
Vectrex - Vectrexy: The emulator pretty much comes with all the roms. If everything else up to this point doesn't appeal to you, this most likely won't either. It's, as the name might suggest, all vector graphics, basic shapes made with outlines, but it does do scaling, like 16-bit console get praised for, for a console from 1982.
NES - Here I generally agree with the emulation wiki( https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page <-good place for recommendations, if mine aren't good enough for ya
), and suggest PuNES or Mesen. That said, FCEUX and NEStopia are good as well. Mesen allows for HD graphics packs, but at the end of the day I don't know how long the novelty of the same game with a new coat of paint lasts.
TurboGrafx-16 - Personally I'm still using Ootake, but I'm sure there are good alternatives. The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine was the other 16-bit console, really good for the Shoot 'em up genre(if you dive into the Japanese exclusives especially). The Japanese people loved their region exclusive RPG's as well, I guess. There was a CD add-on, though I believe with Ootake, you have to mount the images to a virtual disc drive. A really damn good classic Castlevania was made for it, you'd know it if you played it's remake(Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles) on the PSP.
Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD & 32X - Fusion. Still the best all-in-one option as far as I know. For modern OS's(Windows 8+), right click the Fusion.exe file, click on properties, click the compatibility tab, and check the box that says "Disable Display scaling on high DPI settings." If it doesn't say that exactly, it should be the middle of 3 check boxes at the bottom of the tab page. Then click OK. That should allow the emulator to run full screen with no problem. Some people still like Gens, I'd recommend the /GS revision if possible. There's also a newer emulator called BlastEm. Useful as Fusion is, it hasn't been updated in 11 years. Also, if you play one of the few Game Gear game that doesn't display it's sprites properly in Fusion 3.64, get the 3.63 version.
SNES - Personally, I've been sticking with SNES9X. ZSNES is really outdated at this point, and hasn't been worked on for quite a while(unless there's some offshoot revisions I'm unaware of, which could be possible). Some may like BSNES/Higan(RIP to it's creator), but it needs it's own rom format, which it usually comes with a tool to convert your classic formats into.
Game Boy series(Color & Advance included) - I personally have the best luck with Visual Boy Advance, but there are alternatives, mGBA for one, even some that can play DS as well as these.
NeoGeo Pocket - I wish I could say there was something more up to date than NeoPop, but it still runs well.
Arcade:
Here's where things start to get a bit messy with BIOS files and all. Personally I'd recommend looking for BIOS file packs for MAME, hopefully you can find one that's up to date and all. There's no bigger pain in the ass in emulation than keeping up with MAMEs updates. All of a sudden the NeoGeo or CPS2 BIOS' may need a new file, and you can't play Metal Gear(or for a NeoGeo beat 'em up example, Robo Army) or Cadillacs and Dinosaurs anymore. So if you have a version where all your games work, hold onto that older version until you can update the roms for the newer version.
MAME is definitely a high recommendation, it covers so much. You'll want a frontend, I'd recommend Arcade64(well, as the name suggests, it works out for 64-bit OS', not sure what a good option is for a 32-bit).
If you want something a little more specialized, you could try Raine, I don't know what it plays, but it may only find, if even, 1/3 of your MAME roms.
Final Burn Alpha is a great alternative as well. In fact, if you update MAME, and have a hard time finding the new files needed to get games running, try throwing them at FBA.
Kawaks/Winkawaks is specialized for Neo Geo, CPS1, and CPS2 roms. Between it and FBA, you could leave emulating those games to these emulators if you don't want to deal with having to keep up with their BIOS/rom changes in MAME(though they're not the only games that will change with MAMEs updates...).
Model 2 Emulator covers some specific Sega polygon arcade games. Of note to beat'em up fans is Dynamite Cop/Dynamite Deka 2. Otherwise if you're a racing game fan, there's Daytona, and a few others, if you're a light gun fan, there's the 2 Virtua Cop games, the original House of the Dead, and Gunblade NY. You even get the Sonic Fighting game, Virtua Fighter 2, and Zero Gunner for the shoot'em up fans. The emulator has it's own roms folder, so it's best not to mix these in with the roms for the other arcade emulators. If you feel the need to adjust options, change the region from Japan, or fix the aiming of a light gun, press F2 to get into the dip switch menu, then press F1 to move around the menu, and F2 to select something, including "exit" which will get you back to the game. The previously mentioned arcade emulators may have something similar, where F2 gets you in to the dip switch settings(F3 may then reset the game), the Tab button menu in MAME may have them in that menu depending on the game, but most likely your main game controls will allow you to move about the menus otherwise. [Edit: Forgot to mention that this makes this emulator much easier to work with: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=159733.0 ]
Supermodel: This is Sega Model 3. Also a command line emulator that would be easier to work with a UI/frontend. If you don't want to have to sign up to a message board to get one, I'd recommend "Sega Model 3 UI (2021/04/21)" that you can find at EmuCR(a good site for keeping up with the modern state of emulation, as they even keep track of development/unofficial builds). Of note for beat 'em up fans is 2 versions of Spikeout, otherwise it's as diverse as it's predecessor in genres. Also, if you use that particular frontend, you may want to check the box that says something to the extent of "SimulateNet" under the "Network" section, if you don't want to go online with it(or have your PC on airplane mode, where the emulator would just crash if you tried loading a rom without that box checked). 6 to both go into service mode and choose, 5 to move around the menus. 3 and 4 are the coin slots here(most arcade emulators use 5 for player 1, but they also have expectations for the possibility of 4 player cabinets).
