Top five PSP emulators

Posted Oct 23, 2006 at 10:53AM by QJ Staff Listed in: Homebrew Emulators, Emulators, Opinions & Analysis Tags: gpSP, N64, NeoGeo, NES, NesterJ, NJ

With the addition of a great homebrew community, the PSP is arguably one of the best handheld consoles ever produced. A lot of people would probably disagree with that statement, but before you go complaining through your comments, sit back for a minute and think about it. Sure, the PSP hasn't got the greatest selection of UMD games around, but due to its hardware power, it can play games from many other retro consoles using emulators. The popularity of these emulators is unprecedented on any other portable console and you can see just how many emulators have been released for the PSP over at our QuickJump Download site in the PSP Emulators section.

With new revelations for PSP 2.71 users, more PSP users can now enjoy full use of these emulators, and for this reason we have compiled a list of the Top Five PSP emulators of all time, spanning a wealth of retro consoles. Check it out!

Number 5: We open up our top five PSP emulators list with an emulator close to every Japanese PSP gamers heart. The faithful NeoGeo emulators">NJ is full of updates and one of his recent projects, the NEOGEO emulator for the PSP, reflects all of his hard work.

It may not have WiFi network play, or an incredibly fancy GUI, but NJ's NEOGEO v0.2.2 has great ROM support and contains little or no bugs. As soon as a new bug is found, you can be sure to check back 10 minutes later and find a hot fix directly from NJ! Although the NEOGEO isn't one of the most popular consoles around, this emulator deserves a spot in our Top 5 because of the quality emulator that it is.

Of course, this isn't the only NEOGEO emulator for the PSP. You could try E's famous E[mulator] or MikeDX's MVSPSP (a compiled version of NJ's latest NEOGEO source code) as an alternative to the mainstream NJ release, with our readers using different versions based on personal preference. You can find all th NEOGEO emulator download links below, so make sure you test them all out to find which one is best for you.

Download: [NEOGEO PSP v0.2.2]
Download: [e[Mulator] v0.82d]
Download: [MVPSP v1.0A]

Number 4: gpSP is the result of a lot of hard work by Exophase, and shows just what a real coder can do with a little

elbow grease. It made number 2 in our top five downloads list just over a week ago and now it's making a comeback in the top five PSP emulators. gpSP is undoubtedly the best GBA emulator released for the PSP with great compatibility and performance, as well as being highly popular - with the last release raking in over 500 jumps! There's no mystery to why it got there either, with an amazing compatibility list, great speeds, and frequent updates. With yet more speed increases and updates on the way, there's no reason why this great emulator won't reach #1 spot someday!

Download: [gpSP v0.8]

Number 3: There was a time when a Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP was just a dream. Then Monkey64 came out and brought the dream out into reality. This was soon followed by the application we have featured in our number 3 spot, which made the whole process of N64 emulation on the PSP a playable reality. Daedalus for the PSP was unlike Monkey64. It was a port of a PC emulator, providing a great platform for the developer, StrmnNrmn to work with; giving Daedalus for the PSP support for a huge list of Roms. It may not be finished yet, not running smoothly for most games, but with a progress coming your way little by little, this N64 emulator could turn out the be the best emulator for the PSP yet.

Download: [Daedalus R8]

Number 2: Coming in at number 2 comes the excellent NesterJ Nintendo NES emulator for the PSP. We haven't heard from Ruka, the developer of NesterJ, for a while but it still undoubtedly remains the best NES emulator out there for use on your PSP. NesterJ runs at a great true-to-life speed, thanks to a 20% increase in the latest version; it is very easy to use according to our readers and support's Ad-Hoc WiFi play so that you can give your mates a challenge at your favorite retro pastimes. This is why NesterJ gets the QJ

certificate of authentication with a place at number 5. No ROM gets way from this little gem without a fight.

Download: [NesterJ for PSP v1.20 Beta2]

Number 1

Coming in just ahead of the best Nintendo NES emulator for the PSP is the best SNES emulator. The Super Nintendo was the successor to the NES and comes out trumps in popularity stakes due to a better range of ROMs and a greater Graphics Processor Unit (GPU). I'm sure most of you know exactly which emulator will take the crown here, and that's because it's one of the most popular emulators ever.

