Difference between pages "Neo Geo and variants" and "WonderSwan emulators"

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(Removed 'Online Emulation on Web Browsers', which appears to be some random service promoting itself. Dunno why it hasn't been removed yet since the edit was made by an anonymous account (!) over a year ago (!?!))
 
(Emulators: Avoid redirect)
 
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{{Infobox console
 
{{Infobox console
|title = SNK Neo Geo
+
|title = Bandai WonderSwan/Color
|logo = Neo_Geo_full_on.png
+
|logo = WonderSwan-Black-Left.png
|image = Neo-Geo-AES-Console-Set.png
+
|image = WonderSwan-Color-Blue-Left.png
|image2 = Neo_Geo_CD.png
+
|image2 = WonderSwanCrystal.png
|imagecaption = '''Top:''' The Neo Geo MVS.<br/>'''Middle:''' The Neo Geo AES.<br/>'''Bottom:''' The Neo Geo CD.
+
|image3 = SwanCrystal-Wine-Left.png
|developer = [[:Category:SNK consoles|SNK]]
+
|imagecaption = '''Top:''' The WonderSwan.<br/>'''Middle:''' The WonderSwan Color.<br/>'''Bottom 2:''' The SwanCrystal <small>(Blue Violet & Red Wine).</small>
|type = [[:Category:Home consoles|Home video game console]], [[:Category:Arcade|arcade system board]]
+
|developer = Bandai
|generation = [[:Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles|Fourth generation]]
+
|type = [[:Category:Handheld consoles|Handheld game console]]
|release = 1990
+
|generation = [[:Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles|Fifth generation]]
|discontinued = 2004
+
|release = 1999 <small>(WonderSwan)</small><br/>2000 <small>(WonderSwan Color)</small><br/>2002 <small>(Swan Crystal)</small>
 +
|discontinued = 2003
 
|emulated = {{✓}}
 
|emulated = {{✓}}
 
}}
 
}}
  
The '''[[gametech:Neo-Geo|Neo Geo MVS]]''' (Multi Video System) arcade system was first released by [[wikipedia:SNK|SNK Corporation]] on January 1990 in Japan and on August 22, 1990 in NA. The '''[[wikipedia:Neo_Geo_(system)|Neo Geo AES]]''' (Advanced Entertainment System) home console was released on July 1, 1991. MVS and AES are technically the same systems, but their cartridges are not compatible with each other due to a different layout. The AES was retailed for {{Inflation|USD|649.99|1991}}. It had a Motorola 68000 at 12MHz and a Zilog Z80A at 4MHz with 64KB RAM and 84KB VRAM.
+
The '''WonderSwan''', '''WonderSwan Color''' and '''SwanCrystal''' are the fifth-generation handheld game consoles produced by [[wikipedia:Bandai|Bandai]] in 1999, 2000 and 2002, respectively. It is the brainchild of Game Boy/Color creator, [[wikipedia:Gunpei_Yokoi|Gunpei Yokoi]]. There were three versions eventually released: A black-and-white version, a color version, and a '''Crystal''' version with an improved screen.
 
 
'''[[wikipedia:Neo_Geo_CD|Neo Geo CD]]''' (NG-CD) was the CD version of the AES (not compatible with the game cartridges) released in January of '96 and <abbr title="$651.32 in 2018 money">$399</abbr>. It had a Motorola 68000 CPU at 12 MHz with another CPU that being a Zilog Z80 at 4 MHz. It had 7MB of RAM.
 
 
 
'''[[wikipedia:Hyper_Neo_Geo_64|Hyper Neo-Geo 64]]''' (HNG-64) was the successor to the Neo-Geo with 3D graphics, there was no home console release. It was released in September of 1997 and had an NEC VR4300 at 100 MHz with 16MiB of RAM.
 
 
 
When emulating Neo-Geo games with RetroArch, the Neo-Geo BIOS files need to be in the game directory.
 
  
 
==Emulators==
 
==Emulators==
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-
 
! scope="col"|Name
 
! scope="col"|Name
 
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
 
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|NG
+
! scope="col"|[[Libretro|Libretro Core]]
! scope="col"|NG-CD
 
