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Nintendo - SNES / SFC (bsnes)

Background

bsnes is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Famicom emulator focused on accuracy, performance, features, and ease of use. The libretro core is based on bsnes v115 and includes enhancements such as HD Mode 7, internal run-ahead, and CPU and coprocessor overclocking.

The bsnes core is best suited to desktop-class systems with a relatively fast CPU.

Author/License

The bsnes core has been authored by

  • Near

The bsnes core is licensed under

A summary of the licenses behind RetroArch and its cores can be found here.

Extensions

Content that can be loaded by the bsnes core has the following file extensions:

  • .smc
  • .sfc
  • .swc
  • .fig
  • .gb
  • .gbc
  • .bs

Databases

RetroArch databases that are associated with the bsnes core:

BIOS

Required or optional firmware files go in the frontend's system directory.

The coprocessor firmware files are optional. When low-level coprocessor firmware is absent, the core can use high-level emulation where available. A Super Game Boy boot image is required for Super Game Boy content, and BS-X.bin is required for Satellaview content.

Filename Description md5sum
dsp1.data.rom DSP1 data ROM 3d81b45fa0c2aa8b852dfb1ece7c0971
dsp1.program.rom DSP1 program ROM ae209fbe789fbf11a48aea5ab1197321
dsp1b.data.rom DSP1B data ROM 1e3f568634a7d8284020dddc0ae905bc
dsp1b.program.rom DSP1B program ROM d10f446888e097cbf500f3f663cf4f6d
dsp2.data.rom DSP2 data ROM e9417e29223b139c3c4b635a2a3b8744
dsp2.program.rom DSP2 program ROM aa6e5922a3ed5ded54f24247c11143c5
dsp3.data.rom DSP3 data ROM 0a81210c0a940b997dd9843281008ee6
dsp3.program.rom DSP3 program ROM d99ca4562818d49cee1f242705bba6f8
dsp4.data.rom DSP4 data ROM ee4990879eb68e3cbca239c5bc20303d
dsp4.program.rom DSP4 program ROM a151023b948b90ffc23a5b594bb6fef2
cx4.data.rom Cx4 data ROM 037ac4296b6b6a5c47c440188d3c72e3
st010.data.rom ST010 data ROM 254d70762b6f59f99c27c395aba7d07d
st010.program.rom ST010 program ROM 1d70019179a59a566a0bb5d3f2845544
st011.data.rom ST011 data ROM 10bd3f4aa949737ab9836512c35bcc29
st011.program.rom ST011 program ROM 95222ebf1c0c2990bcf25db43743f032
st018.data.rom ST018 data ROM 49c898b60d0f15e90d0ba780dd12f366
st018.program.rom ST018 program ROM dda40ccd57390c96e49d30a041f9a9e7
SGB1.sfc Super Game Boy boot image - Required for SGB1 b15ddb15721c657d82c5bab6db982ee9
SGB2.sfc Super Game Boy 2 boot image - Required for SGB2 8ecd73eb4edf7ed7e81aef1be80031d5
BS-X.bin Satellaview BS-X boot ROM - Required for Satellaview fed4d8242cfbed61343d53d48432aced

The Super Game Boy boot images must use the filenames SGB1.sfc and SGB2.sfc. The Satellaview boot ROM must use the filename BS-X.bin.

Features

Frontend-level settings or features that the bsnes core respects:

Feature Supported
Restart ✔
Screenshots ✔
Saves ✔
States ✔
Rewind ✔
Netplay -
Core Options ✔
Memory Monitoring (achievements) ✕
RetroArch Cheats ✔
Native Cheats ✕
Controls ✔
Remapping ✔
Multi-Mouse ✔
Rumble ✕
Sensors ✕
Camera ✕
Location ✕
Subsystem ✔
Softpatching ✕
Disk Control ✕
Username ✕
Language ✔
Crop Overscan ✔
LEDs ✕

RetroArch cheat codes are supported for SNES content. The core does not apply them while Super Game Boy content is loaded.

Directories

The bsnes core's library name is bsnes.

The bsnes core saves and loads files in these directories.

Frontend's Save directory

File Description
*.srm Cartridge battery save
*.rtc Real-time clock data
*.psr Satellaview flash memory data

Frontend's State directory

File Description
*.state# Save state

Geometry and timing

  • The bsnes core's core-provided FPS is approximately 60.0988 for NTSC games and 50.0070 for PAL games.
  • The bsnes core's core-provided sample rate is 48000 Hz.
  • The bsnes core's base width is 256.
  • The bsnes core's default base height is 224 after the default vertical overscan crop is applied.
  • The bsnes core's maximum width is 2048 and maximum height is 1920 for HD Mode 7 scaling.
  • The bsnes core provides adjustable overscan and aspect ratio options.

Subsystems

The bsnes core supports Super Game Boy and BS-X Satellaview through the subsystem API.

Subsystem Content
sgb Game Boy ROM and Super Game Boy boot image
bsx BS-X memory pack and BS-X boot ROM

Game Boy and Game Boy Color content can also be loaded directly. The core uses the Super Game Boy boot image selected by the Preferred Super Game Boy BIOS core option.

When .bs content is loaded directly, the core loads BS-X.bin from the frontend's system directory. To start a game from the BS-X town interface, return to the house and select the first option.

MSU-1

MSU-1 is supported. Load the .sfc file from the same directory as its .msu file and audio tracks.

Core options

The bsnes core has the following options that can be changed from the core options menu. Defaults are shown in bold.

