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BY
JESS
RAGAN |
CLICK HERE FOR HANDY INSTALLATION GUIDES
FOR THE PSP'S BEST
HOMEBREW EMULATORS
The latest trend in consumer electronics is
convergence... combining features from a multitude of devices into a single,
consolidated unit. Sony designed its first handheld game
system with convergence in mind, giving the PSP enough power and
flexibility to play music and movies in addition to games.
Even with all the PSP had to offer, there was
still something missing. It could never be recognized as a truly
convergent game system until it supported software designed for other
game consoles. While not offered or even endorsed by Sony, this
feature would eventually become a reality thanks to the combined effort
of clever hardware hackers and underground software designers.
Once the hackers broke through the copyright
protection built into the PSP's firmware, the software writers were
free to do as they pleased with the system. What pleased them most was
expanding the handheld's slim software library with emulators, programs
which allow the PSP to run games originally written for other
systems.
Out of the many programs written for the PSP
since the system was cracked, emulators remain by far the
most popular of the bunch. There are over two dozen of them available
for Sony's handheld so far, supporting a combined total of twenty different
systems!
Of course, not every one of these emulators is worth
downloading. Many are in an early state of development, lacking
important features and the fast performance needed to bring your favorite
games from the 1980's and 1990's back to life. This Blitz exclusive
will help you dodge the duds and discover the gems that will bring true
convergence to your PSP!
Included on this page are reviews of ten different
emulators for the PSP, each supporting a different game system or
computer. Each emulator is judged on the following
criteria:
PERFORMANCE: The
overall speed and accuracy of the emulation. Even an emulator that runs at full
speed will lose points if it cannot reproduce all the emulated system's hardware
features.
COMPATIBILITY:
The number of games the emulator can run properly. Points are lost for a low
compatibility rate, game glitches, or aggravating system crashes.
FUNCTIONALITY:
The quality of the emulator's front end, along with the number of customization
options available and the emulator's overall ease of use.
At the end of each review, a final grade will be
given based on these three factors, as well as the appeal of the games the
emulator can play. Naturally, a Neo-Geo emulator is going to be a lot more
exciting than a Game Boy emulator, even if the latter has a higher rate of
compatibility and more features.
Remember, all of the emulators reviewed here, plus
many more, can be downloaded from the PSP
Emulation News web site.
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Turbografx-16, TurboDuo |
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Kamisama |
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In its quest to be the very best, PCEP breaks all the rules of
early emulation on a game console. It runs at full speed on the PSP,
a feat not yet duplicated on the more "broken in" Dreamcast. That
alone makes this emulator worthy of praise, but its creator didn't
stop there!
You would think that an emulator in such an early state of
development wouldn't have sound support. Guess what? It does! PCEP
sounds just like a real Turbografx-16, with the same clean voice
digitization and those charmingly cheesy digital
soundtracks that were a trademark of the system.
You'd also think that PCEP would follow in the steps of other
early emulators on the system with a limited number of customization
options. Again, it exceeds all expectations, giving the player a
menu screen bursting with features, along with the analog stick
control so sorely missed in its competitors.
All this is enough to ensure this emulator's superiority over
others on the PSP... but its ability to play games originally
designed for the CD-based TurboDuo puts PCEP in an entirely
different league from them. Yes, for the first time ever, you can
take underappreciated classics like Dracula X: Rondo of Blood and
Y's Books 1 & 2 with you wherever you go. Clever use of the
PSP's built-in MP3 support means that even the redbook audio in
these games is preserved.
PCEP isn't perfect... music in the TurboDuo games doesn't loop
the way it should, resulting in silence after the first couple of
minutes of gameplay, and there's currently no support for SuperGrafx
games, or TurboDuo titles requiring the Arcade Card. With all that
PCEP DOES offer, however, it almost seems ungrateful to complain
about what little is
missing.
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NES, Famicom Disc
System |
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Ruka |
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The NES emulator you loved on your computer fares equally well on
the PSP, adding the advantage of portability to its long list of
features. With an unflinching frame rate, deadly accurate sound, and
compatibility with games for the Japanese Famicom Disc System,
NesterJ would be just as good as PCE for PSP... if it weren't for
one little problem.
