How to Play Super Nintendo Games on Linux with Higan – Easy Steps

Higan is a multi-system emulator. Previously, Higan was known as Bsnes, a super Nintendo emulator. However, Higan is still compatible with Super Nintendo roms, and in this guide, we will show you how to play them with this app.

Note: AddictiveTips in no way endorses the use of Higan to play illegally downloaded Super Nintendo ROMS. Play only the games in your collection that you have backed up.

Installing Higan on Linux

Before you can play Super Nintendo games with the Higan app, you will need to install it on your Linux computer. For this application to work, open a terminal window. You can open a terminal window on the Linux desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Or search for “Terminal” in the application menu and run it that way.

With the terminal window open and ready to go, you can begin the Higan installation. By following the instructions below, get the latest version of Higan up and running.

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu, you will be able to run the Higan emulator using the fit to install command below. However, before attempting to install it, make sure you have the “Ubuntu Universe” Software Repository enabled.

sudo apt install higan

Debian

Those who use Debian will be able to run the Higan emulator (as long as it is on Debian 11, 10 or 9). The application is located in the “Main” software repository. To make it work, please use the following apt-get install command.

sudo apt-get install higan

Arch Linux

Higan is available to all Arch Linux users (as long as they have the “Community Software Repository” enabled). To install it, start by running the /etc/pacman.conf file in your favorite text editor (as root).

Once the file is open in a text editor (such as root), locate the “Community” section and remove the # symbol in front to enable it. Make sure to also remove the # symbol from the lines directly below it.

Save your edits in the text editor. Then use the pacman command to synchronize Arch with official servers.

sudo pacman -Syy

Finally, install the latest version of Higan on your Arch Linux computer using the following pacman command.

sudo pacman -S higan

Fedora

Fedora Linux is a distribution that does not come with the Higan application included in the official software repositories. It also doesn’t seem to be in the “RPM Fusion” repositories.

Fortunately, you can still make it work like a Flatpak package. However, the package is known as “Bsnes” on Flathub, as it has not been updated since the application changed its name to Higan.

Flatpak

To get the application working on Fedora, start by enabling the Flatpak application runtime on your computer. Then enter the two commands below to get the Higan app to work.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak install flathub dev.bsnes.bsnes

OpenSUSE

If you want to use Higan on OpenSUSE, you must use the latest version of OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. Unfortunately, the application is not compatible with other versions of OpenSUSE.

In order for the Higan application to work on your computer, enter the two commands below.

zypper addrepo https://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/opensuse/repositories/Emulators/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/ emulators-x86_64

sudo  zypper install higan

How to Play Super Nintendo Games on Linux with Higan

To play SNES games with Higan on your Linux PC, open the application on the desktop. Then follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Paso 1: Find the “Create New System” button within Higan and click on it with your mouse. Then look in the systems menu for “Super Famicom” (also known as Super Nintendo).

After selecting “Super Famicom” in Higan, click the “Create” button at the bottom of the page.

Paso 2: Once you have “created” the new Super Famicom system, it will appear in your system menu. From here select the system with the mouse. Then choose the “Start” option.

Paso 3: By clicking “Start”, Higan will load the SNES system. From here, find the drop-down menu and select “Settings.” Then find “Video” and click on it to access the video settings.

Within the “Video” settings, change “Driver” from “XShm” to “OpenGL 3.2”.

Paso 4: Look for “Hotkeys” within the settings menu and configure your key combinations for Higan so that you can access the controls in the emulator.

Paso 5: Find the “Audio” section within the “Settings” area and click on it. Then find the “Controller” menu and change it from “ALSA” to “PulseAudio Simple”. Then, click on the drop-down menu with “Settings” and change it to “Super Famicom.”

Paso 6: Open your application menu and start “Icarus”. This program is the ROM import tool for Higan. Once this program is open, select “Super Famicom” from the menu.

Then use Icarus to import all your ROM files to Higan.

Paso 7: Inside Higan, scroll down to ‘Cartridge Slot’. From there, check your list of imported ROM files. Choose one. Then click “Connect” to add the ROM to Higan.

Paso 8: Click on the “Super Famicom” menu button within Higan. Then click on the “Power” box to turn on the emulator. From here, you should start the SNES ROM of your choice.