# Mesen

Multi-system emulator (NES, SNES, GB, GBA, PCE, SMS/GG, WS) for Windows, Linux and macOS

Repository: https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mesen
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: emulator, gameboy, nes, snes, game-gear, master-system, pc-engine, gba, wonderswan
Archived: true
Last push: 2026-06-04T09:31:24+00:00
Link (homepage): https://www.mesen.ca

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 28, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1997, "days_push": 90, "days_rel": 423, "gap_med": 50, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2420, forks 342 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:50.513278+00:00)

## What it is
Mesen is a high-accuracy multi-system emulator for retro consoles including NES, SNES, Game Boy (Color), Game Boy Advance, PC Engine, SMS/Game Gear, and WonderSwan. It runs natively on Windows, Linux, and macOS, with both native and .NET-based builds available.

## Use cases
- play NES games on my PC
- emulate SNES cartridges with high accuracy
- run Game Boy and GBA games on macOS
- play PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 games
- emulate WonderSwan and Game Gear handhelds
- retro gaming emulator for Linux
- play old console ROMs on Windows 11

## When to choose
- you need a single emulator covering many 8/16-bit consoles
- accuracy and low-latency emulation are priorities
- you want cross-platform support including Apple Silicon
- you need features like netplay, rewind, and shader support typical of Mesen

## When to avoid
- you want to emulate 3D-era consoles like N64, PlayStation, or Dreamcast
- you need mobile (Android/iOS) emulation
- you prefer a minimal single-system emulator with fewer options

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: game, gui
- domain: gaming-tools, cross-platform, desktop-applications
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: emulator, nes, snes, gameboy, gba, pc-engine, retro-gaming, wonderswan, game-gear, master-system, linux, macos, desktop

## Member repositories
- SourMesen/Mesen2 (main) score 10
- SourMesen/Mesen (mirror) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:50.513278+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 2026-08-30T02:33:04.157262+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:50.513278+00:00, sha d3ac70079023)
  - homepage: https://www.mesen.ca (fetched 2026-08-29T10:13:24.057653+00:00, sha 449964cd2967)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.