Database Info

The Guide to Emulating NeoGeo and CPS:a must if you’re into quality&FREE arcade games

The Guide to Emulating NeoGeo and CPS:a must if you’re into quality&FREE arcade games
You may have already heard of NeoGeo and the Capcom Play Systems They’re excellent 2D arcade consoles – much better than most other 2D ones. Some of the titles released for these consoles are still much better than anything comparable on Windows Mobile. Therefore, if you’re into platformer or fighter games, you MUST check out the emulators running them.
(Speaking of the the Capcom Play System, it's abbreviated as CPS and should not to be mistaken for Capcom CPS Changer. There have been three major revision of them, CPS-1, CPS-2 and CPS-3 . The latter doesn’t have many games and isn’t supported on Windows Mobile).
Up until recently, it has been pretty impossible to emulate these platforms under Windows Mobile (WM for short). If you read the only related (and highly outdated) article at pdagameguide.com, dated back to 2003, you’ll see emulating NeoGeo was pretty much impossible then – all you could do is running NeoGeo Pocket Color games, which, being made for a not very powerful handheld platform, aren’t as sophisticated as desktop NeoGeo titles and should, therefore, not be preferred over the desktop versions. (Let alone their emulators being pretty outdated and incapable; for example, NeoPocott v0.38b R1 (also see THIS) hasn’t received any update for over six years!)
Pretty recently, well-known Windows Mobile coder Masterall has released the WM port of FinalBurn Alpha, the first emulator for WM that does deliver excellent emulation capabilities and SUPERIOR speed. And it’s free – as with the ROM images themselves. Finally, in addition to emulating NeoGeo and CPS-1/2, it’s also capable of running Toaplan and Cave games.
Masterall also has some other ports he can be VERY proud of. Picodrive, for example, is the best Genesis (Sega Mega Drive) emulator I've ever seen (I’ll elaborate on Genesis emulation in a later article). He’s also the author of pocketGBAdvance, a GBA emulator, of which he’s promising a usable version very soon.
All in all, he’s pretty much comparable to the other “big” names of emulator porters like n0p (Genesis Plus/Pocket PC, PocketSNES, DOSBox and Stratagus), PocketInsanity (PocketUAE) or Sunbug.net (PocketGBA).
In addition to the related pdagameguide.com article being completely outdated, I’ve decided to write an all-in-one guide on these questions because the related information currently available is very hard to digest for a non-professional Windows Mobile geek. Hope this guide will help a LOT.
Why do I recommend this emulator and these games? Why should you bother?
Because
the emulator runs just GREAT on most current hardware, even with sound
even the most CPU-intensive games run OK (with enabled sound!) on the (for gaming) best, fastest current handhelds (Dell Axim x51v, for example)
the games are available for free
many of the games are MUCH better than anything else (comparable, in the same genre) on Windows Mobile. Very few native Windows Mobile games (for example SKY FORCE Reloaded is the only comparable title, as far as, say, 1942 clones are concerned)
if you do follow this guide, you can run these games REALLY easily - I've tried to explain it really clearly how the emulator must be configured, where to download games from, what games to get and so on
Difference between NeoGeo and the two CPS versions
Unfortunately, the NeoGeo emulation (as of the recent, 0.008 build is concerned) is certainly less featureful than that of emulating CPS games. Therefore, you will always want to check out whether a particular title is available as a CPS game and if and only if it isn’t switch to the NeoGeo version. Note that the developer has been promising fixing these problems very soon.
The problems with the NeoGeo emulation are as follows:
with NeoGeo games, it’s not possible to save / load game states, unlike with CPS games. This is a big problem if you would like to continue your game after exiting FinalBurn
auto fire doesn’t work with them either (while it worked with all CPS games I’ve tested)

Getting, installing
Get the latest version in the first post of the the official FinalBurn thread at Modaco – it’ll always have the latest version (you will need to register your nick in there).
That there are four RAR files there. One is named FinalBurn.rar. This is the WM executable. The other three contain the desktop Windows version of the emulator, are named fbauds.part01.rar … fbauds.part03.rar and should only be got if you will need to create cache files of the titles you’d like to play. Use WinRAR.
Note that the latter emulator does differ from the official desktop Windows version of FinalBurn Alpha downloadable here. The latter is far newer (and is, therefore, preferred to the version available at Modaco) but doesn’t support creating cache files. That is, do download the fbauds.partX.rar’s too. (And, again, you may also want to download the official desktop Windows version of FinalBurn Alpha here, should you want to play the titles on your desktop computer.)
To play NeoGeo games in the emulator, you will also need to acquire the ROM BIOS file, Neogeo.zip (you won’t need to do this if you ONLY want to play CPS games!). This ZIP is different for the desktop Windows version (downloadable here; also see THIS) and for the WM version (accessible here). Put the ZIP file (do NOT decompress it!) in the ROMs subdirectory of FileBurn (with the desktop version, you can also put it in the home directory where the main executable EXE file resides – it’ll find it. The WM version won’t), which is auto-created upon the first execution of the emulator (see later).
Finally, for the desktop version, you will also need kailleraclient.dll. It’s for example available in the official desktop FinalBurn Alpha distribution - just download the ZIP file and it’ll be right in it. You won’t even need to start the main executable, fba.exe. Or, alternatively, get it HERE as a separate download. Again, this only applies to the desktop version – with the WM version, all you will need to do is getting Neogeo.zip and copying it to the ROMs directory. Note that you may also need to download and install the free DirectX 9.
Game ROM’s you download must be put under the ROMs dir as ZIP files (that is, you don’t need to decompress them). This directory will be automatically created when you start the executable on both the desktop (fba.exe with the official FinalBurn version, fbaud.exe with the cache-generating debug version) and mobile (FinalBurn.exe) Windows.
Getting games (ROM images)
Probably the best ROM source is emuparadise.org, where you can download a lot of games from. The games there are all in a format compatible with the emulator. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean ALL the available titles are indeed compatible: it’s only with CPS games that they are. There are still a lot of NeoGeo games that are just plain incompatible (and aren’t even listed by FinalBurn as compatible). Nevertheless, the ones that are recognized are, in general, really worth playing.
CPS-1 ROMs should be here (but seems to be empty now); CPS2 here. Finally, NeoGeo ROM’s are here.
Keep in mind the following while downloading files from emuparadise.org:
you can only download one ROM image at a time. emuparadise.org, in addition to checking the same browser instance, also check for the same IP. That is, you can’t fool the server into thinking it’s serving another completely independent user when you leech images from IE and Firefox at the same time.
don’t use Internet Explorer to download images because it’ll very often time out. Prefer Firefox (Mozilla) – it has never timed out on me, as opposed to (the latest version of) Internet Explorer.
There are a LOT of very cool games in there; games that are MUCH better than most (or, with horizontal scrollers, ANY) comparable, native titles on Windows Mobile. There is nothing on Windows Mobile comparable to, say, Metal Slug. Yes, FirePower-onrush uses a lot of textures / graphics from Metal Slug (see Sponge’s comments HERE, after my review, for more info on this) but is still WAY worse.
I’ve also tested many titles under the emulator, in the next subsection, I list and elaborate on them.
NeoGeo titles, links & compatibility reports
Captain Tomaday: works great (kids’ vertical scroller)
Ghost Pilots: great, even at 44 kHz (let alone 8!) (vertical scroller)
NAM – 1975: Operation Wolf clone: works great, even at 44 kHz, highly recommended if you like
Metal Slug 2: One of the BEST! A MUST!
Metal Slug 3 : in order to run this title on anything with less than 128M RAM, you will also need to download the non-encrypted version in addition to the default one. Make sure you run the latter on devices with free RAM less than 40 Mbytes.
Metal Slug X: Great game, working also great
Samurai Shodown: works great, even at 44 kHz
King of the Monsters: OK, even at 44k
A list of, as of the current version, some non-recognized games:
Metal Slug 1
The Last Blade
Blazing Star
Metal Slug 4
(both versions of PocketCultMAME recognize them but can’t run. The desktop MAME runs them all. The desktop FinalBurn Alpha doesn't.)
As of now, it’s pretty futile to try to download these games. The situation may change in the future, though: FinalBurn Alpha is constantly been updated to support as many NeoGeo games as possible.

CPS-2 titles, links & compatibility reports
1944: a really good 1942 clone! A must have!
19xx: another excellent 1942 clone, works great even at 44kHz! Another must have!
Alien vs Predator: fighting, not that good IMHO
Armored Warriors : not very good either
Battle Circuit: side scroller, not very interesting
Dimahoo: too, another good 1942 clone (not as good as 1944 / 19xx though)
Eco Fighters: side scroller, not very interesting; you still might want to give it a try
Night Warriors: typical Street Fighter clone
All these games run flawlessly, mostly with 44 kHz sound, on the x51v – and even on the HTC Wizard (with, particularly with 19xx, 8 kHz sound). The 520 MHz WM5 VGA HTC Universal is pretty bad (very slow) for emulation, so is the 624 MHz WM5 (2.01) VGA HP iPAQ hx4700 (which is only a tad better and DOES require and external BT game pad because of the completely gaming-unfriendly touchpad). The WM2003SE VGA Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720 is acceptable (but, of course, visibly / audibly worse than the x51v), so is the WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ 2210.
Also note that FinalBurn Alpha supports (almost) all CPS games, unlike with the case of NeoGeo.
Using the emulator I – starting games
The desktop and the WM versions of the emulator are, fortunately, pretty similar. This means if you learn how, for example, the ROM selection screen works, what the main directories of the emulator are etc. in the desktop version, you will also be able to utilize this knowledge under WM.
Starting the emulator is pretty easy: just start the main executable file (after decompressing it anywhere (under Windows Mobile, preferably to a memory card because it’ll look for the ROM images in a subdirectory) and, with the debug desktop version, also adding kailleraclient.dll): fba.exe with the official desktop FinalBurn version, fbaud.exe with the cache-generating debug desktop version and FinalBurn.exe on the Pocket PC.
When first run, the executable file will also create the necessary directory structure, including the ROMs subdirectory. You can start putting your ROM games in there (and, of course, Neogeo.zip containing the NeoGeo BIOS if you do want to play NeoGeo games). Under WM, you’ll be presented the following screen:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Here, go to File / Load Rom. It’ll present a long list of all games compatible with FinalBurn. You don’t necessarily want to see this list but only the accessible AND compatible games; therefore, you will need to tick in the “Show Only Available” checkbox at the top. Now, the listing will become far more manageable as it will only list the games that you can run:
By single-clicking an item in here, the emulator starts it after creating a so-called ‘cache file’ as can be seen in here.
Creating cache files can be a real nuisance. If you do this on your handheld, it may take quite a time (1-2 minutes at most; if it takes more time, you can be pretty sure your handheld has crashed and needs to be reset). Furthermore, with ZIP files exceeding 50-60 Mbytes (for example, the excellent platformer Metal Slug 3, which is a whopping 79Mbytes), all your dynamic RAM memory (independent of the available free memory on your storage card or internal storage) will be all quietly consumed and the handheld will either crash (as is pretty common with WM5+ in these cases) or just display it has run out of memory (with WM2003(SE)).
Therefore, if you do encounter such situations, you will want to create the cache images on the desktop Windows, using the above-introduced debug cache-creator version of FinalBurn Alpha. To do this, just start fbaud.exe (after copying neogeo.zip and the ROM image ZIP of the to-be-converted game to the ROMs subdirectory), go to Game / Load Game (F6), select the game you’d like to convert (screenshot here; I’ve also made sure to hide non-available titles by ticking in “Show Available Only” (see the mouse cursor) and click OK. The cache file will be created and named exactly the same as with the ROM ZIP file name – with the extension “cache”. That is, for example, if you create a cache file of the unencrypted Metal Slug 3 (mslug3n.zip), the related cache file will be named mslug3n.cache. It’ll be put in the “cache” subdirectory of the desktop emulator. Make sure you copy this file to the memory card, in the same ‘cache’ directory. It’s also here that other cache files are stored.
By the way, don’t forget to delete partially created cache files from this directory (that is, files that weren’t finished because of the dynamic RAM memory or the storage card getting full). Messed up cache files are the main reason for messed-up graphics in the emulator.
Now, after having created the cache file, the game will start. You will, however, need to do some additional configuration to be actually able to play games. This will be needed to done only once – fortunately, the configuration options you make will be stored in the cfg directory. BTW, these files are all human-readable and editable; they contain the game-specific button settings. That is, the ones you’ll always need to set up.
The first step in making the games playable, after loading them, is setting up the hardware buttons.
Using the emulator II – setting up the buttons
After you’ve loaded a ROM image (and clicked the screen so that the execution stops and the menu is displayed), you must go to Options / Keys. It’s there that you must assign hardware buttons to functionality.
Doing this is pretty simple: you click an on-screen button and, then, press the hardware button you’d like it to be assigned to. For example, click the Coin and, after this, click a button you’d like to use to simulate feeding money into the arcade machine (the first step in starting a game; after this, you’ll also need to press the Start button). You will also need to assign the A, B, C and, with NeoGeo, D hardware buttons too. (These will have different functionality: for example, in Metal Slug, firing, jumping and throwing a grenade. Button D isn’t used.) Note that the emulator also supports WM5 hardware soft keys as can also be seen in the screenshot below (C and D buttons). If your mobile has a built-in keyboard, you can also use most (not only alphanumeric) keys on it.
You will also need to set up the D-pad directions; always treat the D-pad in Portrait mode, even if the game itself is in Landscape.
You can also tick in the “Enable Auto-Fire” checkbox if you want auto fire; remember, however, that it, currently, only works with CPS games, NOT with NeoGeo ones, unfortunately.
A typical screenshot of setting up the hardware buttons is as follows:
Finally, keep in mind that you can only set up the buttons for Player 1 in here. Should you also want to set up the Player 2 buttons, you will need to edit the game configuration file in the cfg subdirectory.

