Difference between pages "ZX Spectrum line" and "NEC PC-9800 series"

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{{Infobox console
 
{{Infobox console
−
|title = Sinclair ZX Spectrum
+
|title = NEC PC-9800 series
−
|logo = Sinclair_spectrum.jpg
+
|logo = PC98RS.jpg
−
|developer = Sinclair Research
+
|developer = NEC Home Electronics
−
|type = [[:Category:Computers|Computers]]
+
|type = [[:Category:Computers|Home computer]]
−
|generation =  
+
|generation =
−
|release = 1980
+
|release = 1982
−
|discontinued = 1984
+
|discontinued = 2000
−
|predecessor = [[Sinclair ZX81 emulators|Sinclair ZX81]]
+
|predecessor = [[NEC PC-8800 series|PC-8800]]
 
|successor =  
 
|successor =  
 
|emulated = {{✓}}
 
|emulated = {{✓}}
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
The '''[[wikipedia:ZX Spectrum|ZX Spectrum]]''' (Pronounced ZED-ex) is an 8-bit home computing platform developed by Sinclair in 1982. It was one of the three major 8-bit home computer platforms that dominated the market in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, alongside the '''[[Commodore 64 emulators|Commodore 64]]''' and the '''[[Amstrad CPC emulators|Amstrad Colour Personal Computer]]'''. The "Spectrum" is in reference to its color display, an innovation from the previous model, the '''[[Sinclair ZX81 emulators|ZX81]]'''. The Spectrum was released as eight different models, ranging from the entry-level model with 16 KiB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KiB RAM and built-in floppy disk drive in 1987; together they sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide, not accounting for the numerous clones. The device was highly significant in British culture, so much so that its creator, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Sinclair Clive Sinclair], was knighted for services to the British industry, in 1983. Spectrum game development continues to this day, with over 100 new releases since 2012.
+
The '''[[wikipedia:PC-9800 series|NEC PC-9800]]''', also known as the '''PC-98''', were a family of computers made by [[wikipedia:Nec|NEC]] throughout 1982 to 2000. They were not released or marketed outside of Japan, but still useful for playing early visual novels and Touhou games.
  
 
==Emulators==
 
==Emulators==
−
An old list of emulators can be found [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/emulators.html here].
 
−
 
 
{| 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"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
+
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
−
!scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
+
! scope="col"|[[Emulation Accuracy|Accuracy]]
−
!scope="col"|Active
+
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
−
!scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
+
! scope="col"|Active
−
|-
+
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
−
!colspan="7"|PC / x86
 
−
|-
 
−
|[[EightyOne]]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
−
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/eightyone-sinclair-emulator/files/ {{EightyOneVer}}]
 
−
|{{✓}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[FUSE]]
+
!colspan="12"|PC / x86
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
−
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse-emulator/ 1.5.7]
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[[Speccy]]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
−
|[http://fms.komkon.org/Speccy/#Downloads {{SpeccyVer}}]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[ZEsarUX]]
+
|Neko Project 21/W
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
−
|[https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux/releases {{ZEsarUXVer}}]
+
|[https://simk98.github.io/np21w/ {{NekoProject21Ver}}]
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 +
|High
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[BizHawk]]
+
|Neko Project II kai
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}<ref group=N name=np2kai>Only available as a libretro core outside of Windows and Linux.</ref>
−
|[http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk/ZXSpectrum.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
+
|[https://github.com/AZO234/NP2kai git]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{~}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|Retro Virtual Machine
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 
−
|[http://www.retrovirtualmachine.org/ 2.0.beta-1.r6]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{~}}
+
|High
−
|-
 
−
|[http://bashkiria-2m.narod.ru EMU] <small>(Russian)</small>
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
−
|[http://bashkiria-2m.narod.ru/index/files/0-11 1.01]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{~}}
 
|{{~}}
−
|-
 
−
|ZX-Poly
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 
−
|[https://github.com/raydac/zxpoly {{ZXPolyVer}}]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{TBD}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Xpeccy
+
|Neko Project II
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}(PPC/Intel)
−
|[https://github.com/samstyle/Xpeccy/releases {{XpeccyVer}}]
+
|[http://www.yui.ne.jp/np2 0.86]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
−
|-
+
|Mid
−
|DSP
+
|{{?}}
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
−
|[https://github.com/leniad/dsp-emulator 0.18]
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
−
|?
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[https://gitlab.com/rastersoft/fbzx fbzx]
+
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20100323104752/http://hp.vector.co.jp:80/authors/VA015680/ax/axindex2.htm Anex86]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
−
|[https://gitlab.com/rastersoft/fbzx/tags/4.0.0 4.0.0]
+
|[https://www.zophar.net/pc98/anex86.html e1]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
−
|-
+
|Low-Mid
−
|JSpeccy
+
|{{?}}
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
−
|[https://github.com/jsanchezv/JSpeccy/releases 0.93.1]
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
−
|?
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[MAME]]
 
|[[MAME]]
Line 128: Line 67:
 
