Sega Dreamcast emulators

Sega Dreamcast

Developer	Sega
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Sixth generation
Release date	1998
Discontinued	2001
Predecessor	Sega Saturn
Emulated	✓

For other emulators that run on Dreamcast hardware, see Emulators on Dreamcast.

The Sega Dreamcast is a sixth-generation console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan and later on September 9, 1999, in NA. It retailed for $199.99.

To go more in-depth, it had a Hitachi SH-4 RISC CPU at 200 MHz with 16 MBs of RAM and 8 MBs of VRAM. Additionally, on the graphic side, the console came with a PowerVR2 GPU at 100 MHz, which theoretically was capable of pushing 3 million polygons/second on-screen. The audio system had 2 MBs of audio RAM, which complemented a powerful 67 MHz Yamaha AICA sound processor with a 32-bit ARM7 RISC CPU core. The audio chip could generate 64 voices with PCM or ADPCM codec and provided ten times the performance of the Saturn's sound system.

Also, Microsoft collaborated on the Dreamcast's development, and this partnership would continue later with the Xbox. What came out of this was the possibility for games to be developed for an optimized version of Windows CE (with DirectX) on each disc. However, Windows CE wasn't mandatory to use, and most developers opted for SEGA's development tools instead out of convenience. Even in major emulators, this aspect isn't implemented well.

In the same year of Dreamcast's launch, SEGA released the NAOMI, an arcade system board with similar components to the Dreamcast. Sammy's Atomiswave arcade board was also based on the Dreamcast and NAOMI.

A few years later, a successor of the NAOMI board was released in 2001, called NAOMI 2. It was a bit more powerful than its predecessor, having one more Hitachi SH-4 CPU and another PowerVR 2 GPU. Only 13 titles were released for this board.

Emulators

Name	Platform(s)	Latest Version	Texture replacement	Retro Achievements	NAOMI NAOMI2 Multiboard	Hikaru	Gaelco PVR	Atomiswave	System SP	Cave CV1000	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
PC / x86
Flycast		CI Builds libretro core Flycast Dojo fork 2.3	✓	~	~	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✓	✓	✓
redream		Dev Builds 1.5.0 (Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi) 1.2.07 (Android)	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓
DEmul		0.7 Build 280418	✗	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	~	✗	✗	~
reicast		r20.04	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗
nullDC		1.0.4 r150	✗	✗	~	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗
washDC		git	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗
lxdream-nitro		git	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗
Chankast		0.25	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
Lxdream		0.9.1	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗
Makaron		T12/5	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
MAME		git artifacts 0.265 libretro core	✗	✗	~	~	~	~	~	✓	✓	✓	✗
Mobile / ARM
Flycast		CI Builds libretro core	✓	~	~	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗	✓	✓	✓
redream		1.2.07 (Google Play) 1.5.0 (Raspberry Pi)	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓
reicast		r20.04 (Google Play) Pyra Build Pandora Raspberry Pi	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗
Console
Flycast		CI Builds libretro core v1.1	✓	~	~	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗	✓	✓	✓
nullDC PSP		git 1.2.1	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	~
nulldc-360		git	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	~	~

Comparisons

nullDC

Can run a lot of games at great speed on a mid-end PC, and it's open-source. However, it's no longer being developed, and the more recent forks have improved upon it.

reicast

Eventually, nullDC's author forked his own project into reicast, with the main objective to widen platform availability to smartphones and tablets. While wider availability is generally a good thing, this resulted in cutting accuracy corners from the nullDC codebase to achieve the speed goals necessary to run on these platforms. Advancements in mobile hardware should have led to the removal of such "hacks"; however, lack of developer resources and interest led to long delays in Reicast development, and the codebase remained virtually untouched for years before the RetroArch team began working with it as part of a "Reicast core", later named Flycast.