Despite woes over the developers dropping development, SnesPSPTYL is still an amazing homebrew achievement, playing any Rom you can throw at it, as well as containing multiplayer support via 2-player Ad-Hoc mode so you can play against another PSP running the same ROM. If easy-to-use is your thing, just put the Roms in the correct folder, boot up SnesPSPTYL, and select which Rom to load. It really is that easy!

Super Nintendo games are by far some of the most playable games this century, and with customizable options in SnesPSPTYL such as CPU speed, music quality, frame rate skip and much more, you can play your retro games just how you want to without any limitations.

Download: [SnesPSP_TYL v0.4.2 Standard Version]
Download: [SnesPSP_TYL v0.4.2 ME Version] (Kernel Mode Required)
Download: [SnesPSP_TYL v0.4.2 Source Code]

That's a wrap folks! Don't forget to provide feedback on this article in the comments, making suggestions if you wish. Remember, you can find all of these emulators and many more in our Homebrew Emulators category. All we need now is a proper PS1 emulator!

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Comments

# Sorry... — vvlist 2006-10-23 05:50

gpsp should be ahead of Daedalus. Sorry, it just works waaay better. I know, I know, n64 a lot more difficult to code for. But it just doesn't work as well as gpsp. That's the truth!

# ...Genesis? — Guest 2006-10-23 05:52

You seriously put the N64 and NeoGeo emulators on there and no Genesis one? Jesus, as if this article weren't pointless enough...

# Nice — Guest 2006-10-23 05:53

This stuff is great since some companies arent going to bring these games to the PSP or any other system that i would gradly buy.Have to remark i dont like to support emulators or piracy but hey is their fault for not bringing them like Sega did.(Thank you Sega,Finally i can play the Original Comixzone again.).If they launch collections like Sega did then this wouldnt happen,yet Nintendo is so blind that they keep releasing everything except what fans like.

Super smash brother Ds is too much to ask for?.

Well this stuff is great anyway.

P.S: QJ. you should really check the Silent hill origins issue,I couldnt get it well from Kotaku.

I only ended with a huge wassup and wtf?..

# FIRSTFIRSTFIRST — Guest 2006-10-23 05:54

FIRSTPOSTIAMGOD SOWORSHIPME

# u missed some — Guest 2006-10-23 06:00

daedalus is a good work in progress but it is no way near the top 5 emulators currently imo. kinda seems like the top 5 list was decided by a nintendo fanboy doesn't it? all nintendo emus except 1...shame.

my personal top 5

neogeo

cps2

cps1

amiga

nes

# why — Guest 2006-10-23 06:07

idiot

# Titty Boppers — Guest 2006-10-23 06:13

Mine

#5 DGEN

#4 Rin v 1.32

#3 NESTERJ

#2 SNES9X TYL ver 4.2

#1 GPSP

I would've overlooked the rest but 1 thing for sure, GPSP is the best Emu out there!

# what??? — PTSnake 2006-10-23 06:16

are you guys joking?

1....DGen (Genesis)

2....gbPSP

3....NesterJ

4....NEO GEO

5... N64 (doesn't play a lot of games, and sound is crap)

# j?[Ju — Guest 2006-10-23 06:19

Genesis should have been up there........morons....

# Just to be fair... — Guest 2006-10-23 06:24

There should have been a top 6 with DGen in there most definately. Might has well gone top 10 and included RIN. That way we would have gotten some more credit out there to the developers. I use DGEN and RIN way more than daedalus... because they are finished and are fully playable. Come on. These were awesomely coded programs and just because there is something newer doesn't necessarily mean its a bigger achievement. Like Ali-G, you have to *RESPECT*

# Only Nintendo videogames... — Guest 2006-10-23 06:30

I guess I'm not a Sega Fanboy, but the Master System emulator is great (even if the Master System suck) and the Sega Genesis is still great. And I must remember you of the CPS1 and CPS2 emulators, wich are great! The ZX-81 emulator rox, the MSX emulator rox, the GB/GBC emulator rox and the PCE emulator rox.

