Sega Saturn emulators: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 09:53, 26 June 2026
| |
| Model 2 from North America | |
| Manufacturer | Sega |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Fifth |
| Release date | JP: November 22, 1994 NA: May 11, 1995 EU: July 8, 1995 |
| Discontinued | EU: 1998 NA: March 1998 JP: 2000 |
| Predecessor | Sega Genesis |
| Successor | Dreamcast |
| Emulated | ✓ |
- For emulators that run on the Sega Saturn, see Emulators on Sega Saturn.
The Sega Saturn is a 32-bit, fifth-generation console released by Sega in Japan on November 22, 1994 and in the US on May 11, 1995. It was retailed for $399.99 ($869 in 2026). It had 2 Hitachi SH-2 CPUs at 28.6 MHz and it had the VDP1 GPU & VDP2 GPU. The arcade board, ST-V (Sega Titan Video), uses the same hardware except for sound, VRAM, and game storage (where it is stored on ROM cartridges with most games instead of CD-ROM discs).
The Sega Saturn has historically been one of the harder consoles to emulate due to its infamously difficult architecture consisting of 8 processors overall and use of quadrilaterals rather than triangles as polygons, resulting in a lack of good options. However, things are looking up for open-source emulators like Mednafen, and to a lesser extent, Yabause. Recently, a matchmaking service for Saturn has been established.
Emulators
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Yaba Sanshiro libretro core (yabasanshiro_libretro) is outdated, known for having many issues, and unmaintained. Use standalone version OR "yabause_libretro" or "mednafen_saturn_libretro" cores for RetroArch Saturn emulation.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Whether it is false positive or not,due to recent virus detections in the latest versions it is potentially risky for some computers to use. This emulator remains somewhat recommended especially for older hardware, though it may be avoided on recent hardware for these reasons.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Libretro core is still active.
- ↑ This list created by MAME dev Angelo 'Kale' Salese.
Comparisons
- Mednafen
- An open-source, multi-system emulator with an original Saturn core. It's currently the most accurate but runs from the command-line (obviously it'll have video output though) unless using an external frontend like Mednaffe or a libretro frontend like RetroArch. Its goal for accuracy means it only supports the BIOS of one console revision per region, and is also more demanding than any other Saturn emulator (other than MAME)[1]. By default, only x86-64 builds have Saturn support, but unofficial x86-64 builds and libretro frontends like RetroArch can surpass this limitation.
- SSF
- Used to be the emulator of choice for compatible Saturn emulation. However, it is closed-source and only for Windows and Android. Pretty good performance with low-end computers.
- City Connection uses SSF as part of Zebra Engine, the engine behind their Saturn Tribute releases, currently for Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC. Some games are altered with English translations (Assault Suit Leynos 2) or with censorship from CERO (Idol Janshi Suchie-Pai series).
- Yabause
- Used to be the first and only option for multi-platform Saturn emulation. It's far less developed than SSF and Mednafen and still has many compatibility issues. Development seems to have stopped, active forks are Libretro core, Kronos and Yaba Sanshiro 2.
- Yaba Sanshiro 2 (formerly uoYabause)
- A Multi-platform fork by DevMiyax using OpenGL ES 3.X (Android), and Open GL 3.X (Windows). Unlike other forks, it uses the GPU to emulate the VDP1, VDP2, and has a modified SH2 Dynamic Recompiler. It offers good out-of-the-box experience (easy setup and included frontend), but average accuracy.
- Kronos
- A fork of UoYabause 0.5.2 created by François (French dev. AKA 'FCare'.). Has his own written SH2 Interpreter, and now supports the ST-V arcade in version 1.30, and Higher (All ST-V games are launchable on Linux; most games are still problematic on Windows).
- Ymir
- An emerging emulator that focuses on ease of use and quickly catching up to established Saturn emulators.