Using the emulator III – setting up the on-screen keys
If you have a mobile device with a touch screen (that is, not a plain MS Smartphone / WM6 Standard model) AND your device isn’t a 2.8” HTC model (HTC Wizard, Trinity etc.), you will also find on-screen buttons REALLY useful.
In Options / Screenpad, you WILL want to tick in “Enable Screen Keypad”.
I recommend staying with Mode 1 (emulating fire buttons on the screen) – Mode 2 emulates the D-pad in there. Click OK.
Note that
these settings are NOT game-specific (unlike assigning buttons); you’ll only need to set it once; preferably right after the first execution of the emulator.
as has been pointed out, you won’t necessarily want to use on-screen buttons on HTC’s new WM5+ devices having the standard 2.8” QVGA screens. These devices, unfortunately, all exhibit a VERY bad digitizer bug explained for example HERE. This means if you constantly tap and hold the screen (for example, to activate auto fire with CPS games), the CPU will need to spend a lot of time on serving this and the emulation speed will drop considerably, which will be very annoying particularly if you enable sounds. That is, if you do need auto fire, then, use a hardware button instead of the screen with these models.
Using the emulator IV – setting up the sound
Finally, particularly on slower models or with CPU-intensive games like all parts of Metal Slug, you will want to make sure the sampling rate is either set to the minimal 8 kHz or the sound is completely disabled.
Go to Options / Sound and set the sampling rate accordingly. If the sound is unbearable even at the minimal, lowest-quality 8 kHz, disable it completely. Otherwise, with non-CPU-intensive games and/or on, for gaming, very fast handhelds (like the Dell Axim x51v), you will want to turn it up to 22 or even 44 kHz as can be seen in here.
Note that you’ll need to reload the actual ROM image for these changes to be heard.
Fortunately, most games will work with enabled sound even on slow(er) models like the HTC Wizard (overclocked to 260/273 MHz). You will only encounter sound choppiness with very few titles; most importantly, with Metal Slugs, which do have a choppy sound even at the lowest-quality (8 kHz) setting on even the Dell Axim x51v running at 624 MHz.
Using the emulator V – setting up the orientation
If the game you’d like to play uses Landscape (only few titles like, for example, 19xx, use Portrait), you’ll want to know the emulator uses Landscape Right by default. If you’re right-handed (and, therefore, want the D-pad on the left of the screen), you’ll want to switch this to “Landscape Left” in Options / Display.
Using the emulator VI – resuming the game; suspension concerns
Now that you’ve set up everything, you can run the game. If it’s NOT a NeoGeo game, you can save / load the state any time you want, using any file name (that is, you can have any number of states for any games).
Note that the emulator is prone to crash if you suspend (and, then, resume) a game while it’s running off a storage card. To combat this problem, you will ALWAYS want to pause the game first and only then suspend the machine and only resume the game 3-4 seconds after powering up the handheld again. During these 3-4 seconds, the handheld will have sufficient time to recreate the storage card file handles.
This helped me a lot. If you, however, still encounter crashes after this (which can be a REAL pain in the back, particularly if you’re well into a game like Metal Slugs and don’t want to replay the first few maps), copy the entire directory structure to the main storage, where storage card handle invalidation isn’t a problem.
As both ROM images and, particularly, cache files can take up pretty much memory, the latter is really only usable on devices with 256+ Mbyte built-in storage (like the Dell Axim x51v). Most current devices with 128M built-in Flash ROM can only have few (if any) games in the main storage.
Note that you can pause the game by tapping the screen. If you have enabled on-screen buttons, in an inactive area; if you haven’t, anywhere.
Saving / restoring game state
You can also save / restore the game state (after you’ve loaded the particular ROM).
As the emulator uses the standard operating system-level file access dialog, it’ll
list all the files under My Documents, the root of storage card(s) and one subdirectory under them
only lets for saving to these locations.
In the official FinalBurn thread at Modaco many people recommend Tillanosoft’s tGetFile to fix this problem. I don’t, because it’s a commercial application. Use Mad Programmer’s free (!) File Dialog Changer instead. Its installation is explained in HERE.
Note that, again, this only works with CPS games, NOT NeoGeo ones! This may change in the near future.
What about MAME ports, you may ask
You must have heard of MAME, the well-known emulator project, of which PocketCultMAME is probably the best port (also see this PG thread), also offering a lot of features (feature-wise, it’s excellent).
While, on a sufficiently fast desktop computer, the NeoGeo emulation of MAME isn’t worse than that of FinalBurn, under Windows Mobile, the situation is completely different.
Unlike with the desktop MAME (which can be pretty hard for a newbie to use without a front-end), the Windows Mobile port, PocketCultMAME is pretty easy to use. After decompressing the distribution file (and, with the 0.5 preview, also overwriting one of the EXE files with the separately downloadable NeoGeo update), copying your ROM ZIP’s to the ROMs subdirectory and starting PCMAME.exe (with 0.5, PocketCultMAME.exe), it lists the available titles.
Too bad its NeoGeo compatibility is really bad. For example, the latest version, 0.5WIP (with, of course, the NeoGeo update patch) couldn’t run any of the NeoGeo games I’ve thrown it at (without converting them to another format). It’s only the NAM-1975 title screen that it gets to – but, after you insert the virtual coin and start the game, it exits, as with all the other tested titles. The old version, 0.4a, is similarly incompatible.
In the Modaco thread, some people have also reported being able to run Golden Axe under PocketCultMAME. However, the speed was clearly inferior to that of FinalBurn Alpha – that is, it’s just not worth the effort.
That is, for the time being, you will want to forget (current) MAME ports entirely – if you need NeoGeo or CPS games under Windows Mobile, the only way to go is FinalBurn Alpha. The only real utility of it is the broader compatibility of the desktop MAME with existing NeoGeo titles – for example, it was able to play Metal Slug 1, unlike with (both the desktop and the mobile version of) FinalBurn Alpha. I’ll report on updates / enhancements / optimizations to PocketCultMAME. In the meantime, stick with FinalBurn Alpha on your Windows Mobile handheld.
(Note that FinalBurn also runs on the MS Smartphone platform!)

thank you so much for this great guide. i was playing metal slug on FPSEce, but i think it might run much faster on an NeoGeo emulator than a play station emulator especially that i have k-jam (wizard). i was overclocking to 260 without the boost. i think i must try it with the boost even if i get only 1 extra FPS it is still worth it. thanks again mate.

i too tried some of the demo games on FPSEce, couldnt be bothered to get my disks and rip them... though might do it later my biggest problem is the controls, the i300 has some extra buttons that could be used, i seen some articles about maping but they all have to do with reg edit, i wish for a program to capture or remap to run as some kind of plugin, to use ALL the buttons, all but the on/off reset cause that would suck heh, but the call, win key and the ok/close buttons are all a must IMO, even the volume button can be used, for buttons such as select/menu/start etc...
FPSEce ran ok with the demo, but without proper controls not that playable, the fps was decent too, with this cpu, im just wondering if these emu's will utilize any other co processors... such as most have them im sure... how else are we able to play/record in mpeg4 and the such

thanks for showing that emu here. its one of best emus available, just try blazing star to get image of what masterall have done for emu fanatics.
+1 for you, too.
emu fanatic..
btw, isn't it sad, that i STILL cant have snes emu with sound on wizard? i've checked every that exist.

Alien vs Predator: fighting, not that good IMHO
Armored Warriors : not very good either
Battle Circuit: side scroller, not very interesting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...BLASPHEMY. <_<
Then again, playing 'em on your PPC is probably pretty awkward, without a BT gamepad.
In any case, I love this emulator, and I'm waiting patiently for Ninja Masters to be loadable.
(I need to get a better unit than the Atom. Sheez.)

The definitive, ONLY guide to playing arcade games on Windows Mobile

Arcade games... If you have ever read WikiPedia's related article, you know it well enough arcade machines had the status as the forefront of new game releases and, by using the latest, sophisticated graphics and sound chips, used to present a far better gaming experience than any home computer or even home gaming console of that age for about 15 years - at least before 1995.
The golden age of arcade games was, as has been stated, probably before 1995. The arcade titles of that age were considerably better than anything achievable on a home computer or console. For example, consider the game Scramble. When it came out in 1981 as an arcade title, at the age of the Atari 2600 (home console) and the VIC-20 (home computer), naturally, neither of these home systems were able to provide at least something close to the gaming experience of the "real" arcade title. For example, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum (which was only released a year later; the game even later: in 1982, Melbourne House's "Penetrator" and in 1983, Bug-Byte's "Cavern Fighter") had much inferior ports, and this is true of almost every home systems of the early eighties.
This trend continued through the entire eighties, well into the early nineties. It was only in 1990, with the release of SNK's dual (AES (home) and MVS (arcade)) system NeoGeo, that a home console hit the market with exactly the same games as its arcade counterparts. NeoGeo has received some really nice games; most importantly, the vastly successful Metal Slug series, which is a very popular 2D platformer title even today.
However, the NeoGeo didn't really sell to home costumers as well as, say, SNES or Sega's Genesis; mostly because of the price of the cartridges (about the twice of those of SNES) and the comparative (compared again to SNES and, before its release, the technically even less comparable NES and Genesis) rarity of titles. This means it was only with the advent of really powerful home computers that the age of arcade machines started to decline. Still, a LOT of these games are of very high quality even by today's standards, particularly when compared to the lack of quality games on mobile platforms like Windows Mobile. Therefore, emulating arcade machines (and running arcade games) on mobile devices is much more important than on desktop Windows with, at times, much better native titles.
When you hear the word "arcade games", don't think of 25-year-old "crap" like Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Frogger and the like. Some people only like referring to these really old titles as "the" arcade games. That's in no way true: the Metal Slug series and the 19XX-series (starting with the old 1942) are also arcade games. Therefore, anyone stating "arcade games are very old and technically very bad games not worth emulating" only shows he/she doesn't have a clue about what he's saying. Or, if he's an arcade emulator developer, he may just be explaining why he hasn't implemented any support for any new system ;-)
As arcade games were produced even in the 2000's, there are really quality titles around. For example, I don't think you'll be able to show me a 1942 clone for Windows Mobile that is better than 19XX or 1944 written for the CPS-2 arcade machine (and perfectly runnable on a better Windows Mobile handheld!) This means there is a plethora of up-to-date, visually and, sound-wise, absolutely stunning action games well worth emulating on our mobile devices.
Keep in mind that, in this complete guide & tutorial & roundup, I refer to all the games ever released for arcade machines - both 25-year-old early games and 5-10-year-old, really advanced ones. Of course, I'll put definite emphasis on emulating newer systems to ease the lack of high-quality, comparable 2D action titles on Windows Mobile (WM for short).
Why should you bother?
To bring up memories (or, if you prefer simple games)
To play (more recent) games better than anything else on Windows Mobile in the genre
and, of course, because Windows Mobile is able to run these titles.
Downloading games
Look for “MAME” sections on ROM sites. Some ROM sites have dedicated NeoGeo and/or CPS-1 and CPS-2 sections. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to give you links. If you open your eyes and use Google, I'm sure you'll find the ROM sites in a fraction of a minute.
Don't be afraid of these sites - I've tested the ones coming up as the first after some quick Google searches. Not one of them continued any viruses and all MAME downloads were usable and CRC error-free.
After downloading the ZIP files, just copy them in the roms subdirectory of your emulator. Do NOT decompress them!
Note that MAMECE3, unlike the two other, more recommended emulators (Finalburn and PocketCultMAME, which must be manually copied to the handheld) comes with a CAB installer. This means you'll manually hunt for the roms subdirectory. If you install it to a storage card under WM5+ or in the built-in storage with any operating system version, it'll be at \Program Files\MameCE\Roms\ (with WM5+, on a storage card, prefixed with the path of the card itself). With operating systems prior to WM5 and a storage card-based installation, it'll be in \MameCE\Roms\ on your card.
Finalburn Alpha 0.09
First and foremost, the most important arcade game emulator you MUST check out is the WM port of Finalburn Alpha (current version: 0.09), the only REALLY usable CPS-1 / 2 and NeoGeo emulator. You can read a complete review & tutorial on the title HERE (click the link!); therefore, in here, I won't really elaborate on it - except when directly comparing its features, speed and compatibility to other arcade emulators.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Its main strength is its speed (in which it's just unbeatable), sound quality (in that, not even PocketCultMAME comes close, let alone MAMECE3!) and features like on-screen tap areas. Its main disadvantage is, however, the complete lack of running non-NeoGeo / CPS games. That is, it won't be able to run anything released before 1990 - and only about 10-20% of later games. However, the titles still available for the platform (and playable on a current WM device) are still overwhelming - this emulator is really nice!
Finally, it's capable of running even (most of) the latest (NeoGeo / CPS) games. For example, 1944 - The Loop Master was released for the CPS-2 in 2000. Still, Finalburn emulates it flawlessly.

