Dreamcast emulators

Dreamcast

North American Dreamcast with controller and VMU
Manufacturer	Sega
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Sixth
Release date	JP: November 27, 1998 NA: September 9, 1999 EU: October 14, 1999 AU: November 30, 1999
Discontinued	WW: March 31, 2001
Predecessor	Sega Saturn
Emulated	✓

For emulators that run on the Dreamcast, see Emulators on Dreamcast.

The Dreamcast is a sixth-generation console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan and later on September 9, 1999, in NA. It retailed for $199.99 ($387 in 2026).

To go more in-depth, it had a Hitachi SH-4 RISC CPU at 200 MHz with 16 MBs of RAM and 8 MBs of VRAM. Additionally, on the graphic side, the console came with a PowerVR2 GPU at 100 MHz, which theoretically was capable of pushing 3 million polygons/second on-screen. The audio system had 2 MBs of audio RAM, which complemented a powerful 67 MHz Yamaha AICA sound processor with a 32-bit ARM7 RISC CPU core. The audio chip could generate 64 voices with PCM or ADPCM codec and provided ten times the performance of the Saturn's sound system.

Also, Microsoft collaborated on the Dreamcast's development, and this partnership would continue later with the Xbox. What came out of this was the possibility for games to be developed for an optimized version of Windows CE (with DirectX) on each disc. However, Windows CE wasn't mandatory to use, and most developers opted for SEGA's development tools instead out of convenience.

In the same year of Dreamcast's launch, SEGA released the NAOMI, an arcade system board with components similar to the Dreamcast. Sammy's Atomiswave arcade board was also based on the Dreamcast and NAOMI.

A few years later, a successor of the NAOMI board was released in 2001, called NAOMI 2. It was a bit more powerful than its predecessor, having one more Hitachi SH-4 CPU and another PowerVR 2 GPU. Only 13 titles were released for this board.

Emulators

Comparisons

nullDC

Can run a lot of games at great speed on a mid-ranged PC, and it's open-source. However, the more recent forks have improved upon it. It had been long inactive but has since then been revived in 2025, incorporating from Reicast.

reicast

Eventually, nullDC's author forked his own project into reicast, with the main objective to widen platform availability to smartphones and tablets. While wider availability is generally a good thing, this resulted in cutting accuracy corners from the nullDC codebase to achieve the speed goals necessary to run on these platforms. Advancements in mobile hardware should have led to the removal of such "hacks"; however, lack of developer resources and interest led to long delays in Reicast development, and the codebase remained virtually untouched for years before the RetroArch team began working with it as part of a "Reicast core", later named Flycast.

Flycast

Fork of reicast available as a standalone emulator and as a libretro core. Libretro collaborators, primarily flyinghead, dramatically improved Reicast in areas such as graphics, input, system clock, and Dreamcast VM. Atomiswave and NAOMI SH-4-based arcade systems have also been added to great fanfare, along with full MMU support, which is needed to run Windows CE-based games such as Armada, Half-Life, and SEGA Rally Championship 2. It has recently been tackled through an experimental branch (anyone following Dreamcast emulation over the years understands what a tough nut this is to crack). Aside from some audio stuttering issues in games such as "Looney Toons Space Race" and "Resident Evil: Code Veronica", this is a highly compatible and accurate emulator.

Recently, due to persistent harassment from an iOS user, support for the iOS platform has been dropped and all release builds were deleted on June 6, 2025. You can still use libretro core (or even compile an iOS build manually if you're tech-savvy enough since the author hasn't removed iOS support from the codebase but merely disabled autogeneration of artifacts) though but some users have managed to archive the latest stable version (v2.5) of the standalone iOS version. It includes DCNet, an online multiplayer service.

Flycast Dojo

Fork of Flycast with a focus on netplay features and replay. Also, available on the Fightcade matchmaking service.

redream

Multi-platform and easy to use, but it's closed-source. It has a good user interface, is easy to set up, and can run without a BIOS. Runs on low-end devices provided that they support OpenGL 3.1. There's a payware premium version that provides high-definition rendering and additional slots for save states. The emulator works unstably on AMD GPUs with an actual driver version. Recently, redream developer "inolen" implemented an LLE video renderer that utilizes a compute shader (similar to other compute shader renderers) that allows low-level graphics emulation to be run on the GPU. This can provide acceptable performance to those who want more of an accurate experience with some decent GPU to handle it comfortably. Since using a computer shader will net you some massive performance benefits, it could also allow you to upscaling/downscaling in the same manner that parallels-rdp which can be a lot of fun too. See redream discord channel for more information.

