# Santa Fighter vs ArcEmu

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Santa Fighter at none against ArcEmu's 10. Santa Fighter also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). ArcEmu's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 70). On price, rating, review sentiment and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. ArcEmu sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Santa Fighter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ArcEmu holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ArcEmu has 1.3K ratings behind it against 70, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Santa Fighter's written reviews are positive against 95% of ArcEmu's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Santa Fighter ships an update every 2 days, ArcEmu every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Santa Fighter | ArcEmu |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (70 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santa-fighter/id6473976287/reviews) | **[4.9 (1.3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arcemu/id6496282733/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 70 | **1.3K** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 94.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 days** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | **Free** |
| Size | 17 MB | 234 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 16.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Andrew Baxter](https://appshunter.io/developer/978404720) | [Raffaele D'Amato](https://appshunter.io/developer/529947655) |

## What reviewers say

### Santa Fighter

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santa-fighter/id6473976287)

Engage in festive combat with Santas battling at the North Pole. Experience a chaotic and epic Christmas showdown.

**Highlights:** Santa battles, Christmas chaos, North Pole showdown, Festive combat

**In-app purchases:** none


### ArcEmu

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arcemu/id6496282733)

Experience retro gaming on your Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. This emulator supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. Enjoy features like multiplayer, cheats, and customizable controls.

**Highlights:** Game Boy, GBC, GBA emulation, Multiplayer support, Cheat codes, Customizable on-screen controls, Save State sharing, iCloud support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Game Controller support, Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock All (Upgrade 4) | $0.99 | one-time |
| Game Boy Advance | $0.99 | one-time |
| SNES | $0.99 | one-time |
| Pokémon Mini | $0.99 | one-time |
| Atari 2600 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Mega Drive / Genesis | $0.99 | one-time |
| Game Gear | $0.99 | one-time |
| Master System | $0.99 | one-time |
| SG-1000 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Unlock All (Upgrade 3) | $1.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fully functional
- 🚀 Impressive emulation on Apple Watch
- 👍 Great emulator for both phone and watch
- 👍 Seamless save state transfer between devices
- 👍 Customizable controls and layout

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Compatibility issues with some games
- 🐛 Audio quality problems on certain games
- 👎 Limited functionality on Apple Watch
- 👎 Difficult controls for action-heavy games on watch

**Reported bugs**

- Occasional crashes
- Graphical glitches with certain ROMs
- Save data not transferring properly between devices

**Requested features**

- Add cheat/GameShark support
- Improve volume controls
- Implement fast forward/slow motion options
- Allow multiple save slots per game
- Improve Game Boy Color support


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Santa Fighter free?

Santa Fighter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is ArcEmu free?

ArcEmu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Santa Fighter or ArcEmu?

ArcEmu is rated higher. Santa Fighter averages 4.7 out of 5 from 70 ratings, while ArcEmu averages 4.9 from 1.3K ratings.

### Do Santa Fighter or ArcEmu have ads?

Santa Fighter shows ads; ArcEmu does not.

### Which is updated more often, Santa Fighter or ArcEmu?

Santa Fighter ships an update every 2 days, and ArcEmu every 2 weeks. Most recently, Santa Fighter was updated on October 21, 2026 and ArcEmu on October 27, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*