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
 
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 +
|Low
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|SL9821
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://www.satotomi.com/sl9821/sl9821_dl.html {{SL9821Ver}}]
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 +
|High
 +
|{{?}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{TBD}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[http://zxplanet.emuunlim.com/spectaculator-review.htm Spectaculator]
+
|[[DOSBox#DOSBox-X|DOSBox-X]]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
−
|[http://www.spectaculator.com/downloads/ 8.0]
+
|[https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/releases {{DOSBox-XVer}}]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[https://bitbucket.org/djdron/unrealspeccyp/wiki/Home UnrealSpeccyP]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Web}}
 
−
|[https://github.com/djdron/UnrealSpeccyP/releases 0.0.87]
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 +
|Low
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✗}}
+
|{{~}}
−
|-
 
−
|[http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/zx4all.html ZX4ALL]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Win|Linux|Mac}}
 
−
|[http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/zx4all.html#Downloads Beta 2]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/x128/ X128]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|DOS}}
 
−
|[ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/emulators/pc/dos/x128v94s.zip 0.94]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[http://zxplanet.emuunlim.com/mme-review.htm MTMW] <br/><small>(aka 'MulTiMachine')</small>
+
!colspan="12"|Mobile / ARM
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
−
|[https://www.zophar.net/sinclair/multi-machine.html 1.30b]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|#CSpect
+
|Neko Project II kai
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}<ref group=N name=np2kai />
−
|[https://dailly.blogspot.com/ 2.12.5]
+
|[https://github.com/AZO234/NP2kai git]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✗}}
+
|High
−
|-
 
−
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
 
−
|-
 
−
|[https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fms.speccy Speccy]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
 
−
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fms.speccy 5.0.4]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Spectacol
+
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/np2android Neko Project II]
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
−
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.licentia.games.spectacol 3.0.7]
+
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/np2android 20120217]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[http://zxplanet.emuunlim.com/spectaculator-review.htm Spectaculator]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}
 
−
|[http://www.spectaculator.com/downloads/ 7.0] <small>([[IOS emulators|iOS]])</small><br/>2.1.1 <small>([[Android emulators|Android]])</small>
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[https://bitbucket.org/djdron/unrealspeccyp/wiki/Home UnrealSpeccyP]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Linux|Dingoo}}
 
−
|[https://bitbucket.org/djdron/unrealspeccyp/downloads/ 0.0.86.9]
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 +
|Low
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
!colspan="7"|Consoles
 
−
|-
 
−
|PSPectrum
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
 
−
|[https://worldofspectrum.net/pub/sinclair/emulators/psp/PSPectrum_1.0.4_for_1.5.zip 1.0.4]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|DreamSpec<br/><small>Very old, Broken and Unused Emulator</small>
+
|[http://akiyuki.boy.jp/android J98]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|DC|PS2|Xbox}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
−
|[https://classicgaming.dcemulation.org/ Various]
+
|[http://akiyuki.boy.jp/android J98-b]
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{TBD}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/zx4all.html ZX4ALL]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|DC}}
 
−
|[http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/zx4all.html#Downloads Beta 2]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{TBD}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[[Emulators_in_Games#Goldeneye 007 (ZX Spectrum Emulator)|GoldenEye 007]]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|N64}}
 
−
|[http://www.mediafire.com/download/6bnashajw41n5p5/Spectrum.zip 007]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|?
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[https://bitbucket.org/djdron/unrealspeccyp/wiki/Home UnrealSpeccyP]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
 
−
|[https://bitbucket.org/djdron/unrealspeccyp/downloads/ 0.0.62]
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✓}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
−
|-
+
|Low
−
|Fuse PSP
+
|{{?}}
−
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
 
−
|[http://psp.akop.org/fuse.htm 0.10.0.21]
 
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✗}}
 
|{{✓}}
 
|{{✓}}
−
|{{✗}}
 
−
|{{✗}}
 
 
|}
 
|}
 +
<references group=N />
 +
===Comparisons===
 +
;Neko Project II:The best PC-98 emulator out there but went inactive since March 2016. Its major drawback is the non-remappable controls.
 +
:;Neko Project 21/W:Based on Neko Project II but with a focus on PC-9821 series with enhanced options (CPUs, memory sizes, sound sources) as well as support for LAN board, PCI bus, CD-DA, windows accelerators, fmgen and so on.
 +
:;Neko Project II kai:A more libretro-focused fork, which has also merged several improvements from 21/W.
 +
;Anex86:Another decent PC-98 emulator, but is older and less powerful. It allows key rebinding.
 +
;[[DOSBox#DOSBox-X|DOSBox-X]]:A very active fork of DOSBox that, among other things, adds support for the PC-98 as a target system. While it's very easy to set up, its PC-98 system is not yet complete.
 +
;[[MAME]]:It has drivers for various revisions but as of version 0.189, all of them are reported as <font color="darkred">Not Working</font>. Support for the first batch or so of PC-98 games have started to be added to MAME in [https://www.mamedev.org/?p=460 0.201] (Aug 2018).
  
