When comparing ZSNES vs Kentucky Route Zero, the Slant community recommends ZSNES for most people. In the question“What are the best low-spec PC games?” ZSNES is ranked 61st while Kentucky Route Zero is ranked 89th. The most important reason people chose ZSNES is:
ZSNES has been in development since the 90's, and in that time has been fixed to run the vast majority of SNES games smoothly. Due to it's "accuracy", it can run roms that most other emulators would break. Not because the emulation is broken, but because the roms are broken.
Specs
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Pros
Pro "Compatible" with most games
ZSNES has been in development since the 90's, and in that time has been fixed to run the vast majority of SNES games smoothly.
Due to it's "accuracy", it can run roms that most other emulators would break. Not because the emulation is broken, but because the roms are broken.
Pro Fast playback of ROMs
ZSNES is hand-optimized for x86, so it will run incredibly smoothly even on older computers.
Pro Built-in video capture
Gameplay can be recorded and saved as both raw or lossy files. Quality settings can be tweaked in zmovie.cfg file.
Pro Games can be saved at any point
Pro Multiplayer support
Games can be played with other people over TCP/IP network.
Pro Built-in support for cheat codes
ZSNES supports Game Genie, Pro Action Replay, and GoldFinger cheat codes.
Pro Built-in audio capture
Game audio can be saved to a .spc file.
Pro Can speed-up and rewind games
Pro Very atmospheric
From the soundtrack and sound effects to the stylistic graphics, Kentucky Route Zero exudes atmosphere.
Pro Camera movement pulls player in
Unlike a lot of adventure games that have static cameras, Kentucky Route Zero has a camera that pans, zooms and rotates, giving a deeper sense of immersion.
Pro A game about the journey, not the destination
Players can casually play Kentucky Route Zero without being punished.
Cons
Con Laughably out of date
Not only was it abandoned over 10 years ago, the strides that other emulators have made in the same time is astounding.
Con Inaccurate compared to competition
ZSNES sacrifices emulation accuracy for speed (relative to e.g. Higan emulator). Sound emulation is a particularly large weakness.
Con Abandoned
While no official statement on discontinuing the software was made, last progress update was posted in 2007 and now seems highly unlikely that any further updates should be expected.
Con No puzzles
Deviating from the norm of a point and click adventure, there are no puzzles to be found in the game. So for those looking for a traditional point and click may be disappointed.