MAME-derivatives or ports
MAME is probably the most widely know multiplatform emulator emulating almost 10 000 arcade games, starting from the oldest and ending with the latest titles. It runs flawlessly even on slower Windows devices (for example, even, CPU-wise, underpowered UMPC's) and is REALLY recommended for a quick test to see what kinds of games you can (hopefully) also play on your mobile device.
To do this (test and/or play arcade games on your desktop Windows computer), you will need to download and utilize the desktop MAME. I'll explain this in the following section. Note that this has nothing to do with WM - just a quick explanation of what you should do in order to be able to play these games on your desktop computer (including UMPC's, notebooks and the like).
The desktop MAME
Download mame.rar from here - there, you’ll need the topmost file (now, it’s mame0115b.exe). UnRAR it to anywhere. Move your ROM ZIP files to the roms subdirectory of the emulator. For NeoGeo games to play, you’ll also need THIS file. Just put it in the home directory of MAME.
To start a given game, directly execute MAME.exe (in the home directory), passing it the name of the ZIP file (also the official MAME name of the game) like this:
mame 19xx
This will start the game (if everything is OK). Upon the first running of each ROM set, you’ll need to at least once press Left and, then, Right on the cursor block of your PC. Then, after the game has loaded, you’ll need to press 5 (with two players, 6) to insert (virtual) coins and, then, press 1 (with two players, 2) to start the game. In one-player mode, the games are controlled by Ctrl / Alt + D-pad; in two-player mode, the other player is controlled by D: left; F: down; G: right; R: up.
Now, back to the question of Windows Mobile: what arcade emulators are there on the platform? Now follows PocketCultMAME, the best generic MAME port.
PocketCultMAME
(main game selector of version 0.4a)
(main game selector of a 0.5 preview)
Currently, this title is by far the best generic MAME port. This means it's able to run both 25-year-old classics (which Finalburn Alpha is fully incapable of) and (comparatively) new titles.
However, it should NOT be used for NeoGeo / CPS emulation - in that, Finalburn Alpha is WAY better. Should you be unsure about what runs under Finalburn Alpha and what needs the more generic, but slower PocketCultMAME, you may want to deploy the ZIPped ROM files under both emulators. If Finalburn runs the game flawlessly, then, just stick to it and don't even test the game under PocketCultMAME - believe me, it'll be FAR slower with should enabled (if it runs at all).
For emulating significantly older stuff (games from the entire eighties - not just the 25-year-old titles), however, it's the emulator you must check out.
There are two versions of the emulator: 0.4a (currently the fastest version with, compared to the newer one, more limited compatibility) and 0.5WIP, a MUCH slower, experimental tech demo with much broader compatibility.
This means you should download both versions. Always try to run a title under 0.4a first and only give a try to 0.5WIP if it doesn't run in the older emulator.
Note that version 0.4a has two additional EXE files as a separate download. One of them, noCYCLONE, is related to the Motorola 68000 emulation and using it instead of the default one will result in a certainly visible speed penalty. It, however, offers somewhat improved compatibility with some titles otherwise incompatible with PocketCultMAME 0.4a. That is, if an otherwise as compatible listed game doesn't run in the standard version, just exit it and run these two files instead to see whether, then, it runs or not. Affected games are for example 'Black Tiger', 'Rampage' and 'Pang'; see for example THIS for more info.
Conveniently, unzip the two additional EXE files in the same directory where the traditional executable of 0.4a, PCMAME.exe, resides. As these files are named differently, they won't override the default file, PCMAME.exe. Putting it in the same directory results in not having to copy the same ROM files in more than one directory on your memory cards.
Still speaking of add-on downloads, 0.5WIP also has an additional download fixing some NeoGeo issues. As PocketCultMAME should NEVER be used to run NeoGeo games (it's just too slow for this), you don't necessarily want to download / install it.
Using these emulators are pretty straightforward and if you know how Finalburn Alpha is used you also know how PocketCultMAME is: after starting the application (PCMAME.exe with version 0.4a and PocketCultMAME.exe with 0.5WIP), you're presented a list of the compatible, playable ROM's in the roms subdirectory. You select one and start the game. During the game, you insert virtual coins to the game, (keep) press(ing) the Start button and, then, play.
Also, you can do some settings. For the two current versions, I've compared these in the following chart. Make sure you follow the links to see the screenshots of the individual settings. This will really help you in discovering the emulator.
The chart is available HERE (CLICK THE LINK!).
Note that you WILL want to fine-tune these parameters; most importantly, you WILL want to disable sound, should you encounter speed problems. Also, if you have a Dell Axim x50v / x51v, you MUST enable 2700G support for greatly increased speed.
To demonstrate why it's worth fine-tuning these parameters, I've made some very serious benchmarks to find out what the speed culprit is (it turned out to be the sound, unlike with, say, Finalburn) and how the different settings have an affect on speed.
I've run the tests on three different devices: the Dell Axim x50v / x51v (VGA WM5 device with the 2700G 3D chip equipped with a 624 MHz Xscale CPU), the HP iPAQ h2210 (an older, QVGA WM2003 model with an older, less efficient, 400 MHz Xscale CPU) and a Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720 (520 MHz VGA WM2003SE).
Note that the chart only contains data on the first two models; with FPS display enabled, nothing runs on the Pocket Loox 720 (only a black screen and a part of the "FPS" text is displayed in the bottom left corner). (Note that this problem may be pretty common with all F-S models; see THIS.) This means I don't have quantitive results on the Loox. However, it, subjectively, delivered pretty playable results. With the Loox, I could only display the FPS in MAMECE3 (in 1941, 38 fps without sound; 20 with it). Note that, except for the last column, I've only en/disabled one feature / changed one parameter a time to see how it affects speed.
The chart is available HERE (CLICK THE LINK!).
As can clearly be seen, you WILL want to disable sound with more action-packed games. With much older, less CPU-intensive games like Scramble, you can safely keep it on. If this doesn't help or you still need additional speed, you may also switch to the "Steplines" mode to only display half of the scan lines. And, of course, if you do own a 2700G-enabled Dell Axim, make sure you enable the 2700G support. While it, because of the pixel doubling, results in for example hard-to-read text, its speed gain is enormous.
Note that the "doc" subdirectory of both versions contains the lists of compatible games and a quick intro to the emulator.
Fixing your ROM images with RomCenter
The author of PocketCultMAME frequently asks users to fix the ROM’s they plan to use; that is, to convert to the (ancient) MAME format used by the emulator. Unfortunately, as using the recommended application RomCenter isn’t really explained anywhere (except for some not very detailed forum posts still missing some very important steps like THIS, THIS and THIS) this may prove to be an impossible task for many. This is why I’ve written a mini-tutorial to fixing ROM images.
Download RomCenter from HERE (don’t get the 3.0 Alpha; the latest stable release, 2.71, accessible on the Download page, will do just fine), install and execute. Go to File / Open datafile manager and click Add…. In the file selector dialog, look for pcmame.dat (or, as far as version 5 is concerned, pcmame05.dat) in the home directory of the (two) Windows Mobile PocketCultMAME’s. Note that you can safely import both if you plan to convert the format of your ROM’s into both 0.4a and 0.5WIP. Click Close after finishing adding the file(s).
Now, open the drop-down list under the menu bar of the menu bar of RomCenter. Select the file you’ve just added (pcmame.dat for 0.4a or pcmame05.dat for 0.5) as can be seen in here.

Now, go to File / Add ROM path. In my case, it’s c:\ArcadeRoms\. The items will be quickly scanned and loaded, but still not displayed. To do this, just click the name of the path (NOT “Games database”!) in the left pane.
Now, right-click ALL items in the right pane that have a yellow (NOT a green and NOT a red!) icon in front of them. Select “Fix ROM” in the menu. The file will be fixed. The resulting (fixed) file will be placed in the same directory, overwriting the old (bad) ROM image.
Note that because of the overwriting behavior, you may want to fix a COPY of your original ROM files.
(Mega)MAMECE3 9.5
(in game)
(in the game selector screen)
This very old, but still usable emulator may also be of interest, particularly if, for some reason, PocketCultMAME isn't able to run something. This is because PocketCultMAME is much better in every respect, particularly screen tap, auto fire and sound-wise. With MAMECE3, you definitely will NOT want to enable the sound because it's really annoying and really bad.
There are two versions of the emulator: MAMECE3 and the much larger Mega MAMECE3. Now that, with the advent of very cheap memory cards, the 6 Mbytes difference in size doesn't really matter any more, I recommend the second - theoretically, it supports more than a thousand games, as opposed to the 100+ MAMECE3.
Unfortunately, it's, along with the sound problem and not supporting auto fire / screen tap areas, is definitely less compatible with newer titles than even the 0.4a version of PocketCultMAME, let alone 0.5WIP.
You may also want to reconfigure game keys (1 2). Note that UI Menu stands for the in-game menu.
Finally, a not really recommended title,
iMAME v0.07
This title is based on the very old MAME version .261.
This application, reviewed for example HERE, is very restricted in that it only contains drivers for 19 arcade games of the early eighties. The lack of support for other titles means you can't even play for example Scramble or Zaxxon on it - you can in no way make it run any other titles than it contains built-in support to.
As with the other titles, you need to download ROM images off the Web to make it work. This may turn to be pretty problematic because most of the images of the games it supports have been removed from ROM sites because of ESA - that is, it's much easier to get hold of, say, the Zaxxon ROM than that of, say, Pac-Man.
As it is REALLY limited, playable ROM-wise and doesn't have anything to show up with (not even Scramble or Zaxxon), I don't really recommend this title. BTW, this - the complete lack of support for extra functionality like on-screen tap areas and the lack of support for anything else than the 19 classic games - was the reason for my not including it in the Comparison Chart either.
Verdict
get Finalburn Alpha. When compatible with a (newer, NeoGeo or CPS) arcade ROM, it'll deliver by far the best results.
get both versions of PocketCultMAME. When Finalburn Alpha isn't compatible with a (non-NeoGeo or CPS) title, the two versions of PocketCultMAME may still be. Always try running a given game in 0.4a first and only if it turns out to be incompatible move to 0.5WIP because of the much lower emulation speed. Also remember to check and, when necessary, convert your ROM sets before playing to avoid later incompatibility problems. If a as compatible marked title still doesn't run under 0.4a, make sure you give a try to the two alternate main EXE files to see whether they help.
You can also get Mega MAMECE3, but remember to prefer PocketCultMAME to it. The latter has better (on-screen) controls, autofire and WAY better sound.
Only get iMAME if you don't need anything else than the 19 built-in games.
The comparison / feature / compatibility chart
It's available HERE. DO CHECK IT OUT!
As usual, I present you a reliable, dependable chart comparing all the reviewed titles (and the desktop MAME). In addition to comparing features like state loading / saving, screen tap areas, auto fire etc. (please see my earlier emulator reviews for an explanation of these; I won't do this again in here), I've also checked the compatibility of many titles.
Recommended articles
My other game emulator reviews in the Games section of the Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine's Expert Blog. I plan to cover / discuss ALL emulators available for Windows Mobile and have already published some of these articles. Do make sure you follow / read these articles - nowhere else will you find a better source of emulation-related information, I'm absolutely sure.
Other articles / links of interest
Rich Hall’s Play Arcade Classics on Your Handheld and Pocket PC. Note that, the article being some six years old, the links to the ROM repositories don't work any more.
An iMAME review
A shortish article on MAMECE3 and iMAME
It's possible to run Metal Slug X in the PSX emu
The reasons for PocketCultMAME to be slow on x50v / x51v
Some compatible games with Cult
RomCenter - how it shoud be used? 1, 2, 3. Note that you will still want to prefer my mini-tutorial instead.
pocketcultmame 0.4: there's a way to save
Compatibility reports of, for example, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Game speed reports
Reports on Time Pilot, Time Pilot 84, 10 Yard Fight, Zaxxon and Super Space Invaders
What ROM versions there are; which to prefer if there are more than one
A MegaMAMECE3-related AximSite thread
New MAMECE release with 68k ROMS support
MAMECE3 compatibility reports: THIS, THIS, THIS (with for example a lot of WonderSwan, PlayStation discussion and elaborating on THIS generic PPC emulation article. Make sure you read the feedback in the thread before believing everything in that article!) and THIS.
PocketCultMAME preview available (PG)
Hi-res issues
.36 ROMsets torrent (additional explanation)
It's unlikely MAMECE3 will ever be updated (a 2004 post - nothing has been released in the meantime)
A related Russian language thread

top thread gotta look into this

Do finalburn and MAME only play there "own" roms or do they play nes for example to?

marcovit said:
Do finalburn and MAME only play there "own" roms or do they play nes for example to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No NES support - check out my NES Emulation Bible for NES-related emulators at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=306705

Handheld Gaming Console Emulation Guide - Part I

Now that I’ve reviewed emulating most desktop gaming consoles (DO check them out if you haven't already done so, they're all HERE - you won't find a better source of information on all these questions ANYWHERE else; no wonder they've all have been made sticky the official Emulators forum at MobilitySite / AximSite by Michu, author of the Emupage, himself and some even had the honor of being frontpaged at Pocket PC Thoughts and Just another Mobile Monday!), I found it necessary to review how handheld gaming consoles can be emulated on Windows Mobile.
Note that I do NOT review how the Nintendo Game Boy (GB), Game Boy Color (GBC) and Game Boy Advance (GBA) platforms need to be emulated. The reason for this is very simple: Masterall, one of the biggest players in the Pocket PC and Smartphone emulation scene, has just released another, very cool GBA emulator, GBACE, and is continually working on it. Also, the other “big name” with (currently) GB / GBC (no GBA) emulation, SmartGear, is continuously improved. As soon as they reach a semi-final state, I publish a FULL roundup of all Nintendo handhelds. In the meantime, if you need GBA emulator, use either Sunbug’s PocketGBA or the above-mentioned GBACE.
Note that the first chapter, the one on the Sega Game Gear (GG for short), also discusses a 8-bit, not really advanced (but sill better than the NES) desktop console of the eighties, the Sega Master System (SMS). Some Game Gear games are just Sega Master System titles (with decreased resolution – to see the resolution difference between the original SMS titles and that of GG, compare the SMS screenshots in the reviews below to this GG screenshot); in cases, increased color depth and, in VERY few cases, stereo music as opposed to the mono music of the Master System) in a portable, small cartridge format.
1. Sega Game Gear (and the Sega Master System)
There are three really usable emulators (and one outdated & non-working):
1.1 SmartGear 0.25
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
(Note that the current version, 0.25, already supports full-screen mode on VGA devices too. In this screenshot, I’ve only used the 150% mode so that the task- and command bar are also visible. Using full screen mode (which you will want to stick to because it’s blazingly fast on ALL VGA devices), I couldn’t have made them visible.)
A screenshot on the WM5 176*220 HTC Oxygen (s310) MS Smartphone:
On the HTC Vox, in Portrait mode:
(And in Landscape – as can be seen, it also supports landscape QVGA Smartphones like the Moto Q.)
It runs most GG and SMS games flawlessly, except for the sound problems. I had absolutely no problems with the following titles:
5 In 1 Funpak (UE) [!]
Adventures of Batman & Robin, The (JUE)
Asterix and the Great Rescue (UE)
Bubble Bobble (UE)
Bust-A-Move (UE) [!]
Defenders of Oasis (UE)
Double Dragon (UE) [!]
Earthworm Jim (UE) [!]
Sonic & Tails (J) [!]
Sonic Chaos (JUE) [b1]
Sonic Drift (J)
Sonic Drift 2 (J)
Sonic Labyrinth (JUE)
Sonic the Hedgehog (UE).sms
Sonic the Hedgehog - Triple Trouble (UE)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (JUE)
Unfortunately, the emulator has SEVERE sound problems, which, it seems, can’t be fixed. I’ve tested all sound / frame throttling / video size settings / screen orientations on all by (wildly different – both Pocket PCs and Smartphones); the problem remained. Hope this problem will be fixed by the author very soon.
Good news for MS Smartphone owners: the emulator runs on the MS Smartphone VERY well. I’ve tested it on the WM5 176*220 HTC Oxygen (s310) and the WM6 QVGA HTC Vox (s710), the latter using both screen orientations and encountered absolutely no problems. It should be noted that both Smartphones have 200 MHz TI OMAP CPU’s – I’ve got VERY good animation speed without any kind of overclocking.
Also note that, because the native screen size of the old(er) / low(er)-end Smartphones, 176*220, is still higher than the resolution of the GG (unlike with the SMS), you won’t have ugly graphics (ignored original scanlines, which can easily ruin the emulation of platforms with higher screen resolution than 176*220) when sticking to original GG titles.
With Dragon Crystal (JUE), I had severe problems: the screen turned black after the second animation (while, with the other three emulators, it ran just fine). I’ve tested this on my Dell Axim x51v, HTC Oxygen, Pocket Loox 720 and HTC Universal. It was only on that the HTC Universal that the game really started when I did wait for the initial intro to be completely played back – on the other models, not even the latter did help. The other emulators all ran the game flawlessly, even without waiting for the initial animation to finish.
Note that the new, 0.25 version indeed works flawlessly on VGA devices. Games are perfectly playable even at full screen on VGA devices (using FitWin; remember NOT to use FitWin* because it may result in a crash).
Finally, note that, as with all the other Game Gear emulators, SmartGear also supports running Sega Master System games (the desktop predecessor to the Game Gear), not only Game Gear ones – actually, the Sonic screenshots I’ve put in this roundup are all based on a Master System game. Of course, the majority of the games I’ve tested are native Game Gear ones.
1.2 CE/gg 0.5
This emulator is slower than SmartGear and it lacks features like full screen. However, it may be preferable if, for example, the sound problems of SmartGear get on your nerves, you want on-screen controls (unfortunately, they aren’t hidden) and/or you need an absolutely free emulator (not that the trial restrictions of SmartGear would be THAT limiting, except for the lack of game state save/load, which is also supported by CE/gg).
Note that sounds are disabled, you will need to enable it in the settings menu. Go for “Best sound” if you don’t want desynchronized, annoying music. (Also make sure you enable throttling by ticking in the “Throttling” checkbox at the top.)
It also lets for remapping hardware buttons; unfortunately, “extra” keys like the red/green phone buttons or WM5 soft buttons aren’t recognized, “only” standard buttons and numeric keys (if present).
All in all, this emulator, in cases, may prove a better alternative to SmartGear. However, give a try to the latter first, particularly if you’re a registered user, have a VERY slow (for example, a TI OMAP-based) device and/or want to save battery life (SmartGear consumes way less CPU cycles and, therefore, battery life than the two other emulators). MorphGear (discussed in the next section) is also a very good, albeit commercial alternative – it’s decidedly faster than CE/gg and is more featureful (full screen capabilities etc).

