SG-1000 emulators

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Sega SG-1000
Sega-SG-1000-Console-Set.png
Developer Sega
Type Home video game console, Home computer
Generation Third generation
Release date 1983 (SG-1000, SC-3000)
1984 (SG-1000 II)
Discontinued 1984 (SG-1000)
1985 (SG-1000 II)
Successor Mark III / Master System
Emulated

The SG-1000, also known as Sega Game 1000, was a third-generation 8-bit home video game console released by Sega on July 15, 1983, and had a Zilog Z80 CPU at 3.58 MHz with 1 KB of RAM. This system marked Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. The SG-1000 didn't see much success in its home country, mostly due to competition from the technically superior Famicom. It did, however, enjoy a brief period of popularity in Taiwan before the latter market was inundated by unlicensed Family Computer clones.

Sega's use of off-the-shelf components in developing the console, which was also shared with the ColecoVision, led to at least one unauthorized clone of the SG-1000, manufactured and sold by Taiwan-based Bit Corporation as the Dina 2-in-1. Indeed, the Dina had support for SG-1000 games and ColecoVision titles to a certain extent.

The SC-3000 (also known as Sega Computer 3000) was its home computer counterpart and has a built-in keyboard.

Emulators[edit]

Name Platform(s) Latest version Arcade
variant
SC-3000 SF-7000 Accessories Retro
Achievements
Netplay License Active Recommended
PC / x86
MasterGear Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 4.9.3 ? Proprietary
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD git artifacts[N 1]
0.272
libretro core[N 2]
* ? GPLv2
BSD-3-Clause
BizHawk Windows 2.10-rc2 [N 3] ? * MIT
GPL
ares Windows Linux macOS v141 ~[N 4] ? roadmap ISC (Permissive)
Genesis Plus GX Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD * libretro core ~ ~[N 5] MAME license (Non-commercial) ~
Kega Fusion Windows Linux macOS 3.64 ~ Proprietary ~
Gearsystem Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD libretro core
3.5.0
? GPLv3 (Copyleft) ~
blueMSX Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD ** libretro core
2.8.2
? GPLv2 (Copyleft) ~[N 6] ~
MEKA Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.8-alpha (2023-08-26) ~ Non-commercial ~
Snepulator Windows Linux git ~ MIT (Permissive) TBD
FinalBurn Neo Windows Linux macOS Stable
WIP builds
libretro core
? ~[N 5] Non-commercial
higan (火眼) Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD v110 ~ ? GPLv3 (Copyleft) [N 7]
vdmgr Windows 0.2.6 ~ ? Proprietary
DarcNES Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 9b0401/9b0313 ~ ? Non-commercial
CLK Linux macOS FreeBSD 2024-10-19 ? MIT (Permissive)
Retro Virtual Machine Windows Linux macOS 2.1.18 ? Proprietary TBD
CoolCV Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.6.9 ? Proprietary
TwoMbit Windows Linux macOS 1.0.5 ? GPLv3 (Copyleft)
FreezeSMS Windows 4.6 ? Proprietary
Essgee Windows git ? MIT (Permissive)
RetroCopy Windows Linux 0.960
1.00 Beta 5
? ? Proprietary
Mobile / ARM
Snepulator Android v24.05 (Snepulator MS)

v24.05 (Snepulator SG) git

? ~ MIT (Permissive)
MasterGear Android 4.9.3 ? Proprietary
Genesis Plus GX Android iOS * libretro core ~ ~[N 5] Non-commercial ~
blueMSX Android iOS ** libretro core ? GPLv2 (Copyleft) ~[N 6] ~
GearMasterPlayer Android 1.0.5 ? Proprietary ~
FinalBurn Neo Android iOS Stable
WIP builds
libretro core
? ~[N 5] Non-commercial
MEKA Android git20191218 ~ Non-commercial
Consoles
Genesis Plus GX GameCube Wii 1.19.1
1.7.5 RC1
~ ~[N 5] Non-commercial
S8DS Nintendo DS 0.7 ? ? ?
SMS Plus GX GameCube Wii Dreamcast 1.19.1
r64 0.2b (DC)
? ? ? GPLv2 (Copyleft) ~
  1. CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos
  2. As 0.251, 0.139 (2010), 0.78 (2003), 0.37b5 (2000)
  3. Possible with BizHawk's MAME core.
  4. Runs two of the three games supported by MAME
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Libretro core supports netplay.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Libretro core is still active.
  7. Superseded by ares

*Only available on PC as a libretro core (e.g., RetroArch).