And I don't think Deadalus should be here. It is great, but is unplayable.

# I disagree — Guest 2006-10-23 06:42

gpSP should of won. Many people believed full speed GBA emulation was impossible, and here we are now.

# . — Guest 2006-10-23 06:49

yer talkin' out your ass,for the best emu's only a couple of these are good. This is simply the authors opinion on the best system currently emulated on the psp, remember good games dont equal good emu.

# My top 5 — soopergooman 2006-10-23 06:55

5. Nester J

4. Daedalus 64

3. DGEN

2. gpSP

1. DEV-HOOK PSP FW EMULATOR

# devhook? — Ryu 2006-10-23 06:55

devhook a psp emulator

it emulates the psp on the psp

# TOP FIVE — Guest 2006-10-23 07:09

THE REAL TOP FIVE AS THINGS STAND....

1 SNES9X TYL

2 GPSP

3 CPS2

4 Daedalus R8

5 NEOGEO CD

# 1. Amiga [PSP-UAE] — Guest 2006-10-23 07:21

# i donno — Guest 2006-10-23 07:37

my personal favorites as as follows

5. Scummvm

4.Stella (where are u alysa?)

3.PSPmaster because of its blazing speed and extra long battery life

2.GPSP

1.CPS-1

the rest are great but i love these more then ever.

the developer for pspmaster has his new version ready but is unable to upload it for some odd reason. send an author an email i'm sure they'll eventually email you back ZX-81 did so did the pspmaster guy!

# Amiga emulator — Guest 2006-10-23 07:48

Does the last release of the Amiga emulator work fine? Like with Sensible Soccer or others more recent?

# mine — Guest 2006-10-23 07:51

5. DGEN

4. NesterJ

3. SnesTYL (good, but can be better)

2. Devhook (firmware emulator)

1. gpSP (psp+gba+fullsp eed=great)

# gspsp — Guest 2006-10-23 08:07

for me it's gspsp!!! that shud be first!!! as it is full speed!!!! the smoothest emulation i have seen personally on psp

# . — Guest 2006-10-23 08:22

4. Master System

3. NesterJ

2. Genesis

1. SnesTYL

# It said — Guest 2006-10-23 08:56

It said

This Game Cannot Be Started

The Data Is Corrupted WTF!

# Shut up — Guest 2006-10-23 08:59

Shut up it's about wat works better

# Dgen — Guest 2006-10-23 09:27

i agree with previous comments. Dgen should have been in the top 5 with. come on wifi miltiplayer

# I agree — GaveUpTomorrow 2006-10-23 09:37

I agree with all of the emulators on this list ;), but rearranged:

5. Rin v.1.32

4. GPSP

3. Nester J

2. SNES9x TYL 4.2 me

1. DGen (Because I love Sega)

These are the only emulators I find worth using anyways...these and SMS and Gamegear emulators...

# emu — GeppyZ 2006-10-23 09:55

n64 emu is awesome just like the snes emu... thank god for homebrew :)

# Daedalus R8?!?! Are you kidding me? — Guest 2006-10-23 09:55

Although its a nice tech demo, it runs at ~10fps, and most games have serious graphical glitches. "this N64 emulator could turn out the be the best emulator for the PSP yet." Are you high? Although I'm sure it can be improved, their is no way this thing is ever going to run full speed on most games. I don't know what your idea of fun is QJ, but a 10fps slideshow is not mine. Oh yeah, SNESTyl should not be at #1 either. Its definatly good, but way too many roms are sluggish and unplayable on it (and using a frameskip of 5 is not playable in my book). NeoGeo, NeoCD, CPS1, CPS2, NesterJ, Hue & gpSP are all better emulators than SNEStyl in my opinion.

# I forgot... — Guest 2006-10-23 09:58

Add Dgen to that list as well.

# f — Guest 2006-10-23 10:21

They shouldn't be ranked since several are really good.

# bad ranking..... — Guest 2006-10-23 10:30

here is the real....