The Turbografx-16 is a more advanced system than the NES, with
vastly improved 16-bit quality visuals. These more colorful and
detailed graphics better mask the low refresh rate of the PSP's
screen, making it practically unnoticable. This is in sharp contrast
to the NES, where the blurring sticks out like a sore thumb in
nearly every game with scrolling screens, particularly titles
with busy backgrounds like Castlevania and Blaster Master.
It seems a little unfair to knock this emulator on account of the
PSP's faults, but they do keep NesterJ from being as fun to use as
it was on home computers. It carries on the tradition of excellence
that its father first started on PCs, with a wealth of options that
allow you to adjust the screen size, sound output, and key
configuration. You can even use save states to finish games at your
leisure... or cheat your way through that nasty boss fight in Ninja
Gaiden II!
NesterJ puts forth a mighty effort, but stiff competition in the
form of PCE for PSP, along with the aforementioned screen blurring,
leaves it holding the silver medal in the tight race between the
system's greatest
emulators.
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Hanging on the edge of greatness is uoSNES9x, the best of the
Super NES emulators available for the PSP. Super NES games have
always looked great, and they're even more beautiful on this potent
portable than they were on the Game Boy Advance. However, as vibrant
as they are, they're just not as tempting when they're not running
at full speed.
A less than ideal frame rate is the Achille's Heel of this
otherwise spectacular emulator. With a little tweaking, uoSNES9x can
run some games at close to their original speed... these include
early releases like Smash TV and less demanding games like Q*Bert 3.
However, the frame rate drops in direct proportion to the size of
the characters and the amount of special effects each game contains.
You can see the strain on the emulator while it's running fighting
games that pushed the Super NES to its limits in the early 1990's...
and it nearly collapses under the weight of the glitzy Yoshi's
Island.
If the speed of uoSNES9x were improved, it would easily dethrone
NesterJ from the number two spot on this list, and even rival PCE
for PSP as the best emulator available for Sony's overachieving
handheld. Like its big brother on personal computers, it's got
everything you could possibly ask for in a Super NES emulator,
including save states, a half-dozen screen modes, and the welcome
option to shift the PSP to its maximum speed of 333MHz.
uoSNES9x also has a high rate of compatibility in its corner. It
won't play everything you throw at it, but it CAN run titles like
Street Fighter Alpha 2, which were so advanced even a real Super NES
could barely handle them. The emulator will also run games using
Mode 7 effects... they won't run quickly, mind you, but they
won't crash your system, either.
It's not fast on the draw, but uoSNES9x is one tough hombre that
will only sharpen its aim in future
updates.
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This is perhaps the most ambitious of the emulators on the PSP,
bringing the intense gameplay, enormous characters, and vibrantly
colorful visuals of the Neo-Geo to a handheld game system. It's a
tight fit, and not everything DOES, but you have to give the
designers of NeoCD/PSP credit for trying... and for the most part,
succeeding.
NeoCD/PSP actually has some advantages over the system it
emulates. The most welcome of these are faster access times... since
the data is read from the memory stick, rather than a laboriously
slow single speed CD-ROM drive, games boot more quickly, bringing
you the addictive arcade action of the Neo-Geo without the long
wait.
The emulation isn't fast, running at about 75% to 80% with a full
frame rate, but it is solid, with a high level of compatibility and
only a handful of glitches. Sprites and background art in some games
will occasionally disappear, but the only time this becomes a major
issue is in Ninja Commando, where the sprites will vanish regularly
and without warning. Surprisingly, newer, more hardware-intensive
games like The King of Fighters '99 run without these annoying
bugs.
As impressive as it is, NeoCD/PSP is missing several key features
that are available in many other PSP emulators. First is the
lack of analog stick support... this makes performing special
attacks in the Neo-Geo's vast library of fighting games
frustratingly difficult. Second is the sound, or more accurately,
the lack of it. Perhaps emulating the Neo-Geo's sound processor
would slow NeoCD/PSP down to a crawl, but even MP3 support like the
kind found in the superlative PCEP would go a long way toward making
the emulator more complete.
Finally, NeoCD/PSP is completely devoid of customization options.
There is no interface to access, no options to control the frame
rate or screen size, not even a way to choose the game you wish to
play. Instead, you'll have to drop a single ROM into a specially
designated folder, which NeoCD/PSP automatically loads.