! scope="col"|HNG-64
 
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
 
 
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
 
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
|-
 
|-
! colspan="10"|PC / x86
+
! colspan="9"|PC / x86
 +
|-
 +
|[[Mednafen]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[{{MednafenURL|releases}} {{MednafenVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[ares]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://github.com/ares-emulator/ares/releases {{aresVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[higan]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[https://github.com/higan-emu/higan/releases {{higanVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[BizHawk]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[MAME]]
 
|[[MAME]]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
 
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{}}<ref group=N>As 0.153 (2014), 0.139 (2010), 0.78 (2003)</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Cygne]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://cygne.emuunlim.com 2.1a]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
 
|-
 
|-
|[[FinalBurn Neo]]
+
|[http://sourceforge.jp/projects/oswan/devel Oswan]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/finalburnneo/FBNeo/releases/latest stable] [https://ci.appveyor.com/project/tmaul/fbneo-kbhgd/branch/master WIP builds]
+
|[http://sourceforge.jp/projects/oswan/releases/p5046 1.7.3]
|{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|-
 
|-
|[[RAINE]]
+
|[http://wsonline.emuunlim.com/ WonderScott]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Web}}
|[http://raine.1emulation.com/download/latest.html {{RAINEVer}}]
+
|[https://www.zophar.net/ws/wonderscott.html 0.54b]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|-
 
|-
|[[FinalBurn Alpha]]
+
|[https://www.zophar.net/ws/wscamp.html WSCamp]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://www.fbalpha.com/downloads {{FinalBurnAlphaVer}}]
+
|[https://emulationrealm.net/downloads/file/237-wscamp 0.21]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20141105014113/http://www.xe-emulator.com Xe]
 
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20141105014113/http://www.xe-emulator.com Xe]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20141022230129/http://www.xe-emulator.com/index.php?m=download {{XeVer}}]
+
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20141022230129/http://www.xe-emulator.com/index.php?m=download 2.16.2]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
 
|[[Kawaks]]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|[http://cps2shock.emu-france.info/download.html {{KawaksVer}}]
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
|GnGeo
+
! colspan="9"|Mobile / ARM
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 
|[https://salsa.debian.org/coringao-guest/gngeo git]
 
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
|NeoRAGEx
+
|[[Mednafen]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Linux}}<ref group=N name=libretro>Only available as a libretro core (e.g. [[RetroArch]]).</ref>
|[https://emulator.games/emulators/neo-geo/neoragex-5-4e/ 5.4e]
+
|[{{MednafenURL|releases/}} {{MednafenVer}}]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
+
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
 
|-
 
|-
! colspan="10"|Consoles
+
! colspan="9"|Console
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://code.google.com/archive/p/gxgeo GxGeo]
+
|[http://dev-e.sakura.ne.jp/ eSwan]
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
|[https://code.google.com/archive/p/gxgeo/downloads {{GxGeoVer}}]
+
|[http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/eswan.shtml 0.09]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|-
 
|-
|UOmvspsp
+
|pSwan
 
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
|[http://www.mediafire.com/?2qzaz2089f99cvk {{UOmvspspVer}}]
+
|0.07
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|-
 
|-
|UOncdzpsp
+
|Wonderstation
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|PS2}}
|[http://www.mediafire.com/?883tfd76v4qckz2 {{UOncdzpspVer}}]
+
|[https://www.thetechgame.com/Downloads/id=207041/wonderstation-oswan-ps2-01.html 0.1]
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{TBD}}
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Virtual Console]]
+
|OswanDC
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|DC}}
|n/a
+
|[https://emulationrealm.net/downloads/file/1096-oswan-dc 0.15]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
|}
 
|}
 +
<references group=N />
  
<references group=N />
+
==Notes==
 +
;WSCamp:A WonderSwan and WS Color emulator written by Toshi.  This was the first WonderSwan emulator to feature sound as well as gamepad support, and it has a very high compatibility rate and excellent speed. It was the most accurate WonderSwan emulator at the time in the early 2000's, beating out [[Cygne]] and Oswan.
 +
;[[Cygne]]:The first WonderSwan emulator created on the Windows platform, written by DOX and released under the GNU General Public License. It had undergone massive improvements over its original DOS beta form in the early 2000's, including better timing and fixes to the SRAM. Cygne has a high compatibility rate, but lacks in speed and does not offer any sound support. Cygne supports both the original WonderSwan and the WonderSwan Color. However, it was abandoned in 2002.
 +
;Oswan:Oswan is a WonderSwan/WS Color emulator based on the Cygne source code and authored by David Raingeard. Improvements upon the original Cygne source include the additional of sound support and many speed improvements. Oswan also features the ability to apply several video filters as well as color schemes to add color to WonderSwan Classic titles. It has been abandoned but two variants of it were released in 2007 and 2010.
 +
;WonderScott:The second WonderSwan/WSC emulator, this WonderSwan emulator written in JavaScript was authored by Julien Frelat (Gollum) and released by the same team that made Boycott Advance. An online web format of WonderScott was also available at its official website, but is probably permanently inaccessible. It was somehow abandoned after its last version, v0.54b, was uploaded near the end of 2001 with poor compatibility.
 +
 