1 gpSP

2 Nesterj

3 DGen

4 SnesTyl

5 RIN

# 2.71 — Guest 2006-10-23 11:16

are all of these emu's playable on 2.71?

# car game — Guest 2006-10-23 11:44

the car racing game at the top in the screenshot... what game's that? i want that. i want that on my psp. what is it?

# Hmm — Guest 2006-10-23 12:21

"This is why NesterJ gets the QJ certificate of authentication with a place at number 5."

But....you listed it as Number 2!

# Look.... — KuffoMan_11 2006-10-23 12:53

everyone of those emus are awsome but frankly my dear these are the top 5:

5)CPS-2, it's awsome who doesn't like playing Marvel vs. Capcom.

4)NeoGeo is sweet, yet some games which are usually the best don't work w/ sound other than that it's all good.

3)gpSP, yeah it's 3rd because even though it has supreme emulation it still lacks so much we need.

2)SnesPSP TYL, it's tight, ad-hoc multi-player, pretty much full playability w/ every game(except starfox) and awsome classics like Killer Instinct, whats not to love?

1)It's Dev-Hook, yeah people forgot, it emulates firmwares and isos, w/out this people wouldn't play newer games or isos that they adore.

I left out Daedalus because even though it plays N64, big whoop, it's like Mario64 is the only one it's meant for, NesterJ is left out because even if it's the best Nintendo emu I wouldn't waste space on my mem-stick for a game with a block that moves across a green background claimed to be grass.

And that's how it is..

# Agree? — Guest 2006-10-23 13:09

Yeah, I really applaud the effort put into making an n46 emu, but at the moment, it's not a good enough emu to put at number 3. I really do think, that when the emulator gets to be a little faster and more compatible, it will be worthy of such an honor, but for now, the other emus, especially gpSP deserve the spotlight.

On another note, I think dgen should also be up there. There are some emus I have not tried on the list (#1 and 4), but dgen is a great eumlator for a great system.

taking from "no-one"'s lead, I will make my top 5 emu list:

5. Daedalus

4. Cps2

3. Dgen

2. SnesPSP tyl

1. gpSP

# my rankings — RaiderX 2006-10-23 13:26

1) SNES9xTYL

2) gPSP

3) NESterJ

4) DGEN

5) Daedalus

# bull — Guest 2006-10-23 13:32

This is how it should go:

5. NeoGeo

4. NesterJ

3. Daedalus

2. Snes9xTYL

1. gpSP

# hmmm... — Guest 2006-10-23 14:32

yeh jake it's about what works better lol and obviously daedalus doesn't work... at least dgen has sound lol n00b

# ARE U STUPID????? — Guest 2006-10-23 14:37

if n64 emu is crap and no sound, why are u even playing it then? or to be more precise why dont u code a way better n64 emu then......

for me it dont matter whos the best and who isnt, all it matters is that this people are putting efforts for us to have fun and they ARE DOING IT FOR FREE, VOLUNTARILY, and they have regular jobs just like u and me and others.......so before insulting another coder, appreciate the job they are doing, dont matter if is crappy, but it shows that he cares for the hombrew scene.........

Matter of fact prob. u are a nintendo DS fan....

# ITS — Guest 2006-10-23 14:41

gran turismo but as of "today" is not available for the psp yet

# agreed!! — Guest 2006-10-23 17:00

5. Daedalus

4. Cps2

3. Dgen

2. SnesPSP tyl

1. gpSP

# . — Guest 2006-10-23 17:50

wtf wheres dgen

# lol — PTSnake 2006-10-23 19:00

DS Fan? dude, my ds was sold 2 days after i boght it. major crap :)

PSP owns it big time.

for free? you actually belive in that? ever heard fo donations and google adsense?

# I agree — Guest 2006-10-23 19:04

I'd put it something like this:

5. RIN (It does work perfectly!)

4. NesterJ

3. Daedalus

2. SnesPSP tyl

1. gpSP

# well.. — Guest 2006-10-23 19:06

Do you have to pay?

NO, so then its free

# mine — Guest 2006-10-23 19:08

1.Devhook

2.NEOGEO CD

3.gpSP

4.Snestyl

5.SCUMMVM 0.9.1.