1.3 MorphGear 2.4.0.9
I’ve elaborated on MorphGear, the multi-module emulator in many of my articles. Its Game Gear (and Master System) emulation capabilities are pretty good (as opposed to, say, its pretty low-quality Sega Genesis and GBA emulation).
It has the traditional (dis)advantages of MorphGear: on-screen controls when needed (usable in QVGA but too small in VGA), the ability to redefine buttons, full screen capabilities etc.
Compatibility-wise, I haven’t encountered any problems with the games listed in section 1.1 (that of SmartGear). It’s also compatible with Dragon Crystal (JUE) as can be seen in HERE. The only minor problem I encountered was Sonic Labyrinth (JUE) – there, the animation of the main sprite was somewhat stuttering, unlike in SmartGear.
Therefore, if you already have MorphGear or don’t mind paying for the Marat module (the one that also contains the MasterGear emulation), MorphGear is an excellent choice for emulating the SMS / GG platform.
1.4 SegaVirtualGameGear
This is a Compaq iPAQ 38xx series-only, very old and outdated emulator and can’t be installed on any non-h38xx-series device. I’ve tested it on the 3660 and on the 2210, without any success. That is, you will NOT want to pay any attention to it.
2. Atari Lynx
To emulate the platform, you’ll need PocketLynx (latest version: 1.0 Beta 1) by Domenico Dato. The original homepage doesn’t exist any more; therefore, you’ll need to download it from the Emupage.
(Note that in-game the upper taskbar isn’t visible, unlike on the above screenshot. I’ve let the system display it so that my readers can see I use my own screenshots.)
The screenshot of the main menu is HERE; the Sound menu only has an on/off switch.)
Note that this title is NOT compatible with any VGA models. Even if you do copy the boot ROM (explained below) and install the GAPI patch (which may be needed with some pre-WM5 devices; on the WM2003SE Pocket Loox 720, I’ve even tested the GAPI hack by Picard), you won’t be able to start any games.
In order to run games, you’ll need the Boot ROM HERE. Just put it in the root (!) directory of your handheld – NOT the same directory where PocketLynx.exe resides. Otherwise, you won’t be able to start any game.
Note that, while you can’t redefine hardware buttons, the emulator uses them – that is, you don’t need to rely on the tiny on-screen buttons.
Additional info: ppc4all.com, FreewarePPC.com, THIS and THIS threads.
3. WonderSwan and WonderSwan Color
To emulate the platform, you’ll want to use PocketWS (current version: 0.02b) by SunBug. This emulator is from the author of the currently best GBA emulator, PocketGBA, and is way better than the two other emulators (oswanCE and Cygne. For example, the latter is way slower and weaker than PocketWS and, for example, exits upon pressing the Action button).
(a screenshot of a black-and white ROM (DigiMon (English-Asia Version) (J) [M]))
It has pretty good setting capabilities (Screenshots: System main menu; video; sound; button.)
Note that, should a game not start, tap the screen to pause it, go to System / Video and switch to 1 line/render (screenshot), press OK and resume the game with File / Resume. Now, it should display OK. Then, just switch back to the old 144 lines/render in the same dialog.

4. Watara Supervision
You’ll need PocketVision (current version: 1.0) to emulate this platform. Note that the developer’s homepage may not work when you visit it – at first, it didn’t work with me; next day it already did.)
Unfortunately, this emulator only works on QVGA Pocket PC’s, not on VGA ones. I’ve tested it on my all VGA models; none of them worked (after loading a ROM, the screen didn't change).
It also supports sound emulation, but it’s disabled by default and I don’t recommend enabling it, as it has pretty bad quality.
5. Neo-Geo Pocket and Neo-Geo Pocket Color
The dumbed-down handheld version of Neo-Geo (also see THIS on emulating the desktop version) has only one pretty mediocre emulator, Neopocott.
(another screenshot; note that, on the Dell Axim x51v, the lower screen are isn’t visible, as is the case with many other emulators)
This emulator is quite slow, has no music and completely lacks any settings capabilities (screenshot of the one and only main menu HERE). Given that Neo-Geo Pocket (Color) titles are, generally, a much lower-quality, dumbed-down rewrites of original Neo-Geo titles, you will want to prefer using FinalBurn to emulate the original titles. It’s WAY faster than Neopocott, has sound, screen tap areas and everything else one would need.
Note that there is another NeoGeo Pocket emulator, NeopopCE, but it’s useless: you can’t use any keys or screen tap areas with it (and you can’t redefine keys as can be seen in this screenshot.)

UPDATE:
I would still add the following generic stuff: I don’t really elaborate on the trivial usage steps of these emulators anyone already knows that have ever used any console emulator. Also, you’ll well know this step if you’ve ever read any of my previous emulator roundups & tutorials.
You download a ROM image (sorry, I am not allowed to give you URL’s – use Google and look for ROM download links – you’ll find plenty. You can safely download ROM images from there)
uncompress it (it’s only some emulators that support ZIP’ed ROM images) and put it either in \My Documents (in the built-in storage) or either directly in the root of your storage card or in a direct subfolder. If you don’t like this restriction, install Mad Programmer’s File Dialog Changer – it lets you go to any subdirectory
start the emulator, go to File / Load ROM (it’s, in general, named this way) and select the ROM to load.
in many emulators, there are some settings capabilities; for example, to change the rendering size (which is especially important mostly on high-res VGA Pocket PC’s with emulators like MorphGear and SmartGear) and (re)assign hardware and/or dial pad buttons on your handheld to the emulated console buttons. You can, generally, also fine-tune the sound emulation parameters (if sound is emulated at all). As in all my console emulation-related articles, I’ve also mentioned (and illustrated with screenshot(s)) whether a given emulator supports screen size alteration, hardware button reassignment and what kind of sound emulation / setting capabilities it has.
Furthermore, some more information on MS Smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 Standard) compliance:
CE/gg: doesn’t even start
Neopocott and PocketLynx: both start and, via SPHelper’s Left softkey send functionality, you can select Open ROM but nothing else happens after this
PocketVision: immediately exits after selecting Load ROM
PocketWS: after selecting File / Load ROM, a File Open Error alert screen is displayed
MorphGear: while, on the WM2003 Smartphone OS, some people have managed to make it work, with me, while it did start,
I couldn’t change the type of the files in the file dialog box. It defaults to NES; that is, Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom / Dendy, which means it’s only able to load NES ROMs
even if you choose a NES ROM (you shouldn’t because PocketNester runs under the Smartphone OS as can be seen for example in THIS excellent all-in-one thread), the emulation doesn’t start as can be seen in this screenshot.
All in all, none of the reviewed emulators runs on MS Smartphone devices, except for, of course, SmartGear. (Note that all tests have been made on a QVGA HTC Vox (s710), NOT on an – because of the incompatible screen size - even less compatible 176*220 Smartphone.)

PocketWS is awesome. What a pity it can't run Dicing Knight. >_>

Emulating home computers on Windows Mobile Part IV - Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 (C64) is the most successful home computer ever manufactured. This also shows in the number of the software products (mainly games) released for the system.
Fortunately, Windows Mobile, both the traditional Pocket PC and the touch screen-less Smartphone version, has pretty good Commodore 64 emulators.
In this roundup, I elaborate on them all on both platforms. I also present a small gift to the entire QVGA (320*240) MS Smartphone community: a C64 emulator, hacked by me, which does make use of the entire QVGA screen, as opposed to the pre-hacked state. And, of course, the roundup itself is also a nice present: as with all my other emulation-related articles, nowhere else will you find a better, more thorough article on all these subjects, I think
1.1 Is Windows Mobile-based C64 emulation worth the trouble at all?
As opposed to, say, emulating the Amstrad CPC or the Commodore Amiga, the answer is YES, for two reasons.
First, the device has a plethora of good (!) games. While the same games typically exist on other platforms (back in the eighties, games were released for several computer and/on gaming console platforms at the same time), the C64 had a more game-friendly hardware when compared to most home computers (and even some dedicated gaming consoles) of that time.
This means for example the C64 version of the classic game "Uridium" is orders of magnitude better than, for example, the very slow and in no way spectacular (not even mentioning its also sub-par sound / music) ZX Spectrum version. With other games, the differences may not be so apparent (after all, Uridium used the superfast character mode on the C64, unlike on the ZX Spectrum, where it needed to do some heavy bitmap moving), but, generally, if you can, say, only choose from a ZX Spectrum, an Apple II, an Amstrad CPC and a C64 port, check out the latter first for the best possible graphics / sound. (The only exception is the high-resolution mode of the Amstrad CPC, which results in particularly text-based adventures' delivering a much better gaming experience. Unfortunately, as PocketCaprice doesn't support the high-resolution mode on VGA devices, this advantage is non-existing on our mobile platform.)
Second, as opposed to emulating the Amiga, Windows Mobile-based C64 emulators have no speed problems at all - not even on very slow handhelds. While it's impossible to play most Amiga games on even the fastest Windows Mobile devices without stuttering sound, C64 games run on even on lowest-end, 7-year-old models without problems. This also includes today's TI OMAP-based models, of course.
Supporting low-end hardware, fortunately, also means support for even low-end, low-resolution (176*220) MS Smartphones. As the Smartphone platform has way fewer games than its big brother, the Pocket PC, emulation becomes even more important. While, fortunately, there are some really excellent gaming console emulators for MS Smartphones (even 176*220 ones) - for example, Masterall's emulator masterpieces and SmartGear, home computers are generally not emulated on the platform (that is, there are no for example Atari ST or Amiga emulators for the MS Smartphone). The lack of (home computer) emulators and native games makes it very important for any MS Smartphone user to have access to a plethora of C64 games, which are, with many titles, perfectly emulated even on low-end, cheap mobiles.

1.1.1 When to stick to emulating another platform?
Of course, not all titles should be played in a C64 emulator. For example, when a particular title also exist for the Nintendo NES, the SNES, NEC’s TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine), the Sega Master System (SMS), Genesis / Mega Drive or Game Gear, going for these emulators may turn out to be a better choice. (Please do click the links for the complete rundown of the Windows Mobile emulation possibilities. Also make sure you follow the other, for example Amiga / Atari ST / Amstrad CPC / IBM PC links to emulating home computers.) With the exception of SNES, the emulators of these systems are also very low-end handheld-friendly and the games, in general, are at least as good as on the C64.
This is particularly important when you don't want to shell out any money for the emulators - the free C64 emulators are WAY worse than many console emulators, compatibility- and controllability-wise. For example, the best free C64 emulator, PocketHobbit, doesn't support redefining fire buttons (let alone providing rapid/auto- or screentap-based firing) and defaults to application buttons traditionally found next to the D-pad. This means you can only play games heavily relying on both the D-pad and the fire button in the not most ideal Portrait orientation. As opposed to this restriction, most of the above-linked, free (!) console emulators either support touchscreen-based firing or, at least, button redefining capabilities so that you can assign the fire functionality to a button much easier accessible with the right hand (assuming you're right-handed and use your left hand to control the D-pad) when in Landscape orientation.
Of course, these issues don't exist with PocketCommodore64, but, as opposed to almost all of the recommended gaming console emulators (even including the otherwise commercial SmartGear, which is freely registered for users that do provide feedback on compatibility issues), it's commercial.
That is, in general, if you plan to play a given title but would like to get the best gaming experience, go to Wikipedia, look up the given title and check out what other platforms it has been ported to (it’s listed in the text box on the right, in the “Platform(s)” row). In general, you can safely ignore the Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum and the Commodore Amiga (as long as you want sound) computers. If there is an Atari ST port (another, more advanced home computer with excellent Windows Mobile emulation capabilities), you may want to check it out; as is the case with the NES, SNES, SMS, PC Engine, Genesis and, in cases (only as a last resort – the Game Gear has a low-resolution screen, which you may not particularly like), the Game Gear ports. Most of these games / ROM's are available on the Web. In my past articles, I've explained how you can find these titles and what you will need to play them on your Windows Mobile device.
The same stands for games that have a native Windows Mobile interpreter; for example, Magnetic Scrolls or Lucasarts titles.
Finally, the case is the same with titles that are plain incompatible with the C64 emulators available on Windows Mobile. There are only few of them (and this number will decrease even further when the brand new & completely redesigned version of PocketCommodore64 is released); still, it's good to keep in mind that, with most games, you have alternative platforms like SMS well emulated under Windows Mobile.
An example of titles that belong to this ("you need to find an alternative platform because current C64 emulators are plain incompatible with the title") category is the well-known, famous Impossible Mission. While some people (including the developer of PocketCommodore64) had success with emulating this title on Windows Mobile, I haven't managed to do so, not even after testing four different, independent versions (using the traditional parlance, "cracks") of the original game and, of course, actively trying to make the emulators run in NTSC mode. (The original Impossible Mission, along with some cracked versions, are NTSC.) With this title, the only way of playing turned out to be emulating SMS with, say, SmartGear.
The SMS version of Impossible Mission is of even better quality than the C64 one, with all the goodies like digitized sound. Not so with the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC versions - they not only lack digitized sound, but are also uglier and have less sophisticated graphics - that is, as has already been pointed out, should be avoided.
1.2 Downloading C64 games / apps / demos off the Web
All emulators are common in that they, generally, read standardized file formats. If you're new to C64 emulation, you need to know about .d64 disk images, .t64 tape images and, finally, directly exported .prg files. (There are some more obscure file formats as well, for example, the cartridge formats.) A decent emulator should handle at least the first, D64, as the vast majority of the titles are in this format. D64 is exclusively used to store the data / dependent / overlay files of programs not available in a one-file (.PRG) version and, generally, can't be converted into a non-D64 format (back in the Golden Age of the C64, when disk drives were really expensive and a lot of C64 users just couldn't afford them, it required a lot of work from crackers to make an initially disk-only application fit into the cassette format, preferably contained in one-file); this means the lack of D64 support means you won't be able to play games arriving exclusively as D64 and containing more than one files.
There are several tools to convert between the different file formats (for example, to extract individual files from a D64 file); I'll elaborate on D64 Editor later.
As long as you don't want to transfer your own disks into files on your PC or Windows Mobile device (which requires a genuine 1541 drive hooked up to a PC and accessed via Star Commander), you can download almost all titles off the Web. One of the best sources to download C64 games / software is the Blast! archive. As it contains some 340 disk images, you will want to consult the alphabetical list of all games to quickly find which image contains the game you’re looking for.
1.3 Using the emulators
After you've downloaded the games you'd like to play and installed the emulator, start the latter. Copy the games to your Windows Mobile device. Check the "ZIP support?" row in the Feature & Comparison Chart (from now on: Chart) to see whether you need to uncompress the ZIP files; if the particular emulator doesn't support compressed ZIP files, then, do this before the transfer. In general, only PocketCommodore64 supports ZIP'ed archives and even it has some restrictions; namely, you can't select individual files inside a ZIP'ed D64 disk image. That is, if you want to do this (and you WILL want it with, say, the Blast! disk images for the incompatibility reasons outlined above), you will need to unZIP these (and ONLY these - for example, d64 files downloaded from HERE can all be auto-started and, therefore, you will not need to go into them from the file manager to select the program to run) d64 files even when played with PocketCommodore64.
If the emulator uses the standard file selector dialog box on Windows Mobile (see the "File dialog box?" row in the Chart), then, you will need to put the files in either in \My Documents or a subfolder of it in the main storage or, with pre-WM5 devices, on the storage card. With a WM5 (or later) device, with a storage card, the files MUST be put in either the root of the card or a direct subfolder of it. Keep this in mind if you don't see the files you've transferred to your PDA, accessed from an emulator relying on the standard file dialog box (that is, PocketHobbit and ComeBack64ce - PocketCommodore64 (Pocket PC) and PocketHobbitSP2003 (Smarthone) both use their own file dialog box). Also, you may want to install a file dialog box replacement like Mad Programmer's File Dialog Changer in order to be able to navigate to any directory. Please see my earlier articles on how it should be installed and used.

