BizHawk is a free multi-system emulator for Windows and Linux, with EmuHawk providing recording, playback, and debugging tools aimed at Tool-Assisted Speedrunners. Listed systems include 3DO, Apple II, arcade machines, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, Sega, and PlayStation consoles. Users can save in 10 hotkey-accessible slots or create unlimited named savestates. Playback tools include speed control, frame stepping, and rewind. EmuHawk can record input as TAS movies and capture screenshots, audio, and video to files. Its debugging tools view, search, and edit memory across emulated hardware components. Lua or C#.NET can control the core and frontend programmatically. Keyboard, mouse, and gamepad hotkeys are rebindable, and an input mapper supports emulated gamepads and peripherals. The Linux version omits Mupen64Plus for N64 and targets x86_64 CPUs. Current BizHawk is unavailable on Android and iOS, while macOS support is limited to older releases or technical workarounds. The project recommends stable releases when stability matters. EmuHawk and DiscoHawk use the MIT License, but not all files included with releases may be freely shared.
Who it is for
BizHawk is aimed at Tool-Assisted Speedrunners who need emulator recording, playback, or debugging tools. It is intended for Windows and Linux users.
What is good
- Supports a broad list of console and computer systems.
- Offers unlimited named savestates.
- Includes frame stepping and rewind.
- Can record TAS movies and capture media files.
- Provides memory viewing, searching, and editing.
What to know first
- Linux omits the Mupen64Plus core for N64.
- Targets x86_64 CPUs.
- Unavailable on Android and iOS.
- macOS support is limited to older releases or workarounds.
Verdict
BizHawk combines multi-system emulation with recording and debugging features for speedrunning workflows. Check the Linux core gap, platform availability, and release-file licensing caveat before choosing it.
BizHawk plans and pricing
All plansCompared on TurboGrafx-16 emulators
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported platforms
- Windows, Linux
- Cheat support
- Yes