DEmul

Windows-only and closed-source. Used to be the go-to emulator. It supports Windows CE games, but they generally run worse than standard Dreamcast titles. It's also more resource-intensive than other emulators. As of 2025, you´re better off with Flycast or redream for Dreamcast emulation as they are multi-platform and have higher compatibility with Windows CE games. Having said that, DEmul is still highly recommended for SEGA NAOMI and variants and it's been revived in December 2025.

Deecy

Open-source Dreamcast emulator written in Zig by Senryoku. Still experimental, but compatibility is already strong and improving rapidly thanks to frequent development updates.

Makaron

A closed-source Dreamcast emulator that was once noteworthy for being one of the two, along with Demul, that could properly play Windows CE games. It has since been superseded by newer emulators.

Enhancements

Please only include recommended emulators in this table. Do not bump or spam GitHub threads, issues, or feature request pages.

Name		Flycast	redream	Deecy
Controls	Disguise peripheral support through passthrough Tricking the software into thinking that the original controller was connected even though they identify themselves with different device IDs. When a game tries to identify a connected 'nearly the same internally' controller, emulator will tell it that the equivalent original controller is connected instead, allowing it to work.	?	?	?
	Input lag mitigating	✗	✗	?
	Mouse injector	✗	✗	?
	Real peripheral support (passthrough) Ability to passthrough USB HID devices or Bluetooth adapter for emulated system.	✓	?	?
	Turbo button	~	?	?
Graphics	Better texture filtering Enhancement option for providing better texture filtering methods comparing the original hardware had.	?	?	?
	Pre-rendering anti-aliasing (SSAA, MSAA)	✓	?	?
	Ray tracing (DXR, VRT and MRT)	Implementing ray tracing in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. However you can try "Screen-Space Ray Traced Global Illumination" shader using ReShade. See here and here
	Resizable internal resolution	✓	✓	?
	Super-resolution techniques (DLSS, XeSS, and FSR 2+)	Requires access to the depth buffer and temporal data like motion-vectors so it's quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. Besides any GPU that can use DLSS can run these emulators at 8k native with ease anyway.
	Texture replacement	✓	?	?
	Widescreen hack	✓	✓	?
Performance	FPU Cycle Accuracy	✗	✗	✗
	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 Framerate Hack". While AFMF or LSFG could be used with Flycast?, 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)	?	?	?
	Filters	~	✗	?
	Inverse tone mapping compatible	?	?	?
	Post-rendering anti-aliasing (FXAA, TXAA, and MLAA/SMAA)	~	✗	?
	Post-rendering scaling (Sharp bilinear, Lanczos, and FSR 1)	✓	?	?
	Shader chain	~	✗	?
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	~	✗	?
	Big Picture Mode	~	?	?
	Built-in cheat manager	✓	✓	?
	Built-in custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes For using this on Windows, 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	? You can always use Interactive shell emulation capability of the emulator to manage your game saves.	✓	?
	Command-line options	✓	✓	?
	On-screen display Showcases messages, controller input state which is useful for speedrunners, performance data, active settings, and various notifications.	~	?	?
	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	?	?	?
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	~ Both the Flycast standalone version and the libretro core offer limited debugging options.	?	?
	EmuVR support	Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment.
	File browser Lets the user look at the ROM's internal files.	✗	✗	?
	Free Look Free Look is an enhancement feature that allows manipulation of the in-game camera.	The free camera has to be hacked in the game code directly. You can use debug menu for certain games to use Free Look.
	RetroAchievements	✓	✗	?
	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.

Hardware features and peripherals

Please only include recommended emulators in this table. Do not bump or spam GitHub threads, issues, or feature request pages.