After transferring the disk / tape images / programs to your handheld, you will need to instruct the emulator to load and, then, execute then.
1.3.1 Loading programs into the emulators
In general, there are two ways of loading a program. The first is just attaching a disk image to a virtual drive (like inserting a disk in a physical drive but not doing anything else) and, later, manually loading a file from there by issuing
either the load"*",8[,1] command, which loads the first program on the disk. With games occupying at least an entire disk, it'll load the game itself; with disk images with more than one program, only the first. This means you will NOT want to use this approach when you want to start a program not being the first in a disk image.
or, the load"<programname>",8[,1] command, which lets for selecting and loading any program, not just the first.
The second is a one-step approach, which not only attaches a virtual image to an emulator, but also loads a program from there. This is what the "Autoload File" functionality in PocketCommodore64 (the only Windows Mobile app capable of this) stands for.
In PocketCommodore64, if you double-click a disk image (it may even be compressed; that is, ZIP'ed), it will be assigned to virtual drive 8 (the default) and the first program will be autoloaded.
Note that the other two D64-capable emulators (PocketHobbit (Pocket PC) and PocketHobbitSP2003 (Smarthone)) only allow for attaching disk images and, then, with a separate (!), predefined command / menu item, loading the first program. While this still doesn't involve having to entering the full load"*",8[,1] command on the on-screen keyboard (with PocketHobbitSP2003, the phone's phonepad or, when existing, the full keyboard), it certainly involves (much) more screen taps / menu navigation.
For example, with PocketHobbit (the free Hobbit port for the Pocket PC), you first click a disk drive icon, select "Insert disk…", select the disk image to be attached to the selected virtual drive and, then, click the disk icon again and select "Load and execute first program". Note that, despite what the title states, it will NOT execute the program - you will still need to manually enter 'run' to do this.
With PocketHobbitSP2003 (the Smartphone Hobbit port), the situation is even worse: first, you press the left soft key to bring up the file selector / disk image attach screen; you select an image using the up/down arrows, Action, Options / Go Up and, finally, Open (left softkey) and also pressing OK on the next notification box (titled as "Error" - it's an information box, NOT reporting any error! Unfortunately, using error notifications instead of simple info boxes are VERY misleading for the uninitiated). Now that the image is attached, you will need to load the first program by pressing the right softkey, going up (with several Up presses) to the LOAD"*",8,1 button and pressing Action on it, which will load (but, as with PocketHobbit, still NOT execute!) the program into memory. Finally, to run it, you will need to go back to the text entry dialog (right softkey) and enter 'run' on either the phone dialpad (fortunately, here, the English T9 will work just fine) or the built-in full keyboard if present. Unfortunately, there's no shorthand RUN button.
See how much easier the PocketCommodore64 approach is?
And that's not all: should you need a quick way to execute a non-first program in a disk image file, PocketCommodore64 also allows for this. Just expand the tree represented by a disk image (by clicking the + sign in front of it) and double-click the program name - still in the "Autoload File" mode. (Note that you can NOT expand ZIP'ed disk images, as has already been pointed out. This, I think, is a bug.) This kind of functionality is (also) severely missing from the other two Pocket PC-based emulators.
1.3.2 Other features / settings
1.3.2.1 Turbo mode
Almost all emulators allow for a "turbo" mode in addition to the "100% speed" one. The former will allow for, on current, fast Windows Mobile devices, much (400-500% of the original C64 speed) faster program execution.
Enabling turbo mode also greatly speeds up disk emulation with the free PocketHobbit. However, it also results in most importantly character input problems: with enabled turbo mode (which is, with PocketHobbit, is the default), you won't even be able to enter 'run' because of the doubled characters. That is, should you go with PocketHobbit (you shouldn't - PocketCommodore64 is WAY better and, IMHO, certainly worth its price; you should go with PocketHobbit only if you really can't shell out money for the former), you will find yourself always switching between the two modes. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to switch - just click the standing / running icons in the lower right corner.
Again, as has been pointed out, you will need to enable Turbo mode with PocketHobbit - otherwise, disk operations (loading programs) will be way too slow. Fortunately, this isn't the case with any other emulators: you can always keep them in the "throttled", "100% original speed" state without sacrificing disk loading speed.
1.3.2.2 Buttons
Better emulators (on Windows Mobile, PocketCommodore64 only) also let for redefining buttons. This is essential when playing in landscape orientation and you plan to use a hardware button far away from the D-pad to avoid cramped hands & awkward handling. Too bad neither PocketHobbit nor ComeBack64ce support this, which, as has already been pointed out, makes them a bad candidate for playing in Landscape orientation.
Good news for Smartphone users: PocketHobbitSP2003, as opposed to the Pocket PC port, makes use of the "Volume up" button as another, alternate fire button, in addition to the * on the keypad. This will be especially handy on models that have easily accessible volume keys (for example, the HTC Oxygene / s310), as opposed to models with recessed, very-hard-to-press keys (for example, the currently best MS Smartphone, the HTC Vox / s710).
1.3.2.3 Changing orientation
In the default Portrait mode, only part of the entire screen estate is used as the original C64 uses a Landscape 320*200 screen (meaning 8:5 aspect ratio). This not only means suboptimal screen estate utilization (which can be an issue particularly with devices that have smaller, say, 2…2.8" screens), but also image resizing / downscaling issues.
First, some words on how you can switch to the Landscape mode. It's very easy with ComeBack64ce - you just click the screen and it rotates. With PocketHobbit, it’s also pretty easy (click the screen icon (the leftmost one at the bottom) and select either of the Landscape modes from the menu). With PocketHobbitSP2003, you need to press button 4 to do the same.
With PocketCommodore64, it's a bit more complicated: you first need to assign a button to the "Display toggle" functionality and, then, by pressing the just-assigned button, you can iterate through the available screen modes, including the Landscape ones.
To assign "Display toggle", click the Settings icon (it's under "Autoload file"); then, click Setup Controls (it's under the two joystick assignment checkboxes in the upper left corner) and, finally, click "Display toggle". Now, press the button you'd like to assign this functionality to (even the screen will do - if you don't want to use the touch screen as the fire button). After this, you can start changing orientations by keeping pressing the just-assigned key (or the touch screen).

1.3.2.4 Using different screen rendition modes; image downscaling issues
It’s not only the orientation that has a direct effect on the screen estate usage, but also whether borders are displayed and whether the emulator is VGA-aware when running on a VGA device.
First, some math. The full size of the original C64 screen, with borders, is 384 * 272 pixels; while, without borders, it’s 320 * 200. As the resolution of the (Windows Mobile) QVGA screen is 320*240 pixels, you can only display the picture (without the mostly useless borders) of the original C64 without having to drop some pixel columns (and, consequently, rows, if you plan to keep the 8:5 aspect ratio) if you use landscape orientation AND you don’t display any borders.
Landscape mode done this way is supported by all free Pocket PC clients: PocketHobbit, ComeBack64ce and PocketCommodore64 running on a QVGA device. These three all completely ignore the borders and only display the active screen area. In general, this is the best approach because, as has already been mentioned, displaying the border would mean an original horizontal resolution higher than the physical (horizontal) resolution of the QVGA screen; that is, some pixel columns (and rows) would be needed to be thrown away. Example screenshots of PocketCommodore64 (again, running on a QVGA device): 1 2; the latter in the second Landscape mode, without on-screen controls.
PocketCommodore64, when running on a VGA (640 *480) device, behaves differently. As PocketCommodore64 is VGA-aware and it does make advantage of the high resolution of the screen (it’s the only c64 emulator to do so), it is also displaying the borders around the active area so that you can see what the (few) programs (mostly intros and demos) that do use the border do.
Again, as VGA devices have plenty of additional pixels, this doesn’t result in noticeable distortion caused by completely thrown-away pixel rows / columns. Actually, exactly the opposite is happening. That is, because, in VGA mode, PocketCommodore64 needs to stretch 384 columns (and 272 rows) to completely fill in the 640 * 400 (without the on-screen controls, 640 * 480) available screen estate, some pixel rows / columns must be rendered twice. This also means there will be some kind of distortion, but it’s just a bit ugly because of the doubled lines / rows. Column / row doubling is still WAY better than completely throwing away information (that is, not rendering certain pixel columns / rows). The latter results in definite information loss and, in extreme cases (as with downsizing the original 320*200 screen to 176*125 to fit the screen of a low-resolution MS Smartphone in Portrait mode, which means having to drop almost every second rows / columns. The latter results in severely reduced and, at times, plain unreadable text as can be seen for example in THIS screenshot), almost fully unreadable characters.
As opposed to the Landscape mode (where, again, no row / column dropping takes place), in Portrait mode, as you need to force 320 columns in a screen that, physically, has 240 columns only, you already need to throw away every fourth column. If you do stick to the original 8:5 aspect ratio of the C64, then, you also need to drop 50 rows as well, further reducing readability.
As the latter (dropping rows) isn’t really necessary (as there will be a lot of screen estate unused even when you use really big on-screen keyboards / controllers), some emulators don’t necessarily stick to the 8:5 aspect ratio but, instead, render all the original 200 pixel rows. This means they don’t drop a single row, only columns.
In this respect, there are two kinds of emulators. PocketCommodore64 (related screenshot HERE) and ComeBack64ce (screenshot HERE) use the latter, much better and more preferable approach, while PocketHobbit does drop some rows. While the latter “only” drops 30 rows (that is, it doesn’t technically adhere to the 8:5 aspect ratio either), the results are still way worse than with the former two emulators (as can be seen in the screenshot, for example the center line of E’s is completely thrown away. Let me point out that characters in the character ROM of the C64, generally, only contain single rows; this is why they can be made unreadable so easily even with moderate pixel row dropping).
In addition to the default mode, in Portrait mode on QVGA devices, PocketCommodore64 is able to iterate over four different screen configurations so that you can find your favorite (most probably, you’ll prefer the default first). On VGA devices, on the other hand, the four Portrait modes are the same; for example, the only way to get completely rid of the (horizontal) borders is to manually configuring the fourth screen mode (the user mode) by passing the coordinates to display should be using the (default) 32,36,352,236 coordinates as is explained in the sixth chapter (Advanced Features) of the official document, under the 10th bullet. This, however doesn’t seem to work on VGA devices – it must be a VGA-related bug.
1.3.2.5 Joysticks
The C64 has two joystick ports. Most single-player C64 games used the joystick in Port 2. However, you may need a joystick in Port 1 with some games / intros. It's worth knowing what the implications are and how joysticks are emulated.
First, the tested emulators vastly differ in what joystick port is, by default, emulated by the D-pad and the fire button. You can find this information in the "What is D-pad (with desktop emulators, cursor block) by default assigned to?" row of the Chart. As can clearly be seen, PocketCommodore64 assigns both of them. This is probably the best approach as you will rarely need to manually reconfigure what joystick port is being emulated. However, it may result in, with some games, funny results; for example, with the well-known two-player classic Wizard of Wor. When played with the default settings, both players are activated; this means if you press Up on the D-pad, both players' sprites will move up. This is not necessarily what you want; therefore, in these cases, you will want to disable one of the two joystick assignments.
PocketHobbit, as opposed to the rest of the emulators, emulates Port 1 by default. Again, this port is used by far fewer games than Port 2 and, therefore, you will often need to switch over to the latter. Fortunately, doing this is very easy: just click the joystick icon on the main emulation screen and select Joystick 2 in the menu.
Both ComeBack64ce and PocketHobbitSP2003 emulate Port 2 by default; with the latter, you can swap between the two with the phonepad button 5.
Still speaking of the ability to emulate both joysticks at the same time, in the "Can D-pad (on desktop: cursor block) be assigned to both joysticks at the same time to reduce time in finding out how you can go on with a given game / cracker intro? " row, I've explained whether this is doable. As can be seen, only PocketCommodore64 and PocketHobbit are capable of this.
I also listed whether a given emulator supports rapid- and autofire. Unfortunately, only PocketCommodore64 is capable of doing this. You can enable these separately with the lowermost four checkboxes in the Settings / Setup Controls dialog.
Let me quickly explain the difference between the two modes. Rapid fire is only activated when and while you do press the fire button (or the screen, if the fire functionality is assigned to the screen). Auto fire is, on the other hand, always active, no matter whether you press the fire button or not. It's game dependent which one you want to prefer; with shoot'em ups like Katakis where you will always want fire, you'll want to prefer autofire; with games like Wizard of Wor, where autofire greatly slows down the movement when firing at a wall nearby, rapid fire only, if at all.
Finally, I've also elaborated on whether the buttons (most importantly, the fire button - after all, I don't think you will want to use something different than the D-pad to emulate the four (eight) directions of the joystick) of the joystick can be reassigned. As can clearly be seen, only PocketCommodore64, the best C64 emulator allows for this - the other don't. I've also listed the default fire button for all the emulators; as can clearly be seen, PocketHobbit's approach (Button 1 + 3/4) is clearly the worst, while that (the volume up, on the upper left side of the phone, can also be used as a fire button, which is the best solution for landscape playing) of PocketHobbitSP2003 is pretty good, even if you can't actively redefine buttons.

