by Emulation for the original PlayStation has come a long way and there are now several different options to choose from, each with varying accuracy and features. If you’re anything like me, you might’ve grown up using ePSXe, but that’s not necessarily the best PS1 emulator anymore.
Thankfully, there are no PS1 emulators that are outright the best, which means that you have a few options for your PS1 roms. Here are three of the best PlayStation emulators.
Mednafen
I’m not going to beat around the bush — Mednafen is considered the best PS1 emulator among some enthusiasts for a reason. The Mednafen PlayStation core is highly accurate, and it has all of the features that the typical gamer would want: GameShark support, memory cards, optional graphical enhancements, and the list goes on.
The downside is that Mednafen has only a command-line interface. Fortunately, you can easily use a can use a third-party frontend (like MedGui Reborn) for a GUI.
DuckStation
DuckStation is a free and open-source PlayStation emulator, and unlike Mednafen, it comes packaged with an easy-to-use interface. It’s also important to note that the developers have put an emphasis on making the emulator’s performance suitable on lower-end PCs.
Like the other top emulators, DuckStation is highly accurate, speedy, and includes all of the nice features like upscaling, texture filtering, overclocking, GameShark support, and CHD support.
XEBRA
XEBRA is another highly accurate PlayStation emulator, but unlike the two open-source emulators on this list, XEBRA is closed-source and its developer is based in Japan (as you could probably tell from the official website).
Despite being as accurate as its peers, XEBRA does have some downsides. For example, it does not have the robust scaling options that emulators like DuckStation has. Additionally, some users have reported audio issues. However, if you want accurate emulation at native resolution, then this is the emulator for you.
Additionally, XEBRA is one of the few emulators with PocketStation support.