- MAME
- Has a
saturndriver with compatibility on par with Yabause. The driver is marked overall as not working but graphics and sound are OK. It has good compatibility with at least around 50 of the ~70 ST-V arcade games, though performance quality may vary[2]. But versions 0.158[3]. (Jan 2015) to much later have made good advances in performance. Early known work on ST-V hardware emulation was done in various builds of 0.125, 0.133, 0.138, 0.142 & 0.143 (See prior builds) between 2008-2011. Even bug fixes and more graphical improvements were included in the years 2017-2018 (i.e. 0.191, 0.197 & 0.198).
- Nova
- An up-and-coming emulator still under heavy development focused on being fast, compatible, and user-friendly. Like SSF, it is closed-source and Windows only. From v0.2.1 onwards, it can now emulate the Sega Titan Video (ST-V) arcade hardware (e.g.
Guardian Force on ST-V in v0.2.2.).
- BizHawk
- An open-source, multi-system emulator designed for tool-assisted speedruns. Its Saturn core is based on Mednafen.
- Comparisons of several Saturn emulators
-
- A Deep Dive into the Sega Saturn and Saturn Emulation (By Dolphin tester, JMC47, AKA Justin M. Chadwick. 13 OCTOBER 2017. Tested emulators: Yabause & uoYabause, SSF (unofficial site), and Mednafen. Already outdated the next year by progress in the Kronos fork).
Enhancements
| Name | Mednafen | Ymir | Kronos | BizHawk | Yaba Sanshiro 2 | Nova | SSF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controls | Input lag mitigating | ? | ? | |||||
| Mouse injector | ✗ | ? | ||||||
| Turbo button | ? | ? | ||||||
| Graphics | Pre-rendering anti-aliasing (MSAA, SSAA) |
? | ✗ | |||||
| Resizable internal resolution | ✗ | ✗ | ||||||
| Texture replacement | ? | ✗ | ||||||
| Widescreen hack | ? | ✗ | ||||||
| Dithering / Transparent Mesh Polygon Rendering | ? | ✓ | ||||||
| Performance | Frame generation technologies (LSFG, DLSS-FG and SM, XeSS-FG, AFMF and FSR FG) |
Implementing frame generation technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future, however post-processing techniques such as motion interpolation is quite possible. Input latency will be a crucial factor, but its impact likely varies depending on the specific technique employed, it's recommended to use after applying the "Internal frame rate hack". While AFMF or LSFG could be used with Mednafen?, please be aware that some visual glitches and artifacts may occur at this time. | ||||||
| Internal frame rate hack | ? | ✗ | ||||||
| Overclock | ? | ✓ | ||||||
| Preload optical disc image to RAM For users with sluggish multi-platter HDDs or plagued by horrible seek times, this enhancement might offer smoother experience, potentially reduced power consumption; it also shines when disc images reside on a network drive. Although keep in mind that preloading image would take some time, and it will require additional amount of RAM capacity. |
✓* | ✓ | ||||||
| Post-processing | AI-powered filter (Freestyle) |
? | ✗ | |||||
| Deinterlacing / Progressive Scan Option to force progressive output for high-res (480i) titles to eliminate interlaced "combing" artifacts. |
~[lower-alpha 1] | ✓* | ||||||
| Filters | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ✗ | ||||||
| Inverse tone mapping compatible | ? | ? | ||||||
| Post-rendering anti-aliasing (FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA) |
? | ✗ | ||||||
| Post-rendering scaling (Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1) |
✓ | ? | ||||||
| Shader chain | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ✗* | ||||||
| Quality of life | Automatic emulated controller connect/disconnect Automatically connects or disconnects emulated controllers when a new or current controller is connected or disconnected. |
✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Automatic region switching | ? | ✓ | ||||||
| Automatic updater | ✓ | ~WIP | ||||||
| Big Picture Mode | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ✗ | ||||||
| Built-in cheat manager | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ✗ | ||||||
| Built-in custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes For using this on Windows OS you need CRT Emudriver. Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility". |