−
==Models==
+
==Usage==
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_16K/48K|ZX Spectrum 16K]]====
+
:<small>''Note: This tutorial was adapted from [http://46okumen.com/pc-98-emulation/ this resource.]''</small>
−
The ZX Spectrum 16K was released on April 28, 1982, for <abbr title="$127.23 in USD and $336.82 in 2018 USD">£99</abbr>. It had a Zilog Z80A at 3.5 MHz with 16KB of RAM.
 
−
 
 
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_16K/48K|ZX Spectrum 48K]]====
 
−
The ZX Spectrum 48K was released the same time as the 16K was and retailed for <abbr title="$160.65 USD and $425.30 in 2018 USD">£125</abbr> with 48K of RAM.
 
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum+|ZX Spectrum+]]====
+
The PC-9800 series of personal computers had floppy disk drives (FDD) and hard drives (HDD) which contained the actual games and software to be loaded. Besides the emulator, you'll need a set of floppy disk images (FDI, FDM, NFD, D88...) or a hard disk image (HDI, HDM, NHD...).
−
The ZX Spectrum+ was released in October of '84 and retailed for <abbr title="$231.12 USD and $551.42 in 2018 USD">£179.95</abbr>. It had a mechanical keyboard and a new case. its technical specifications are the same as the 48K.
 
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_128|ZX Spectrum 128]]====
+
You'll need a font if you want text characters to display properly in most cases. It can be downloaded [[Emulator Files#NEC PC-9800|here]]. Put it in the same directory as the emulator executable, and select it (''Emulate/Font'' for Neko Project II, or ''Config/Font'' for Anex86).
−
The ZX Spectrum 128 had 128KB of RAM, MIDI, and an external keypad. This machine actually launched in Spain first because, in the UK, there were still so many unsold ZX Spectrum machines that they decided to wait.
 
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_+2|ZX Spectrum+2]]====
+
You'll need to configure the emulator as well. In NP2's case, you want to go with the recommended configuration here:
−
The ZX Spectrum+2 is the first ZX Spectrum to be made under Amstrad after they purchased the Sinclair brand. It had a tape deck built in.
 
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_+2A|ZX Spectrum+2A]]====
+
* Emulate/Configure/CPU: Number of cores to something like 32.
−
The ZX Spectrum+2A was released in 1987 and is a varient of the later ZX Spectrum 3 which didn't have the floppy drive.
+
* Emulate/Configure/Sound: Rate to 44k or 88k for better sound quality.
 +
* Device/Memory: 13.6MB
 +
* Screen/Screen Option: Check "Use skipline revisions", and change Ratio to 255. This gets rid of the existing scan line implementation, in case you want a better one with shaders from external programs. Keep in mind PC-98 games, more than any other system, are often graphically designed with scanlines in mind.
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_+3|ZX Spectrum+3]]====
+
To play the games:
−
The ZX Spectrum+3 was released in 1987 and had a built-in floppy drive with 128K of RAM. It retailed for <abbr title="$323.11 in USD and in 2018 USD it's $730">£249</abbr>.
+
* If using a floppy disk based game: Plug the first disk (FDI) into '''FDD1''', and the second disk (FDI) into '''FDD2'''.
 +
* If using a hard drive based game: Plug the hard drive (HDI) into '''Harddisk/IDE #0''' (if using Anex86, use the HDD1 and HDD2 fields and check the box '''HDD>FDD''').
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_+2B_and_+3B|ZX Spectrum+2B]]====
+
Then restart the machine (not emulator), and most games automatically launch from there.
−
The ZX Spectrum+2B fixed some audio clipping issues and it can't be upgraded to a floppy disk drive.
 
  
−
====[[wikipedia:ZX_Spectrum#ZX_Spectrum_+2B_and_+3B|ZX Spectrum+3B]]====
+
Neko Project II's controls are not remappable. They're 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the numpad, arrow keys, enter, space, ctrl, z, and x. For games using the mouse, hit F12 to enable or disable mouse input. Use programs like Joy2Key to rebind other keys.
−
The ZX Spectrum+3B fixed some audio clipping issues and it cannot have an tape drive.
 
