Omgcanadian

Some games may require the BIOS file to work properly. I went into the Directories.there is a save games but it's not clickable. And while my C: Docu. Is in the window next to it. It appears like the words that direct you to click on an icon to post in here.

A saved game (also called a game save, savegame, savefile, save point, or simply save) is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game.

From the earliest games in the 1970s onward, game platform hardware and memory improved, which led to bigger and more complex computer games, which, in turn, tended to take more and more time to play them from start to finish. This naturally led to the need to store in some way the progress, and how to handle the case where the player received a 'game over'. More modern games with a heavier emphasis on storytelling are designed to allow the player many choices that impact the story in a profound way later on, and some game designers do not want to allow more than one save game so that the experience will always be 'fresh'.

Game designers allow players to prevent the loss of progress in the game (as might happen after a game over). Games designed this way encourage players to 'try things out', and on regretting a choice, continue from an earlier point on.

Although the feature of save games often allows for gameplay to resume after a game over, a notable exception is in games where save games are deleted when it is game over. Several names are used to describe this feature, including 'permadeath', 'iron man', and 'hardcore', and the feature has developed over the years from being the only kind of save system per game to the more modern 'suspend game' feature among regular save points. For online games, the game's progress is maintained on the remote server. In some games, upon resuming the game from a save game, the software locks or marks the save game. Early examples include Moria and Diablo II's 'hardcore' mode where the character save game is managed by the server. The use of saved games is very common in modern video games, particularly in role-playing video games, which are usually much too long to finish in a single session.

History and overview[edit]

In early video games, there was no need for saving games, since these games usually had no actual plot to develop and were generally very short in length.

The relative complexity and inconvenience of storing game state information on early home computers (and the fact that early video game consoles had no non-volatile data storage) meant that initially game saves were represented as 'passwords' (often strings of characters that encoded the game state) that players could write down and later input into the game when resuming.

BYTE magazine stated in 1981, regarding the computer text adventureZork I's save game feature, that 'While some cowards use it to retain their hard-earned position in the game before making some dangerous move', it was intended to let players play over many weeks.^[1]InfoWorld disagreed that year, stating that save games 'allow users to experiment with different approaches to the same situation'.^[2]Home computers in the early 1980s had the advantage of using external media for saving, with compact cassettes and floppy disks, before finally using internal hard drives.

On later cartridge-based console games, such as Kirby's Adventure and The Legend of Zelda, saved games were stored in battery-backed RAM on the game cartridge itself. The Legend of Zelda was the first ever game to allow saving on console. In recent consoles, which use disc-based media for storing games, saved games are stored in other ways, such as by use of memory cards or internal hard drives on the game machine itself.

Some games do not save the player's progress towards completing the game, but rather high scores, custom settings, and other features. The first game to save the player's score was Taito's seminal 1978 shoot 'em up title Space Invaders.^[3]

Depending on the game, a player will have the ability to save the game either at any arbitrary point (usually when the game has been paused), after a specific task has been completed (such as at the end of a level), or at designated areas within the game known as save points.

The available ways to save a game affect gameplay, and can represent a practice of players or an explicit decision by designers to give the game a particular feel or alter its difficulty.^[4]

Time and location of saving[edit]

A video game may allow the user to save at any point of the game at any time. There are also modified versions of this. For example, in the GameCube game Eternal Darkness, the player can save at almost any time, but only if no enemies are in the room. To make gaming more engaging, some video games may impose a limit on the number of times a player saves the game. For instance, IGI 2 allows only a handful of saves in each mission; Max Payne 2 imposes this restriction on the highest level of difficulty.

Some video games only allow the game to be saved at predetermined points in the game, called save points. (Not to be confused by 'checkpoints'.) Save points are employed either because the game is too complex to allow saving at any given point or to attempt to make the game more engaging by forcing the player to rely on skills instead of on the ability to retry indefinitely. Save points are also far easier to program, so when a game developer has to rush a game, save points are attractive to develop.

Some games use a hybrid system where both save anywhere and save points are used. For example, Final Fantasy VII permits saving anywhere when the player is traveling on the world map, but once the player enters a location (e.g. town, cavern or forest), saving is only possible at save points. Additionally, there is one location (called the Northern Crater) in which the player is allowed to deploy one save point in a spot of their choice.

