Atari Jaguar emulators

Atari Jaguar

Developer	Atari
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Fifth generation
Release date	November 23, 1993
Discontinued	1996
Predecessor	7800 ProSystem, Panther
Successor	VCS
Emulated	✓

The Atari Jaguar (AJ) was a fifth generation home video game console released by Atari in 1993. It had a Motorola 68000 CPU and 2 custom RISC CPUs. It has 2MB of RAM. Despite the intense marketing efforts by Atari, the Jaguar is, in fact, a 32-bit console with a 64-bit bus. The system's convoluted architecture didn't help matters either, which led most developers to just use the 68000 for gameplay logic. The console would prove to be the final home console release for Atari until the VCS in 2021. There was also a CD addon called the Atari Jaguar CD (AJ-CD).

In 2000, the console's patents were released into the Public domain, which effectively made it an open system - the homebrew scene for the Jaguar is particularly active compared to its competitors (e.g. the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and Sega 32X) as a result.

Emulators

Before editing, review the Getting involved and Recommended pages. See system requirements page for performance demand of the emulators.
See tables for Atari CoJag, enhancements, hardware features and peripherals.
For more details such as licensing, programming language, emulation method, visit each emulator’s dedicated page.
Name	Latest version	Compatibility	License	Active	Recommended
x86
BigPEmu	1.221	100%	Proprietary	✓	✓
BizHawk (Virtual Jaguar)	Dev builds 2.11.1	?	MIT GPL	✓	~
Virtual Jaguar virtualjaguar_libretro	libretro core 2.1.2 Unofficial builds	?	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	~ ^{[N 1]}	~
Phoenix	2.8.JAG	95%	Proprietary	✗	✗
MAME	git artifacts^{[N 2]} 0.289 libretro core	?	GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause	✓	✗
Project Tempest	0.95	?	Proprietary	✗	✗
Tempest 2000 Emulator/T2K	0.06	?	Proprietary	✗	✗ ^{[N 3]}
ARM
BigPEmu	1.221	100%	Proprietary	✓	✓
Virtual Jaguar virtualjaguar_libretro	libretro core 1.01 git	?	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	~^{[N 1]}	✓
IrataJaguar	1.0.7	?	Proprietary	✗	~
Virtual Jaguar X2	0.1a	?	Proprietary	✗	~
Virtual Jaguar EX	1.0	?	Proprietary	✗	~
MAME	libretro core	?	GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause	✓	✗
Console
virtualjaguar_libretro	libretro core	?	Proprietary	✓^{[N 1]}	✓
DCJag (Virtual Jaguar port)	✗	?	Proprietary	✗	✗
pJag (Virtual Jaguar port)	0.1	?	Proprietary	✗	✗

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Libretro core is still active.
↑ CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos
↑ Works perfectly for Tempest 2000 and the Jaguar CD VLM, but does not support other games.

Comparisons

BigPEmu: The newest and most compatible Atari Jaguar emulator by Rich Whitehouse, boasting 100% compatibility, and one of the best emulator when it comes to enhancement capabilities and supports all of the hardware features, peripherals. Written for Digital Eclipse as the Jaguar emulator for Atari 50, meaning it's not Open-source due to its private contractual obligations.
Virtual Jaguar: An open-source emulator based on the original by the same name. Use the link given as "libretro core" on this page and choose the most current version from there.
Phoenix: About 95% of Jaguar titles are compatible. No support for AJ-CD/AJ-VR games. The PC version of the emulator is only available in Russian, but an English patch is available.
MAME: Preliminary support. Some games boot but the emulation is far from perfect.
Project Tempest: Was the first ever working Atari Jaguar emulator. It emulates some games, but most have issues. As its name suggests it was primarily made for Tempest 2000, with other games as secondary goals. Project Tempest is the first Jaguar emulator that supports Jaguar CD games, but only two are compatible; Primal Rage and Baldies (the latter has sound distortion though). It has not been updated since 2004.
IrataJaguar: The Phoenix emulation project is released as separate emulators for Android, this is the Jaguar version. Identical compatibility to PC version according to the author. Requires fast 64-bit CPU 2GHz+ or better for full speed.