Name				Flycast	Redream	Deecy	DEmul
Hardware features	GD-ROM drive			~	?	?	?
	Order-independent transparency (OIT)			✓	✓	?	~
	System BIOS			✓	✓	✓	✓
	Windows CE			✓	✓	~	✓
Peripherals	Controller attachments	Microphone		✓	✗	✓	✓
		Vibration Pack (Jump Pack)		✓ Do not set the device port to "all" if you want it to work! Also works with laptop trackpads if they have haptics.	✓	✓	✓
		VMS		✗	✗	✗	✓
		VMU	Basic support	✓	✓	✓	✓
			On-screen LCD	✓	✓	✓	✓
			Sound	✓	✗	✓	~
	Controller port	Arcade stick		✓	✗	✗	✗
		ASCII Mission Stick		✗	✗	✗	✗
		Dance Dance Revolution dance mat		✗	✗	✗	✗
		Densha de Go! controller		✓	✗	✗	✗
		Dreameye		✗	✗	✗	✗
		DreamPicoPort		✓	✗	✓	✗
		Fishing controller		✓	✗	✗	✗
		Keyboard		✓	✓	✓	✓
		Light gun		✓	✓	✗	✓
		MIDI interface cable		✗	✗	✗	✗
		Mouse		✓	✗	✗	✓
		Panther DC/Full controller (Trackball/Right stick, Z, C, and D buttons, and second d-pad)		✓	✗	~ Right Stick only.	✓
		Pop'n Music controller		✓	✗	✗	✗
		Race controller		✓	✗	✗	✗
		Samba de Amigo maracas controller		✓	✗	✗	✗
		Setsuzoku cable (Neo Geo Pocket (Color) connectivity)		✗	✗	✗	✗
		Standard controller		✓	✓	✗	✗
		Twin stick		✓	✗	✗	✗
	Expansion port	Broadband adapter		✓	✗	✗	✗
		Karaoke		✗	✗	✗	✗
		Modem		✓	✗	✗	✗
		ZIP drive		✗	✗	✗	✗
	Unlicensed	DreamParaPara controller		✓	✗	✗	✗
		GameShark		✗	✗	✗	✗
	VGA			✓	✓	✓	✓
	VS Cable			✓	✗	✗	✗
Misc.	Dolby Surround			?	?	?	?
	Expansion sockets	Extra expansion sockets		~ Only for the fishing controller, which the Vibration Pack is at the fifth expansion socket.	✗	✗	✓
		No controller-specific restrictions		✗	✗	✓	✓
	ISP settings			~ Username only.	✗	✗	✗
	On-the-fly output handling	VGA flag check handling		?	?	?	?
		RGB output handling		?	?	?	?
	Power light			✗	✗	✗	✗
	Race controller expansion port			✗	✗	✗	✗
	Touchscreen			✓	?	?	~

VMU

While Flycast, redream and DEmul emulators can leverage the screen of the VMU while the game is running, none of them allow you to play the standalone minigames developed for it (other than MAME, but it has no interconnect support). If that's what you're after, then you should probably be looking at VMU emulators instead. Note: DreamPotato connectivity is implemented in Flycast.

Several titles for the Dreamcast included mini-games that could be downloaded onto a VMU. The Sonic Adventure series, for instance, included the Chao Adventure mini-game. In the game players could transfer Chao eggs to the VMU and play to increase the stats of their hatched Chao, whereupon they could upload their improved Chao back into the Dreamcast game.

• Dreamcast titles that include VMU games and extra features
• VM incompatible Dreamcast games
• See also Sega VMU emulators#Hardware features

Taisen Cable

The Taisen Cable is used for hooking up two consoles for Serial play. This was only released in Japan and very few games support it.

Taisen Netplay tunneling script lets you experience Serial play online.

Setsuzoku Cable

Connects Dreamcast unit via its serial port to NGPC unit for data transfer and possible unlocking bonus in-game content on both sides. While mistakenly oft-thought to be a Japan-only accessory, some small stock of American cables actually had been released right before SNK filed for bankruptcy, making the US version extremely rare to encounter in the wild. Its photos can be found here.

