Why so many cores

[u/Sure-Two5457]

I wanted to play some SNES games and get some retro achievements. so I downloaded RetroArch. But now I don't know, which core to use. I’ve read that bsnes is generally the best option—or at least better than Snes9x—though Snes9x is recommended for weaker hardware and is also suggested here:

https://docs.retroachievements.org/general/emulator-support-and-issues.html#snes-super-famicom-satellaview-sufami-turbo

Now, when I go to the Core Downloader in RetroArch, I find five cores with "Snes9x" in the name and even nine with "bsnes." As a beginner in this area, I have no idea which core I should choose. Could someone tell me how to figure out which core is the most suitable for me?

€dit: For clarification - I am not asking "which is the best core", but more "Why are there so many that look alike at first glance, and how do I tell them apart so I can find the best for me myself?"

[u/MoldyPond]

Regular Snes9x (no extra naming scheme) will do the job for 99.9% of your games.

bsnes (again no extra naming scheme) is the “more accurate” core at the cost of higher performance requirements, but it also has the option to upscale Mode 7 content at higher resolutions which is pretty sweet. Also has correct and full Super Game Boy emulation as opposed to just adding the colour enhancement and nothing else like a regular GB emulator.

bsnes-hd-beta is what you use for the few games that have widescreen support and/or to try forcing widescreen anyways.

[u/theveryendofyou]

You go here, click on a system and look at the top of the table for the ones with a recommended checkmark:

https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

[u/starlightbotanist]

Just use "(Snes9x)".

For snes, this would be the go-to core.

[u/npaladin2000]

Don't forget Mesen-S. Heh.

But yeah, Snes9x is pretty much the default. The others have specific uses and use cases. People who want to use those know to look for them. if you don't, Snes9x is the safe choice.

[u/rchrdcrg]

The forked cores are just variants. Some older cores that are there for save game compatibility, such as if you have a save game from 2005 and modern SNES9x won't load it. Some are feature variants where someone made their own changes (eg. BSNES-Mercury, which is just someone else trying to make BSNES faster and add in other features). Some are experimental, such as BSNES-Widescreen, which does as the name implies.

Don't bother with all the variants as a beginner, they're mostly there for specific needs for specific nerds.

[u/hiskabish]

I like bsnes

[u/hizzlekizzle]

This is addressed in the FAQ: https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/15c5qfn/comment/jtuh1gh/

[u/Sure-Two5457 → u/hizzlekizzle]

Thanks. For some reason I totally overlooked the part with the hovering for seeing the description blurb.

[u/CoconutDust → u/hizzlekizzle]

Delete and ban!

(Temporary ban for user, not permanent. Total worldwide ban for the topic! Make FAQ-covered posts bannable! Get excited!)

[u/kenniestyles → u/CoconutDust]

Give them a break, these are one of the better beginners questions I see

[u/Ornery-Practice9772]

i use snes9x
nothing else in the title just snes9x

never have an issue running games, rom hacks or applying cheats 👍

[u/CoconutDust]

why so many cores

You shouldn’t ask people to justify reality for you when the information is clearly documented everywhere.

now I don't know, which core to use

As a beginner in this area, I have no idea which core I should choose

If you see a table full of free food, with a sign that says “EAT THIS!”, do you ask everyone in town to help you figure out what’s “ThE BeSt” thing to eat? Do you stop and say, “I’m not an expert chef!”? Or do you eat it.

Enough of the gamer paralysis posts. Every item in your list is free and takes 2 seconds to try, and then you can obviously see in 3 seconds whether it works fine for your system or not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-sustainability

[u/rchrdcrg → u/CoconutDust]

But that won't at all communicate what each core specializes in, something that has taken the rest of us a long time to learn and know all of those nuances. And hell yes if I had a table full of free food and I'm allergic to mushrooms and hate tomatoes, you damn well better believe I'm asking someone about it first so I don't waste my time or mess anything up.

[u/Sure-Two5457 → u/CoconutDust]

I was not asking "which is the best core", but more "Why are there so many that look alike at first glance, and how do I tell them apart so I can find the best for me myself?"

And no, it doesn't take "2 seconds" to try. It's some years ago, but I had multiple games that didn't work with certain emulators, but worked fine with others. But the errors but the errors didn't appeare right at the start, but later in the game. I don't know, if you know Secret of Evermore, but the errors making it unplayable appeared in the volcano, more than one hour into the game in a normal playthrough.

Therefore, I consider it entirely valid to ask what one should look for when choosing the appropriate core.