The SNES core for MiSTer FPGA has been updated with save state support.
While save states are commonplace in software-based emulators, they're harder to execute on FPGA devices, which simulate performance on a hardware level. While some FPGA cores boast save states, they're usually ones for relatively low-level systems, like the NES and Game Boy.
Developer Paulb-nl says his solution "is done in a way that is more like how it would be done on real hardware like with an SD2SNES. It overrides the NMI interrupt and runs some code on the SNES to save the state."
It's not part of the 'stable' MiSTer distribution yet, but you can test it out if you wish. "You will need the attached SNES core and then load the savestates.bin file with "Load SS bin" before loading a game," adds the developer. "This only needs to be done once. Also, currently, the unstable Main is needed; otherwise, loading the bin file won't work."
We wrote not so long ago that the lack of save states is one of the key reasons why we're not ready to completely abandon software emulation – so this is really positive news.