Arcade LaserDisc emulators
| |
| Developer | Misc |
|---|---|
| Type | Arcade systems |
| Release date | 1982 |
| Discontinued | 1995 |
| Emulated | ✓ |
A LaserDisc video game is an arcade game that uses pre-recorded video (either live-action or animation) played from a LaserDisc. The first LaserDisc video game was Sega's Astron Belt released in 1983. The genre was popularized by Dragon's Lair released shortly after in the same year. The usage of LaserDiscs provided graphics close to an animated or live-action film which was vastly ahead of other arcade games at the time. However, with the drawback of limited interactivity compared to regular arcade games.
Emulators
edit- Main article: Arcade emulators#Emulators
Comparisons
edit- DAPHNE is the primary emulator for LaserDisc arcade games. Supports more games than MAME. Use DaphneLoader to update DAPHNE and auto download games. The libretro core currently only works for Android.
- Hypseus Singe is an SDL3 update to the DAPHNE emulator engine. It includes fixes to many existing Daphne games and supports one game that neither Daphne nor MAME currently support: Stern's Goal to Go. Support for SINGE simulation is also built-in. Re-imagined versions of the Action Max, Captain Power XT-7 and SEGA Video Driver VHS games are now supported via simulation. There are
enhancements SDL3 allows over the original engine: Supporting enhanced 4k MPEG-2 video, including multiple screen support, integrated bezels, hot-pluggable GameControllers, lightgun support and a 32-bit upgrade on the Daphne VLDP software laserdisc player. This allows support for the full range of extended run-time fan-made games introduced in Singe 2. Hypseus also runs a 32-bit overlay on Singe games, this can be reverted to the original 8-bit via command-line arguments. The diversity of the engine means Hypseus can run on a multitude of hardware including SBCs, such as the Raspberry Pi, R36S handhelds and their kin. - DirkSimple is a libretro core for LaserDisc arcade games but it has limited compatibility support and doesn't plan to support more FMV games. Unlike Hypseus Singe, it requires you to create .ogv file from your .ogg and .m2v DAPHNE capture files using FFmpeg. See How do i use DirkSimple guide for additional required steps.
- Hypseus Singe is an SDL3 update to the DAPHNE emulator engine. It includes fixes to many existing Daphne games and supports one game that neither Daphne nor MAME currently support: Stern's Goal to Go. Support for SINGE simulation is also built-in. Re-imagined versions of the Action Max, Captain Power XT-7 and SEGA Video Driver VHS games are now supported via simulation. There are
- MAME The reason MAME doesn't emulate many LaserDisc-based systems, is largely due to indecisions regarding the disc preservation method and format. This will hopefully be fixed in the future thanks to the Domesday86 project which employs a combination of specialized hardware and open-source software to preserve the discs in a far more faithful manner than ever before. Raw captures can be converted to playback formats for other emulators (e.g., Hypseus-Singe) using ffmpeg to get the best visual quality. See Hypseus: Utilizing DomesDay86/Radio Frequency captures video. Also, recommended to see Ripping games#Analog section for more information.
LaserDisc preservation
edit- Main article: Ripping games#Analog
- Main article: LaserDisc
Games
edit- Use ~ for Playback Capture Method, ✓ for The Domesday Duplicator Project Method. For a list of what systems the games have been ported to, check this link. Also see LaserDisc page for other LaserDisc supported systems.
| Game | DAPHNE | HYPSEUS | MAME | DirkSimple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astron Belt | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Badlands | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Bega's Battle | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Chantze's Stone | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cliff Hanger | ~ | ~ | ~[N 1] | ~ |
| Cobra Command / Thunder Storm | ~ | ~ | ~[N 1] | ✗ |
| COPS | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cosmos Circuit | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Crime Patrol | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Crime Patrol 2: Drug Wars | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cube Quest | ✗ | ✗ | ~[N 1] | ✗ |
| Dragon's Lair | ~ | ~[N 2] | ✓* | ~ |
| Dragon's Lair II: TimeWarp | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Esh's Aurunmilla | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Fast Draw Showdown | ✗ | ~[N 2] | ✗ | ✗ |
| Firefox | ✗ | ✗ | ~[N 1] | ✗ |
| Freedom Fighter | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Galaxian 3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Galaxian 3: Attack of the Zolgear | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Galaxy Ranger / Star Blazer | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Gallagher's Gallery | ✗ | ~[N 2] | ✗ | ✗ |
| Goal to Go | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| GP World | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Interstellar Laser Fantasy | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| The Last Bounty Hunter | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| M.A.C.H. 3 | ~ | ~ | ~[N 1] | ✗ |
| Mad Dog McCree | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Marbella Vice | ✗ | ~[N 2] | ✗ | ✗ |
| NFL Football | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Ninja Hayate | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Platoon | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Quarterhorse | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Road Blaster | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Space Ace | ~ | ~[N 2] | ✗ | ✗ |
| Space Pirates | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Star Rider | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Super Don Quix·ote | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Thayer's Quest | ~ | ~[N 2] | ✓* | ✗ |
| Tierras Salvajes | ✗ | ~[N 2] | ✗ | ✗ |
| Time Gal | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Time Traveler | ✗ | ~ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Us vs. Them | ~ | ~ | ~[N 1] | ✗ |
| Who Shot Johnny Rock? | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Zorton Brothers / Los Justicieros | ✗ | ✗ [N 3] | ✗ | ✗ |
This list is updated as of MAME 0.262, DAPHNE 1.0.12 and HYPSEUS 2.11.6.
Notes
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Laserdisc CHD hashes for these games were submitted as f69aebf4c436, 02464539055d and a5967aa333f7 in 2009 - DomesDay86 began in 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Laserdisc media available, derived directly from DomesDay86 Radio Frequency captures - Ripping_games#Playback_Capture_Method
- ↑ Game code is complete, release is currently awaiting community help on an audio track.