Enhancements

Please only include recommended emulators in this table. Do not bump or spam GitHub threads, issues, or feature request pages.
Name		BigPEmu	BizHawk	VirtualJaguar
Controls	Input lag-mitigating technique	✓	?	?
	Mouse injector compatible	~^{[N2 1]}	✗	✗
	True/dual analog control	~^{[N2 1]}	?	?
	Turbo button	?	?	?
Graphics	Resizable internal resolution	✓	?	?
	Texture replacement	✓^{[N2 1]}	?	?
	Widescreen hack	?	?	?
Performance	Internal frame rate hack	✓^{[N2 1]}	?	?
Performance	Overclock	✓^{[N2 1]}	?	?
Post-processing	AI-powered filter compatible (Freestyle)	?	?	?
	Filters	✓	✓	~^{[N2 2]}
	Inverse tone mapping compatible	✓	?	✓*
	Post-rendering anti-aliasing (FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA)	✓^{[N2 3]}	?	?
	Post-rendering scaling (Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1)	✓	?	✓
	Shader chain	✓^{[N2 4]}	✗	~^{[N2 2]}
Quality of life	Automatic updater	?	?	?
	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".	~^{[N2 5]}	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.
	Big Picture Mode	✓	✗	~^{[N2 2]}
	Built-in cheat manager	?	?	?
	Built-in graphics mod editor/manager	?	?	?
	Built-in patch manager	?	?	?
	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, it still requires necessary prerequisites and dependencies for your operating system.	✓	?	?
	Streamable compression format	✗	?	~^{[N2 2]}
TAS features	Fast-forward/turbo speed	✓	✓	?
	Frame step (forwards and backwards)	?	?	?
	Macros/Scripts/Lua	✓	✓	?
	Movie recording/playback	✓	✓	?
	Rewind	✓	✓	?
	Save states	✓	✓	?
Misc	AI service With the help of OCR and other techniques, the AI service can provide a live translation of a game, or text-to-speech capabilities for the visually impaired among other things, either on demand or automatically.	Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment.
	Debug features	✓ *	?	?
	EmuVR support	Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment.
	Free Look Free Look is an 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 JagLink emulation. See hardware features and peripherals.	✓	?	?
	RetroAchievements	✗	✓	~^{[N2 2]}

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 BigPEmu offers an option to increase blitter speed, making low frame rate titles (e.g., Alien vs. Predator) much more playable. Also features a powerful scripting system. BigPEmu version 1.092 added analog/mouselook support to the AvP, Wolfenstein 3D, Iron Soldier scripts (includes always-strafe and always-run options). To use the new AvP/Wolf3D mouselook, enable the respective script, set either input device 1 or 2 to "Analog" as the device type, and bind the first 2 analog inputs to whatever you choose. Mouse, analog stick, whatever.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Only available for libretro core. Virtual Jaguar libretro core RetroAchievement support.
↑ Existing RetroArch AA shaders work with it after automatic conversion with the tool.
↑ There is a project called duimon-bigpemu which implements some of the Mega Bezel shader presets to BigPEmu, by Duimon.
↑ BigPEmu will auto-detect available display modes (resolutions at ideal frequency) and present them, which should include vertical resolutions down to 200p.

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			BigPEmu	BizHawk	VirtualJaguar
Hardware features	System BIOS		✓	?	?
Hardware features
Peripherals	Atari Jaguar CD		✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}	?
	Controllers	Light gun^{[lower-alpha 2]}	?	?	?
	Controllers	Rotary controller^{[lower-alpha 3]}	✓	?	?
	JagLink		✓ *	✗	?
	Memory Track Cartridge		✓	?	?
	TeamTap		✓	✗	?
	Unofficial	Atari Lynx connectivity^{[lower-alpha 4]}	?	?	?
	VR		✓ *	✗	?
Misc.	Jaguar Game Drive Cartridge^{[lower-alpha 5]}		✓	?	?
Misc.			?	?	?

↑ Only a few Jaguar CD games work and playable. All other Jaguar CD games have issues and are nearly unplayable.
↑ Homebrew only
↑ Spinner controller with analog stick input instead of (or complimentary to) the standard D-Pad was apparently to be released by Atari but scrapped. Tempest 2000 has hidden rotary mode which supports it. Homebrew game Kobayashi Maru is also known to support it. There're unlicensed 3rd party controllers, though.
↑ Jaguar's board has ComLynx signal I/O, and you can get a ComLynx cable hooked up with some soldering as Atari planned connectivity support between the two, but there's no official software to run and the feature is unused. Homebrew can be potentially written to utilize it.
↑ Enables bank switching in ROMs below 6MB

The Pro Controller is excluded from this list as its extra buttons are mapped to keypad buttons. L and R are mapped to 4 and 6, and Z,Y,X are mapped to 7,8,9. Therefore, there are no game requiring the use of the Pro Controller, and it acts like the standard controller for the purpose of emulation.

