Side by side

nSide Balanced vs Super Famicast

Both stand on snes emulators. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

nSide Balanced

Free plan

nSide Balanced offers broad libretro features and support for several Nintendo-era formats, including Super Game Boy content. Its missing hardware features, firmware requirements, and documented compatibility issues matter for specific games and setups.

Visit nSide Balanced

Super Famicast

Free plan

Super Famicast offers CD-based SNES emulation and adjustable controls and display options for Sega Dreamcast. Its sound performance and synchronization issues are significant, and the project is labeled Beta with a last update listed in 2013.

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The facts

	nSide Balanced	Super Famicast
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Not published	Not published
Lowest paid plan	Not published	Free or on request
Plans published	None	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	docs.libretro.com	github.com
On snes emulators	#19 of 30	#23 of 30

nSide Balanced: what it does well

Free GPLv3 libretro core
Supports several cartridge file extensions
Includes saves, rewind, and netplay
Multitap supports up to five players
Super Game Boy ROM and BIOS support

What to know first

No cheat, rumble, sensor, or disk control
MSU-1 setup requires a correct .bml file
Scanline emulation does not work properly
Some ROM hacks are incompatible

Super Famicast: what it does well

Free and open source under GPL-2.0
Loads ROMs from CD and supports disc swaps
Many games run at full speed with frame skipping
Offers screen positioning and bilinear filtering
Configurable D-Pad and analog-stick input

What to know first

Requires Sega Dreamcast hardware
Enabling sound makes gameplay about unplayable
All VMU saves go to the first VMU found
Selecting an unrecognized file can possibly crash it

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