 +
'''Features & pages on recommended/available WonderSwan/WS Color emulators:'''
 +
* [http://www.racketboy.com/retro/bandai-wonderswan-101-a-beginners-guide BANDAI WONDERSWAN 101: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE] (July 6th, 2007 by racketboy; updated June 19th, 2018. Old feature covering early WonderSwan emulation. Oswan and WSCamp were the recommended emulators according to the article. Both are too old by now and not recommended.)
 +
* [https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/PSP/Emulation_List#Bandai_WonderSwan Wikibooks.org] (PSP/Emulation List. 5 old emulators and ports for the PSP.)
 +
* [http://www.vtemulation.net/emulators/windows/ws.php VTEmulation.net] (Old list of 3 old, early 2000's recommended emulators. Site no longer maintained.)
 +
* [http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/emulator.asp?c=1175&st=2 Old-Computers.com] (List of 5 old, early 2000's emulators. For reference only.)
 +
* [https://www.zophar.net/ws.html Zophar's Domain] (List of downloads for 5 old, early 2000's emulators.)
  
==Emulation issues==
+
==Debugging==
* Hyper Neo-Geo 64 is poorly emulated. MAME is the only available option and, for now, Round Trip RV is the only game barely playable to the end. Excluding that title, no other game is working without nasty graphic errors, slowdowns (no matter what type of CPU/GPU you have) and terrible, glitchy sound emulation. There was a notable update for the MAME driver by [https://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2018-starting-early Haze] in 2018, but don't expect for good emulation in the short future. Hyper Neo-Geo 64 is one of the last pre-2000 Arcade platforms not playable on emulators by a "big" Arcade company.
+
;[[Mednafen]]:This multi-system emulator is said to have great debugging and cheat engine features but, unfortunately, has a [https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/3llkck/comment/cv78kj7 CRC check function] similar to default MAME. A CRC check analyses a game ROM file for any change to its data and size, so a fan-translator or ROMhacker would have to edit filenames every time for every change, which is incredibly tedious. This is likely the reason why there have not been many hack and fan-translation patches being provided publicly for any game on several systems that are covered by Mednafen such as Wonderswan (this page's topic), Neo Geo and PC Engine/PCE CD. These systems don't tend to have many good alternative emulators, let alone ones with good quality debuggers.
 +
;[[MAME]]:This well-known emulator of thousands of systems also has a normal CRC check algorithm to insure that the ROM file(s) of any supported game or clone, depending on the database/ROMset for a MAME version, match the data integrity and size of the same game/variant in the records. However, this does make it rather prickly for an aspiring ROMhacker. The MAME developers partly wanted this to reduce the nasty incidences of some sellers pawning circuit boards that were actually stuffed with user-made ROMhacks. There are a few ways around that - note that MAME developers still support genuine fan-translators, even for arcade games.
 +
::1) Try using the HBMAME or MAMEUIFX frontend, which may support loading modified ROMs.
 +
::2) If you don't zip the set and instead make a folder with the zipname inside your rompath with properly-named loose files inside there, MAME will fuss up, but it will run the game even though the CRCs don't match.
 +
::3) With the new GEnie build system, it's pretty easy to build a one-game-off version of MAME that builds in seconds on pretty much any worthwhile PC.
 +
:::''make SUBTARGET=rom_name DRIVERS=src/mame/drivers/whatever.c REGENIE=1''
 +
;Oswan:A very good, worked and unused emulator. But it has a (poorly working) debugger, so making a hack patch on a WS game can be a lot smoother process with this software's tool than Mednafen's.
  
[[Category:Arcade]]
 
 
[[Category:Consoles]]
 
[[Category:Consoles]]
[[Category:Home consoles]]
+
[[Category:Handheld consoles]]
[[Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles]]
+
[[Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles]]
[[Category:SNK consoles]]
 

Revision as of 00:17, 30 October 2021

Bandai WonderSwan/Color
WonderSwan-Black-Left.png
WonderSwan-Color-Blue-Left.png
WonderSwanCrystal.png
SwanCrystal-Wine-Left.png
Top: The WonderSwan.
Middle: The WonderSwan Color.
Bottom 2: The SwanCrystal (Blue Violet & Red Wine).
Developer Bandai
Type Handheld game console
Generation Fifth generation
Release date 1999 (WonderSwan)
2000 (WonderSwan Color)
2002 (Swan Crystal)
Discontinued 2003
Emulated

The WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color and SwanCrystal are the fifth-generation handheld game consoles produced by Bandai in 1999, 2000 and 2002, respectively. It is the brainchild of Game Boy/Color creator, Gunpei Yokoi. There were three versions eventually released: A black-and-white version, a color version, and a Crystal version with an improved screen.

