Redream
Redream is a closed-sourced Dreamcast emulator, enabling you to play your Dreamcast games in high-definition on Windows, Mac and Linux. There are 2 versions; lite and premium (small fee). The only significant difference is that the premium version lets you scale to Ultra-HD resolutions. With an excellent streamlined experience, it will eventually be the best, as accuracy continues to improve (passed 80%). That said, it's not the most accurate nor does it support Dreamcast peripherals but does have some support for WinCE games.
Note: BIOS file not required, but may improve compatibility in certain cases.
1.5
Last Stable Release:
Dated:
14-02-2020
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Windows: 7+ 64-bit
Linux: Ubuntu 64-bit
Mac: OS X 64-bit
CPU: Processorx86_64 compatible with AVX2 or SSE2 support
GPU: GraphicsOpenGL 3.1 support, OpenGL 4.5 support for per-pixel polygon sorting
Flycast
Flycast is a SEGA Dreamcast, NAOMI and AtomisWave emulator, forked from reicast, and made by flyinghead. It can emulate the standard Dreamcast controllers, Keyboard, Mouse, Light-Gun (with your mouse), Twin Sticks, and even the ASCII Mission Stick Emulating two expansion sockets per controller. Also has widescreen (Rendering outside of screen), texture upscaling, frame skipping dump textures and load custom textures. A Dreamcast BIOS file is optional, but NAOMI and Atomiswave BIOS files are required. It's also able to connect to Dreamcast Live fan servers.
Current game support are the following:
SEGA Dreamcast games (CHD, CDI, GDI, CUE) including games based on Windows CE
SEGA NAOMI games (.zip, .7z, .dat/.lst)
SEGA NAOMI GD-ROM games (.zip, .7z, .dat/.lst and .chd)
Sammy Atomiswave games (.zip, .7z)
Noteworthy forks
Flycast Dojo is derived from Reicast, with a focus on netplay features and replay.
Last Release:
2.23 / 17-03-2024
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Windows: 64-bit only
Mac: Nothing mentioned
Linux: Nothing mentioned
GPU: Supports OpenGL 3.0 or Open GL ES 2.0.
NullDC
It is an open-source Dreamcast emulator for Windows considered among the best in regards to accuracy. Its capable of running any Dreamcast game, even some none-commercial games. The graphics, sound, controllers and memory use a plug-in yet it can even play games burned to CD-ROMs. That said, initial setup can be quite tedious.
Note: BIOS not provided. Use provided publicly-sourced BIOS
Launcher
NullDC-BEAR - Launcher and optimizer to ensure easy setup while optimizing settings for a smooth gameplay experiance.
1.0.4 r150 with Shenmue fixes by masterchan777
Last Stable Release:
Dated:
18-04-2014
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Development-build: None actively reported
Windows: XP/Vista/7/8/+ & 64-bit
GPU: Direct X 9.0c+
Note: To reset settings, it's highly recommend deleting nullDC.cfg file as it will reset nullDC's settings back to default. You also need to install BOTH X64 and x86 versions of VS 2013 Dll files. which can be grabbed from this link.
DEmul
DEmul is among the best, if not the most accurate. This emulator is basically compatible with any commercial game available and can also emulate arcade hardware (Naomi 1, Naomi 2, Hikaru, and Atomiswave). They use a plug-in system, which can be quite tedious to initially configure and lacks good documentation so it’s not easy to set it up. It also has virtual memory card support to save game progress at any instance.
Note: BIOS not provided. Use provided publicly-sourced BIOS
Last Stable Release:
0.7 280418 WIP
Dated:
28-04-2018
Development-build: None actively reported
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Windows: XP/Vista/7/8/+
GPU: DirectX 11
Reicast
Reicast is a Dreamcast emulator which targets Android, though they do compile for other platforms. It provides a simple and intuitive interface and is made by some of the developers behind NullDC, which implies Reicast is like a newer version of it. That said, it does have quite a few bugs and problems though it's actively bering developed.
Note: BIOS not provided. Use provided publicly-sourced BIOS
Last Release:
alpha-4591 / 18-10-2020
Relevant Files
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Dreamcast Bios for nullDC / DEmul