These all emu work really great and these r my top 5...

# Wheres Daedulus??? — Guest 2006-10-23 19:23

Where the hell is Strrnnmm, its been a while since he's made a update of n64, hmmm is it DEADalus now?

# mine — yogesh 2006-10-23 20:47

1.DEVHOOK

2.gpSP

3.NEOGEO CD

4.Snestyl

5.SCUMMVM

These are from mine opinion which work great on psp.

# mine — yogesh 2006-10-23 21:03

1.DEVHOOK

2.gpSP

3.SNESTYL

4.NEOGEO CD

5.ScummVm 0.9.1

these are really cool emu for psp..

# .. — Guest 2006-10-23 22:34

you guys are clowns . the n64 emulator doesnt belong in the list . personally i think NJ has done the best job since his task was maybe ( im not sure ) the most difficult seeing as how the systems are way more powerful .

HINT to all the guys trying to play streetfighter on psp and cant do any decent moves .....get NJ's cps2 emulator and marvel versus capcom superheroes. all the moves are a lot easier to pull of .

my top 5

1 snes

4 dgen

2 nj's neo geo

3 cps2

5 cps1

in that order

# Hmmmmm... — Guest 2006-10-24 01:54

It must have been a nintendo fanboy who thought that list up:

5. NeoGeo

4. Gameboy Advance

3. Nintendo 64

2. Nintendo Entertainment System

1. Super Nintendo Entertainment System

lol! Too much nintendo there for my liking - I wouldn't mind but 2 of them selected run games pretty crap at the moment - I mean N64 emu? it doesn't even have sound yet!! should have some sega sprinkled in there, with a touch of amiga maybe. If QJ isn't bias thenn my real identity is clara - queen of the umperglecks!

I shant be taking recommendations from this site litely if out of all the emus to choose from this is the ones you pick...

# well hell? — Guest 2006-10-24 03:37

1: DevHook

2: SNES

3: RIN

4: scummVM

5: N64

who plays the other crap?

# AMIGA RULEZ! — Guest 2006-10-24 05:12

AMIGA RULEZ FOREVER!

(Of course, if it actually ran at full speed, it might deserve a spot on the top five list...0

# dgen! — Guest 2006-10-24 05:58

how can deadalus be in the top 5? that ***** doesnt even work!! where's Dgen?!?!?!

# lol — Guest 2006-10-24 06:01

and that my friends is why you shoud not smoke crack!

# ok? — Guest 2006-10-24 07:59

yea, there are great games for SNES tho..

5.[e]mulator(I think?)

4.NES

3.Daedalus

2.gPSP

1.SNES

This is based on games, gpsp and daedalus is GREAT emulator, but I just like snes games better, and cmon, the gui rocks

# ? — Guest 2006-10-24 09:35

Is there a downgrader for 2.81?

I nedd to go down to 1.50 so i can try out this.

# naa — Guest 2006-10-24 11:01

so.. all of this means that i can play..

nes

snes

n64

gameboy

on my PSP ????????

if true...

this is complet OwN4G3 !!!!!!!!!!

# This is Great! — Guest 2006-10-24 13:13

Is awesome how the mods delete stuff that is true but not good for the site publiciity. Well we we dont have the freedom of speech here, then I will stop comming here. And I dont mean like swearing and stuff, but when peoples opinions get deleted even though there is no flaming/sweating in it, you know this forum is biased.

# What the hell? — Guest 2006-10-24 14:41

A slow N64 and an SNES emualtor out rank a GBA emulator that runs nearly every game at full speed?

Im sorry this list is wrong.

# Preferance — Freemo 2006-11-03 00:03

I would have put dgen up there around the middle like a few other people have suggested, but i also think that gpsp doesnt deserve a placing. PSPVBA by Zx-81 in my opinion, was greater in that it was always exciting to find the next update each week that had a few extra additions. He made the entire emu, without using a bios-which he refused to do. Dont get me wrong, i use gpsp all the time and it plays kingdom hearts perfectly, but i wasnt as excited by it as much as when pspvba came out.

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