Savescumming[edit]

Overusing saved games is seen by some as cheating and in such a context referred to as savescumming. Savescumming makes losing a game impossible because whenever the player loses or is about to lose, a savegame is loaded, effectively turning back time to the situation before the loss. In a video game, this could for example be done when a battle is lost, the player didn't win a race, forgot to grab a parachute before jumping out of a plane or lost a bet. For example, in a game that features a casino, the player could save the game and then bet all their in-game money on black at the roulette table. If the outcome is black, their money is doubled and the player saves the game again. If the outcome is red (or green), the player disregards this outcome by reloading their last savegame. This allows for an indefinite winning streak.

In the movie Next, the protagonist is able to see 2 minutes into the future, allowing him to evaluate dozens of possible outcomes for any encounter. His power is very similar to savescumming.^[5]

Types of saved games[edit]

Autosave[edit]

Game saving does not need to be manual. Some video games save the game in progress automatically, such as at the start of each level, after the pass of a fixed amount of time (if saving anywhere is allowed), at certain predetermined points in the game (an extension to save point concept), or when the player leaves (the game saves when you stop playing).

Some games only permit suspend saves in which the game is automatically saved upon exiting and reloaded upon restarting. The aim of a suspend save is only to allow the gameplay to be temporarily interrupted; as such, suspend saves are erased when the player resumes the game. The act of copying and reusing suspend save files is a form of cheating.

Checkpoints[edit]

Checkpoints are locations in a video game where a player character respawns after death. Characters generally respawn at the last checkpoint that they have reached. A respawn is most often due to the death of the in-game character, but it can also be caused by the failure to meet an objective required to advance in the game. Checkpoints might be temporary, as they stop working when the character loses all of its lives. Most modern games, however, save the game to memory at these points, known as auto-saving.^[6]

Checkpoints might be visible or invisible to the player. Visible checkpoints might give a player a sense of security when activated, but in turn sacrifice some immersion, as checkpoints are intrinsically 'gamey' and might even need an explanation of how they work. Invisible checkpoints do not break immersion but make players unsure of where they will respawn. Usually, if a player does get a game over, then their progress will be lost, and the player would lose all of their checkpoints.^[7]

Quick saving[edit]

Quick saving and quick loading allow the player to save or load the game with a single keystroke. These terms are used to differentiate between the traditional saving mechanism where the player is required to invoke a menu or dialog box, issue save the order, specify a title for the game being saved and, if applicable, confirm whether an old saved game file with the same title should be overwritten. The term 'quick save' may be used in video games that lack the traditional saving mechanism altogether.

The advantage of quick saving is its low burden: The player only has to press a button and, if applicable, wait a few seconds. The disadvantage is the automatic loss of the previous quick-saved game. Games that only offer quick saving may be impossible to play by two different players (or more) unless there is a mechanism to distinguish players, such as user accounts. Leaving the decision of when to save up to the player increases the likelihood that a save will be made during a less than favourable game state. A quicksave shortly before an event which kills the player creates what is known as a death loop.^[8]

Password[edit]

Passwords are a form of saved game not stored on non-volatile memory. Instead, everything needed to reconstruct the game state is encoded in a string of text (the password) and displayed to the player, who can then record or memorize it. The player may later resume play from that point by entering the same password. Passwords are only feasible when the amount of data being saved is only a few bytes.

Save states[edit]

A save state is a form of a saved game in emulators. A save state is generated when the emulator stores the contents of random-access memory of an emulated program to disk. Save states enable players to save their games even when the emulated game or system does not support the feature. For instance, save states may be used to circumvent saving restrictions or to abuse RNG. An associated concept is save state hacking, the practice of altering the save states to alter gameplay conditions, usually in favor of the player. Save states are comparable to snapshots of a computer system's state or hibernation in computing, with save states being a limited form of snapshots.

Save states have started to receive mainstream usage in the early 2010s with Nintendo's Virtual Console. Some Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console titles allow players to save a restore point, which is like a quick save but has no restrictions on reloading.^[9] Although likely derived from quick saves, restore points are functionally identical to save states, and can be used for many of the same purposes.

Presentation[edit]

Game designers often attempt to integrate the save points into the style of the game using skeuomorphism. Resident Evil represents save points with old fashioned typewriters (which require an ink ribbon item for each save), the Grand Theft Auto series used representations appropriate to the era of the setting: cassette tapes for the mid-1980s (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), 3½-inch disks for the early-1990s (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), and compact discs for the late-1990s (Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories).

Although save points are typically seen as boons, some games have traps which use this tendency to fool the player. In Chrono Trigger, attempting to use a fake save point in Magus's castle can actually bring the party into battle.

Some games employ limits to saving in order to prevent players from using them as a primary means of succeeding in the game. In Tomb Raider save points are consumed upon use, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest charges two banana coins to use a save point more than once, and in Resident Evil the player must find and expend an ink ribbon for each save.