Demul: Created as a Dreamcast emulator, as time has passed, it turns out to be better at emulating the arcade games from the following systems:
NAOMI - The arcade board that the Dreamcast was modeled after, a lot of it's games were ported to the dreamcast during, and even some after, it's time on the market.
Atomiswave - Taken directly from the Dreamcast's architecture, it even has a lot homebrew ports to Dreamcast ISO's now.
Hikaru - There's literally 5 games for this system, one of them for rail shooter fans, and fans of the series in general, is Planet Harriers.
Cave CV1000 - This one is a big deal for shoot 'em up fans.
Gaelco - literally 3 games.
Personally, I've only tried out the first 3.
NAOMI: Often has CHD roms, which means there's a huge file that has to be downloaded alongside a smaller file. If you find the right site, it offers both of those files, the smaller .zip file is what you're going to want to name your folder that you put the content of the .zip file and the CHD file into. You'll most likely also want to rename the CHD file, it should be called "gds-####.chd" the #### actually being 4 digits, the first 2 are most likely 0, first 3 depending on the game. You'll also need the naomi, naomi2, and naomigd bios files. Also depending on the game, you may want some individual bios', like for House of the Dead 2(hod2bios). Demul wants the files in the hod2bios(and probably the bios' for the other 2 games) file inside the naomi file, so to make things easier you can just make a 'naomi' folder and mix the files into it. In-game, F4 will get you to the dip switches, 9 will move about the menu, and 0 will select. Usually additional game adjustments, including controls, are in the Test Mode/Game Test Mode. Ninja Assault, if it appeals to you, a light gun game, uses 0 to get into the dip switches and your digital movement and 1st action button to move around and select stuff. If you're adjusting the gun, press the action button to adjust, then the Up and the action button afterward to exit back to the main dip switch menu. Oh, and once it knows where the BIOS files are and everything, uncheck Auto Select under Config>Naomi BIOS, and check one of the USA files. This will make it so that the games that have a US region will start with that, meanwhile it doesn't negatively affect the Japanese exclusives, which will just find one of the Japanese bios' to load those games.
Notable games for beat 'em up fans: Asian dynamite/Dynamite Deka Ex, Slashout, Zombie Revenge, and, to an extent, Spikers Battle.
Atomiswave: Has 1 bios file, so it's much easier to work with. It also has Demolish Fist(polygon) and Knights of Valor: The Seven Spirits(sprites) for beat 'em ups. Dolphin Blue and Metal slug 6(no red blood, but you can use a search engine for a solution to that) for run 'n gun fans. A few fighters, some Guilty Gear, and SNK stuff, and other kinda of arcade games, not quite as massive a choice as NAOMI, but still pretty good. F4 still gets you into the dip switches, but this time around 1 moves through the menu and F2 selects.
Hikaru: You may need to fish through MAME roms at sites to find these roms(probably the same for Cave CV1000 and Gaelco), the bios files are hikaru and mie. Same dip switch settings as NAOMI.
5th+ Generation:
This is where you may need to mess around with not only BIOS files, but plug-ins, depending on the emulators. To make this easier, you may want to look for a Retroarch(this is a multi system emulator, could be a good choice in lieu of most of the previous recommendations, but sometimes it's actually not best to consolidate everything when it comes to emulation. Your choice.) BIOS pack, It should be mentioned that the CD add-ons for the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine also need bios files, possibly 32X as well, but Fusion doesn't need them for 32X.
Saturn - as long as you find the files in bin/cue, the latest version of SSF can read it off the drive, without needing to mount an image to a disc drive. Kronos can handle the few that SSF can't seem to but has issues with some itself, which SSF may be able to handle, so hopefully between the 2 you can get 90%-100% of what you throw at them to run.
PS1 - EPSXE was one of the better ones for the longest time, uses plugins. Xebra is a good modern alternative, but probably the best is PCSX. Neither of the latter need plugins.
N64 - ...is still wonky, but most emulators can get your favorites going. Those hidden gems, as it were, might be another story though. I believe Project64 may still be the one to roll with, Mupen64 might be a good choice too. I'm not sure of a good N64 emulator that isn't plug-in based, but hopefully it's out there.
Dreamcast - Redream is excellent, though the free version doesn't have as many features, it doesn't require the BIOS either. That said, if you find yourself missing the Dreamcast swirl and memory management and whatnot, Flycast is an excellent alternative as well.
PS2 - PCSX2 is excellent, I don't know if there is an alternative honestly. Plug-in based, but you can usually work with it, if you have patience.
Gamecube - Dolphin, also emulates the Wii, if you'd care for that as well.
DS - DeSmuME is an excellent choice. Not sure of any others, but I'm sure they exist.
PSP - PPSSPP. Doesn't require a BIOS either. May not have full compatibility, or play some of your favorites well all the way through, but it is fairly compatible.
If anything newer than those has an emulator, I don't know how well they work, heck I'm not entirely sure how well some of the 5th+ generation emulators I mentioned do. Look over that wiki if you're interested in something I haven't mentioned, or another emulator sounds better to you.
If anyone is interested, I've spent time figuring out how to use a PC mouse for light gun emulation. If every emulator has the option, I haven't figured it out for a lot of post 4th generation ones, but Flycast works well. Just be aware that like with the DS' stylus, a PC mouse can never be as dexterous as your wrist, especially if you need to shoot off screen to reload.
Subject: General Emulation Topic 
Wed Aug 25, 2021 3:14 pm