Jaguar CD with Audio CD emulation using Duimon shader preset for BigPEmu

Jaguar CD

The Jaguar CD has a double-speed (2×) drive and built-in VLM (Virtual Light Machine) software by Jeff Minter, using a spectrum analyzer for a sophisticated video light show for audio CDs.[1]

BigPEmu supports both Jaguar CD images and Audio CDs, although for Audio CDs you need to use bios image.
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.

Atari CoJag

Main article: Arcade emulators#Home console-based hardware

MAME supports this variant.

Hardware features and peripherals

Name	MAME
Different CPUs^{[N3 1]}	?
Extra RAM^{[N3 2]}	?
64-bit ROM bus^{[N3 3]}	?
HDD^{[N3 4]}	?
Compact Flash-To-IDE support^{[N3 5]}	?
Dual lightgun support^{[N3 6]}	?

↑ Motorola 68020 and MIPS R3000-based instead of Jaguar's Motorola 68000
↑ 4MB instead of Jaguar's 2MB
↑ Instead of Jaguar's 32-bit bus
↑ 1 gigabyte for Area 51 and 2 gigabytes for Maximum Force
↑ Used by modders instead of HDD
↑ Jaguar supports only 1 lightgun

External links

Atari(edit)

Consoles: Atari 2600 • Atari 5200 • Atari 7800 • Atari XEGS • Atari Jaguar • Atari VCS
Handhelds: Atari Lynx
Arcade: CoJag
Home computers: Atari 8-bit • Atari ST

[active-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Libretro core is still active.

[2] CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos

[t2k-3] Works perfectly for Tempest 2000 and the Jaguar CD VLM, but does not support other games.

[BigPEmuScripts-4] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 BigPEmu offers an option to increase blitter speed, making low frame rate titles (e.g., Alien vs. Predator) much more playable. Also features a powerful scripting system. BigPEmu version 1.092 added analog/mouselook support to the AvP, Wolfenstein 3D, Iron Soldier scripts (includes always-strafe and always-run options). To use the new AvP/Wolf3D mouselook, enable the respective script, set either input device 1 or 2 to "Analog" as the device type, and bind the first 2 analog inputs to whatever you choose. Mouse, analog stick, whatever.

[LibretroEx-5] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Only available for libretro core. Virtual Jaguar libretro core RetroAchievement support.

[6] Existing RetroArch AA shaders work with it after automatic conversion with the tool.

[7] There is a project called duimon-bigpemu which implements some of the Mega Bezel shader presets to BigPEmu, by Duimon.

[8] BigPEmu will auto-detect available display modes (resolutions at ideal frequency) and present them, which should include vertical resolutions down to 200p.

[9] Only a few Jaguar CD games work and playable. All other Jaguar CD games have issues and are nearly unplayable.

[10] Homebrew only

[11] Spinner controller with analog stick input instead of (or complimentary to) the standard D-Pad was apparently to be released by Atari but scrapped. Tempest 2000 has hidden rotary mode which supports it. Homebrew game Kobayashi Maru is also known to support it. There're unlicensed 3rd party controllers, though.

[12] Jaguar's board has ComLynx signal I/O, and you can get a ComLynx cable hooked up with some soldering as Atari planned connectivity support between the two, but there's no official software to run and the feature is unused. Homebrew can be potentially written to utilize it.

[13] Enables bank switching in ROMs below 6MB

[14] Motorola 68020 and MIPS R3000-based instead of Jaguar's Motorola 68000

[15] 4MB instead of Jaguar's 2MB

[16] Instead of Jaguar's 32-bit bus

[17] 1 gigabyte for Area 51 and 2 gigabytes for Maximum Force

[18] Used by modders instead of HDD

[19] Jaguar supports only 1 lightgun

[N 1]

[N 2]

[N 3]

[N2 1]

[N2 2]

[N2 3]

[N2 4]

[N2 5]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

[lower-alpha 3]

[lower-alpha 4]

[lower-alpha 5]

[N3 1]

[N3 2]

[N3 3]

[N3 4]

[N3 5]

[N3 6]