FreezeSMS is primarily a SMS and Game Gear emulator although it is also a multi-platform emulator capable of emulating the NES, ColecoVision and SG1000. Since FreezeSMS has been awarded the Editor's Choice award for it's excellence in Game Gear and SMS emulation, the focus of this review will primarily be on those aspects of FreezeSMS.

        Upon installing FreezeSMS, the most noticeable feature about this emulator is it's robust XP-themed GUI, a big contrast to the old DOS-style GUIs from the days of old. The primary FreezeSMS GUI serves as an excellent file browser and ROM information center. FreezeSMS is capable of managing ROM information through "FRZ Files" which can contain everything from screenshots and reviews to walkthroughs and game enhancer codes. A very nice feature in the emulator is the ability to automatically download FRZ files without having manually located them on the FreezeSMS website, for any game that doesn't have a FRZ file on the user's machine, a link to download the appropriate FRZ file is provided directly in the emulator. As far as emulator GUIs are concerned, this is certainly the best I've seen in quite a long time.

        A major concern for many gamers is how much power is actually needed to run the emulator comfortably and how good compatibility is between the various versions of Windows. I'm happy to say that FreezeSMS will run on pretty much any system that can run Windows at a decent speed. Compatibility is also excellent; any copy of Windows that has DirectX 8.0 installed should have no trouble running this emulator.

        Video quality has always been the low point of all previous SMS and Game Gear emulators. The most common problem with video is that none of them offer (and implement well) the ability to put the emulator in full-screen and stretch the image to fit the entire screen. Most emulators provide a pseudo full-screen mode with either a black border or a very annoying ever-changing color border which takes up roughly 75% of the overall screen space. This is one category FreezeSMS truly excels in, not only is there an option to stretch the image at full screen, but there are also several display filters to help smooth the jagged edges of the image, triple buffering for liquid smooth motion and the ability to take the resolution up to XGA (1024x768). Another very interesting feature is the ability to render Game Gear games at SMS size, allowing much more of the playing field to be visible.

        The audio on FreezeSMS can be summed up in one word, "flawless." Almost all audio is emulated perfectly. There is also an option to boost the bass to give the audio in Game Gear titles a little more "oomph," a very useful feature for many Game Gear games (after all, they were meant to originally run on a mono speaker or headphones, not a 5.1 surround sound system).

        Aside from all of the afore mentioned items, FreezeSMS also boasts a nice selection of extras including a well-hidden netplay mode, full joystick support, and several built-in games. The netplay mode is currently only in it's early stages and is only possible with SMS titles and a high speed broadband or LAN connection. The built in games are certainly a nice aspect to this emulator, there are six of them in total including Alex Kidd and Sonic the Hedgehog 1.

        Aside from some very minor glitches, FreezeSMS is definitely the emulator of choice for Game Gear and SMS emulation gamers; however, NES, SG1000 and ColecoVision gamers may want to consider looking elsewhere.