  
−
==Notes==
+
==Resources==
−
* [https://www.zophar.net/sinclair.html Zophar's Domain] (Huge, heady chart showing download links and info of many old ZX / Spectrum / QL Series emulators)
+
* [http://fullmotionvideo.free.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=954 Overview of PC-98 emulators]
−
* [http://zxplanet.emuunlim.com/emulators.htm ZXPlanet] (Emulators page with links to detailed reviews of many old ZX Spectrum emulators)
+
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOYh92usnhk Policenauts running under SL9821]
−
* [http://www.retroisle.com/sinclair/zxspectrum/emulators.php www.retroisle.com] (Page showing three old emulators for ZX Spectrum)
 
−
* [https://www.consoleroms.com/emulators/zx-spectrum Full list of ZX Spectrum Emulators]
 
  
 
[[Category:Computers]]
 
[[Category:Computers]]
−
[[Category:ZX Spectrum emulators|*]]
+
[[Category:NEC personal computers]]

Revision as of 15:37, 7 August 2021

NEC PC-9800 series
PC98RS.jpg
Developer NEC Home Electronics
Type Home computer
Release date 1982
Discontinued 2000
Predecessor PC-8800
Emulated ✓

The NEC PC-9800, also known as the PC-98, were a family of computers made by NEC throughout 1982 to 2000. They were not released or marketed outside of Japan, but still useful for playing early visual novels and Touhou games.

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Libretro Core Accuracy FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
Neko Project 21/W Windows Linux v0.86 rev88 ✗ High ✓ ✓ ✓
Neko Project II kai Windows Linux macOS [N 1] git ✓ High ✓ ~ ✓
Neko Project II Windows Linux macOS (PPC/Intel) 0.86 ✗ Mid ? ✗ ✓
Anex86 Windows e1 ✗ Low-Mid ? ✗ ✓
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.265 ✓ Low ✓ ✓ ~
SL9821 Windows 0.4.0.3 ✗ High ? ✓ TBD
DOSBox-X Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 2024.03.01 ✗ Low ✓ ✓ ~
Mobile / ARM
Neko Project II kai Android iOS [N 1] git ✓ High ✓ ~ ✓
Neko Project II Android 20120217 ✗ Low ✓ ✗ ✓
J98 Android J98-b ✗ Low ? ✗ ✓
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Only available as a libretro core outside of Windows and Linux.

Comparisons

Neko Project II
The best PC-98 emulator out there but went inactive since March 2016. Its major drawback is the non-remappable controls.
Neko Project 21/W
Based on Neko Project II but with a focus on PC-9821 series with enhanced options (CPUs, memory sizes, sound sources) as well as support for LAN board, PCI bus, CD-DA, windows accelerators, fmgen and so on.
Neko Project II kai
A more libretro-focused fork, which has also merged several improvements from 21/W.
Anex86
Another decent PC-98 emulator, but is older and less powerful. It allows key rebinding.
DOSBox-X
A very active fork of DOSBox that, among other things, adds support for the PC-98 as a target system. While it's very easy to set up, its PC-98 system is not yet complete.
MAME
It has drivers for various revisions but as of version 0.189, all of them are reported as Not Working. Support for the first batch or so of PC-98 games have started to be added to MAME in 0.201 (Aug 2018).

Usage

Note: This tutorial was adapted from this resource.

The PC-9800 series of personal computers had floppy disk drives (FDD) and hard drives (HDD) which contained the actual games and software to be loaded. Besides the emulator, you'll need a set of floppy disk images (FDI, FDM, NFD, D88...) or a hard disk image (HDI, HDM, NHD...).

You'll need a font if you want text characters to display properly in most cases. It can be downloaded here. Put it in the same directory as the emulator executable, and select it (Emulate/Font for Neko Project II, or Config/Font for Anex86).

You'll need to configure the emulator as well. In NP2's case, you want to go with the recommended configuration here:

  • Emulate/Configure/CPU: Number of cores to something like 32.
  • Emulate/Configure/Sound: Rate to 44k or 88k for better sound quality.
  • Device/Memory: 13.6MB
  • Screen/Screen Option: Check "Use skipline revisions", and change Ratio to 255. This gets rid of the existing scan line implementation, in case you want a better one with shaders from external programs. Keep in mind PC-98 games, more than any other system, are often graphically designed with scanlines in mind.

To play the games:

  • If using a floppy disk based game: Plug the first disk (FDI) into FDD1, and the second disk (FDI) into FDD2.
  • If using a hard drive based game: Plug the hard drive (HDI) into Harddisk/IDE #0 (if using Anex86, use the HDD1 and HDD2 fields and check the box HDD>FDD).

Then restart the machine (not emulator), and most games automatically launch from there.

Neko Project II's controls are not remappable. They're 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the numpad, arrow keys, enter, space, ctrl, z, and x. For games using the mouse, hit F12 to enable or disable mouse input. Use programs like Joy2Key to rebind other keys.

Resources

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