Exclusive to libretro cores and GroovyMAME at the moment. Also there is a project for achieving software emulators like libretro cores and GroovyMAME send the raw RGB data over a network to a core running on MiSTer, it basically turns the MiSTer into a GPU for the emulator allowing for easy setup and use with CRT TVs/Arcade monitors. | |||||||
| Built-in mod editor and manager | ✗ | ✗ | ||||||
| Built-in patch manager | ? | ✗ | ||||||
| Built-in save manager | ?[lower-alpha 3] | ✓ | ||||||
| Capable image format support | ✓ | ✓* | ||||||
| Command-line options | ? | ✓ | ||||||
| Pause/Resume emulation | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Per-game profiles | ? | ? | ||||||
| Portable and stealth Useful enhancement feature for non-personal computer use or plug-and-play scenarios. However, the software may still require the necessary prerequisites and dependencies for your operating system if it is not statically linked. |
✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Streamable compression format | ? | ✓ | ||||||
| Variable refresh rate | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ✓ | ||||||
| TAS features | Fast forward/Turbo speed | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Frame step (forwards and backwards) |
? | ✓ | ||||||
| Macros/Scripts/Lua | ? | ? | ||||||
| Movie recording/playback | ✓ | ? | ||||||
| Rewind | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Save states | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Misc. | Ambient sounds simulation Simulation of audio from original hardware and environments, such as mechanical hard drive, floppy diskette, and optical drive noises (e.g., head seeks, spin-up/down, tray loading, disc spinning, and clicking), variable CRT flyback transformer whine (the classic high-pitched "coil whine" that dynamically changes pitch based on screen brightness and content), arcade cabinet effects (e.g., fan hum or button rattles), and other background ambient noises. |
✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Audio filters and presets Simulation of characteristic playback limitations and coloration of vintage consumer audio hardware, such as CRT television speakers, arcade cabinets, handheld consoles, early PC sound outputs, and low-fidelity integrated speakers. These filters are not intended to be perfectly accurate recreations, but rather to evoke the tonal qualities, distortion, bandwidth limits, resonance, and compression associated with 8-bit and 16-bit era devices. Examples include mono or narrow stereo output, reduced frequency response, speaker cone distortion, mild saturation, aliasing, and preset lo-fi profiles inspired by classic TVs, portable game systems, radios, and retro multimedia hardware. |
Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment. | |||||||
| Debug features | ? | ✓ | ||||||
| EmuVR support | Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment. | |||||||
| Free Look Free Look is a enhancement feature that allows manipulation of the in-game camera. |
While freecam would be technically possible, it will require per-game patches. Said patches would require a significant amount of time to reverse the game's engine, which means that only someone talented with enough dedication to a single game could do it. | |||||||
| Netplay Should not be confused with Sega Net Link emulation, see hardware features and peripherals. |
✓ | ? | ||||||
| RetroAchievements | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ✗ | ||||||
| Rich Presence (RPC) Allows the emulator to share real-time game session details (e.g., current game title, level, boss, playtime, or custom status) with external applications. This enables features such as displaying what you're playing on your profile, inviting friends to spectate, or triggering join-in-progress functionality where supported. |
? | ? | ||||||
| Screen translator Using optical character recognition (OCR) and other techniques, this feature can provide live translation of in-game text, text-to-speech for visually impaired users, and more — either on demand or automatically. |
You can use RetroArch's AI Service or the standalone offline bquenin's Interpreter. | |||||||
- ↑ Mednafen outputs the raw interlaced output; requires external shaders/deinterlacers (like those in RetroArch) to fix combing on modern displays.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Exclusive to libretro core.
- ↑ You can always use Interactive shell emulation capability of the emulator to manage your game saves.