Video

Option Values Description
Preferred Aspect Ratio (bsnes_aspect_ratio) Auto, 1:1, 4:3, NTSC, PAL Sets the core-provided aspect ratio.
Crop Vertical Overscan (bsnes_ppu_overscan_v) 0, 8, 12, 16 lines Crops lines from the top and bottom of the image.
Blur Emulation (bsnes_blur_emulation) Off, On Blends adjacent horizontal pixels to reproduce effects that rely on an SDTV display.
Filter (bsnes_video_filter) None, NTSC RF, Composite, S-Video, RGB Selects an NTSC video filter.
Color Adjustment - Luminance (bsnes_video_luminance) 0-100%, 100% Adjusts luminance.
Color Adjustment - Saturation (bsnes_video_saturation) 0-200%, 100% Adjusts saturation.
Color Adjustment - Gamma (bsnes_video_gamma) 100-200%, 150% Adjusts gamma.
PPU - Fast Mode (bsnes_ppu_fast) Off, On Uses faster PPU emulation with a minor accuracy tradeoff. This must be enabled for deinterlacing, removing the sprite limit, and HD Mode 7.
PPU - Deinterlace (bsnes_ppu_deinterlace) Off, On Deinterlaces games by rendering internally at 480p.
PPU - No Sprite Limit (bsnes_ppu_no_sprite_limit) Off, On Removes the original hardware sprite-per-scanline limit.
PPU - No VRAM Blocking (bsnes_ppu_no_vram_blocking) Off, On Emulates inaccurate VRAM behavior from older emulators that is required by some ROM hacks.

Audio

Option Values Description
DSP - Fast Mode (bsnes_dsp_fast) Off, On Uses faster DSP emulation with a minor accuracy tradeoff.
DSP - Cubic Interpolation (bsnes_dsp_cubic) Off, On Uses cubic instead of Gaussian audio interpolation.
DSP - Echo Shadow RAM (bsnes_dsp_echo_shadow) Off, On Emulates inaccurate echo RAM behavior from ZSNES that is required by some older Super Mario World ROM hacks.

HD Mode 7

Option Values Description
Scale (bsnes_mode7_scale) 1x-8x Increases the internal resolution of Mode 7 scenes.
Perspective Correction (bsnes_mode7_perspective) Off, On Corrects perspective at higher Mode 7 resolutions.
Supersampling (bsnes_mode7_supersample) Off, On Supersamples HD Mode 7 output for smoother edges.
HD->SD Mosaic (bsnes_mode7_mosaic) Off, On Keeps mosaic effects at their original apparent size.

Emulation hacks and enhancements

Option Values Description
Internal Run-Ahead (bsnes_run_ahead_frames) Off, 1-4 frames Reduces input latency by simulating and rolling back frames. This has high CPU requirements.
Coprocessors - Fast Mode (bsnes_coprocessor_delayed_sync) Off, On Speeds up low-level coprocessor emulation with a small accuracy tradeoff.
Coprocessors - Prefer HLE (bsnes_coprocessor_prefer_hle) Off, On Prefers high-level coprocessor emulation when it is available.
Hotfixes (bsnes_hotfixes) Off, On Applies fixes for a small number of games that also exhibit bugs on original hardware.
Entropy (bsnes_entropy) None, Low, High Sets the amount of power-on state randomization.
CPU Fast Math (bsnes_cpu_fastmath) Off, On Uses faster CPU multiplication and division timings.

Overclocking

Option Values Description
CPU (bsnes_cpu_overclock) 10-400%, 100% Changes the main CPU clock.
SA-1 Coprocessor (bsnes_cpu_sa1_overclock) 10-400%, 100% Changes the SA-1 clock.
SuperFX Coprocessor (bsnes_cpu_sfx_overclock) 10-800%, 100% Changes the SuperFX clock.

Overclocking may reduce slowdown, but it can also cause crashes or other game-specific problems.

Super Game Boy

Option Values Description
Preferred Super Game Boy BIOS (bsnes_sgb_bios) SGB1.sfc, SGB2.sfc Selects the boot image. Restart the core after changing it.
Hide SGB Border (bsnes_hide_sgb_border) Off, On Hides the Super Game Boy border.

Light gun

Option Values Description
Touchscreen Light Gun (bsnes_touchscreen_lightgun) Off, On Enables touchscreen input for the Super Scope.
Super Scope Reverse Trigger Buttons (bsnes_touchscreen_lightgun_superscope_reverse) Off, On Swaps the Super Scope trigger and cursor buttons for touchscreen input.

Controllers

The bsnes core supports the following device types in the controls menu. Bolded device types are the defaults.

User 1 device types

  • SNES Joypad
  • SNES Mouse

User 2 device types

  • SNES Joypad
  • SNES Mouse
  • Multitap
  • SuperScope
  • Justifier
  • Justifiers

Selecting Multitap for User 2 enables compatible games to use up to five joypads.

Joypad

RetroPad Inputs SNES Joypad Inputs
B
Y
Select
Start
D-Pad Up
D-Pad Down
D-Pad Left
D-Pad Right
A
X
L
R

Mouse

RetroMouse Inputs SNES Mouse Inputs
Mouse Cursor SNES Mouse Cursor
Mouse 1 SNES Mouse Left Button
Mouse 2 SNES Mouse Right Button

Light gun

RetroLightgun Inputs Super Scope Justifier(s)
Gun Crosshair Crosshair Crosshair
Gun Trigger Trigger Trigger
Gun Aux A Cursor
Gun Aux B Turbo
Gun Start Pause Start

Compatibility

The bsnes core is based on the latest bsnes source and targets accurate, faithful SNES and Super Famicom emulation. Its enhancements can increase CPU requirements or reduce accuracy when enabled.

See also

Nintendo - SNES / SFC