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ZSNES is a
free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...
written mostly in
x86 assembly x86 assembly language is the name for the family of assembly languages which provide some level of backward compatibility with CPUs back to the Intel 8008 microprocessor, which was launched in April 1972. It is used to produce object code for ...
with official ports for
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
,
DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
,
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, and unofficial ports for
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
and
macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
.


Background

Development of ZSNES began on 3 July 1997 and the first version was released on 14 October 1997, for DOS. Since then, official ports have been made for Windows and Linux. The emulator became free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on 2 April 2001. Despite an announcement by ''adventure_of_link'' stating that "ZSNES is NOT dead, it's still in development" made on the ZSNES board after the departure of its original developers ''zsKnight'' and ''_Demo_'', development has slowed dramatically since its last version (1.51 released on 24 January 2007). Much of the development efforts concentrated on increasing the emulator's portability, by rewriting assembly code in C and C++, including a new
GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
using Qt. ZSNES is notable in that it was early in being able to emulate several of the SNES enhancement chips at some level. Until version 1.50, ZSNES featured netplay via
TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...
or UDP. An early ZSNES feature of interest were "ZMV movie

This feature enabled players to record their play session inputs and then output those to a ZMV file, in such a way that another user with a copy of ZSNES, a matching
ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...
file, and the ZMV file, should be able to "watch" the other person's gameplay. This long preceded mass availability of gameplay videos online, being an early form of sharing this type of content. Because ZSNES is largely written in low-level
assembly language In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...
for
x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
processors, the idea of porting ZSNES to devices using
RISC In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set comput ...
architectures such as
ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...
is highly unfeasible. Commercial gaming consoles did not typically use x86 processors (with the
original Xbox The Xbox is a home video game console and the first installment in the Xbox series of video game consoles manufactured by Microsoft. It was released as Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market on November 15, 2001, in North Amer ...
being the most well-known exception) prior to the
eighth generation Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, or ⅛, a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an i ...
, with the 2013 releases of the
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
and
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
.


Development history

The first public release of ZSNES was version 0.150, in October 14, 1997. It incorporated the entire 65816 instruction set from the SNES's modified
WDC 65C816 The W65C816S (also 65C816 or 65816) is an 8/16-bit microprocessor (MPU) developed and sold by the Western Design Center (WDC). Introduced in 1985, the W65C816S is an enhanced version of the WDC 65C02 8-bit computing, 8-bit MPU, itself a CMOS enha ...
microprocessor, as well as SRAM support and partial
Mode 7 Mode 7 is a graphics mode on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled on a scanline-by-scanline basis to create many different effects. The most famous of these effects i ...
implementation. It also already offered
save state 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 hardw ...
s as an additional feature. This initial version missed certain DSP features. Version 0.600 from September 9, 1998 was the first to feature developer Pharos (as a coding assistant), and was a milestone release due to the implementation a of new 16-bit graphics engine, as well as featuring an entirely new
GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
with more functions available than before. Shortly afterwards, version 0.700 from October 27, 1998 was the first to compile with C code. Starting from version 0.900c/a from July 4, 1999, an important feature for the time was added, which was native ZIP compression support, which allowed users to save space in the then expensive hard disks. Also, work intensified on improving support of the
SA-1 chip The list of Super NES enhancement chips demonstrates Nintendo hardware designers' plan to easily expand the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with special coprocessors. This standardized selection of chips was available to licensed developers, t ...
. Version 1.000 from September 1, 2000 marks ZSNES's first official Windows release, and the next several versions of the emulator focused on improving the quality of this port. In April 2, 2001, the software's source code was released and the team was joined by coder Teuf. Release 1.30b from June 16, 2001 can be considered a landmark in Super Nintendo emulation, as it added initial support to Star Ocean and its
S-DD1 The list of Super NES enhancement chips demonstrates Nintendo hardware designers' plan to easily expand the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with special coprocessors. This standardized selection of chips was available to licensed developers, ...
compression chip. This title pushed the limits of the system's hardware, boasting voice clips and enhanced graphics, and was tricky to even get running on an emulator. After zsKnight's departure for personal reasons in July of 2001, the project made a release in homage to him and his family, version 1.337, from September 30, 2001. The emulator continued being updated until July of 2002, but releases halted, and it would be more than two years until a new public release was out. When version 1.40 eventually released in December 25, 2004, it marked a turning point for the project, with new contributors and significant overhauls to the emulator's ageing systems. Developers Nach and pagefault particularly focused on removing several of the infamous hacks that were part of ZSNES's code base, implementing proper code that tricky games relied on. In tandem with that, extensive work was carried out to better support special chips. Version v1.50 from December 22, 2006 was another major overhaul, which according to the developers: "ZSNES is a program with over 200,000 lines of source code, and in this release, over 25% of that has been modified; also, around 15% of the assembly has been ported to C." This was the final major release of the emulator, being followed by the minor 1.51, and winding down thereafter.


Reception

ZSNES was generally well-regarded in its heyday, with British game magazine ''
Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...
'' in 2005 calling the emulator "very impressive" and praising the "incredible toaster mode". However, with the more recent development of more accurate SNES emulators such as Snes9x and
higan is a Buddhist holiday exclusively celebrated by Japanese sects for seven days; three days before and after both the Spring equinox ( shunbun) and Autumnal equinox ( shūbun). It is observed by nearly every Buddhist school in Japan. The tra ...
as computers have gradually become more powerful, retrospective reviews have criticized ZSNES not only for its relatively low accuracy, but also because its former popularity has led several fan-made translations and modifications to be designed with specific workarounds for the emulator's inaccuracies, which often makes them unplayable both on real hardware and in the newer emulators that have superseded ZSNES. Some of these other emulators even include a mode which is explicitly designed to replicate the quirks of ZSNES, allowing the ZSNES-focused mods to become playable again. In 2015 an
exploit Exploit means to take advantage of something (a person, situation, etc.) for one's own end, especially unethically or unjustifiably. Exploit can mean: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploit (computer security) * Video game exploit *Exploitat ...
that allowed a specially crafted SNES ROM to gain control of the host system, and thus be able to execute malicious code, was discovered in version 1.51; a partially fixed preview build was released shortly afterwards.


See also

*
List of video game console emulators The following is a list of notable video game console emulators. Arcade * Visual Pinball Atari ; Atari 2600 * Stella (emulator), Stella Nintendo Home consoles ; Nintendo Entertainment System * FCEUX * NESticle * Nestopia ; Super Nintendo ...


References


External links

*
ZSNES Documentation


{{DEFAULTSORT:Zsnes Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulators Linux emulation software Windows emulation software DOS emulation software Free video game console emulators Free software that uses SDL Cross-platform software Free software programmed in C Free software programmed in C++ Assembly language software Portable software