When comparing SNES9X vs Higan (Formerly BSNES), the Slant community recommends Higan (Formerly BSNES) for most people. In the question“What are the best Super Nintendo emulators for PC?” Higan (Formerly BSNES) is ranked 2nd while SNES9X is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Higan (Formerly BSNES) is:
Higan, originally BSNES, was built with the goal of 100% cycle-accurate SNES emulation. This ensures that games play exactly as they were on the original console, including low-level hacks requiring precise timing (such as shadows in Air Strike Patrol), to a degree not possible in any other emulator.
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Pros
Pro Portable
If you've used an emulator on anything that isn't a PC, you were likely using SNES9x. Unlike most competing emulators, SNES9X was built to be ported to any architecture.
Pro 100% accuracy
Higan, originally BSNES, was built with the goal of 100% cycle-accurate SNES emulation. This ensures that games play exactly as they were on the original console, including low-level hacks requiring precise timing (such as shadows in Air Strike Patrol), to a degree not possible in any other emulator.
Pro 100% compatibility
Byuu, the author of Higan, went through the effort of acquiring all Super Nintendo/Super Famicom games with extension chips, and de-capping and reverse engineering those chips, to ensure perfect, cycle-accurate emulation and flawless support for every game ever released for the console.
Pro Supports other consoles
Since BSNES became Higan, the emulator has begun to support emulation for other consoles as well.
Cons
Con Gamepad-unfriendly GUI
There is no way to select, run, or exit a game with a controller.
Con High system requirements
In order to achieve such a high degree of accuracy, the emulator requires significant usage of system resources. Because of this, a system with a fast processor and a fair amount of RAM is necessary - Higan isn't recommended for use on older machines.