No. 21 of 54 ·Multi-System Emulators

Mednafen

Windows · Linux

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Freedom report

One barScore 5.5

Free tierNo free tier on record
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely2 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Mednafen is ranked #21 of 54 in multi-system emulators on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, Windows.

Compared on multi-system emulators

Free plan: Yes
Open source: Yes

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The record

Purpose: Mednafen is a portable, command-line-driven multi-system emulator that uses OpenGL and SDL.
Supported systems: Its listed systems include Apple II, Atari Lynx, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, NES, SNES, Sega Saturn, and Sony PlayStation.
Controls: It supports remapping hotkeys and virtual system inputs to a keyboard, joystick, or both.
Save and capture features: It supports save states, real-time rewinding, PNG screen snapshots, QuickTime movie recording, and WAV sound logging.
Game file formats: It can load non-CD games from gzip and Zstandard files or ZIP archives, and CD games from ZIP archives when CD image memory caching is enabled.
Network play: Network play uses an external dedicated server program.
Security guidance: The documentation warns that specially constructed save states may cause a lockup, consume substantial CPU, or potentially execute arbitrary host code, and advises against loading states from untrusted parties.
File safety: CUE, TOC, and PSF files can reference arbitrary files, and the documentation says the default-enabled filesys.untrusted_fip_check setting mitigates a potential information-leak issue.
CD limitation: Physical CD support was removed in version 0.9.38; CD-ROM games are loaded from dumped disc images.
Audio format limitation: MP3 is not supported for audio files referenced by CUE sheets.
Windows requirements: The releases page says Windows builds require Windows XP or newer and recommends the 64-bit build for better performance and functionality.
Supported build systems: The releases page lists successful compilation on FreeBSD, Linux, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows.
License: The project says Mednafen is distributed under the GNU GPLv2.
Support: The official site links to a Mednafen forum and an FAQ.

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Multi-System Emulators in 2026#21 of 54
Best Game Console Emulators in 2026#21 of 35
Best TurboGrafx-16 Emulators in 2026#16 of 32
Best SNES Emulators in 2026#16 of 31
Best Game Gear Emulators in 2026#18 of 30
Best Sega Genesis Emulators in 2026#17 of 29
Best Game Boy Advance Emulators in 2026#11 of 29
Best Sega Master System Emulators in 2026#13 of 25

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Sources

mednafen.github.io· checked 2 Oct 2026
mednafen.github.io/documentation/· checked 2 Oct 2026
mednafen.github.io/releases/· checked 2 Oct 2026