Hardware features and peripherals
| Name | Mednafen | Ymir | Kronos | BizHawk | Yaba Sanshiro 2 | Nova | SSF | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware features | CD player | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ||||
| System BIOS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Peripherals | Cartridge slot | Backup memory | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Extended RAM cartridge 1MB and 4MB versions, some games won't work with a certain size. |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Modem | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| NetLink and XBAND Sega Saturn Net Link is an attachment for the Sega Saturn game console to provide Saturn users with internet access and access to email through their console using XBAND. |
✗[lower-alpha 1] | ~[lower-alpha 2] | ~* | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Twin Advanced ROM System Only two official games made use of it; new aftermarket games for the system started to be sold in this format since late 2026. |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |||||
| Controller port | 6Player & SBom Multitap | ✓* | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| 3D Control Pad | ✓* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Arcade Racer | ✓* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Densha de Go! Controller | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||||
| Dual Mission Stick | ✓* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | |||||
| Hori ZeroTech SS | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||||
| Light gun | Real Arcade Light Gun | ?* | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ||||
| Virtua Gun/Stunner | ✓* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Mission Stick | ✓* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| NetLink keyboard | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Saturn keyboard | ~*[lower-alpha 3] | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |||||
| SBom Joycard | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Shuttle/NetLink Mouse | ✓* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Twin Stick | ~[lower-alpha 4]* | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Floppy disk drive A handful of games can communicate directly with the floppy drive, such as Panzer Dragoon Saga and Dezaemon 2's shooter construction kit. |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |||||
| Microphone for Voice Word Sample | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||||
| Hitachi Karaoke Unit MKU-1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |||||
| Movie Card Video CD Card |
✗* | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~* | |||||
| Printer Canon BJC-210J for EGWORD | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Taisen cable | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||
| Unlicensed | Pro Action Replay | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ||||
| Misc. | Power light | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ||||
- ↑ Reserved section for titles need future modem support.
- ↑ Currently stubbed
- ↑ Not available on RetroArch.
- ↑ RetroArch only.
Interactive shell
placeholder text
CD Player
Sega Saturn supports CD-ROM discs. Also supports Audio CD, CD+G and Photo CDs. You need #Video CD Card for VCDs. On top of that, later revisions of the Video CD Card negate the need for "Photo CD Operating System" disc software by giving the Saturn native Photo CD support.
- See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.
- See Ripping games.
- See "Emulation of the Disc Drive" section in Copy protection page.
Video CD Card
Also called the Movie Card in Japan - allows Saturn to play Photo CDs, Video CDs (VCDs) and also hardware playback of MPEG-1 (version 1) video in certain games, leading to higher quality FMV for use in cutscenes (and occasionally, gameplay) (similarly to the Philips CD-i's Digital Video Cartridge). Later revisions of the Video CD Card negate the need for Photo CD Operator software by giving the Saturn native Photo CD support.
- See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.
Taisen Cable
The Taisen Cable is a peripheral which allows two Sega Saturns to connect to each other. It can be seen as a console equivalent to serial networking usually found with computers, where systems are all linked together within a small area. The official Sega-branded Taisen Cable was only released in Japan, however third-party alternatives were released in other territories and a number of non-Japanese games support the device.
Sega Titan Video
Mednafen version 1.31.0 added experimental support for ST-V games that don't require decryption chips or special hardware. Refer to the ST-V section of the official documentation for more details and a list of explicitly supported games.
- MAME 0.289 version is currently one of the best emulator for ST-V emulation but still "Imperfect".
- Mednafen ST-V compatibility list
Game-specific features
| Name | Mednafen | Ymir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Analog Devices DSP processor board Used by Batman Forever. |
✗ | ✗ | |
| All game media formats There were 4: Cartridge (standard), ROM board (Sports Fishing, Batman Forever), CD-ROM (Sport Fishing 2), LaserDisc (Sports Fishing) |
✗ | ✗ | |
| Control decks 3 different Mahjong controllers: for Pro Mahjong Kiwame S, Virtual Mahjong, Hanafuda. Critter Crusher has whack-a-mole controller. Super Major League has hard-to-configure controls with multiple functions per button. Sega Titan Video Manual.pdf ST-V's manual also mentions light gun, V.R., Dial and Control Ball and others. Please specify if you have more info. |
✗ | ✗ | |
| Misc. analog input devices ST-V's promotional material mentions support for steering wheel, brake/accelerator, airplane controller, multiple joysticks. |
✗ | ✗ | |
| Sport Fishing 2 Features its own cabinet and custom board (as of 0.254, not emulated in MAME at all). |
✗ | ✗ | |
Emulator development
- This section was copied from Wikipedia in 2014. For an up-to-date explanation, see Sega Saturn § Technical specifications
The complexity of the system has made the creation of a proper emulator for it rather difficult.
