Note: I was going to post this in the "looking for working emulators" thread, but it ended up getting really long, so I figured I would start a new thread.
I got on an emulator kick recently, so I figured I would post my results....
A couple of notes:
- Support for our hardware keyboard is spotty. Often only a few keys are recognized by most emulators (see here.. .
http://www.lg-expo.com/lg-expo-games/smartgear/msg6873/#msg6873). The rest usually can't be mapped (FPSCE) or have issues when they are able to be mapped (Morphgear & Smartgear).
- Even when using valid keys that the emulator can map, you are generally limited to 2 buttons at a time and even then there are issues (see above link)
- The above issues can be avoided if you use a Bluetooth controller (Wii/PS3 via CobaltController, BGP100 or Zeemote).
- WVGAFIX3 is sometimes required in order for a WVGA screen to be recognized. In those cases, if the emulator doesn't detect a VGA screen it defaults to QVGA (FinalBurn for example).
Emulators:Multi:Morphgear 2.4.0.9 (SNES, Genesis, TG16, NES*, GBA*, GBC*, GG* & SMS*) - SNES, Genesis & TG16 are free, the rest are not
- Supports WVGA
- seems to work fine as long as you do not enable audio. I only tried NES and SNES, but even at 1 GHz, it slowed to a crawl with audio enabled. Both appeared to play at full speed with audio disabled. Only real buttons work and you are limited when using more than one button at a time - see above notes.
- Works great with Wiimote.
http://www.spicypixel.com/web/page/morphgear/Download.aspxSmartgear 1.1.6 (Genesis, NES, TG16, GB, GG, SMS - beta 2.0.18 also supports some Arcade ROMs) - $10
- Supports WVGA
- excellent performance. I can play NES and Genesis games at full speed with audio. You can map any button, but fake buttons (see above link) don't allow for long & short presses and you are limited when using more than one button at at time. Beta 2.0.18 adds native support for BGP100 & Zeemote and can support some Arcade ROMs.
- Grabbed 100 or so popular NES ROMs and only had a problem with 4 of them (I also realized that I only really like a handfull of them - Contra, MegaMan series, Punch Out! & SMB series)
- Only tested Flashback for Genesis & WonderBoy in Monster Land for SMS.
- Works great with Wiimote.
http://www.bitbanksoftware.com/SmartGear.html(beta page...
http://www.bitbanksoftware.com/SG_Beta.html )
FinalBurn for WinCE 0.014 (CPS1, CPS2, CPS3, Cave, PGM & NeoGeo) - Free
- Doesn't support WVGA but will run in VGA after running WVGAFIX3
- Fully supports keyboard
- Near perfect emulation with audio for the CPS1 & CPS2 games I tried
- Works great with Wiimote
- Menneisyys has a good write up here.
http://www.pocketgamer.org/articles/guides/emulating-neogeo-and-cps-free-quality-games?page=0,0- Ran into issues listing ROMs.
http://www.modaco.com/content/smartphone-software-games/247894/finalburn-for-wince-0-014/MAME:Pocketcult MAME 0.4a (MAME 0.34) - Free
- Supports WVGA (stretched to fill screen, don't have option to maintain aspect ratio)
- Supports MAMEset 0.34.
- Performance is good (usually around 45 fps using steplines, half without).
- Seems to recognize "fake" keys just fine. Arcade games generally don't require holding more than one button at a time, so I didn't notice any issues there.
- Works great with Wiimote
See attachments below.....
Pocketcult MAME 0.5 WIP (MAME) - Free
- Supports WVGA, though app does not support landscape (you can open the keyboard once the game has started)
- If a ROM doesn't work, it just exits without an error
- Supposedly has better compatibility at the cost of performance
See attachments below.....
MAMECE3 (MAME 0.36) - Free
- Does not support VGA/WVGA (there are reports of it working in VGA, but I couldn't get it to work)
- 60 fps with audio disabled, slows down with audio enabled but audio is really bad.
- didn't bother testing much due to QVGA limiation
NES:PocketNester 0.7 (NES) - also tested 0.8 Alpha - free
- Does not support VGA/WVGA Full Screen, but it will run full size in a window with GAPI disabled (bottom few lines appear to be blocked when in landscape mode)
- Appears to run full speed with sound (fps counter doesn't work in window mode) - only tested SMB3
- Button mapper recognizes keycodes for all buttons, but only "real" buttons (OK, space, etc etc) work in game.
