In brief: The developers behind one of the most popular Super Nintendo emulators ever have created a new and improved version for the modern era. The aptly named Super ZSNES has been built from the ground up and uses GPU acceleration to deliver enhanced features not found in the original version.
Super ZSNES is said to utilize far more accurate CPU and audio cores compared to the original, on top of a GPU-powered PPU that enables hi-res Mode 7 and per-game enhancements. The new emulator additionally supports common components like save states, rewind / fast-forward, quick loads, bookmarks, and cheats codes, as well as a classic UI that has been modernized with an improved user experience.
The devs are also actively working on individual game enhancements, which they collectively refer to as the Super Enhancement Engine. Improvements that fall under this category include a higher resolution mode that leverages an internal drawing program for crisper images, texture map packs, support for wide-screen mode, uncompressed audio samples to replace highly compressed versions, and support for 3D on certain games that use perspective-style Mode 7.
Overclocking is also supported as a potential fix for titles that historically ran slow on original hardware. As of writing, only seven games have received the Super Enhancement Engine treatment, but more will be added over time.
Despite its modern feature set, Super ZSNES was created classically – meaning AI was not used to produce code.
Super ZSNES is available to download now for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. A version for Apple's iOS is coming soon, we are told.
Worth noting is the fact that this is an early build, so don't be surprised if you encounter a bug or two. The devs also haven't had time to add in support for special co-processor chips like the DSP-1 and Super FX, but it sounds like those will be coming in due time. As always, you'll need to provide your own ROMs as the program contains no copyrighted data.