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Technical arcade emulation software focused on emulating the hardware of arcade cabinets

Technical arcade emulation software focused on emulating the hardware of arcade cabinets

Vote: (174 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: neomameplus

Version: 0.95

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(174 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

neomameplus

0.95

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • MAME's much-appreciated emulation capabilities in a far friendlier form.
  • Attractive and well-designed.

Cons

  • Can lag behind the core project in releases a bit.

Neo MAME32 is a front-end to the popular MAME emulator. The Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator is one of the most highly regarded and successful of all time. It provides rigorously correct emulation of a wide variety of historical arcade machines. However, one downside of that project's focus on the nuts and bolts of arcade machine emulation has been that the official releases were typically delivered in a form that most end users found inscrutable. Projects like Neo MAME32 exist to package the sharp-edged tools released by the MAME project proper into forms that the average user can enjoy.

The most obvious way in which this is done is through the provision of a modern, graphically-oriented user interface. Neo MAME32 does a fine job here, covering up the default version of MAME's command-line windows with a sensible, attractive graphical listing of games. Instead of needing to send command line arguments to an executable to launch a particular game, then, users of Neo MAME32 can pick their desired target from a visual list, complete with arcade cabinet art, if desired and installed.

Neo MAME32 also makes it easier for users to take advantage of the many tweaks that the MAME project allows for. Instead of searching for options deep within arcane text files, users of Neo MAME32 can find the most commonly adjusted ones in simple windows that resemble the settings dialogues of most other programs. This can make setting up special controllers, for example, far easier than it would otherwise be. This face alone will make many fans grateful.

Neo MAME32 does all this without detracting from the core MAME experience, too. Underneath all its pretty windows and dialog boxes, the same MAME drivers provide the spot-on emulation that the project is known for. That means that users of Neo MAME32 can appreciate the same accurate reproduction of the arcade classics as those who use the core project's releases but do so with far greater ease. One possible downside is that, because it relies on the core project releasing first, Neo MAME32 can lag behind the official releases of MAME. As a result, its users will often need to wait a little longer before playing newly added games.

Pros

  • MAME's much-appreciated emulation capabilities in a far friendlier form.
  • Attractive and well-designed.

Cons

  • Can lag behind the core project in releases a bit.