Another way saved games interact with each other is through passing along data to sequels. A famous example of this is the first three installments of the Wizardry series. To play the second and third installments, players needed to import the characters they'd used in the previous installment, which retained all experience and equipment gained in that installment. Later versions of the games made this feature optional, as do franchises such as the Fire Emblem, Shenmue and .hack series. Video games may also take the saved games of other video games into account; for example, the character Rosalina becomes available on Mario Kart Wii if there is a Super Mario Galaxy save on the console. The save game of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition can be imported to the Remix version of the game.

Save sharing[edit]

For many years, sharing game saves among friends has been very common. From trading passwords to swapping memory cards, gamers have always been able to help each other out to unlock features in a game. With the growing popularity of the Internet, many people upload their game saves to help out their online friends. However, with the inclusion of a progress meter or 'gamerscore' that tracks player progress in games for the Xbox 360, many players are beginning to view those who load other people's files onto their systems as 'cheaters'.^[10] Some games such as Grand Theft Auto IV prevent the use of saved games made by other users. The Legend of Zelda: Oracles actually encourages this with a password swapping side quest that is available after finishing the main story.

Arcade games[edit]

Saved games have generally been rare at arcades, but have found some use, notably in the Konami e-Amusement system, or by the use of PlayStation cards, as in Dance Dance Revolution. These generally use either a magnetic card to store the data, or network (internet) connection, or some combination thereof. Similarly, passwords have generally been rare at arcades, with occasional exceptions, such as Gauntlet Legends.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Liddil, Bob (February 1981). 'Zork, The Great Underground Empire'. BYTE. pp. 262–264. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
2. ^Barry, Tim (1981-05-11). 'In Search of the Ultimate Computer Game'. InfoWorld. pp. 11, 48. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
3. ^Geddes, Ryan; Hatfield, Daemon (2007-12-10). 'IGN's Top 10 Most Influential Games'. IGN. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
4. ^Moran, Chuk (2010). 'Playing with Game Time'. Fibreculture. 16. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
5. ^Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw (2011-03-29). 'Death in Videogames'. Escapist Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-01. There's a rather striking sequence that sticks out in my mind in which Cage needs to search a large building in a short time, and so uses his powers to essentially save scum. This is represented by showing him split into two Nicolas Cages every time he reaches a fork, until an entire army of Nicolas Cages are wandering through the halls until one of them finds whatever they're looking for and so becomes the 'true' version of Nicolas Cage.
6. ^Ernest, Adams (2010-04-07). Fundamentals of Game Design. New Riders. p. 403. ISBN978-0132104753. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
7. ^Rogers, Scott (2014-04-16). 'A nice little calm spot'. Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN978-1118877197. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
8. ^Aniko, Angyal (2019-01-02). 'Deathloop: What is Zenimax planning?'. The Geek. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
9. ^Cazares, Sergio (2013-12-15). 'Restore Point or No Restore Point'. 30PLUSGAMER. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
10. ^Grant, Christopher (2008-03-25). 'Cheaters Branded on Xbox Live, Gamerscore Reset, Joystiq'. Joystiq. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved 2011-08-29.

Super Nintendo emulation has been around for decades and there are many choices out there for playing the classics on a variety of PCs and other devices. Over time, we have seen a great deal of quality improvements and feature innovation. To help you narrow down your search of the best SNES emulator for you, here are the 10 best Super Nintendo emulators for PC, Mac, Android, and iOS that you can try.

Some of these recommendations are based purely on feedback I’ve seen online. I typically have stuck with the ones near the top of this list. I welcome you to leave any feedback or suggestions for improvement in the comments section below. I love to evolve posts like this with user contributions. Thanks, and I hope you find this useful!

[insert SNES game content recommendations]

Higan

Higan branched off from bSNES and it offers an exceptional gaming experience. It’s a multi-system emulator that supports Nintendo Super Famicom, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Famicom and more. Higan emulates the original hardware as accurately as possible, offering a gameplay experience that you wouldn’t find with any other software emulator. However, because of the way the emulation works, Higan is a fairly demanding emulator and won’t work well on low-end or older devices.

Compatabilitiy is also key here: Higan emulator is capable of running every commercial SNES title ever released, making it the perfect choice if SNES games are all that you care about.

• Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Price: Free

Advantages

• Highly Accurate
• Highly Compatible – run ever commercial SNES title ever released
• Compatible with several systems

Disadvantages

• It does demand higher-end/modern hardware to run properly
• To newbies, this emulator is intimidating
• It does not work well with older devices

BSNES

BSNES has one of the longer legacies among SNES emulators and was abandoned for a bit. Currently, there are many emulators which are based on BSNES and one of them– higan– is also on this list. However, the BSNES emulator is live again as the developer, byuu has taken it upon himself to revive the project.

The main goal of BSNES is to offer a near-perfect emulation accuracy with good performance. And since higan is pretty complex to use for general users, BSNES is intended to make it easier to play classic Nintendo games on its emulator. There have been a total of 3 releases as of now, but the HD build seems to be the best one for high-quality graphics rendering. All in all, if you are looking for an accurate SNES emulator for Windows or Linux then BSNES is the right pick.

• Supported platforms: Windows and Linux
• Price: Free

Advantages

• Highly Accurate
• Highly Compatible
• More Trim and Specialized for SNES
• Has great HD Mode

Disadvantages

• It does demand higher-end/modern hardware to run properly

BizHawk

BizHawk is the best Super Nintendo emulator for speedruns gamers. Since it doesn’t lag unlike other emulators, you’ll have the chance to finish the game in the fastest time possible. The emulator is free and works well for casual gaming.

Besides, it’s designed around the production of Tools Assisted (TAS). Furthermore, it supports games published on different platforms including Sega Saturn, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Atari 2600 and many more.

If you’re a fan of speedruns and want to complete a game in the fastest time possible, then you should definitely take a look at BizHawk. The emulator has been specifically designed around the production of Tool Assisted Speedruns (TAS) and it works equally well for casual gaming.

• Supported platforms: Windows
• Price: Free

Advantages

• Easy to use
• Is available for free

Disadvantages

• It’s not the best emulator for a specific system

SNES9X

A classic that still is a top choice for lower-end/aging hardware. It doesn’t have quite the accuracy of Higan or BSNES, but SNES9X is an exceptional emulator that runs fast. It is also the easiest to get up and running. The emulator is capable of running virtually all SNES titles without any noticeable issues and it works fairly well on relatively dated hardware.

It still offers a wide selection of features, including fast forward to speed up games. It has an Output Image Processing for better graphics. A recording feature that allows you to capture moves of your gameplay. Above all, a save states to save games in the exact place you want them to save too are other features.

• Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

Advantages

• It’s solid and fast on even older hardware
• Pretty easy to use
• It runs on multiple platforms

Disadvantages

• Not as super-accurate as Higan or BSNES

SNES9x EX+

Want the legacy of SNES9x but for Android? You should definitely check out SNES9x EX+. The emulator includes all the basic features you’d expect from any SNES emulator, including save/load states, on-screen controls, support for a variety of file types and game pad support.

Granted, the emulator looks a bit old school, but since it works quite well there’s no point complaining about the UI. What’s really great is that unlike some other SNES emulators for Android, SNES9x EX+ is completely free and ad-free with no in-app purchases. Do keep in mind, that the emulator will work well only on devices with a processor clocked at 1GHz or more.

• Supported platforms: Android
• Price: Free

ZSNES

ZSNES is another classic SNES emulator that also has a port for iPhone and other gadgets. It’s also quite approachable for newbies. The development of this emulator stopped in 2007 but it’s still quite capable and easy to use, which is why it’s still quite popular among emulation enthusiasts.

ZSNES features a decent selection of features, including filters to improve video output, save states support, and a great recently played games list which keeps track of 10 of the most recent games that you’ve played on the emulator. It’s worth noting that ZSNES has a known security exploit and it’s possible for a ROM to redirect you to a webpage and install unwanted apps on your system, however, the exploit can easily be avoided by downloading ROMs from trusted sources.

• Supported platforms: Windows, Linux, iOS
• Price: Free

Advantages

• It’s solid and fast on even older hardware
• Super easy to use
• It runs on a handful of platforms, including iOS

Disadvantages

• Not as super-accurate as Higan or BSNES
• It wasn’t ported to MacOS

John NESS

John NESS is the successor of popular SNES emulator, John SNES. It was pulled down from the Play Store due to copyright infringement issues. However, the developer has released a new emulator with support for all the older games and of course, the new additions. At this moment, John Ness is one of the best SNES emulators on Android after perhaps SNES9x EX+. The UI of the emulator is quite good and it makes the gameplay very comfortable.

The developer states that the app is using the original SNES engine which means will have a great time playing the classic games with a focus on accuracy over performance. As for the features, you have cheats, high-quality rendering, zipped file support, customizable keys and more. Not to mention, the emulator also supports Bluetooth/MOGA controllers which is awesome. Overall, John NESS is a capable SNES emulator on Android and you should definitely give it a try.

