I'm not quite old enough to have the same level of appreciation for the 16-bit Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis video game era as I do for the Nintendo 64's heyday in the late 90s and early 2000s. Still, since I have two older brothers, I spent a long time watching them play various SNES games — and sometimes they let me play, too, if I was lucky.

I, of course, have gone back and played various SNES classics over the years, often when I was way too young to really understand them, including Super Mario World, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy VI, Donkey Kong Country, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and countless more. And while I played a lot of those games on the original SNES hardware, I also emulated several on my family PC with an emulator called ZSNES.

ZSNES is legendary in the emulation space and has roots that stretch back to the DOS era. I'd argue that, in many ways, ZSNES almost single-handedly popularized the concept of emulation, making it somewhat mainstream. As a kid, the fact that I could play all of these SNES games on a PC was mind-blowing. Fast-forward to 2026, and after nearly two decades of silence, ZSNES is back as Super ZSNES, a new take on Super Nintendo emulation that's GPU-powered and rewritten by the OG emulator's original creators, zsKnight and Demo.

A GPU-powered emulator is a major shift for SNES emulation

Add a bit of modern polish to your favorite SNES games

What makes Super ZSNES stand out to me beyond the iconic history surrounding the original ZSNES is that it includes new GPU-bound features its creators call Super Enhancements, which offer audio and visual upgrades to select classic 16-bit titles. These new visual features go beyond what you'd typically see in an emulator like CRT screen filters, and include features like widescreen support, texture mapping, and higher resolutions.

Super ZSNES can also replace original audio samples with uncompressed versions of the same tracks, making the audio sound much more modern and crisp. In some cases, real 3D can even be added to games that use Mode 7 visuals (a SNES graphics technique that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled, creating a 3D-like effect). And of course, none of these enhancements modify SNES ROM files, legally protecting the team behind the project from Nintendo's army of lawyers.

Right now, enhancements need to be created on a per-game basis. At launch, Super Enhancement compatibility includes F-Zero, Gradius 3, Mega Man X, Super Castlevania 4, Super Ghouls & Ghosts, Super Mario World, and Super Metroid, with more titles coming in the future from both the team behind Super ZSNES and the community. While all this sounds very cool and innovative on paper, actually playing these titles with altered visuals leaves me a bit conflicted, though the graphical effects are undeniably compelling.

Not all the Super Enhancements look great with every game

You'll need to find a visual style that works for you

I spent some time cruising down F-Zero's sci-fi tracks, marveling at the real 3D height-mapping effects added to the barriers along the sides of the courses. It's the sort of subtle visual addition that doesn't add a ton to a game, but that's still fascinating to see in a 37-year-old title. Things get a little murkier when you get into adding texture to games. For example, turning texture on in Super Mario World gives the game an almost hand-drawn look that reminds me of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. It's visually interesting, but it totally changes the look of the classic 2D platformer.

I feel similarly about turning on HiRes, a feature that increases the game's resolution. It removes the familiar pixelated aesthetic from Mega Man X and Super Castlevania IV in favor of a smoother look. This style is decent in Super Mario World, but awful in Super Castlevania IV and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. On the other hand, I really like playing Super Metroid with all the enhancements turned on because it adds almost animated-like graphics to the game.

Other Super ZSNES enhancements, like higher-quality audio, widescreen support, and overclocking (which removes slowdown), all work well and are the kind of features most people will want to leave on. Oh, and there's also the nostalgic ZSNES menu, complete with the familiar snow animation.

With every supported game, I needed to play around with the Super Enhancements to find a visual vibe that looked good. Of course, you can turn all of these features off and play the supported 16-bit classics in all their pixelated glory, but that defeats the purpose of Super ZSNES. I'd compare Super ZSNES' Super Enhancement features to the decompilation-based PC ports of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess that I've been playing lately.

It's the same gaming experience you remember, but with modern features; in this case, textures, a higher resolution, improved audio, and more. In some cases, these extra visual flourishes might even be more accurate to how you remember playing some of these games all those years ago, especially if you haven't picked them up since you were a kid — memory can be funny like that sometimes, especially when it comes to video games.

Still, if you're looking for a truly authentic retro gaming experience, Super ZSNES' enhancement features definitely aren't for you. Super ZSNES is currently available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android, with an iOS release "coming soon."