Best for NES and SNES: John NESS

APK Pure

Two-for-one emulation.

There is a free version of the emulator.

you could only get rid of ads by paying a fee.

A young man plays a game on his Android phone.

Sai Aung Main / Getty Images

John NESS combines NES and SNES emulators from the well-known emulation company John Emulators.

Alongside RetroArch, John NESS is one of Android’s most acclaimed emulation options.

Download For:

Best Emulator With a Classic Feel: Snes9X EX+

SNES9x EX+

No in-app purchases.

John NESS is one of the most popular Android SNES emulators on the market.

APK Pure

Supports most emulation file types.

The on-screen game pad leaves something to be desired.

Snes9x EX+ has been around since the early days of emulation.

SNES9x EX+ brings old-school gaming to Android devices on the go.

SNES9x EX+

Like RetroArch, it’s open source and free to use.

It supports gamepads, and most major emulation file types and has decent on-screen controls.

Best All-Around & Cross-Platform Emulator: RetroArch

RetroArch

Cross-platform support.

RetroArch is the best option for SNES emulation on the Android.

RetroArch

The emulator can be tough to learn due to its many options.

RetroArch is one of the biggest names in emulation, and for good reason.

There’s built-in controller support, plus RetroArch can record andstream gameplayto services likeTwitchandYouTube.