2. Windows Mobile Professional / Classic (Pocket PC) emulators
2. 1. PocketCommodore64 (current version: v2.52)
Without doubt the best, most featureful & compatible C64 emulator is the commercial PocketCommodore64. It has (almost) all the best and whistles a gamer would ever need; for example, touch screen used as fire button, freely redefinable control keys (including fire), rapid and auto fire, a plethora of different screen modes (including total screen off for simple music playback), stereo (!) sound, support for both NTSC and PAL modes, support for VGA Pocket PC's etc.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
It's way better than any other C64 emulator on Windows Mobile and has a very high compatibility rate with games.
It’s constantly improved; the developers are already working on the new, even more compatible and advanced 3.x series. It’s still not known when it’s released; now, there already are internal alpha test builds.
Unfortunately, currently PocketCommodore64 has no MS Smartphone-compatible versions. Some time in the past, there was a beta for low-res Smartphones, but it was never released outside of a few beta testers. The screen limitation was the biggest hurdle, but the poor CPU performance and system interruptions were also factors in not releasing it. As most issues should be negated in the newest Smartphones (particularly now that QVGA models, like the HTC Vox / S710, are becoming more and more common), hope there will also be a Smartphone version too – even as early as the forthcoming 3.0 version.
The only problem with the emulator (in addition to the high CPU usage) is the lack of multiplayer capabilities, which, on the desktop CCS64, is already implemented. Bluetooth local multiplayer was originally promised, but the limitations, that is, the packet speed problems, forced it to be dropped on initial release. Now, it exists only as an Easter egg, but I don’t know how it can be activated (I’ve tried to click everywhere in the GUI to find “hidden” icons / buttons).
Unfortunately, the above-mentioned Bluetooth multiplayer incompatibility, during betatests of multiplayer-enabled PocketCommodore64 versions, was not a question of transmission rate. This means for example Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Bluetooth, as opposed to earlier non-EDR versions, won’t help. It seems to be an issue of interval between Tx packets supported by the hardware and operating systems. Only emulation, not typical games, would be affected by this limitation, which is why there are commercial games with this feature, but few emulators. The developer has, however, promised to look into the possible solutions again for version 3.0.
A review; another one at AximSite; AximSite thread.
In the previous sections, I’ve already compared the capabilities & features of this emulator to the other (free) C64 emulators; in here, I won’t go on with this. Also consult the Chart for more comparative info.
Note that the emulator has a pretty extensive manual. It's pretty much usable and up-to-date. Note that it refers to a slightly older, 2.0 version and some things have changed in the meantime; most importantly, there is no longer a separate "accurate timing" version.
2.2 PocketHobbit 1.0
This free emulator, based on well-known multiplatform C64 emulator Frodo is a typical example of “you get what you pay for”. While it has some advantages (for example, the much lower CPU usage, the somewhat better scene demo compliance and, of course, the transparent keyboard in Landscape mode also visible in the screenshot below - see n0p’s excellent DOSBox port for something similar) over PocketCommodore64, in general, it’s way worse. It’s slower (at the same clock speed / frameskip settings), not VGA-aware (which will especially be a problem in Portrait mode, where it, unlike the two other C64 emulators, doesn’t “cheat” using 200 rows – see the example screenshots in the Chart demonstrating this), it doesn’t allow for joystick fire button reassignment etc.
All in all, it’s, while having certain strengths, a mediocre title. You should only check it out if you are absolutely sure you can’t purchase PocketCommodore64 and/or need to watch some demos, which might be more compatible with this title and/or absolutely need a title that doesn't force you to underclock your Pocket PC to save battery life.
2.3 ComeBack64ce 0.5
(note that zimmers.net only has an even older 1999 version HERE; THIS page too has an outdated version)
This is the worst c64 emulator for Windows Mobile. It’s really lacking features and the compatibility issues (it’s not at all compatible with VGA devices and, what is more, it’s also completely lacking WM5+ support) are a showstopper for many current Windows Mobile users.
The worst limitation, in addition to the inability to run on WM5+ and/or VGA devices, is the lack of floppy emulation. Therefore, if, for some reason, you still want to use it, you need to know how you can extract individual .PRG (executable program) files from a d64 disk image. Get D64 Editor; that is, THIS file (also linked from HERE), unzip it, and start setup\SETUP.EXE. After installing, start it (ignore the font error messages), drag a d64 image on it, select the program to export, right click it and select File Export. Select a target directory; the file will be exported as an <originalfilename>.PRG file, which can already be read by ComeBack64ce.
Probably the only plus of this emulator is the clever Portrait mode: it, by not sticking to the 8:5 aspect ratio but displaying all the default 200 rows (as opposed to 150), avoids having to drop 50 horizontal pixel lines and, this way, presents a much better rendition in Portrait mode than the other free emulator, PocketHobbit. Otherwise, it’s clearly worse than even PocketHobbit, let alone PocketCommodore64.

3. Windows Mobile Standard (MS Smartphone) emulators
Unfortunately, none of the Pocket PC emulators can be hacked into Smartphone. See the “MS Smartphone compliance?” row in the Chart for more info on my hacking attempts.
There is only one native C64 emulator for the MS Smartphone, PocketHobbitSP2003. Fortunately, it’s pretty nice.
3.1 PocketHobbitSP2003 Alpha 11
This emulator works flawlessly on both low(er)-end, 176*220 Smartphones and high(er)-end QVGA ones. Note that if you plan to use the latter, you will need to “hack” the main executable of the emulator as described in HERE. Should you be afraid of this, I’ve made the hacked, high-resolution emulator HERE. That is, if you have a QVGA Portrait device like the HTC Vox, get THIS instead of the official version.
If you’ve used to the Pocket PC version, you’ll find the usage of this emulator a bit strange at first. Fortunately, after a bit getting used to, it will turn out to be REALLY easy-to-use. If you are unsure about getting started with loading programs off D64 / T64 files, just make sure you read my mini-tutorial in section “1.3.1 Loading programs into the emulators”.
It runs pretty well even on low-end, “slow”, 201 MHz TI OMAP-based Smartphones. I’ve tested it on the 176*220 HTC Oxygen / s310 and the QVGA HTC Vox / s710 (with the hacked QVGA version on the latter). Worked flawlessly; highly recommended.
4. Desktop emus
Finally, I’ve also included two desktop C64 emulators in the Chart so that you can see what the differences are between Windows Mobile and desktop emulators. I also provide some tangible information on the compatibility rate of these emulators, should you want to get the most compatible emulator for your desktop Windows computer.
Note that there are (were) several other emulator projects; for example, JaC64 1.0 (a brand new, 1.0 version of this Java-based emulator has just been released); Frodo 4.1b (download HERE and NOT at the original link!), Comeback64 b4 (no longer existing at the original page; desktop Windows version HERE); Hoxs64 v1.0.4.22 (a new, actively developed project with a current, 7 June 2007 version), Miha Peternel’s long-abandoned C64S and, finally, ED64, a Pascal-based “toy” emulator.
4.1 CCS64 3.2
This commercial emulator is no doubt the BEST emulator, compatibility-wise. It is not only able to run many new, high quality C64 demos, but also a lot of other, otherwise “problematic” titles (for example, the Blast! loader) the other desktop C64 emulator, VICE, isn’t capable of running.
What is more, the 3.x series even supports Internet multiplay, of which I’ve also made some screenshots (of the client joining a game 1 2). Of the multiplayer mode, should you be interested in playing, for example, Archon, Archon II (Adept), International Karate or Wizard of Wor through the Internet, there are some additional tutorials and forums; for example, this German language, OLD (beta-stage) tutorial and this official CCS64 subforum.
4.2 VICE 1.21
This emulator is the most known, free C64 emulator, boasting several ports.
While it does have its advantages (most importantly, being free and having considerably less CPU usage than CCS64), it’s clearly less compatible. This means you shouldn’t use it as the first alternative to watch demos – use CCS64 for the latter. The same stands for “tricky” stuff VICE is unable to run, while CSS64 still is.
5. The comparison & feature chart
It’s HERE. DO CLICK THE LINK!
As I’ve already explained most of the rows and tests I’ve elaborated on in the chart, I don’t think further explanation is necessary.
It’s very important that you thoroughly scrutinize the chart and do check out the screenshots – they really make my point much straighter. Needless to say, as with all my other comparison / feature charts, there are a lot of mini-tutorials & additional explanations & tips in there. You DO lose a LOT if you don’t spend at least some minutes scrutinizing it.
Note that with some games (for example, Impossible Mission and Guild of Thieves), I’ve tested more than one versions (“cracks”) to find out which versions are playable. You may also want to look for cracker notes / nicks in either the directory list of the disk or the cracker intro starting the game to safely identify the given version, should you run into a non-working title.
Also, I’ve tested the ten most popular C64 demos, mostly to find out what demos can be run under Windows Mobile. As can clearly be seen, most demos just won’t work – the one that did start under PocketCommodore64 did crash later. In this regard, PocketHobbit behaved a bit better. This, however, doesn’t mean PocketCommodore64 is bad, not in the least – demos are VERY hard to correctly emulate. No wonder not even the best desktop emulator, CSS64 can’t run some of them. Needless to say, VICE is considerably worse in this respect than CSS64.
It's very important to point out that the Blast! disks all have a main menu on them, which is incompatible with most emulators out there (except for the desktop-based CCS64). This means you will NOT want to play the games on these disk images with the traditional load"*",8 command, which loads the menu, letting the user select the game to play. Except for the desktop Windows-only CCS64, this won't work. The solution to this problem is looking up the number of the game you plan to play in the loader once (in an emulator compatible with at least the main menu - the desktop-based and, as opposed to the commercial CCS64, free VICE is one of them) and loading the individual title using the load"X",8 command, where X should be the number of the game to be loaded. With the games I've tested of the Blast! collection, in the comparison & feature chart, I've also stated this number with each tested game so that you don't need to look them up yourself.
In addition to the Blast! Collection, there are a lot of other pages to download games from. You'll want to prefer them when, for example, you look for some strictly disk-based (non-one-file) games - with them, the Blast! version (if it does contain the given game at all - it's mostly with one-file games that the Blast! collection excels at), generally, is inferior to disk images found elsewhere.
You may also find some games at this generic desktop emulator overview, which has some gaming-related pages & downloads.
As far as demos are concerned, c64.ch will be your best friend. It contains all the remarkable C64 demos. While most emulators (particularly on Windows Mobile; in there, the, in this regard, most compatible emulator is PocketHobbit) will have a hard time running them, if you do find a compatible emulator (which, in most cases, means the desktop-based CCS64 - it's the most demo-friendly emulator available), they may be well worth checking if you want to see what the C64 is really capable of and why even today there are some people developing demos for it.

You don't even know HOW USEFUL this one was.
Thank you very much.
<<warhawk title music>>
btw...
shame, theres no atarixl/xe emu, that allows to change joy settings

version 3.0 of PocketCommodore64 has just been released. It's REALLY cool and HIGHLY recommended for both PPC and Smartphone users. See my complete review at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2288477

Emulating home computers on Windows Mobile Part IV - Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 (C64) is the most successful home computer ever manufactured. This also shows in the number of the software products (mainly games) released for the system.
Fortunately, Windows Mobile, both the traditional Pocket PC and the touch screen-less Smartphone version, has pretty good Commodore 64 emulators.
In this roundup, I elaborate on them all on both platforms. I also present a small gift to the entire QVGA (320*240) MS Smartphone community: a C64 emulator, hacked by me, which does make use of the entire QVGA screen, as opposed to the pre-hacked state. And, of course, the roundup itself is also a nice present: as with all my other emulation-related articles, nowhere else will you find a better, more thorough article on all these subjects, I think
1.1 Is Windows Mobile-based C64 emulation worth the trouble at all?
As opposed to, say, emulating the Amstrad CPC or the Commodore Amiga, the answer is YES, for two reasons.
First, the device has a plethora of good (!) games. While the same games typically exist on other platforms (back in the eighties, games were released for several computer and/on gaming console platforms at the same time), the C64 had a more game-friendly hardware when compared to most home computers (and even some dedicated gaming consoles) of that time.
This means for example the C64 version of the classic game "Uridium" is orders of magnitude better than, for example, the very slow and in no way spectacular (not even mentioning its also sub-par sound / music) ZX Spectrum version. With other games, the differences may not be so apparent (after all, Uridium used the superfast character mode on the C64, unlike on the ZX Spectrum, where it needed to do some heavy bitmap moving), but, generally, if you can, say, only choose from a ZX Spectrum, an Apple II, an Amstrad CPC and a C64 port, check out the latter first for the best possible graphics / sound. (The only exception is the high-resolution mode of the Amstrad CPC, which results in particularly text-based adventures' delivering a much better gaming experience. Unfortunately, as PocketCaprice doesn't support the high-resolution mode on VGA devices, this advantage is non-existing on our mobile platform.)
Second, as opposed to emulating the Amiga, Windows Mobile-based C64 emulators have no speed problems at all - not even on very slow handhelds. While it's impossible to play most Amiga games on even the fastest Windows Mobile devices without stuttering sound, C64 games run on even on lowest-end, 7-year-old models without problems. This also includes today's TI OMAP-based models, of course.
Supporting low-end hardware, fortunately, also means support for even low-end, low-resolution (176*220) MS Smartphones. As the Smartphone platform has way fewer games than its big brother, the Pocket PC, emulation becomes even more important. While, fortunately, there are some really excellent gaming console emulators for MS Smartphones (even 176*220 ones) - for example, Masterall's emulator masterpieces and SmartGear, home computers are generally not emulated on the platform (that is, there are no for example Atari ST or Amiga emulators for the MS Smartphone). The lack of (home computer) emulators and native games makes it very important for any MS Smartphone user to have access to a plethora of C64 games, which are, with many titles, perfectly emulated even on low-end, cheap mobiles.
1.1.1 When to stick to emulating another platform?
Of course, not all titles should be played in a C64 emulator. For example, when a particular title also exist for the Nintendo NES, the SNES, NEC’s TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine), the Sega Master System (SMS), Genesis / Mega Drive or Game Gear, going for these emulators may turn out to be a better choice. (Please do click the links for the complete rundown of the Windows Mobile emulation possibilities. Also make sure you follow the other, for example Amiga / Atari ST / Amstrad CPC / IBM PC links to emulating home computers.) With the exception of SNES, the emulators of these systems are also very low-end handheld-friendly and the games, in general, are at least as good as on the C64.
This is particularly important when you don't want to shell out any money for the emulators - the free C64 emulators are WAY worse than many console emulators, compatibility- and controllability-wise. For example, the best free C64 emulator, PocketHobbit, doesn't support redefining fire buttons (let alone providing rapid/auto- or screentap-based firing) and defaults to application buttons traditionally found next to the D-pad. This means you can only play games heavily relying on both the D-pad and the fire button in the not most ideal Portrait orientation. As opposed to this restriction, most of the above-linked, free (!) console emulators either support touchscreen-based firing or, at least, button redefining capabilities so that you can assign the fire functionality to a button much easier accessible with the right hand (assuming you're right-handed and use your left hand to control the D-pad) when in Landscape orientation.