Flycast (NAOMI and variants compatibility)

Fork of reicast available as a standalone emulator and as a libretro core. Libretro collaborators, primarily flyinghead, dramatically improved Reicast in areas such as graphics, input, system clock, and Dreamcast VMU. Atomiswave and NAOMI SH-4-based arcade systems have also been added to great fanfare, along with support for MAME's popular CHD format. Even full MMU support, which is needed to run Windows CE-based games such as Armada, Half-Life, and SEGA Rally Championship 2. It has recently been tackled through an experimental branch (anyone following Dreamcast emulation over the years understands what a tough nut this is to crack). Aside from some audio stuttering issues in games such as "Looney Toons Space Race" and "Resident Evil: Code Veronica", this is a highly compatible and accurate emulator. Most Windows CE games run at low performance.

Flycast Dojo

Fork of Flycast with a focus on netplay features and replay. Also, available on the Fightcade matchmaking service.

redream

Multi-platform and easy to use, but it's closed-source. Compatible with +96% of the Dreamcast library (as of Q1 2022). It has a good user interface, is easy to set up, and can run without a BIOS. Runs on low-end machines provided that they support OpenGL 3.1. There's a payware premium version that provides high-definition rendering and additional slots for save states. Emulator work unstable on AMD GPUs with actual driver version.

DEmul (NAOMI and variants compatibility)

Windows-only and closed-source. Used to be the go-to emulator. It supports Windows CE games, but they generally run worse than standard Dreamcast titles. It's also more resource-intensive than other emulators. As of 2022, you´re better off with Flycast or redream for Dreamcast emulation as they are multi-platform and have higher compatibility with Windows CE games. Having said that, DEmul is still highly recommended for SEGA NAOMI and variants.

Makaron

A closed-source Dreamcast emulator that was once noteworthy for being one of the few that could properly play Windows CE games. It has since been superseded by newer emulators.

Peripherals and hardware features

Name		Flycast	Redream	DEmul	MAME
VMU	VMU emulation	✗	✗	✗	✓
	VMU communication	~	~	✗	✗
	VMU Sound	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Jump Pack		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Modem		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Arcade Stick		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Keyboard		✓	✓*	TBD	TBD
Mouse		✓	✗*	TBD	TBD
Light Gun		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Microphone		TBD	TBD	✓	TBD
Rally Wheel		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Taisen Cable		✗	✗	✗	✗
Twin Stick		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Fishing Controller		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Samba de Amigo Maracas Controller		✓*	TBD	TBD	TBD
Densha de Go controller		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Pop'n'Music Controller		✓	TBD	TBD	TBD
Broadband Adapter		✓*	TBD	TBD	TBD
Panther DC		TBD*	TBD	TBD	TBD
4x Memory Card		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Neo Geo Pocket communication		✗	✗	✗	✗
Windows CE		✓	✓	✓	✗

VMU

While some Dreamcast emulators can leverage the screen of the VMU while the game is running, none of them allow you to play the minigames developed for it (other than MAME but it has no support for communication). Several titles for the Dreamcast included mini-games that could be downloaded onto a VMU. The Sonic Adventure series, for instance, included the Chao Adventure mini-game. In the game players could transfer Chao eggs to the VMU and play to increase the stats of their hatched Chao, whereupon they could upload their improved Chao back into the Dreamcast game.

Dreamcast titles that include VMU games and extra features

For playing the minigames developed for it see the VMU emulators page;

Main article: Sega VMU emulators.

Taisen Cable

The Taisen Cable is used for hooking up two consoles for Serial play. This was only released in Japan and a few games support it;

Games that used the Taisen cable

 What about "Dreamcast LAN games on Xlink kai?"

Broadband Adapter

The Dreamcast came out of the box equipped with a 56k dial-up modem that was supported by every DC game with online functionality. However, some of those games had additional support for the Broadband Adapter (BBA) accessory, which replaced the 56k modem and used Ethernet networking to deliver much higher internet speeds. Many games have been brought back due to servers run and operated by fans such as:

• Private servers
• Private servers #2
• Private servers #3

Panther DC

The Panther DC is a flight stick peripheral manufactured by Mad Catz. Only a few games support it.

Emulation issues

Developer interest in Dreamcast emulation was previously hindered by the availability of the closed-source but "good enough" Chankast, and by less interest in the console relative to other 6th generation consoles. For the emulators that are either mature or maturing, a very large percentage of games work well, but some games still have problems and glitches.

Downloads

• BIOS