# amhndu/SimpleNES

An NES emulator in C++

Repository: https://github.com/amhndu/SimpleNES
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/simplenes
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: nes-emulator, emulator, sfml, c-plus-plus
Last push: 2025-10-05T11:37:38+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 43/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 45, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3745, "days_push": 332, "days_rel": 456, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5107, forks 1129 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:09.863303+00:00)

## What it is
SimpleNES is an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) emulator written in C++ using SFML, supporting games that use no mapper or mappers 1, 2, 3, with experimental support for 4, 7, 66 and 11. It runs roughly 50-60% of NTSC games with video and audio output.

## Use cases
- play classic NES games like Super Mario Bros on my PC
- emulate NES roms with sound on Linux
- run Legend of Zelda and Megaman on my computer
- open source NES emulator for macOS
- play retro 8-bit games from rom files
- test NES homebrew roms

## When to choose
- you want a simple, readable C++ NES emulator to run classic games
- you want to study or fork emulator source code
- you need a lightweight emulator for mappers 1-3 games on Linux, macOS or Windows

## When to avoid
- you need high compatibility with many mappers or accurate cycle-timed emulation
- you want an actively maintained project with bug fixes and new features
- you need PAL region support or save states

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: abandoned
- function: game, simulation, graphics, audio-processing
- domain: gaming-tools, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: nes-emulator, emulation, sfml, retro-gaming, 8-bit, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- amhndu/SimpleNES (main) score 43

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:09.863303+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 2026-08-29T18:02:10.203134+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/amhndu/SimpleNES (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:09.863303+00:00, sha ed0b74039bd1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.