Master System emulators
| |
| |
| Top: Sega Master System. Bottom: Sega Game Gear. | |
| Developer | Sega |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Third generation |
| Release date | 1985 |
| Discontinued | 1992 |
| Predecessor | SG-1000 |
| Successor | Genesis / Mega Drive |
| Emulated | ✓ |
The Sega Master System (SMS) was an 8-bit console released by Sega on October 20, 1985 in Japan and in September of 1986 in the US. It was retailed for $199.99 ($588 in 2026). It had a Zilog Z80A at 4 MHz with 8KB of RAM and 16KB of VRAM. It had a Yamaha YM2602B VDP GPU. It was designed to be a direct competitor to the Nintendo Entertainment System, and was technically superior to it in some ways. The Sega Game Gear was released in April of 1991 and was a competitor for the Game Boy. It had a backlet screen, color, and a nice looking design. It retailed for $149.99 ($355 in 2026). It had a Zilog Z80 CPU at 3.5 MHz with 8KB of RAM and 16KB VRAM.
There are a lot of hardware similarities between the SMS and the Game Gear (GG). Notably, SMS game cartridges can actually be played on the Game Gear via an adapter. For this reason, most SMS emulators can also run GG games.
Internally the Master System extends Sega's older SG-1000 by adding more RAM and a single new video mode; since the SG-1000 was built from the same CPU, video and audio chips as the ColecoVision many Master System emulators also run ColecoVision games.
Emulators
| Name | Platform(s) | Latest Version | SMS | GG | Libretro Core | Accuracy | Active | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC / x86 | ||||||||
| Genesis Plus GX[1] |    
|
1.7.5 RC1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Very high | ✓ | ✓ |
| MAME |
|
0.289 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | High | ✓ | ✓ |
| Emulicious |
|
2026-03-19 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Very high | ✓ | ~ |
| BizHawk |
|
2.11.1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Very high | ✓ | ~ |
| Phoenix |
|
2.8.JAG | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Very high | ✓ | ~ |
| Pantheon |
|
16.458 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | High | ✓ | ~ |
| TwoMbit |
|
1.0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Very high | ✗ | ✗ |
| CLK |
|
Template:Clkver | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Very high | ✓ | ✗ |
| higan |
|
v110 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | High | ✓ | ✗ |
| Gearsystem |
|
3.9.18 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | High | ✓ | ✗ |
| MasterGear |
|
4.5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | High | ✓ | ✗ |
| Kega Fusion |
|
3.64 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Mid | ✗ | ✗ |
| PicoDrive |
|
2.05 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Mid | ✓ | ✗ |
| FreezeSMS |
|
4.6 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Very high | ✗ | ✗ |
| DarcNES |
|
9b0401/9b0313 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Low | ✗ | ✗ |
| MEKA |
|
2025-08-17 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✗ |
| SMS Plus |
|
1.3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✗ |
| Osmose |
|
1.4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✗ |
| HiSMS |
|
0.01 beta | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✗ |
| nemulator |
|
4.2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✗ |
| Essgee |
|
v002.1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mobile / ARM | ||||||||
| Genesis Plus GX[1] |   
|
1.7.5 RC1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Very high | ✓ | ✓ |
| PicoDrive |
|
2.05 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Mid | ✓ | ✓ |
| GearMasterPlayer |
|
1.0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✓ |
| Consoles | ||||||||
| PicoDrive | 
|
2.05 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Mid | ✓ | ✓ |
| Genesis Plus GX |  
|
1.7.5 RC1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ✓ |
| MasterBoy |
|
2.10 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✓ |
| Virtual Console | 
|
N/A | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | ✓ |