- Wiimote works great
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pnester/PocketNesterPlus 0.9 (NES) - updated version of PocketNester - free
- Supports Fullscreen in landscape, crashed in Portrait
- Should be the same speed at PocketNester
- Same button issues as PocketNester
http://www.modaco.com/content/smartphone-software-games/237915/pocketnesterplus-0-9/NesterJ4u 1.13 (NES) - free
- Couldn't get it to load a ROM
SNES:Snes9xPPC 0.410001 - Free
- Does not support VGA/WVGA (screen occupies small section in the middle)
- Appears to play near full speed (50+ fps) with audio
- Button mapper recognizes keyboard buttons, but they don't work during gameplay, only "real" buttons work.
PocketSNES 1.52 (SNES) - free
- Does not support VGA/WVGA (limited to QVGA postage stamp)
- Appears to have excellent performance
- Didn't bother testing much due to QVGA limiation
PocketSNES 1.53 (SNES) - free
- Does not support WVGA but will work in VGA with WVGAFix3
- Runs full speed with audio disabled (half speed with audio enabled)
- All buttons are mappable, but fake buttons don't allow for long and short presses (same as SmartGear)
PocketSNES 1.12.200 (n0p port) (SNES) - free
- Supposedly supports VGA, but all I could get was a mirrored, postage stamp window. WVGAFix3 didn't make a difference.
http://n0p.tonych.info/?PocketSNESPocketSNES/03 Preview 4.1 (SNES) - free
- Supports VGA but could only get portrait and landscape(left) to work not landscape(right). Also wouldn't stretch to fill screen.
- Good performance (Preview 4+- might be a bit better, needs more testing)
- Very buggy. I tried Super Mario World and it started glitching within a minute.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.geocities.jp/emu193/snes.htmlPocketSNES 1.12.200 (original) (SNES) - free
- System would become nearly unresponsive after loading a ROM
SnesGo 0.8 alpha 1 (SNES) - free
- Crashes when ever I load a ROM
SNES9xJ4u b1k (SNES) - free
- all in Japanese, doesn't support VGA/WVGA (postage stamp)
Genesis:PicoDrive - Free
- Does not support WVGA, but will work in VGA with WVGAFix3
- Sound didn't work
http://www.modaco.com/content/smartphone-software-games/237281/picodrive-0-52-an-updated-version-for-pocketpc-smartphone/Genesis Plus (n0p) - Free
- Does not support WVGA (wgafix3 doesn't help). All I could get was a mirrored, QVGA window (same as n0p's SNES port)
http://n0p.tonych.info/?Genesis_PlusPSX:
FPSECE 0.10 (Playstation 1) - Free
- Fully supports WVGA
- Only supports "real" buttons, so a Bluetooth controller is recommended
- PSX ISOs are fairly large, but offers a huge selection of games
I didn't bother testing TG16, GBA, GBC or GG since I am not interested in any games from those systems.
Summary:SNES - Seems our only options are Morphgear or PocketSNES 1.53 (WVGAFix3) with audio disabled. Sad really, SNES had some really great games. SmartGear would be an option if SNES support was ever finished, but I don't expect any further WinMo developtment.
Genesis - SmartGear works very well, but costs $10. As a free option go with either MorphGear or Picodrive.
NES - Again SmartGear offer excellent NES emulation with Sound and high compatibility, but isn't free. PocketNester & PocketNesterPlus should offer the same performance as each other. Go with PocketNesterPlus if you don't require/want Portrait support. Morphgear is a good alternative if you don't care about the audio, but again isn't free.
Sega Master System - SmartGear if you have it, otherwise Morphgear - both are not free.
Arcade - For CPS1, CPS2 and NeoGeo, nothing beats FinalBurn. For everything MAME, it seems PocketCultMame is your only option.
PSX - FPSECE is the only game in town for PSX games on WinMo, luckily it works great.
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Let me know if I have missed anything and I will update this page as needed.
TrueG
Updates:
- added new info for PocketSNES_1.53
