ColecoVision emulators

For other emulators that run on ColecoVision hardware, see Emulators on ColecoVision.
ColecoVision
Developer Coleco Industries, Inc.
Type Home video game console
Generation Second generation
Release date 1982
Discontinued 1985
Predecessor Telstar series
Emulated

The ColecoVision was the second-generation video game console produced by Coleco in August 1982 before being discontinued in 1984, partly due to the ongoing crash in North America at the time. It retailed for $174.99 ($584 in 2026) and had a Zilog Z80 CPU at 3.58 MHz with 8 KBs of RAM. Notably, it provided gamers with experiences very much like the arcade versions of games, as well as having Donkey Kong as a pack-in title to showcase this, although the Atari 2600 and Intellivision could do the same with the respected hardware. It shares largely the same underpinnings as the SG-1000. Indeed, a clone of the SG-1000 known as the Dina 2-in-1 (sold in the United States as the Telegames Personal Arcade) had support for both SG-1000 and ColecoVision games, though compatibility with the latter is spotty due to the lack of an expansion module interface or a second numeric keypad, rendering two-player ColecoVision games unplayable.

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest version Adam libretro Retro
Achievements
License Active Recommended
PC / x86
BizHawk   2.11.1 MIT
BSD-3-Clause
ColEm         5.6 Proprietary
E.mul T.wo   git GPLv3 (Copyleft)
ADAMEm SDL     git ?
ADAMEm   Acorn 1.0 (MS-DOS)Acorn ?
DSP       0.24WIP3 Non-commercial
ares       v148 roadmap ISC (Permissive)
FinalBurn Neo
fbneo_libretro
        WIP builds
libretro core
Non-commercial [N 1]
CoolCV       0.6.9 Proprietary
MAME         0.289 GPLv2
BSD-3-Clause
Mugrat   0.5.0 Proprietary
Snepulator     git MIT (Permissive) ~
Pantheon   16.458 Proprietary ~
Phoenix       2.8.JAG Proprietary ~
vdmgr   0.2.7 Proprietary ~
blueMSX
blueMSX_libretro
   
      [N 2]
2.8.2
libretro core
GPLv2 (Copyleft) ~[N 3] ~
Mesen       2.2.1 ? ? ? GPLv3 (Copyleft) TBD
Retro Virtual Machine       2.1.10 Proprietary TBD
JollyCV         1.0.1 BSD-3-Clause (Permissive) TBD
higan (火眼)
byuu (謬/view)
        v110 GPLv3 (Copyleft) [N 4]
Clock Signal       2026-07-23 BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)
Bee       2.4.3 Proprietary
FreezeSMS   4.6 Proprietary
MEKA       2025-08-17 Proprietary
DarcNES       9b0401/9b0313 Non-commercial
Mobile / ARM
ColEm+      
 
 
5.6.4 (Android) Proprietary
NumPadPlayer   1.0.5 Proprietary
fbneo_libretro     libretro core NC [N 1]
MSX.emu
(blueMSX tech)
        1.5.85git
Pandora build 15
1.5.46.02
GPLv3 (Copyleft)
blueMSX_libretro    
   
libretro core GPLv2 (Copyleft) ~
Consoles
fbneo_libretro     libretro core Non-commercial [N 1]
blueMSX_libretro    
   
   
libretro core ?
ColEm   2.6.1 ? Proprietary
WiiColEm   0.3 ? Proprietary
ColemPS2   2.0 ? Proprietary
AdamX   v4 ?
(D)ColEm   0.99 ? Proprietary
CollisionGC   1.01 b1 GPLv2 (Copyleft)
ColecoDS   11.0 Proprietary
CoG   0.9.7 beta ?
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 FinalBurn Neo was confirmed as having better compatibility than MAME/MESS, blueMSX, openMSX and CoolCV. See this topic.
  2. Only available outside Windows as a libretro core (e.g., RetroArch).
  3. Libretro core is still active.
  4. Superseded by ares

Adam

Adam
Developer Coleco
Type Home computer
Generation Second generation
Release date 1983
Discontinued 1985
Emulated

The Coleco Adam is a home computer and expansion device for the ColecoVision by American toy and video game manufacturer Coleco. The Adam was an attempt to follow on the success of the company's ColecoVision video game console. It was available as Expansion Module #3 for the ColecoVision, converting it into a home computer, and as a standalone unit. As such, it had the benefit of being entirely compatible with all ColecoVision games and peripherals. The computer came with 64 KB of memory, a tape drive for a proprietary medium called Digital Data Packs, a daisy wheel printer, and productivity applications, along with two DDPs for SmartBASIC and Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom Super Game. It was released in October 1983 with the initial price of $700.

See also