Emulator pFBN

Systems: arcade — Neo Geo, CPS-1/2/3, and hundreds more (fbneo, neo-geo, arcade) · Runs as: homebrew NRO · Get it: GameBrew page / Cpasjuste's pEMU releases

pFBN is Cpasjuste's Switch port of Final Burn Neo, the go-to arcade emulator for Neo Geo and Capcom (CPS) boards, with side support for several consoles. It's part of the same pEMU family as pSNES / pNES, so the three look and configure alike.

Arcade emulation has one rule that trips everyone: romsets are version-locked. Read the romset section before blaming the emulator.

Install

1. Download the Switch build and extract it so the app lives at sd:/switch/pfbn/ (pfbn.nro plus its data files).
2. Default ROM location is sd:/switch/pfbn/roms/, with one subfolder per supported system (Arcade, Neo Geo, NES, Master System, PC Engine, ...).
3. Launch from the homebrew menu; the game list shows what it found (missing/incomplete sets are flagged).

Point it at your HaulNX library

HaulNX's fbneo, neo-geo, and arcade folders hold exactly the kind of zipped sets pFBN wants. Two ways to connect them:

• Change pFBN's ROM path — recent pEMU builds let you edit the per-system ROM folder in the options menu (or in the pfbn.cfg config file in its folder). Point the arcade/Neo Geo entries at sd:/roms/fbneo and sd:/roms/neo-geo.
• Or just copy the zips from sd:/roms/<folder> into sd:/switch/pfbn/roms/<system>/ — HaulNX's file browser (Settings › Manage data) can do it on-console.

Rescan the game list from pFBN's menu after files change.

Romsets: the part that actually matters

• FBNeo only accepts romsets built for its own version. A set that works in MAME, or in an older/newer FBNeo, will show as incomplete or won't run. When downloading, prefer collections explicitly labeled FBNeo (that's what HaulNX's fbneo folder name is hinting at).
• Never unzip, rename, or "clean up" arcade zips. The zip is the romset — file names and checksums inside are what get verified.
• Neo Geo games additionally need the BIOS set neogeo.zip sitting in the same folder as the games.
• Clone sets (e.g. sfa3u.zip) often require their parent (sfa3.zip) in the same folder — if a game won't launch, fetch its parent set too.

Tips

• Vertical (TATE) shmups, per-game button remaps, and screen-rotation options are all in the in-game menu.
• If a game is flagged missing but you're sure you have it, it's almost always a romset-version mismatch — not a corrupt download.