Developer(s) byuu et al. Development status Active | Repository gitlab.com/higan/higan | |
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Initial release May 2005; 11 years ago (2005-05) Stable release 102 / January 19, 2017; 50 days ago (2017-01-19) Preview release 099.16 / July 4, 2016; 8 months ago (2016-07-04) | ||
Higan (stylized as "higan") is an emulator for multiple Nintendo video game consoles, including the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super NES. Originally called Bsnes (stylized as bsnes), It attempts to emulate the original Nintendo hardware as accurately as possible through low-level, cycle-accurate emulation and for the associated historical preservation efforts of the Super NES platform.
Contents
Overview
Development of Higan began by a pseudonymous programmer only known as byuu on October 14, 2004 as Bsnes, and the first version was released in May 2005 for Microsoft Windows. Since then, it has been ported to Linux, OS X and FreeBSD. Initially developed under a custom license, later releases were licensed under various versions of the GNU General Public License.
The Higan project has contributed significantly to the field of Super NES emulation, with a number of firsts in SNES emulation, and in reverse-engineering developments such as the organization of funds, hardware, and expertise for decapping the SNES's enhancement chips.
Higan's developer claims its ability to run every commercial Super NES title ever released. Higan is the first emulator to have featured SPC7110 emulation, cycle-accurate SPC 700 emulation, cycle-accurate Super FX emulation, and Super Game Boy emulation. Newer versions of Higan can experimentally emulate the NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and WonderSwan. Forked versions of Bsnes have provided emulation support for Nintendo DS, XBAND, Super Famicom Box, Satellaview BS-X software, and tool-assisted speedruns.
Reception
In 2008, British Internet magazine WebUser recommended Bsnes for "some fun old-school gaming". In 2009, Japanese game magazine GameLabo recommended Bsnes for "those seeking a realistic playing experience".