My opinion on some android emulators

[1988fido]

Hi

I just tried bunch of emulators on android using my Nvidia shield Tablet so I figured I would help someone to decide which emulator to purchase on google play store.

I have purchased 3 emulators and all of them have pros and cons and for me I need them all for different reasons  but maybe you don't.


First emulator
Classicboy 
Full quality screen shot


as you can see it have many emulators built in it  so it gives u 8 in 1 value for 4$. Super cheap for what it offers.
 

 

• Features:
  
  A ) Saves- it have the ability to save states ( like snapshot saves ) and instant resume wherever u left it with multiple slots to save for each emulator separate.
  1 Quick slot + 9 normal save slots for every emulator 
  B ) Settings- every emulator have cheat codes option except NeoGeo. (Global settings available but not for cheats )
  C ) Controls-you can map and adjust controls as u wish also make profiles again every emulator separate (but there is a General setting or a global setting u can adjust the controller there so by default all the emulators will have these modifications ) on other hand controls with sensors and gestures avaiable also support multiplayer with more controllers (bluetooth for example ps4/ps3 or OTG cable or nvidia controller ) in playstation it support vibrator feedback (by ticking the option in advanced settings ) it have overley controls that can adjust the size, location and hide them etc..
  D ) Graphics- in global settings under video , there is rendered resolution tab ,with it  u can adjust the rendered resolution and can give u better visual quality than the original Console (tested with Nvidia shield Tablet K1 native resolution 1920x1200) example the gameboy have option of 4x and for the GBC it have option to make it look like the old handheld console Gameboy color , this option called LCD color mode *.*

1. Performance- I have tested this emulator with galaxy s5 , s6 and nvidia shield tablet k1 . all of them gave me 60 fps in GBA,playstation 1 , GBC , NES, Neo-Geo , Sega . unfortunately  didn't try N64 nor SNES so I don't know about these performance but most roms did work on ps1/gba/gc/nes/sega emulators however the Neo-Geo gave m some issues and not all roms did work.
   all roms work in zip format because classicboy will extract the game and create a folder for it which will put saves in it so u don't have to worry about unrar the games 
2. overall- it is the best emulator I have tried comes with many features , easy to use and very good price
   
   List of emulators:
   N64
   Playstation 1
   GBA
   GBC , GB
   NES
   Sega
   Neo-Geo
   SNES  ( this doesn't not come installed and have to go to plugins tab and click new plugins it will load for few seconds and find the SNES plugin will need internet connection for that. hopefully this means in future they will add more plugins so we get more emulators)
   
   
    

• Lacking Features : the biggest thing I missed the ability to Fast forward in GBA which is a big deal to me but maybe not to everyone , but can be useful to skip these long dialog's like in pokemon games.
  second one is Link option this allows u to link 2 android devices to be able to Trade pokemons or challenge each other basically having a network to get multiplayer functionality.
  when I checked other emulators on pc and android and found such a thing is possible and they actually achieve usable level I was wondering why classicboy didn't have it and why not add it to all the other emulators so I can play playstation 1 games with my friends just install the app and the rom on their device then each one of us will play it on his own device  how cool can that be.
  I wish you can use the system time for the emulator so ingame events like day and night changes according to your own time  

Second emulator
Myoldboy
Full quality screenshot



 

• Features: 
  A) Saves- Same as classicboy it offers save states (snapshots ) and quick save etc..
  B) Settings- it have option to adjust the screen size in very flexible way, the user can adjust the screen size simply by just selecting it and stretching the window to how big or small he/she need it to be which is not available in classicboy , in classicboy u can select fixed sizes they are presets already there in the video settings. 
  C) controls- can map anything to any button on the controller except the triggers for some reason it doesn't register the triggers on neither my nvidia controller and the ps4 controller. it have overley controls that can adjust the size, location and hide them etc..
  
  D ) Graphics- in video tab in settings there is GLSL option in other words game filters. the games look amazing with HQ4X which is way better than the original specially on large tablets and phones coz the original gameboy advance screen was smaller so the screen resolution would be ok with that size but not as good with tablets. it gives similar effect to classic boy 4x re-rendered resolution 
  1) Performance- I have tested pokemon games it felt smooth to me however the emulator doesn't have built in fps counter to show you the fps which i liked in classicboy. one thing to keep in mind the game fast forward is amazing feature but have a bug when u click to go back normal speed sometimes the game get slow with low fps so have to click options and close options to get back smooth again (sometimes have to close the game and load it back again )
  
  2) overall- it have the best feature in all emulators the ability to link ( over wifi and bluetooth ) which made this emulator my #1 favorite without competition . The price is 5$ which is very expinsive compared to classicboy that is 8in1 but it have the features that as far as I know no other emulator give them 1-Link /  2-fast forward 2x 3x 4x 8x 16x speeds .
   
• Lacking Features : I miss the ability to trade with myself like the VBA-M emulator on PC which is made by the same person. and that is just weird because he made it work on pc and did port the emulator to android but without some awesome features like running 2 of the same emulator to be able to trade with yourself also in pc the emulator can rom previous Gameboy roms like gameboy and gameboy color . he sell another app called my old boy that run these roms.
  I wish you can use the system time for the emulator so ingame events like day and night changes according to your own time  (this feature is there in Drastic DS emulator )
   

Drastic DS

it have everything that Myoldboy have but it can't link  which is a bummer it almost became the perfect emulator for nintendo DS . also it can't run Gameboy advance games or any previous handheld roms.
I didn't test the controllers yet , and to be honest I did rush a bit to write this hoping maybe someone will give me a way to able to link DS emulator or have a way to overcome the lack of features in every one of them.
the value is very bad for this emulator it costs 8$ and can play only DS roms . lack the ability to link and playing previous generation handheld games.



consclusion  I use the combination of all 3 to be able to play all the games I love and get all the features I need. but in DS i still can't find a way to trade my pokemons hhh and in ps1 can't fast forward also in gameboy advance it annoys me the time settings which there is no way to adjust as far as I know