Arcade variants

Main article: NAOMI and variants

(WIP)

NAOMI

The NAOMI had a Hitachi SH-4 CPU at 200 MHz with 56MB of RAM (568MB of RAM with GD-ROM) and a NEC-VideoLogic PowerVR2 (PVR2DC/CLX2).

Sega Hikaru

Codenamed "Samurai" The Sega Hikaru was the successor to the Model 3. The CPU was a 2× Hitachi SH-4 CPU at 200 MHz, the GPU was a Custom Chipset and NOT related to PowerVR at all. It had 100MB of RAM.

Gaelco PowerVR-based

PowerVR 2-based board from Spanish company. Not their early 'Gaelco 3D' board from 1996-1998. There is also an inactive emulator for the unrelated earlier Gaelco 3D system, and MAME supports that one.

NAOMI 2

The NAOMI 2 had 2 PowerVR CLX2 GPUs, a PowerVR Elan chip, and 2X the graphics memory. A prototype version of an unreleased game called Jet Squadron was made on the NAOMI 2 board in 2000 but the first officially released games started in 2001.

Atomiswave

The Atomiswave has a Hitachi SH-4 CPU at 200 MHz with its GPU being a PowerVR 2. It has 16MB of VRAM and 16MB of RAM.

Sega System SP

Not really the same as SI Electronics' "Aurora", commonly mislabeled as "Sega Aurora".

These (Gaelco, Cave, Capcom and others) shouldn't be Dreamcast-based but DEmul supports them

missing machines Capcom's medal machine and other SH CPU-based machines

Cave CV1000B

The Cave CV1000B had a Hitachi SH-3 at 133 MHz. Note, the 'arcade_compat.txt' file inside DEmul's release archives do not have any Cave CV1000 emulation compact list, so its games' status is unknown.

Cave CV1000D

The Cave CV1000D had a new CPU which was an ISSI IS42S32400D at 166 MHz with 128MB of RAM.

Support

Please only include recommended emulators in this table. Do not bump or spam GitHub threads, issues, or feature request pages.

Name	Flycast	DEmul
Atomiswave	✓	✓
Cave CV1000B	✗	~
Cave CV1000D	✗	~
Gaelco PowerVR-based	✗	✓
NAOMI	~	✓
NAOMI 2	~	✓
Sega Hikaru	✗	✓
Sega System SP	✓	✓

Game-specific features

Name			Flycast	DEmul
Additional speakers			✓	✓
Camera			✗	✗
Card reader types	Barcode card reader		✓	✓
	IC card reader		✗	✗
	Magnetic card reader/writer		Both Flycast and Demul have the built-in support. Also, YaCardEmu project support emulating the various magnetic cards for arcade cabinets.
Coin hopper			✗	✗
Communication	Communication play		✓	✓
	Satellite terminal		✗	~
CompactFlash			✗	✗
Force feedback			✓	✗
GD-ROM			✓	✓
Input	External Dreamcast controller		✗	✗
	Keyboard		✓	✓
	Light gun		✓	✓
	Mahjong		✗	✓
	Microphone		✓	✗
	Touchscreen		✓	✓
	Trackball		✓	✓
	Turntables		✗	✓
Management chip			✗	?
Multiboard			✓	✓
Networking	Ethernet		✓	✗
	RS-232 (Modem)		✗	✗
Output	Cap vendor		✗	?
	Coin block		✗	?
	Cooler fan		✗	?
	Fishing	Clutch	✗	✗
		Motor	✗	✗
		Reel brake	✗	✗
	Lamps and LED lights		✗	✗
	Printer		~ Does not work on Atomiswave.	✗
	Rolling		✗	✗
Table movement			✗	?
Ticket dispenser			✗	~
VMU connectivity			~ Does not work in some games.	~

References

Sega(edit)

• Consoles: SG-1000 • Master System • Video Driver / Family Driver • Genesis / Mega Drive • CD • 32X • Pico • Saturn • Dreamcast • Advanced Pico Beena
• Handhelds: Game Gear • Nomad • VMU / VMS
• Arcade: System series • Model 1 • Model 2 • Model 3 • NAOMI • Chihiro • Triforce
• Home computers: SC-3000 • TeraDrive • Sega AI Computer