Difference between revisions of "Master System emulators"

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Revision as of 20:26, 1 May 2023

Sega Master System
Sega-Master-System-Set.png
Sega-Game-Gear-WB.png
Top: Sega Master System.
Bottom: Sega Game Gear.
Developer Sega
Type Home video game console
Generation Third generation
Release date 1985
Discontinued 1996
Predecessor SG-1000
Successor Genesis / Mega Drive
Emulated

The Sega Master System (SMS) is an 8-bit console released by Sega on October 20, 1985, in Japan (as "Mark III". In all actuality, the Master System and Mark III differ a bit due to the original Japanese release having more features, such as card functionality and backward compatibility with SG-1000, which the Master System lacks) and in September of 1986 in the US. It was retailed for $199.99. It had a Zilog Z80A at 4 MHz with 8 KBs of RAM and 16 KBs 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 backlit screen, color, and a nice-looking design. It retailed for $149.99. It had a Zilog Z80 CPU at 3.5 MHz with 8 KBs of RAM and 16 KBs of 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 System
E
GG libretro Retro
Achievements
[1]
Sprite
Replacement
Accuracy Netplay FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
Genesis Plus GX[2] Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD libretro core Very high NC
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.265
libretro core
?*
ares Windows Linux macOS v137 High
Emulicious Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 2024-03-31 Very high
BizHawk Windows Linux Dev builds
2.9.1
[3] Very high ~
Cega Windows Linux macOS git Cycle TBD
FinalBurn Neo Windows Linux macOS libretro core
Stable
WIP builds
? ? NC TBD
Snepulator Windows Linux git TBD
Mednafen Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 1.32.1 ?
Phoenix Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 2.8.JAG Very high
higan Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD v110 High
TwoMbit Windows Linux macOS 1.0.5 Very high
CLK Linux macOS FreeBSD 2024-01-22 Very high
Gearsystem Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 3.5.0 High
MasterGear Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 4.9.3 High
Pantheon Windows 13.640 High
Kega Fusion Windows Linux macOS 3.64 Mid
PicoDrive Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD libretro core
1.93
[4] Mid NC
FreezeSMS Windows 4.6 Very high
DarcNES Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 9b0401/9b0313 Low
MEKA Windows Linux macOS MS-DOS 0.8-alpha (2023-08-26) ?
SMS Plus Windows Linux macOS git ? ? NC
Osmose Linux 1.4 ?
HiSMS Windows 0.01 beta * ?
nemulator Windows 4.4 ?
Essgee Windows git ?
Mobile / ARM
Genesis Plus GX[2] Android iOS Linux Pandora libretro core Very high NC
FinalBurn Neo Android iOS libretro core ? ? NC
Snepulator MS Android v23.02-1git ~
MasterGear Android 4.9.3 High ~
MasterEmu Android 4.0.1
git
High ~
MD.emu Android Dragonbox Pyra 1.5.77 (Android)
1.5.46.02 (Pyra)
High
WonderDroid Ultra Android 5.3git ~
PicoDrive Android iOS Linux Pandora libretro core [4] Mid NC ~
GearMasterPlayer Android 1.0.5 High ~
Consoles
PicoDrive Nintendo 3DS Switch
PlayStation 2
PSP
PlayStation 3
libretro core
1.93
? Mid NC
Genesis Plus GX GameCube Wii Switch
Nintendo 3DS
PlayStation 3
Vita Xbox
libretro core
1.7.5 RC1
? Mid NC
SMS Plus GX PlayStation 2
PSP GameCube
Wii Xbox
libretro core
Wii/NGC
Mid ? NC
(Libretro Core)
PSMS alt+ PlayStation 2 1.2 High ?
MasterBoy PSP 2.10 Mid
Virtual Console Wii Nintendo 3DS N/A Mid
ApprenticeminusDS Nintendo DS 0.4.0 Mid
SMS Plus DC Dreamcast 0.2b Mid NC
DrSMS GameBoy Advance 6.0 Mid ~
UltraSMS Nintendo 64 2000 Low ~ ✓ (GG only)
MasterGear PlayStation 0.2 Low ~
  1. Game Gear achievements, Master System achievements
  2. 2.0 2.1 Only available on PC and mobile as a libretro core (e.g., RetroArch).
  3. Possible with BizHawk's MAME core
  4. 4.0 4.1 The Game Gear emulation doesn't work.
Dreamcast logo.png
Consoles: SG-1000Master SystemGenesis / Mega DriveCD32XPicoSaturnDreamcast
Handhelds: Game GearVMU / VMS
Arcade: System seriesModel 1Model 2Model 3NAOMI