Honest Opinions On Best Gp2x Emus Greatly Appreciated

[JohnDrake]

Hello Everyone and thanks for reading. I have been fascinated by the Game Park handhelds since I first tried the GP32. I always wanted a GP2X but was afraid of the d-pad problems. Now it appears that the GP2X F200 has fixed most of the complaints and I'm thinking about taking the plunge.

Now here's my questions. How good is the MAME emu? I have watched many YouTube videos on this subject and the EMU seems to perform very well. However I would really appreciate any input you guys can give me.

I'd also like to know what are the best emulators for the GP2x? Meaning which perform the best? Which make the machine worth owning? Maybe list the "top 10 emus" as you see it.

I apologize if this topic has been covered many times before. I did a search but I think my search criteria was too broad and I did not get the results I required.

Also I'm thinking about buying my GP2X F200 from Play-Asia. However if any of you know of a good USA based or Canadian seller, please recommend them here.

One last question. Does the GP2X F200 support 4GB SDHC cards? (EDIT: saw another topic that said only the F200 model supports 4GB SDHC. Can anyone confirm this for me?)


Thanks again for all the help.

gp32_console :gp2x

 

[zacaj]

Well, my favorite emulators are Picrodrive, DrPocketSNES, and GPFce.
Play Asia works well, it comes fast, and they include free candy there is http://gp2xstore.com in America

 

[slaanesh]

If you are interested in MAME then you will love the GP2X. It's got the fastest and most feature packed handheld version of MAME on any handheld (though PalmMAME for Palms and Zods is also excellent).
You won't be disappointed. Most games are completely fullspeed some even when underclocked.

 

[imhotep]

MAME emu is very very good. You will not disappointed. There are also dedicated emulators for NeoGeo and CPS2 that are also top notch. So if arcade is your thing, you'll love it!

Every popular machine has a very good emu, so a top ten depends on the systems you like.

SDHC is supported by F200. Reports are in of people using 8GB SDHC cards. F100 can't do SDHC at all, so I'm jealous

 

[Alex.]

F100 can't do SDHC at all, so I'm jealous

Yes, it can, use Notaz's patch.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=35840

 

[trooper]

MAME emu is very very good. You will not disappointed. There are also dedicated emulators for NeoGeo and CPS2 that are also top notch. So if arcade is your thing, you'll love it!

Every popular machine has a very good emu, so a top ten depends on the systems you like.

SDHC is supported by F200. Reports are in of people using 8GB SDHC cards. F100 can't do SDHC at all, so I'm jealous

Clips imhotep around the ear, Yeah!, Use the search function.

Trooper

 

[imhotep]

F100 can't do SDHC at all, so I'm jealous

Yes, it can, use Notaz's patch.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=35840

I would if I was brave enough h34r:

 

[prairiefire]

for Canada, www.gamersection.com. Bought mine there.

 

[JohnDrake]

I just want to thank everyone for all the helpful replies.

I'm trying to learn as much as I can before I take the final plunge. I've been watching a lot of youtube videos related to the GP2X F200. I've been reading forum topics and visiting a number of GP2X websites.
Unfortunately I still have a few unanswered questions.

-How is the GP2X F200 D-pad for classic games such as Pac-Man, Galaga?

-Does the cradle support wireless PC controllers? (USB dongle style)

-Is there any emulator that uses the cradle for multi-player gameplay?

-How are the emulators for such classic consoles as the Atari 2600, Colecovision, Intelivision?

-Neo Geo support is very important. I'm also excited by CPS2. How would you rate the emulators for these systems?

-What do you think of this carrying case?

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-d1-49-en-70-11n4.html


Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[TrevorBradley]

My experiences with my F200 as a new GP2X user:

GBA, Gameboy, NES, SNES, C64 emulation are excellent. They just work, period. Being a C64 kid, I was *so* happy with VICE's performance. MULE runs perfectly. Load times are similar to the actual C64 though, as the 1541 is a difficult beast to emulate.

MAME emulation is excellent, but you can only use roms up to 0.39 or so, which limits the possibilities. Donkey Kong, Pacman, etc, but not Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo.

Sega emulation is fair, some glitches with SegaCD (Dragon's Lair etc).

