Game console emulators for PC
Nostyra plays 16 systems through 10 libretro cores. Cores are not bundled: each one is downloaded from the libretro buildbot the first time you play a game for that system, or from Settings → Emulator cores.
Written by vivusk, Nostyra maintainer Last reviewed Based on the Nostyra README and release notes
| System | Emulator core | Status | BIOS | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NES Nintendo · 1983 | Mesen | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Game Boy Nintendo · 1989 | mGBA | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| SNES Nintendo · 1990 | Snes9x | Stable | Not needed | Yes |
| Nintendo 64 Nintendo · 1996 | Mupen64Plus-Next | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Game Boy Color Nintendo · 1998 | mGBA | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| GameCube Nintendo · 2001 | Dolphin | Experimental | Not needed | No |
| Game Boy Advance Nintendo · 2001 | mGBA | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Nintendo DS Nintendo · 2004 | melonDS DS | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Wii Nintendo · 2006 | Dolphin | Experimental | Not needed | No |
| SG-1000 Sega · 1983 | Genesis Plus GX | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Master System Sega · 1985 | Genesis Plus GX | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Mega Drive / Genesis Sega · 1988 | Genesis Plus GX | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Game Gear Sega · 1990 | Genesis Plus GX | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| Dreamcast Sega · 1998 | Flycast | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| PlayStation Sony · 1994 | PCSX ReARMed | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
| PSP Sony · 2004 | PPSSPP | Experimental | Not needed | Yes |
Nintendo
Home console · 1983
NES emulator for PC
Nostyra plays NES (Famicom) games through the Mesen libretro core. Nostyra downloads the core from the libretro buildbot the first time you play an NES game.
Experimental
Mesen
Handheld · 1989
Game Boy emulator for PC
Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games all run on one core, mGBA. Nostyra downloads it the first time you play any of the three.
Experimental
mGBA
Home console · 1990
SNES emulator for PC
The Super Nintendo is the only system tested end to end on real games and marked Stable in version 0.1.0. Games run through the Snes9x libretro core, downloaded on first play.
Stable
Snes9x
Home console · 1996
Nintendo 64 emulator for PC
Nostyra plays Nintendo 64 games through Mupen64Plus-Next. The core draws with the GPU (GLideN64) at a fixed 960×720 (4:3), so your graphics driver must support OpenGL 3.3.
Experimental
Mupen64Plus-Next
Handheld · 1998
Game Boy Color emulator for PC
Game Boy Color games run on the mGBA core, shared with Game Boy and Game Boy Advance. The zfast-lcd shader gives a handheld-style picture if you want one.
Experimental
mGBA
Home console · 2001
GameCube emulator for PC
Nostyra plays GameCube games through the Dolphin libretro core. Installing the core also downloads Dolphin's system files. The picture renders at the console's native 640×528 using OpenGL 3.3.
Experimental
Dolphin
Handheld · 2001
GBA emulator for PC
Game Boy Advance games run on the mGBA core. No BIOS file is required; mGBA uses
gba_bios.bin from data/system/ only if you add it.
Experimental
mGBA
Handheld · 2004
Nintendo DS emulator for PC
Nostyra plays Nintendo DS games through melonDS DS with its built-in BIOS and generated firmware, so no BIOS or firmware files are needed. The game boots directly.
Experimental
melonDS DS
Home console · 2006
Wii emulator for PC
Wii games run through the same Dolphin core as GameCube games. Every Wii game gets a Wii Remote with a Nunchuk mapped to your gamepad, and the mouse aims the Remote's pointer.
Experimental
Dolphin
Sega
Home console · 1983
Sega SG-1000 emulator for PC
SG-1000 games run on Genesis Plus GX, the core shared with the Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear, and are matched against the No-Intro SG-1000 DAT.
Experimental
Genesis Plus GX
Home console · 1985
Sega Master System emulator for PC
Master System (Mark III) games run on Genesis Plus GX and are matched against the No-Intro Master System - Mark III DAT.
Experimental
Genesis Plus GX
Home console · 1988
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive emulator for PC
Mega Drive / Genesis games run on Genesis Plus GX, the same core Nostyra uses for the Master System, Game Gear and SG-1000.
Experimental
Genesis Plus GX
Handheld · 1990
Sega Game Gear emulator for PC
Game Gear games run on Genesis Plus GX. The zfast-lcd shader is available for a handheld-style picture.
Experimental
Genesis Plus GX
Home console · 1998
Dreamcast emulator for PC
Nostyra plays Dreamcast games through Flycast at 1280×960 (2× the console). Flycast's built-in HLE BIOS boots most games without a BIOS file.
Experimental
Flycast
Sony
Home console · 1994
PS1 emulator for PC
Nostyra plays PlayStation games through PCSX ReARMed. Its built-in HLE BIOS runs most games; for the few that need a real BIOS, you can add one dumped from your own console.
Experimental
PCSX ReARMed
Handheld · 2004
PSP emulator for PC
Nostyra plays PSP games through PPSSPP at 960×544 (2× the PSP screen), shown 16:9. Installing the core also downloads its system files: fonts, dialog images and the compatibility table.
Experimental
PPSSPP
What "Experimental" means
Every system passes Nostyra's automated tests, which use test ROMs. Super Nintendo has also been tested end to end on real games and is marked Stable. The others stay Experimental until they get the same manual testing. Expect bugs, and please report them on GitHub with a bug report zip from Settings → About.
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Version 0.1.0 · 25.9 MB zip · Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit
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