Even though a lot of people are still obsessed with older emulators that came out in the late 1990s, the number of modern emulators on the market has grown. Those modern emulators are still expected to compete for attention with their older counterparts. But projects like VirtuaNES have gained a decent following over the years.
What is VirtuaNES?
VirtuaNES is an emulator that creates an environment that people can use to play NES games on Windows machines. It was written in Japanese. But that shouldn’t concern you. The emulator has already received an English translation.
VirtuaNES, which has an NSF player, was created by Norix. Boasting full CPU and sound emulation, the program stands out because it provides support for a whole host of obscure peripherals.
That includes family trainer, hyper shot, zapper, tape, microphone, top rider, arkanoid paddle, and the Famicom Disk System, to mention but a few. It should be noted that, despite what the emulator’s fans say, VirtuaNES is old.
Yes, you can find versions of the software from 2007, which doesn’t sound like a long time ago. But that is only when you compare VirtuaNES to emulators that came out in the 1990s.
If you put the emulator against rivals that debuted in the 2010s, it is old. This explains the program’s inaccuracies.
Features VirtuaNES
- Supports Joysticks
- You can record the sound
- You can save your progress
- You can alter the audio and graphics
- You can record video
How To Install VirtuaNES?
Step 1. VirtuaNES is a small program. Find a secure source and download it.
Step 2. The emulator comes in a compressed file. Locate this file and extract it.
Step 3. Launch the VirtuaNES executable file. The emulator doesn’t require an installer. You can start using it by double-clicking the VirtuaNES executable file.
Download VirtuaNES
Other Old Versions
| VirtuaNES Version 0.93 | Japanese | English |
| VirtuaNES Version 0.92 | Japanese | English |
| VirtuaNES Version 0.90d | Japanese | English |
| VirtuaNES Version 0.86a | Japanese | English |
| VirtuaNES Version 0.82 | Japanese | English |
- Size: 374KB
- Platform: Windows
- License: Freeware
- Date: Oct, 22, 2007
How To Use VirtuaNES?
1. As you now know, you can launch the emulator by simply extracting and clicking the executable file.
2. To use the emulator, you need NES games. You can get them from the internet. To keep things organized, keep the emulator and the ROM files in the same place.
3. Once you have your games, you can launch the emulator.
4. To load the games, select ‘File’ and ‘Open’. Go to the folder with the ROM files. Open it and select the game you want to play.
5. To configure your controls, go to ‘Options’ and ‘Controller’. Use the window that opens here to change the keyboard controls. If an NES controller was connected to the computer when you launched the emulator, you can also change the controls on that controller.
Conclusion
Is VirtuaNES the best NES emulator? No, it isn’t. It is not accurate enough to compete with the most popular NES emulators on the market. But it does a passable job of running NES games. At the end of the day, you are better off using programs like Project64.
But if VirtuaNES is all you have on hand, it will keep you entertained for several hours. Though, the fact that it only works on a small number of platforms will repel some people.