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Libretro Core FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
Mednafen Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 1.32.1
ares Windows Linux macOS v137
higan Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD v110
BizHawk Windows 2.9.1
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.264
Cygne Windows 2.1a
Oswan Windows 1.7.3
WonderScott Windows Web 0.54b
WSCamp Windows 0.21
Xe Windows Linux 2.16.2
Mobile / ARM
Mednafen Android Linux [N 1] 1.32.1
Console
eSwan PSP 0.09
pSwan PSP 0.07
Wonderstation PlayStation 2 0.1 TBD
OswanDC Dreamcast 0.15
  1. Only available as a libretro core (e.g. RetroArch).

Notes

WSCamp
A WonderSwan and WS Color emulator written by Toshi. This was the first WonderSwan emulator to feature sound as well as gamepad support, and it has a very high compatibility rate and excellent speed. It was the most accurate WonderSwan emulator at the time in the early 2000's, beating out Cygne and Oswan.
Cygne
The first WonderSwan emulator created on the Windows platform, written by DOX and released under the GNU General Public License. It had undergone massive improvements over its original DOS beta form in the early 2000's, including better timing and fixes to the SRAM. Cygne has a high compatibility rate, but lacks in speed and does not offer any sound support. Cygne supports both the original WonderSwan and the WonderSwan Color. However, it was abandoned in 2002.
Oswan
Oswan is a WonderSwan/WS Color emulator based on the Cygne source code and authored by David Raingeard. Improvements upon the original Cygne source include the additional of sound support and many speed improvements. Oswan also features the ability to apply several video filters as well as color schemes to add color to WonderSwan Classic titles. It has been abandoned but two variants of it were released in 2007 and 2010.
WonderScott
The second WonderSwan/WSC emulator, this WonderSwan emulator written in JavaScript was authored by Julien Frelat (Gollum) and released by the same team that made Boycott Advance. An online web format of WonderScott was also available at its official website, but is probably permanently inaccessible. It was somehow abandoned after its last version, v0.54b, was uploaded near the end of 2001 with poor compatibility.

Features & pages on recommended/available WonderSwan/WS Color emulators:

  • BANDAI WONDERSWAN 101: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE (July 6th, 2007 by racketboy; updated June 19th, 2018. Old feature covering early WonderSwan emulation. Oswan and WSCamp were the recommended emulators according to the article. Both are too old by now and not recommended.)
  • Wikibooks.org (PSP/Emulation List. 5 old emulators and ports for the PSP.)
  • VTEmulation.net (Old list of 3 old, early 2000's recommended emulators. Site no longer maintained.)
  • Old-Computers.com (List of 5 old, early 2000's emulators. For reference only.)
  • Zophar's Domain (List of downloads for 5 old, early 2000's emulators.)

Debugging

Mednafen
This multi-system emulator is said to have great debugging and cheat engine features but, unfortunately, has a CRC check function similar to default MAME. A CRC check analyses a game ROM file for any change to its data and size, so a fan-translator or ROMhacker would have to edit filenames every time for every change, which is incredibly tedious. This is likely the reason why there have not been many hack and fan-translation patches being provided publicly for any game on several systems that are covered by Mednafen such as Wonderswan (this page's topic), Neo Geo and PC Engine/PCE CD. These systems don't tend to have many good alternative emulators, let alone ones with good quality debuggers.
MAME
This well-known emulator of thousands of systems also has a normal CRC check algorithm to insure that the ROM file(s) of any supported game or clone, depending on the database/ROMset for a MAME version, match the data integrity and size of the same game/variant in the records. However, this does make it rather prickly for an aspiring ROMhacker. The MAME developers partly wanted this to reduce the nasty incidences of some sellers pawning circuit boards that were actually stuffed with user-made ROMhacks. There are a few ways around that - note that MAME developers still support genuine fan-translators, even for arcade games.
1) Try using the HBMAME or MAMEUIFX frontend, which may support loading modified ROMs.
2) If you don't zip the set and instead make a folder with the zipname inside your rompath with properly-named loose files inside there, MAME will fuss up, but it will run the game even though the CRCs don't match.
3) With the new GEnie build system, it's pretty easy to build a one-game-off version of MAME that builds in seconds on pretty much any worthwhile PC.
make SUBTARGET=rom_name DRIVERS=src/mame/drivers/whatever.c REGENIE=1
Oswan
A very good, worked and unused emulator. But it has a (poorly working) debugger, so making a hack patch on a WS game can be a lot smoother process with this software's tool than Mednafen's.