When it comes to choosing an emulator to run a different platform software or game on your personal computer, there are several good options to choose from.
But if you are looking for one single emulator that can suit your emulation needs for several different platforms altogether and that too with many levels of expertise, then you need to look no further than the Mednafen emulator.
What is the Mednafen emulator?
Mednafen is a multi-system and portable emulator that utilizes OpenGL and SDL. Being multi-system means it has a built-in ability to emulate various platforms within itself.
Another much highlighted feature of the Mednafen emulator is its ability to remap hotkey functions and virtual system inputs to different devices such as a keyboard, a joystick, or both at once as well.
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Also Read: Best PS3 Emulator for Android That works 2021
Platforms supported by Mednafen
Some systems without naming the exact device models that the Mednafen emulator supports are –
| Atari |
| Apple |
| Neo Geo |
| WonderSwan |
| GameBoy |
| Genesis |
| Nintendo |
| Virtual Boy |
| PC Engine / TurboGrafx |
| Saturn |
| Sega |
| Sony PlayStation |
Also Read: Best PS4 Emulator for PC Free download in 2021
Major downside of using Mednafen
Although Mednafen itself is packed with the ability to work as one of the best multi-system emulators, there is still a downside to using it.
And this downside is related to its interface which actually does not exist in a graphical manner.
Instead, the default or original interface is in the form of an argument or command line format for data input. This is much similar to operating MS-Dos Prompt.
So unless you are familiar with its instructions or commands, new users will totally be unable to use it.
However, a good thing about this issue is that there are a few external front-end GUI (graphical user interface) developed for Mednafen such as Mednaffe, MedGui, and MedGui Reborn.
By installing this front-end GUI, new users can also use the Mednafen emulator like a pro.
Why use the Mednafen emulator?
In addition to being a multi-system emulator, there are a number of reasons why users should use the Mednafen emulator especially while playing video games on their personal computer such as from the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console.
- Mednafen allows multiple graphics filters and also scaling modes.
- Saving and reloading of games.
- The ability to rewind the game in real-time.
- Capture screenshots and save in the .PNG file format.
- Record videos together with their audio of the gameplay mode in the QuickTime player video format.
- Fast forwarding or speeding up the game play mode.
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How to run Mednafen on a Windows OS running PC?
Use the following mentioned points to understand the complete process of downloading and installing the Mednafen emulator on your Windows OS-operated personal computer.
- Search for Mednafen on the internet and check that you are on some reliable website.
- Then before downloading the. Zip folder containing the files for the Mednafen emulator, make sure that you know what Windows version you are using. Is it 32-bit or 64-bit? Check it first and then download the right folder for your personal computer.
- Now all you need to do is to extract or unzip the. Zip folder you just downloaded from the internet.
- Mednafen emulator does not have an installation wizard or walkthrough. It is a standalone program (Mednafen.exe) that you will get from the extracted folder.
- An important thing to remember is that after extracting, relocate the ‘Mednafen.exe’ file into some common and easy to access folder, instead of setting up a remote location on your computer for it.
- An easy example of a common location is creating a folder on your ‘Desktop screen’ or using the ‘Documents’ or ‘Downloads’ folder.
- This approach will help in saving and reloading your gameplays easily without labeling them as a read-only file.
How to play games on the Mednafen emulator?
Playing games through an emulator such as Mednafen requires you to load the game’s ROM. Since the Mednafen emulator itself does not have a GUI, the procedure to load the game ROM may vary according to the GUI you are using.
The following steps are based on using the ‘Mednaffe’ GUI for the Mednafen emulator.
- Look for the ‘Add Folder’ button or press the keyboard keys ‘Ctrl+A’.
- Now, simply locate the folder containing the game ROM. Select it and click ‘Open’.
- Your game ROM will get listed in the Mednafen emulator.
- Click twice on the game to run it.
- To load another game ROM, follow the above steps.
- The last step would be to configure your gaming controls for smooth gameplay.