Amiga emulation is OK, many games don't run or are difficult to control without a mouse (Cannon Fodder)

PSX emulation? I've only tried one game: Soul Edge. It doesn't work.. barely. The framerate is about 1/2 or 1/4th of what it should be, but otherwise it seems to work perfectly. I can see why people are holding out for the craiginator.

ScummVM works well, though the small screen can make some games (Steel Sky) difficult to play. Sam And Max/Day of the Tentacle with fill voice acting are awesome.

DosBox is very poor. Barely anything works. I (well, my wife) was kinda hoping for X-Com. When I found out only CGA era games worked well, I was hoping to get "Project Space Station" working, but I couldn't get that to work either. Many many games that were my favorites in DOS are available on other platforms: Dune 1 (SegaCD, Amiga), Another World (Amiga) come top mind.

Other emulators, like Stella for the Atari 2600, do not work at all with the F200... there are a few glitches to be worked out, but they do seem to be coming.

Applications developed for the GP2X vary in quality. Some are very polished, others very, very rough. There are very very few aps that use the touchpad. ScummVM is the big exception.

A few existing games that have been open sourced have been ported with high levels of success. Star Control 2 has been ported directly to the GP2X as "The Ur Quan Masters". A must play through if you've never played it before. Quake runs very well and is cool to show off.

The coolest, geekiest app I have for my F200? sterm. There's nothing geekier than having a linux bash shell on my console. Take that DS!

I got my F200 from gp2xstore in the US, even though I'm in Canada. Thought I'd save some $$ as I got it when the exchange rate was $1.07... However I got dinged with $30 in tariffs a month later. Still worth it.

http://archive.gp2x.de/ is the place to go for software, you get a sense of how much software is available for the system there.

-How is the GP2X F200 D-pad for classic games such as Pac-Man, Galaga?

-How are the emulators for such classic consoles as the Atari 2600, Colecovision, Intelivision?

-Neo Geo support is very important. I'm also excited by CPS2. How would you rate the emulators for these systems?

Specific Answers (that I can answer):

D-Pad: I like it. I have large fingers. It's not perfect, but it's not the horror story people were fearing.

Stella/Atari doesn't work yet for the F200.

NeoGeo I think I've tried and it works well (if I recall correctly)

I just got a cheap Intec DS case and cut out the plastic, works great for me. Whatever you do, GET A CASE OF SOME KIND. There's no screen cover and you'll need something to carry around batteries, extra SD cards, an SD/USB adapter.

I don't have a cradle, so I can't answer any of those questions... Though I wouldn't hold out on multiplayer at all.

 

[JohnDrake]

Awesome!

Trevor my friend, thank you so much for taking the time to write that informative and extremely helpful post. Honestly I really appreciate all the hard work and effort you put into it. I feel like I'm finally confident enough to make the purchase, which is probably going to happen sometime after Midnight tonight.

(Wish me luck!)

I also want to say that its very cool to meet another C64 kid. That system was my life back in the day. I'm really happy the VICE emu works well. It will be one of the first emus that I try.

So I guess I just have two more questions. The first being, does anyone know where I can find a ROM/Gamelist for MAME ver 0.39? I checked the official site and could only find documentation for version 0.37.

My second question isn't really a question. I'd just like to ask NeoGeo fans to share their experiences with the NeoGeo emu. From what I've seen and heard it runs fairly well. But I'd really like to hear any impressions you can provide, even if its only for one game.

Anyway, that's enough out of me. Thanks again to everyone who has read and/or participated in this topic.

Cheers!

 

[HenrikE]

Yep, MAME and Vice are very good on the GP2x. Still looking for a C-64 emu to do samples like in Impossible Mission and Exploding Fist... any tips? Vice seems to choke on them.

 

[Squirrel61]

Yep, MAME and Vice are very good on the GP2x. Still looking for a C-64 emu to do samples like in Impossible Mission and Exploding Fist... any tips? Vice seems to choke on them.

Thanks for living up a thread that had no posts for almost a year
Anyway, did you try Frodo? It's less compatible than Vice, but sound's better on some occasions. Eg. the title music in Green Beret is crap in Vice but plays perfectly in Frodo..