• Supported platforms: Android
• Price: Free

The Mega S.N.E.S Rock Retro

The Mega S.N.E.S Rock Retro is a relatively new emulator, but it has quickly gained popularity among the Android community. The best part about this emulator is that it’s pretty fast and has wider game compatibility. Further, you can play SNES games on Full HD Graphics setting which is great. Apart from that, the emulator has a long list of features like controller customization, support for popular cheat codes, compatibility with Bluetooth controllers and more. There is also support for mouse, but it’s limited to few selected games only. Simply put, if you are looking for a new SNES emulator on Android then this one is worth exploring.

• Supported platforms: Android
• Price: Free

Also see RetroArch

In reading up on Emulation, you might see lots of mentions about RetroArch. It’s isn’t really an emulator itself, but instead is an interface and structure that manages multiple emulators.

However, it is also valid to mention RetroArch here as a RetroArch installation might be the only or best solution to use emulators on certain devices like the Nintendo Wii U or Playstation Classic.

Kicking off the list is RetroArch, a great SNES emulator which comes with cross platform support, allowing users to enjoy SNES games on a variety of different platforms. RetroArch is often described as a front-end for emulators which runs programs converted into dynamic libraries called liberto cores. Essentially, the software provides a polished interface for the user to play a wide range of classic games, making it quite easy to use. The emulator includes support for a number of different controllers and it offers several advanced features like shaders, netplay, and rewinding.

• Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, WiiU, Mini Consoles, and lots more

Also see OpenEmu

OpenEmu is a multi-system emulator that started as a port for the NEX/Famicom emulator Nestopia. The emulator is more of a front-end which requires you to download extra cores to enjoy. You could view it as a similar setup to RetroArch that has more of a desktop computer-oriented interface that is quite beautiful and matches the MacOS aesthetic well.

It’s fairly easy to use and has a very clean UI. The emulator features a couple of different filters to improve visual output and it also supports multiple input methods, so you can easily use a retro controller with your system for a much more authentic experience. Another great thing about OpenEmu is that it isn’t too resource extensive, which means that you can easily run it on older macOS devices with low-end specifications.

• Supported platforms: macOS

Best Controllers for SNES Emulation

Enjoy Your Favorite SNES Games With These SNES Emulators — there’s two solid routes to go if emulating on modern devices or PCs — Bluetooth or USB adapters…

8Bitdo SN30 Controllers

It took decades, but we finally got a mass market, solid quality set of wireless controllers that not only use modern 2.4G wireless technology and decent rechargeable batteries. 8bitdo sells both North American SNES grey and purple style controllers, but also a Black Edition. The collaboration with Analogue and the co-release alongside the Super Nt helped bring these into the mainstream of the retro community. We have since seen some knockoffs of these controllers all over eBay and Amazon. If you’d like to see some video and info about 8Bitdo’s SNES controllers, check out this segment My Life in Gaming’s third-party controller video.

8Bitdo SN30 Pro Controllers

8bitdo wasn’t content to make a quality modern wireless replica of the original SNES controller, but they produced a “Pro” version that incorporates even more modern features in addition to a more ergonomic design. These pro versions Add dual analogue sticks, additional triggers, customizable vibration and button mapping and macro programming. Many of the additional buttons on the Pro controller is so that is better suited to be used with the Nintendo Switch, but it’s still a great option for a real SNES with 8bitdo’s receiver.

8Bitdo Wireless Mod Kit

8bitdo also took their manufacturing run to their advantage to offer the wireless guts as stand-alone modification kits to let the DIY crowd turn their older controllers or custom creations (such as arcade-style joysticks) into a modern wireless controller.

These kits also happen to be suited for relative beginners to modding as they are designed to be easy to install without soldering.

SNES-to-USB Adapter

In case you want to emulate SNES games on a computer, you can get affordable adapters to turn your standard SNES controllers into gamepads for your PC for a more authentic experience.

Any More Thoughts on SNES Emulation?

That rounds up our list of the best SNES emulators for PC, Mac and Android. If you’re wondering why we haven’t included more emulators for iOS, it’s because there aren’t any official ones on the App Store. Apple is known to be a little too controlling when it comes to the type of apps that go up on the App Store and that has had a negative impact on any emulator development for the platform. So, iOS users set aside, which of these aforementioned emulators do you plan on trying out first? What games are you looking to play with these emulators? Let us know in the comments section below.