One very fast central processor would be preferable. I don't think all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs — most can only get about one-and-a-half times the speed you can get from one SH-2. I think that only 1 in 100 programmers are good enough to get this kind of speed [nearly double] out of the Saturn. "Yu Suzuki reflecting upon Saturn's Virtua Fighter development[4].
The Saturn had technically impressive hardware at the time of its release, but its complex design, with two CPUs and six other processors, made harnessing this power difficult for developers accustomed to conventional programming. The biggest disadvantage was that both CPUs shared the same bus and were unable to access system memory at the same time. Making full use of the 4 kB of cache memory in each CPU was critical to maintaining performance. One example of how the Saturn was utilized was with Virtua Fighter's use of one CPU for each character[4]. Many of the Saturn's developers, such as Lobotomy Software programmer Ezra Dreisbach, found it difficult to develop for compared to the PlayStation because of its more complex graphics hardware[5]. In order to port Duke Nukem 3D and PowerSlave to the Saturn, Lobotomy Software had to almost entirely rewrite the Build engine to take advantage of the Saturn's unconventional hardware[5]. Third-party development was initially hindered by the lack of useful software libraries and development tools, requiring developers to write in assembly language to achieve good performance. During early Saturn development, programming in assembly could offer a two to fivefold speed increase over C language[4]. Sega responded to these criticisms by writing new graphics libraries which were claimed to help make development easier[6]. These libraries were presented as a new operating system by Sega of Japan[6].
Unlike the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 which used triangles as their basic geometric primitive, the Saturn rendered quadrilaterals with forward texture mapping. This proved to be a hindrance because most of the industry's standard design tools were based on triangles, with independent texture UV coordinates specified per vertex. One of the challenges brought forth by quadrilateral-based rendering was problems with textured surfaces containing triangles. To make a triangular-shaped object, rendering had a fourth side with a length of zero. This technique proved problematic as it caused texture distortion and required careful reworking to achieve the desired appearance—Sega provided tools for remapping textures from UV space into rectangular tiles. These complications can be seen in the Saturn version of Tomb Raider[5].
For more information about Sega Saturn hardware and its reverse engineering;
- Rodrigo Copetti: Sega Saturn Architecture analysis
- MVG: How the SEGA Saturn CD Security was defeated
- PSDevWiki: PS4's Sega Saturn Emulation
- LGR: Oddware - Diamond Edge 3D (nVidia NV1+Sega Saturn Ports)
- yabasanshiro blog: new vdp2 emulation
Resources
- Graphics comparison table (for Saturn as opposed to PS1, N64, Sega Model 2 arcade hardware and 1995-era PC)
- More leaked, official documentation (Only that this time there are some that include for Sega Genesis, its CD add-on, and documentation on how the Sega Saturn CD Communication Interface works, and how its Boot ROM works Source)
References
- ↑ https://mednafen.github.io/documentation/ss.html
- ↑ Sega ST-V Arcade Games A to Z - M.A.M.E.
- ↑ Touryuu Densetsu Elan Doree - New Improvements on ST-V Hardware - MAME 0.158
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Next Generation (magazine) issue 2, 1995
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Interview: Ezra Dreisbach. Curmudgeon Gamer (July 9, 2002)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 So many 32-Bit Systems To Choose From Next Generation (magazine) issue 12, 1995
