Mesen is a free and open-source Famicom (NES) and Famicom Disk System (FDS) game console emulator for Windows and Linux platforms, written in C++ and C#. Besides, it is also available as a Libretro core for RetroArch. In terms of emulation accuracy, it has surpassed puNES. And it has good compatibility, even many localized games are perfectly supported.
Mesen comes with clock-level accurate emulation. According to tested game ROMs, it is ranked as currently the most compatible NES/FDS emulator, slightly above puNES with a score of 100%. And it offers numerous features, such as save states, a mass of video filters, netplay, video/audio recording, rewinding, overclocking, cheat codes, HD packs, 7z/ZIP support, IPS/BPS patch support, automatic update, and more. It also includes an extensive set of debugging tools for homebrew development or ROM hacking.
As an emerging NES emulator, Mesen claims to be the most accurate NES emulator in the world. It is able to completely rebuild the 158 pieces of hardware on NES (100% accurate emulation instantly kills a group of old FC emulators), thus greatly rebuilding the real game environment. And because it is a newly developed emulator, it supports some new hardware features by default, such as DirectX 11, xBRZ, Xbox 360 controller, PS4 controller, and so on.
Key Features
- Support for over 290 mappers, (all licensed games supported.)
- FDS (Famicom Disk System) support
- Top loader NES variant support
- VS. System support
- Dendy support
- HDNes HD packs
- NTSC/PAL support
- NSF/NSFe support
- Video recording/playback
- Video filters (xBRZ, NTSC, etc.)
- Netplay
- Debugging tools
- Overclocking
- Custom palettes
- Sound effects (fake stereo, reverb, etc.)
- Rewind
System Requirements
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
- Windows XP is not supported
Related Links
Download URLs
| License | Version | Download | Size |
| Freeware | Latest |  |
n/a |