Slow emulation and the lack of a user interface drops NeoCD/PSP
out of the running as one of the three best emulators on the PSP.
However, once these issues are addressed, it could become as
legendary as the Neo-Geo
itself.
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Game Boy, Game Boy
Color |
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Mr.
Mirakichi |
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Why would you want to use a system as powerful as the PSP to
play games created for an antique like the original,
black and white Game Boy? It's probably the same reason that some
gamers keep an Atari 2600 right next to their XBox. These older
systems have a strong nostalgic pull, and their games have a
satisfying simplicity that all the modern technology in the world
can never obsolete.
Sure, RIN doesn't have the flash of more ambitious emulators like
NeoCD/PSP or uoSNES9x. Still, its games, humble though they may be,
are every bit as entertaining as what you'll find on the heavy
hitters of PSP emulation. Just look at Solomon's Club, the breezy
sequel to the brilliant but underappreciated NES action game
Solomon's Key, or Tail Gator, a side-scrolling platformer owing
equal inspiration to Super Mario Bros. and Bubble Bobble. They don't
demand a significant time investment like many of today's games,
which means you can play them for as long- or as little!- as you
like.
The simplicity of the games isn't just good for the player...
it's good for the emulator, as well. RIN has a much lower overhead
than other emulators on the PSP, resulting in fast, flawless
performance and a high compatibility rate. It takes work to find a
game that won't run with RIN, and the many games that do run
invariably have sound and a full frame rate. This includes both
Super Game Boy and Game Boy Color releases... even the overreaching
Dragon's Lair. It was hard enough to believe that the game was
possible on a real Game Boy Color, let alone an emulator...
What about features? RIN's got plenty of those, too. You can save
your progress, expand the screen to fit the PSP's entire display,
and use either the D-pad or analog stick to play games. The only
thing RIN CAN'T do is play games with photorealistic backgrounds and
a soundtrack performed by a one hundred piece orchestra, but if what
you want is just plain fun, RIN can certainly deliver
it.
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It may come as a surprise to learn that many of your favorite
video games had their start on a home computer you may have never
seen. Bomberman, The Guardian Legend, Zanac, and yes, even Metal
Gear all debuted on the MSX, a computer designed by a former branch
of Microsoft and licensed to a variety of Japanese hardware
manufacturers.
The MSX was a smashing success in its native country throughout
the 1980's, but here in the United States, it was just another ant
under the foot of the Commodore juggernaut. Fortunately, fMSX gives
you the opportunity to play all the games for the system that you
probably missed.
This emulator runs software for the early MSX computer as well as
its more powerful descendant, the MSX2. fMSX's performance is
flawless when running games for both systems... practically
everything runs at just the right speed, with sound and a full frame
rate.
There's only one problem... fMSX is picky about the games it will
run, especially those for the MSX2. You'll need to adjust a
confusing cartridge setting in order to run some ROM images, and
other games lock up the emulator, eventually triggering a system
shutdown. This is not an emulator for the inexperienced or the
easily frustrated user.
However, fMSX holds great rewards for those willing to fight
their way through the obfuscated setup process. Great games like
Zanac EX and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake can only be enjoyed on the
PSP with this emulator. As of this writing, fMSX is also the only
option for classic gaming fans searching for a portable Pitfall!
fix. The system's hardware is so close to that of the
ColecoVision that many of its releases were ported directly to the
MSX, including Pitfall!, Pitfall 2, and H.E.R.O., best
described as Pitfall's hard-working but underappreciated cousin.
With its software library filled to overflowing with arcade
oldies and quirky Japanese titles, this emulator may not be relevant
enough to some gamers to be worth their time. However, more
adventurous PSP owners who are looking for something new and
different to play will be very happy they tuned into
fMSX.
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It's been said that the Genesis does what Nintendon't. That may
have been true in the early 1990's, but on the PSP, even the best
Genesis emulator isn't on par with uoSNES9x, or even NesterJ.
PSPGenesis certainly has promise. It accurately reproduces the
Genesis' signature sound, and with the PSP set to its maximum clock
speed, the emulator comes very close to running the system's games
at their original speed and frame rate.