Of course, these issues don't exist with PocketCommodore64, but, as opposed to almost all of the recommended gaming console emulators (even including the otherwise commercial SmartGear, which is freely registered for users that do provide feedback on compatibility issues), it's commercial.
That is, in general, if you plan to play a given title but would like to get the best gaming experience, go to Wikipedia, look up the given title and check out what other platforms it has been ported to (it’s listed in the text box on the right, in the “Platform(s)” row). In general, you can safely ignore the Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum and the Commodore Amiga (as long as you want sound) computers. If there is an Atari ST port (another, more advanced home computer with excellent Windows Mobile emulation capabilities), you may want to check it out; as is the case with the NES, SNES, SMS, PC Engine, Genesis and, in cases (only as a last resort – the Game Gear has a low-resolution screen, which you may not particularly like), the Game Gear ports. Most of these games / ROM's are available on the Web. In my past articles, I've explained how you can find these titles and what you will need to play them on your Windows Mobile device.
The same stands for games that have a native Windows Mobile interpreter; for example, Magnetic Scrolls or Lucasarts titles.
Finally, the case is the same with titles that are plain incompatible with the C64 emulators available on Windows Mobile. There are only few of them (and this number will decrease even further when the brand new & completely redesigned version of PocketCommodore64 is released); still, it's good to keep in mind that, with most games, you have alternative platforms like SMS well emulated under Windows Mobile.
An example of titles that belong to this ("you need to find an alternative platform because current C64 emulators are plain incompatible with the title") category is the well-known, famous Impossible Mission. While some people (including the developer of PocketCommodore64) had success with emulating this title on Windows Mobile, I haven't managed to do so, not even after testing four different, independent versions (using the traditional parlance, "cracks") of the original game and, of course, actively trying to make the emulators run in NTSC mode. (The original Impossible Mission, along with some cracked versions, are NTSC.) With this title, the only way of playing turned out to be emulating SMS with, say, SmartGear.
The SMS version of Impossible Mission is of even better quality than the C64 one, with all the goodies like digitized sound. Not so with the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC versions - they not only lack digitized sound, but are also uglier and have less sophisticated graphics - that is, as has already been pointed out, should be avoided.
1.2 Downloading C64 games / apps / demos off the Web
All emulators are common in that they, generally, read standardized file formats. If you're new to C64 emulation, you need to know about .d64 disk images, .t64 tape images and, finally, directly exported .prg files. (There are some more obscure file formats as well, for example, the cartridge formats.) A decent emulator should handle at least the first, D64, as the vast majority of the titles are in this format. D64 is exclusively used to store the data / dependent / overlay files of programs not available in a one-file (.PRG) version and, generally, can't be converted into a non-D64 format (back in the Golden Age of the C64, when disk drives were really expensive and a lot of C64 users just couldn't afford them, it required a lot of work from crackers to make an initially disk-only application fit into the cassette format, preferably contained in one-file); this means the lack of D64 support means you won't be able to play games arriving exclusively as D64 and containing more than one files.
There are several tools to convert between the different file formats (for example, to extract individual files from a D64 file); I'll elaborate on D64 Editor later.
As long as you don't want to transfer your own disks into files on your PC or Windows Mobile device (which requires a genuine 1541 drive hooked up to a PC and accessed via Star Commander), you can download almost all titles off the Web. One of the best sources to download C64 games / software is the Blast! archive. As it contains some 340 disk images, you will want to consult the alphabetical list of all games to quickly find which image contains the game you’re looking for.
It's very important to point out that the Blast! disks all have a main menu on them, which is incompatible with most emulators out there (except for the desktop-based CCS64). This means you will NOT want to play the games on these disk images with the traditional load"*",8 command, which loads the menu, letting the user select the game to play. Except for the desktop Windows-only CCS64, this won't work. The solution to this problem is looking up the number of the game you plan to play in the loader once (in an emulator compatible with at least the main menu - the desktop-based and, as opposed to the commercial CCS64, free VICE is one of them) and loading the individual title using the load"X",8 command, where X should be the number of the game to be loaded. With the games I've tested of the Blast! collection, in the comparison & feature chart, I've also stated this number with each tested game so that you don't need to look them up yourself.
In addition to the Blast! Collection, there are a lot of other pages to download games from. You'll want to prefer them when, for example, you look for some strictly disk-based (non-one-file) games - with them, the Blast! version (if it does contain the given game at all - it's mostly with one-file games that the Blast! collection excels at), generally, is inferior to disk images found elsewhere.
You may also find some games at this generic desktop emulator overview, which has some gaming-related pages & downloads.
As far as demos are concerned, c64.ch will be your best friend. It contains all the remarkable C64 demos. While most emulators (particularly on Windows Mobile; in there, the, in this regard, most compatible emulator is PocketHobbit) will have a hard time running them, if you do find a compatible emulator (which, in most cases, means the desktop-based CCS64 - it's the most demo-friendly emulator available), they may be well worth checking if you want to see what the C64 is really capable of and why even today there are some people developing demos for it.
1.3 Using the emulators
After you've downloaded the games you'd like to play and installed the emulator, start the latter. Copy the games to your Windows Mobile device. Check the "ZIP support?" row in the Feature & Comparison Chart (from now on: Chart) to see whether you need to uncompress the ZIP files; if the particular emulator doesn't support compressed ZIP files, then, do this before the transfer. In general, only PocketCommodore64 supports ZIP'ed archives and even it has some restrictions; namely, you can't select individual files inside a ZIP'ed D64 disk image. That is, if you want to do this (and you WILL want it with, say, the Blast! disk images for the incompatibility reasons outlined above), you will need to unZIP these (and ONLY these - for example, d64 files downloaded from HERE can all be auto-started and, therefore, you will not need to go into them from the file manager to select the program to run) d64 files even when played with PocketCommodore64.

If the emulator uses the standard file selector dialog box on Windows Mobile (see the "File dialog box?" row in the Chart), then, you will need to put the files in either in \My Documents or a subfolder of it in the main storage or, with pre-WM5 devices, on the storage card. With a WM5 (or later) device, with a storage card, the files MUST be put in either the root of the card or a direct subfolder of it. Keep this in mind if you don't see the files you've transferred to your PDA, accessed from an emulator relying on the standard file dialog box (that is, PocketHobbit and ComeBack64ce - PocketCommodore64 (Pocket PC) and PocketHobbitSP2003 (Smarthone) both use their own file dialog box). Also, you may want to install a file dialog box replacement like Mad Programmer's File Dialog Changer in order to be able to navigate to any directory. Please see my earlier articles on how it should be installed and used.
After transferring the disk / tape images / programs to your handheld, you will need to instruct the emulator to load and, then, execute then.
1.3.1 Loading programs into the emulators
In general, there are two ways of loading a program. The first is just attaching a disk image to a virtual drive (like inserting a disk in a physical drive but not doing anything else) and, later, manually loading a file from there by issuing
either the load"*",8[,1] command, which loads the first program on the disk. With games occupying at least an entire disk, it'll load the game itself; with disk images with more than one program, only the first. This means you will NOT want to use this approach when you want to start a program not being the first in a disk image.
or, the load"<programname>",8[,1] command, which lets for selecting and loading any program, not just the first.
The second is a one-step approach, which not only attaches a virtual image to an emulator, but also loads a program from there. This is what the "Autoload File" functionality in PocketCommodore64 (the only Windows Mobile app capable of this) stands for.
In PocketCommodore64, if you double-click a disk image (it may even be compressed; that is, ZIP'ed), it will be assigned to virtual drive 8 (the default) and the first program will be autoloaded.
Note that the other two D64-capable emulators (PocketHobbit (Pocket PC) and PocketHobbitSP2003 (Smarthone)) only allow for attaching disk images and, then, with a separate (!), predefined command / menu item, loading the first program. While this still doesn't involve having to entering the full load"*",8[,1] command on the on-screen keyboard (with PocketHobbitSP2003, the phone's phonepad or, when existing, the full keyboard), it certainly involves (much) more screen taps / menu navigation.
For example, with PocketHobbit (the free Hobbit port for the Pocket PC), you first click a disk drive icon, select "Insert disk…", select the disk image to be attached to the selected virtual drive and, then, click the disk icon again and select "Load and execute first program". Note that, despite what the title states, it will NOT execute the program - you will still need to manually enter 'run' to do this.
With PocketHobbitSP2003 (the Smartphone Hobbit port), the situation is even worse: first, you press the left soft key to bring up the file selector / disk image attach screen; you select an image using the up/down arrows, Action, Options / Go Up and, finally, Open (left softkey) and also pressing OK on the next notification box (titled as "Error" - it's an information box, NOT reporting any error! Unfortunately, using error notifications instead of simple info boxes are VERY misleading for the uninitiated). Now that the image is attached, you will need to load the first program by pressing the right softkey, going up (with several Up presses) to the LOAD"*",8,1 button and pressing Action on it, which will load (but, as with PocketHobbit, still NOT execute!) the program into memory. Finally, to run it, you will need to go back to the text entry dialog (right softkey) and enter 'run' on either the phone dialpad (fortunately, here, the English T9 will work just fine) or the built-in full keyboard if present. Unfortunately, there's no shorthand RUN button.
See how much easier the PocketCommodore64 approach is?
And that's not all: should you need a quick way to execute a non-first program in a disk image file, PocketCommodore64 also allows for this. Just expand the tree represented by a disk image (by clicking the + sign in front of it) and double-click the program name - still in the "Autoload File" mode. (Note that you can NOT expand ZIP'ed disk images, as has already been pointed out. This, I think, is a bug.) This kind of functionality is (also) severely missing from the other two Pocket PC-based emulators.
1.3.2 Other features / settings
1.3.2.1 Turbo mode
Almost all emulators allow for a "turbo" mode in addition to the "100% speed" one. The former will allow for, on current, fast Windows Mobile devices, much (400-500% of the original C64 speed) faster program execution.
Enabling turbo mode also greatly speeds up disk emulation with the free PocketHobbit. However, it also results in most importantly character input problems: with enabled turbo mode (which is, with PocketHobbit, is the default), you won't even be able to enter 'run' because of the doubled characters. That is, should you go with PocketHobbit (you shouldn't - PocketCommodore64 is WAY better and, IMHO, certainly worth its price; you should go with PocketHobbit only if you really can't shell out money for the former), you will find yourself always switching between the two modes. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to switch - just click the standing / running icons in the lower right corner.
Again, as has been pointed out, you will need to enable Turbo mode with PocketHobbit - otherwise, disk operations (loading programs) will be way too slow. Fortunately, this isn't the case with any other emulators: you can always keep them in the "throttled", "100% original speed" state without sacrificing disk loading speed.
1.3.2.2 Buttons
Better emulators (on Windows Mobile, PocketCommodore64 only) also let for redefining buttons. This is essential when playing in landscape orientation and you plan to use a hardware button far away from the D-pad to avoid cramped hands & awkward handling. Too bad neither PocketHobbit nor ComeBack64ce support this, which, as has already been pointed out, makes them a bad candidate for playing in Landscape orientation.
Good news for Smartphone users: PocketHobbitSP2003, as opposed to the Pocket PC port, makes use of the "Volume up" button as another, alternate fire button, in addition to the * on the keypad. This will be especially handy on models that have easily accessible volume keys (for example, the HTC Oxygene / s310), as opposed to models with recessed, very-hard-to-press keys (for example, the currently best MS Smartphone, the HTC Vox / s710).
1.3.2.3 Changing orientation
In the default Portrait mode, only part of the entire screen estate is used as the original C64 uses a Landscape 320*200 screen (meaning 8:5 aspect ratio). This not only means suboptimal screen estate utilization (which can be an issue particularly with devices that have smaller, say, 2…2.8" screens), but also image resizing / downscaling issues.
First, some words on how you can switch to the Landscape mode. It's very easy with ComeBack64ce - you just click the screen and it rotates. With PocketHobbit, it’s also pretty easy (click the screen icon (the leftmost one at the bottom) and select either of the Landscape modes from the menu). With PocketHobbitSP2003, you need to press button 4 to do the same.

