SNES Emulator for iPhone & iPad | Retropa

SNES file formats

Most Super Nintendo images arrive as .sfc or .smc, and those two extensions cover nearly everything you will import. Retropa also opens .fig, .swc, .bs and .st, plus ZIP and RetroPack containers. When a game refuses to boot, check the extension first, because a header that does not match the file is a frequent culprit.

• Both .sfc and .smc work with no conversion.
• Retropa reads .fig, .swc, .bs and .st as well.
• You can open ZIP and RetroPack archives without unpacking them first.

The LakeSnes core

LakeSnes is the default SNES core, and it is what you get unless you deliberately switch. JGenesis is the other option, though its SNES extension list is shorter. If one title shows timing or graphics trouble, rule out a bad dump before blaming the core, and check the release notes for your app version.

• LakeSnes is the default runtime for SNES games.
• A few cartridges carried extra coprocessor chips.
• Retropa remembers your core choice for each game.

Import and first run

Copy the file onto the device instead of leaving a cloud placeholder behind. A placeholder looks like a real file in a list, but the import fails until the bytes are actually local. Pick it from the import entry, launch once, and confirm picture, sound and touch controls before you touch any presentation setting.

Six buttons need real space

The SNES pad adds X, Y, L and R to the directional pad, A, B, Start and Select, and plenty of games want two of those at once. Lay the touch layout out in landscape and test each combination by hand. For action titles, a paired physical controller will beat glass every time.

• Map L and R, the two buttons people forget.
• Try a diagonal and a shoulder press together.
• Make sure the skin does not sit over the picture.

Choosing a display treatment

SNES art was drawn for a CRT, so a scanline or aperture-grille preset generally lands closer to the original than a bare pixel grid. The advanced filters scale to the real output area rather than a whole-number multiple, which matters on a phone whose screen height rarely divides evenly.

• Judge every preset against the unfiltered picture.
• Cheap scanline overlays shimmer at fractional scales.
• Advanced filters sit behind Retropa Plus.

When a SNES game will not start

Look at three things in order: the extension, the system Retropa detected, and the exact wording of the error. Titles built around a special cartridge chip are the usual suspects when one game dies and the rest run fine. Leave the original file untouched while you test, and try the alternate core as a second opinion.

• Note the app version, the core and the error text before you write in.
• No filter will rescue a cartridge-chip mismatch.
• Never attach commercial ROM or BIOS files to a support request.