# ares-emulator/ares

ares is a cross-platform, open source, multi-system emulator, focusing on accuracy and preservation.

Repository: https://github.com/ares-emulator/ares
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ares
Homepage: https://ares-emu.net
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: emulator, near, higan, console, game, emulation, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2026-08-25T17:18:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 74, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1891, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 95, "gap_med": 72, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1771, forks 211 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:34.021876+00:00)

## What it is
ares is a cross-platform, open-source multi-system emulator descended from higan and bsnes, focusing on accuracy and hardware preservation. It supports many consoles (NES, SNES, Game Boy, N64, Mega Drive, PlayStation, PC-Engine, and more) with a native UI, save states, rewind, run-ahead, and pixel shaders.

## Use cases
- play retro console games on pc with high accuracy
- emulate snes nes gameboy n64 genesis playstation
- preserve classic video game hardware behavior in software
- reduce input lag in emulated games with run-ahead
- rewind and fast-forward gameplay in retro games
- apply crt shaders to emulated games
- save state in games that lack native saving

## When to choose
- you prioritize emulation accuracy and hardware preservation over raw speed
- you want one emulator covering many console systems
- you want a native-feeling UI on Windows, macOS, or Linux
- you value readable, well-structured emulator source code

## When to avoid
- you need maximum performance on low-end hardware, since ares trades speed for code clarity
- you need a specific system still marked experimental, such as PlayStation or Arcade
- you prefer a libretro/RetroArch-style multi-core frontend

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: game-engine, gui, cli
- domain: gaming-tools, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: windows, bsd, cpp
- tags: emulator, console-emulation, accuracy-focused, retro-gaming, save-states, shaders, rewind, run-ahead, macos, linux, desktop

## Member repositories
- ares-emulator/ares (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:34.021876+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:25:59.451817+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ares-emulator/ares (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:34.021876+00:00, sha ca3e9bccd86b)
  - homepage: https://ares-emu.net (fetched 2026-08-29T11:04:11.263302+00:00, sha 54cd90a55978)
  - site_page: https://ares-emu.net/about (fetched 2026-08-29T11:04:11.273007+00:00, sha 1d33adbf67b3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.