With PocketCommodore64, it's a bit more complicated: you first need to assign a button to the "Display toggle" functionality and, then, by pressing the just-assigned button, you can iterate through the available screen modes, including the Landscape ones.
To assign "Display toggle", click the Settings icon (it's under "Autoload file"); then, click Setup Controls (it's under the two joystick assignment checkboxes in the upper left corner) and, finally, click "Display toggle". Now, press the button you'd like to assign this functionality to (even the screen will do - if you don't want to use the touch screen as the fire button). After this, you can start changing orientations by keeping pressing the just-assigned key (or the touch screen).
1.3.2.4 Using different screen rendition modes; image downscaling issues
It’s not only the orientation that has a direct effect on the screen estate usage, but also whether borders are displayed and whether the emulator is VGA-aware when running on a VGA device.
First, some math. The full size of the original C64 screen, with borders, is 384 * 272 pixels; while, without borders, it’s 320 * 200. As the resolution of the (Windows Mobile) QVGA screen is 320*240 pixels, you can only display the picture (without the mostly useless borders) of the original C64 without having to drop some pixel columns (and, consequently, rows, if you plan to keep the 8:5 aspect ratio) if you use landscape orientation AND you don’t display any borders.
Landscape mode done this way is supported by all free Pocket PC clients: PocketHobbit, ComeBack64ce and PocketCommodore64 running on a QVGA device. These three all completely ignore the borders and only display the active screen area. In general, this is the best approach because, as has already been mentioned, displaying the border would mean an original horizontal resolution higher than the physical (horizontal) resolution of the QVGA screen; that is, some pixel columns (and rows) would be needed to be thrown away. Example screenshots of PocketCommodore64 (again, running on a QVGA device): 1 2; the latter in the second Landscape mode, without on-screen controls.
PocketCommodore64, when running on a VGA (640 *480) device, behaves differently. As PocketCommodore64 is VGA-aware and it does make advantage of the high resolution of the screen (it’s the only c64 emulator to do so), it is also displaying the borders around the active area so that you can see what the (few) programs (mostly intros and demos) that do use the border do.
Again, as VGA devices have plenty of additional pixels, this doesn’t result in noticeable distortion caused by completely thrown-away pixel rows / columns. Actually, exactly the opposite is happening. That is, because, in VGA mode, PocketCommodore64 needs to stretch 384 columns (and 272 rows) to completely fill in the 640 * 400 (without the on-screen controls, 640 * 480) available screen estate, some pixel rows / columns must be rendered twice. This also means there will be some kind of distortion, but it’s just a bit ugly because of the doubled lines / rows. Column / row doubling is still WAY better than completely throwing away information (that is, not rendering certain pixel columns / rows). The latter results in definite information loss and, in extreme cases (as with downsizing the original 320*200 screen to 176*125 to fit the screen of a low-resolution MS Smartphone in Portrait mode, which means having to drop almost every second rows / columns. The latter results in severely reduced and, at times, plain unreadable text as can be seen for example in THIS screenshot), almost fully unreadable characters.
As opposed to the Landscape mode (where, again, no row / column dropping takes place), in Portrait mode, as you need to force 320 columns in a screen that, physically, has 240 columns only, you already need to throw away every fourth column. If you do stick to the original 8:5 aspect ratio of the C64, then, you also need to drop 50 rows as well, further reducing readability.
As the latter (dropping rows) isn’t really necessary (as there will be a lot of screen estate unused even when you use really big on-screen keyboards / controllers), some emulators don’t necessarily stick to the 8:5 aspect ratio but, instead, render all the original 200 pixel rows. This means they don’t drop a single row, only columns.
In this respect, there are two kinds of emulators. PocketCommodore64 (related screenshot HERE) and ComeBack64ce (screenshot HERE) use the latter, much better and more preferable approach, while PocketHobbit does drop some rows. While the latter “only” drops 30 rows (that is, it doesn’t technically adhere to the 8:5 aspect ratio either), the results are still way worse than with the former two emulators (as can be seen in the screenshot, for example the center line of E’s is completely thrown away. Let me point out that characters in the character ROM of the C64, generally, only contain single rows; this is why they can be made unreadable so easily even with moderate pixel row dropping).
In addition to the default mode, in Portrait mode on QVGA devices, PocketCommodore64 is able to iterate over four different screen configurations so that you can find your favorite (most probably, you’ll prefer the default first). On VGA devices, on the other hand, the four Portrait modes are the same; for example, the only way to get completely rid of the (horizontal) borders is to manually configuring the fourth screen mode (the user mode) by passing the coordinates to display should be using the (default) 32,36,352,236 coordinates as is explained in the sixth chapter (Advanced Features) of the official document, under the 10th bullet. This, however doesn’t seem to work on VGA devices – it must be a VGA-related bug.
1.3.2.5 Joysticks
The C64 has two joystick ports. Most single-player C64 games used the joystick in Port 2. However, you may need a joystick in Port 1 with some games / intros. It's worth knowing what the implications are and how joysticks are emulated.
First, the tested emulators vastly differ in what joystick port is, by default, emulated by the D-pad and the fire button. You can find this information in the "What is D-pad (with desktop emulators, cursor block) by default assigned to?" row of the Chart. As can clearly be seen, PocketCommodore64 assigns both of them. This is probably the best approach as you will rarely need to manually reconfigure what joystick port is being emulated. However, it may result in, with some games, funny results; for example, with the well-known two-player classic Wizard of Wor. When played with the default settings, both players are activated; this means if you press Up on the D-pad, both players' sprites will move up. This is not necessarily what you want; therefore, in these cases, you will want to disable one of the two joystick assignments.
PocketHobbit, as opposed to the rest of the emulators, emulates Port 1 by default. Again, this port is used by far fewer games than Port 2 and, therefore, you will often need to switch over to the latter. Fortunately, doing this is very easy: just click the joystick icon on the main emulation screen and select Joystick 2 in the menu.
Both ComeBack64ce and PocketHobbitSP2003 emulate Port 2 by default; with the latter, you can swap between the two with the phonepad button 5.
Still speaking of the ability to emulate both joysticks at the same time, in the "Can D-pad (on desktop: cursor block) be assigned to both joysticks at the same time to reduce time in finding out how you can go on with a given game / cracker intro? " row, I've explained whether this is doable. As can be seen, only PocketCommodore64 and PocketHobbit are capable of this.
I also listed whether a given emulator supports rapid- and autofire. Unfortunately, only PocketCommodore64 is capable of doing this. You can enable these separately with the lowermost four checkboxes in the Settings / Setup Controls dialog.
Let me quickly explain the difference between the two modes. Rapid fire is only activated when and while you do press the fire button (or the screen, if the fire functionality is assigned to the screen). Auto fire is, on the other hand, always active, no matter whether you press the fire button or not. It's game dependent which one you want to prefer; with shoot'em ups like Katakis where you will always want fire, you'll want to prefer autofire; with games like Wizard of Wor, where autofire greatly slows down the movement when firing at a wall nearby, rapid fire only, if at all.
Finally, I've also elaborated on whether the buttons (most importantly, the fire button - after all, I don't think you will want to use something different than the D-pad to emulate the four (eight) directions of the joystick) of the joystick can be reassigned. As can clearly be seen, only PocketCommodore64, the best C64 emulator allows for this - the other don't. I've also listed the default fire button for all the emulators; as can clearly be seen, PocketHobbit's approach (Button 1 + 3/4) is clearly the worst, while that (the volume up, on the upper left side of the phone, can also be used as a fire button, which is the best solution for landscape playing) of PocketHobbitSP2003 is pretty good, even if you can't actively redefine buttons.

2. Windows Mobile Professional / Classic (Pocket PC) emulators
2. 1. PocketCommodore64 (current version: v2.52)
Without doubt the best, most featureful & compatible C64 emulator is the commercial PocketCommodore64. It has (almost) all the bells and whistles a gamer would ever need; for example, touch screen used as fire button, freely redefinable control keys (including fire), rapid and auto fire, a plethora of different screen modes (including total screen off for simple music playback), stereo (!) sound, support for both NTSC and PAL modes, support for VGA Pocket PC's etc.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
It's way better than any other C64 emulator on Windows Mobile and has a very high compatibility rate with games.
It’s constantly improved; the developers are already working on the new, even more compatible and advanced 3.x series. It’s still not known when it’s released; now, there already are internal alpha test builds.
Unfortunately, currently PocketCommodore64 has no MS Smartphone-compatible versions. Some time in the past, there was a beta for low-res Smartphones, but it was never released outside of a few beta testers. The screen limitation was the biggest hurdle, but the poor CPU performance and system interruptions were also factors in not releasing it. As most issues should be negated in the newest Smartphones (particularly now that QVGA models, like the HTC Vox / S710, are becoming more and more common), hope there will also be a Smartphone version too – even as early as the forthcoming 3.0 version.
The only problem with the emulator (in addition to the high CPU usage) is the lack of multiplayer capabilities, which, on the desktop CCS64, is already implemented. Bluetooth local multiplayer was originally promised, but the limitations, that is, the packet speed problems, forced it to be dropped on initial release. Now, it exists only as an Easter egg, but I don’t know how it can be activated (I’ve tried to click everywhere in the GUI to find “hidden” icons / buttons).
Unfortunately, the above-mentioned Bluetooth multiplayer incompatibility, during betatests of multiplayer-enabled PocketCommodore64 versions, was not a question of transmission rate. This means for example Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Bluetooth, as opposed to earlier non-EDR versions, won’t help. It seems to be an issue of interval between Tx packets supported by the hardware and operating systems. Only emulation, not typical games, would be affected by this limitation, which is why there are commercial games with this feature, but few emulators. The developer has, however, promised to look into the possible solutions again for version 3.0.
A review; another one at AximSite; AximSite thread.
In the previous sections, I’ve already compared the capabilities & features of this emulator to the other (free) C64 emulators; in here, I won’t go on with this. Also consult the Chart for more comparative info.
Note that the emulator has a pretty extensive manual. It's pretty much usable and up-to-date. Note that it refers to a slightly older, 2.0 version and some things have changed in the meantime; most importantly, there is no longer a separate "accurate timing" version.
2.2 PocketHobbit 1.0
This free emulator, based on well-known multiplatform C64 emulator Frodo is a typical example of “you get what you pay for”. While it has some advantages (for example, the much lower CPU usage, the somewhat better scene demo compliance and, of course, the transparent keyboard in Landscape mode also visible in the screenshot below - see n0p’s excellent DOSBox port for something similar) over PocketCommodore64, in general, it’s way worse. It’s slower (at the same clock speed / frameskip settings), not VGA-aware (which will especially be a problem in Portrait mode, where it, unlike the two other C64 emulators, doesn’t “cheat” using 200 rows – see the example screenshots in the Chart demonstrating this), it doesn’t allow for joystick fire button reassignment etc.
All in all, it’s, while having certain strengths, a mediocre title. You should only check it out if you are absolutely sure you can’t purchase PocketCommodore64 and/or need to watch some demos, which might be more compatible with this title and/or absolutely need a title that doesn't force you to underclock your Pocket PC to save battery life.
2.3 ComeBack64ce 0.5
(note that zimmers.net only has an even older 1999 version HERE; THIS page too has an outdated version)
This is the worst c64 emulator for Windows Mobile. It’s really lacking features and the compatibility issues (it’s not at all compatible with VGA devices and, what is more, it’s also completely lacking WM5+ support) are a showstopper for many current Windows Mobile users.
The worst limitation, in addition to the inability to run on WM5+ and/or VGA devices, is the lack of floppy emulation. Therefore, if, for some reason, you still want to use it, you need to know how you can extract individual .PRG (executable program) files from a d64 disk image. Get D64 Editor; that is, THIS file (also linked from HERE), unzip it, and start setup\SETUP.EXE. After installing, start it (ignore the font error messages), drag a d64 image on it, select the program to export, right click it and select File Export. Select a target directory; the file will be exported as an <originalfilename>.PRG file, which can already be read by ComeBack64ce.
Probably the only plus of this emulator is the clever Portrait mode: it, by not sticking to the 8:5 aspect ratio but displaying all the default 200 rows (as opposed to 150), avoids having to drop 50 horizontal pixel lines and, this way, presents a much better rendition in Portrait mode than the other free emulator, PocketHobbit. Otherwise, it’s clearly worse than even PocketHobbit, let alone PocketCommodore64.
3. Windows Mobile Standard (MS Smartphone) emulators
Unfortunately, none of the Pocket PC emulators can be hacked into Smartphone. See the “MS Smartphone compliance?” row in the Chart for more info on my hacking attempts.
There is only one native C64 emulator for the MS Smartphone, PocketHobbitSP2003. Fortunately, it’s pretty nice.
3.1 PocketHobbitSP2003 Alpha 11
This emulator works flawlessly on both low(er)-end, 176*220 Smartphones and high(er)-end QVGA ones. Note that if you plan to use the latter, you will need to “hack” the main executable of the emulator as described in HERE. Should you be afraid of this, I’ve made the hacked, high-resolution emulator HERE. That is, if you have a QVGA Portrait device like the HTC Vox, get THIS instead of the official version.
If you’ve used to the Pocket PC version, you’ll find the usage of this emulator a bit strange at first. Fortunately, after a bit getting used to, it will turn out to be REALLY easy-to-use. If you are unsure about getting started with loading programs off D64 / T64 files, just make sure you read my mini-tutorial in section “1.3.1 Loading programs into the emulators”.
It runs pretty well even on low-end, “slow”, 201 MHz TI OMAP-based Smartphones. I’ve tested it on the 176*220 HTC Oxygen / s310 and the QVGA HTC Vox / s710 (with the hacked QVGA version on the latter). Worked flawlessly; highly recommended.

4. Desktop emus
Finally, I’ve also included two desktop C64 emulators in the Chart so that you can see what the differences are between Windows Mobile and desktop emulators. I also provide some tangible information on the compatibility rate of these emulators, should you want to get the most compatible emulator for your desktop Windows computer.
Note that there are (were) several other emulator projects; for example, JaC64 1.0 (a brand new, 1.0 version of this Java-based emulator has just been released); Frodo 4.1b (download HERE and NOT at the original link!), Comeback64 b4 (no longer existing at the original page; desktop Windows version HERE); Hoxs64 v1.0.4.22 (a new, actively developed project with a current, 7 June 2007 version), Miha Peternel’s long-abandoned C64S and, finally, ED64, a Pascal-based “toy” emulator.
4.1 CCS64 3.2
This commercial emulator is no doubt the BEST emulator, compatibility-wise. It is not only able to run many new, high quality C64 demos, but also a lot of other, otherwise “problematic” titles (for example, the Blast! loader) the other desktop C64 emulator, VICE, isn’t capable of running.
What is more, the 3.x series even supports Internet multiplay, of which I’ve also made some screenshots (of the client joining a game 1 2). Of the multiplayer mode, should you be interested in playing, for example, Archon, Archon II (Adept), International Karate or Wizard of Wor through the Internet, there are some additional tutorials and forums; for example, this German language, OLD (beta-stage) tutorial and this official CCS64 subforum.
4.2 VICE 1.21
This emulator is the most known, free C64 emulator, boasting several ports.
While it does have its advantages (most importantly, being free and having considerably less CPU usage than CCS64), it’s clearly less compatible. This means you shouldn’t use it as the first alternative to watch demos – use CCS64 for the latter. The same stands for “tricky” stuff VICE is unable to run, while CSS64 still is.
5. The comparison & feature chart
It’s HERE. DO CLICK THE LINK!
As I’ve already explained most of the rows and tests I’ve elaborated on in the chart, I don’t think further explanation is necessary.
It’s very important that you thoroughly scrutinize the chart and do check out the screenshots – they really make my point much straighter. Needless to say, as with all my other comparison / feature charts, there are a lot of mini-tutorials & additional explanations & tips in there. You DO lose a LOT if you don’t spend at least some minutes scrutinizing it.
Note that with some games (for example, Impossible Mission and Guild of Thieves), I’ve tested more than one versions (“cracks”) to find out which versions are playable. You may also want to look for cracker notes / nicks in either the directory list of the disk or the cracker intro starting the game to safely identify the given version, should you run into a non-working title.
Also, I’ve tested the ten most popular C64 demos, mostly to find out what demos can be run under Windows Mobile. As can clearly be seen, most demos just won’t work – the one that did start under PocketCommodore64 did crash later. In this regard, PocketHobbit behaved a bit better. This, however, doesn’t mean PocketCommodore64 is bad, not in the least – demos are VERY hard to correctly emulate. No wonder not even the best desktop emulator, CSS64 can’t run some of them. Needless to say, VICE is considerably worse in this respect than CSS64.