However, PSPGenesis suffers from two serious problems... an
inconsistent frame rate and the inability to control it. Even with
the PSP running at 333MHz, games are peppered with unpredictable
choppiness that breaks the flow of the gameplay, taking a lot of the
fun from even the best games the Genesis has to offer.
Most PSP emulators let you address this problem by letting you
select your own frame rate, but this is not an option in PSPGenesis.
In fact, the emulator's stripped down interface robs the user of a
lot of useful customization options. You can't select a button
configuration, you can't play games with the analog stick, you can't
display the current frame rate... there's not even a convenient way
to escape the emulator once you're finished with it.
To its credit, PSPGenesis is the best Genesis emulator currently
available on the PSP. However, its designer will have to set his
sights much higher before his creation can rival the likes of PCEP
or
NesterJ.
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Various Arcade Machines |
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TMK |
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Porting MAME to a home game console is always a difficult
proposition. This emulator has grown faster than the Master Control
Program from Tron, adding support for thousands of increasingly
complex arcade games in the decade since it was first introduced.
Many of today's game systems simply don't have the power to contain
the towering beast of emulation that MAME has become.
The PSP is no exception... as the designer of this emulator
realized. Instead of biting off more than he could chew, he wisely
chose to port an earlier, more streamlined version of MAME to the
system. This means that you won't be playing Tekken or Dodonpachi on
your PSP, but you will be able to enjoy arcade classics like Pengo
at full speed, with sound that varies from merely tolerable to
fairly good.
MAME071t does its job, but not without many loose strings
trailing behind it. It's a sloppy port of the popular PC emulator,
as evidenced by references to nonexistant keys in the input menu
screen and the number of "supported" games that lock up your system
or complain of missing ROMs. Once you've actually started a game, it
can be hell trying to break out of it. Try any combination of
buttons, even the home key that acts as the PSP's panic button, and
you'll be stuck in Phoenix until you shut the system off
completely.
Many of the games offered in this conversion of MAME are on home
game systems; systems that the PSP can emulate without MAME071t's
aggravating quirks. However, if you want the complete coin-op
experience, this is the only way you'll get it until Namco and
Midway's respective classic game collections are
released.
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Sega Master
System |
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Yoshihiro |
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The Master System was always a step behind the Nintendo
Entertainment System in sales and third-party support. With
this in mind, it's fitting that the PSP emulator designed to
play Master System games doesn't measure up to NesterJ.
That's not to say that SMS PSP is a bad emulator, mind you. It
handles both Master System and Game Gear games reasonably well,
running its games at full speed and with a full frame rate. However,
the audio, never the Master System's strong point, is made even
worse on SMS PSP with scratchy, high-pitched playback that doesn't
compare to the quality sound offered by NesterJ.
The interface also comes up short in SMS PSP. It looks very
barren and primitive, and offers precious little in the way of
customization. It's impossible to stretch or resize the screen to
fit the PSP's display... instead, you'll have to settle for border
graphics that only serve to make the screen seem that much smaller,
especially when playing Game Gear titles.
For all the features SMS PSP currently lacks, it does offer the
option to turn off the rough sound. This leaves you with a silent
but ultimately satisfactory way to play all your favorite Master
System titles on the go. Don't put away that Game Gear just yet,
though... it won't be completely obsolete until the designer of SMS
PSP spends a couple of months perfecting his
work.
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ngPSP brings the best handheld game system of 2000 to the most
powerful handheld console available today. However, the designer of
this emulator will need to do a lot more work before the transition
is complete.
The good news is that ngPSP runs the vast majority of games
available for the Neo-Geo Pocket, including advanced titles like
Match of the Millennium and Rockman Battle and Fighters which
stubbornly refuse to work on other Neo-Geo Pocket emulators.
The bad news is that, no matter WHAT you're playing, the game in
question will run more slowly than obese South Town wrestler Raiden
through a river of quick drying cement. It's a frustrating flaw, and
one that's hard to swallow when you consider that far more
impressive game systems have been emulated far more efficiently on
the PSP.
On the positive side, ngPSP offers a simple but attractive
interface that's loaded with customization options, and you can play
any game with either the digital pad or the analog stick. It's a
welcome feature in an emulator whose library consists primarily of
fighting games.
ngPSP's sluggish performance sinks it to the bottom of this list,
but with a solid interface and high compatibility, there's as much
potential here as there is room for
improvement.
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