**Only available outside of Windows as a libretro core (e.g., RetroArch).

Accessories[edit]

Name Genesis Plus GX Kega Fusion Snepulator MEKA BlastEm PicoDrive
Sega Graphic Board ? ? ?
Keyboard ? ? ?
Floppy Disk Drive ? ? ? ?
System Converter ? ? ? ?
HyperShot
Data Recorder SR-1000 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Bike Handle

Sega Graphic Board[edit]

Also known as Terebi Oekaki. Includes a graphic board attached to a cartridge. Can be used on SG-1000, SC-3000, Sega Mark III, and Japanese / Korean models of Master System. Another version made for the International Master System models was planned to be released.

MEKA supports both variants of the Graphic Boards.

Keyboard[edit]

Named Sega Keyboard SK-1100. It essentially adds some of the missing features of the SC-3000 to an SG-1000 or Sega Mark III. It is not compatible with the Japanese / Korean models of Master System due to pinout differences in their respective expansion ports.

Kega Fusion, Meka, and MAME support this keyboard.

Othello Keyboard[edit]

A built-in keyboard found in Othello Multivision, an SG-1000 clone from Tsukuda Original. It is solely used to play the Othello variant of the game used as a BIOS. It cannot be used with the stand-alone version of Othello for SG-1000, which was distributed as a common cartridge.

Meka and MAME support this special keyboard.

Floppy Disk Drive[edit]

Known as Super Control Station SF-7000. Allows the SC-3000 to use 3" (proprietary format) floppy disks manufactured by Sega. Not widely popular due to their high retail price (¥79,800). It also includes its own IPL (BIOS), as the SC-3000 does not include any kind of built-in software, unlike MSX computers.

MEKA, Kega Fusion, and MAME support reading disk images, although is unknown if they allow data writing to them.

HyperShot[edit]

Cross-compatible two-button controller manufactured by Konami to be used in any piece of hardware that uses DE-9 ports. On SG-1000, it is used with Hyper Sports, although it can be used with the bootleg conversions of Hyper Olympic / Sports games from MSX1 on Sega Mark III / Master System.

Data Recorder SR-1000[edit]

Datacorder that allows common cassette tapes to be read and written with the BASIC software from SG-1000 or SC-3000. On SG-1000 (or Sega Mark III), the presence of a SK-1100 is required. On standard SG-1000 games, it can be used on:

  • C-So!
  • Championship Lode Runner
  • Lode Runner

MAME supports reading and writing cassette tape images. blueMSX also had planned tape support for their SC-3000 driver as well.

Modem[edit]

A modem used for SC-3000 manufactured by John Sands, released only in Australia. It allows a special software named SegaCom to be connected to the Internet through dial-up. The modem connects itself in the cartridge port, in the same vein as connecting a Model 2 Sega CD to a Sega Genesis.

No known emulator supports this, and the SegaCom ROM is not dumped.

Handle Controller & Bike Handle[edit]

Known as SR-400 and BH-400, both are driving controllers compatible with the following games:

  • GP World
  • Hang-On II
  • Monaco GP
  • Safari Race
  • Zippy Race
  • Zoom 909

No emulators support these controllers for now.

RAM Adapter[edit]

An 8KB RAM Adapter to be used in SG-1000, sold only in Taiwan without a license from Sega. It allows certain MSX1 conversions to be played on the system.

Genesis Plus GX, MEKA, and MAME do support this accessory as a form of cartridge mapper.

Arcade[edit]

Sega also used the SG-1000 hardware to run Arcade games. Here's a known list of Arcade games:

  • Champion Boxing
  • Champion Pro Wrestling
  • Doki Doki Penguin Land
  • Super Derby
  • Super Derby II

The first three games are pretty much the same as their SG-1000 counterparts, but Super Derby and Super Derby II are special medal-type games intended to be used with 1-9 players. MAME features full support for the common SG-1000 Arcade games, but for the Derby ones, it is still preliminary.

Dreamcast logo.png
Consoles: SG-1000Master SystemGenesis / Mega DriveCD32XPicoSaturnDreamcast
Handhelds: Game GearVMU / VMS
Arcade: System seriesModel 1Model 2Model 3NAOMI