Retroarch
Genesis Plus GX (core also available for Bizhawk)
RetroArch is a frontend for libretro emulator cores, game engines and even media players. It enables you to run classic games using Libretro on a wide range of computers and consoles through its unified graphical interface. Settings are also unified so configuration can be done once and applied and applied to all. It has advanced features like shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame response times, and more.
Consoles covered include but are not limited to PlayStation 1, Super Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment System, GameBoy/GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, Arcade, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Virtual Boy, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega Master System/Sega Game Gear, Sega CD/Mega CD, PC Engine/PC Engine CD, WonderSwan Color/Crystal, Cave Story, Doom(s) and much more!
It can run on the usual platforms like Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, but it stands alone in that it can support far more platforms beyond just that.
Ludo - A smaller libretro front end by only implementing the core features and by targeting less platforms but definitely shares a lot of the same core values.
Lakka - lightweight Linux distribution for small computers like Raspberry Pi
RArch - It incorporates Kaillera to offer the possibility to play games online.
1.17.0
Last Stable Release:
Dated:
04-02-2024
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Windows: Vista+
Linux: Please follow their instructions
Mac: Apple macOS High Sierra+ with Metal2
Kega Fusion
Kega Fusion is a closed-source Sega SG-1000, SC-3000, SF-7000, Master System, Game Gear, Genesis/Mega Drive, SVP, Pico, Sega/Mega CD and 32X emulator. It's packed with features but hasn't been updated in quite a long a while.
Note: On Windows 10, an incompatibility issue causes the emulator to freeze when attempting to switch to fullscreen mode. To fix it: right-clicking on Fusion.exe > Properties > Compatibility > check "Disable Fullscreen Optimizations".
Also, DPI scaling might affect the output resolution display. You might have to adjust it in compatibility also, if the emulator window is partially-filled.
Last Stable Release:
3.64
Dated:
30-02-2012
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Last stable version: 3.64 (Windows), 3.63i (Mac OS X), 3.63x (Linux)
Development: Inactive for over 8 years, but extremely accurate.
Windows: Nothing reported
Linux: Nothing reported
Mac: Os X+
BlastEm
BlastEm aims for cycle accuracy while also hitting lower system requirements than similar emulators. It has substantially higher compatibility than Exodus but falls short of Genesis Plus GX. Commercial game compatibility is close to, but not quite at, 100%. It is the only emulator other than Exodus that can properly display direct color DMA demos and to pass all of the tests in Nemesis' VDP FIFO Testing ROM.
Last Stable Release:
0.6.2 (WIP 08032024)
Dated:
11-03-2024
Development-builds available: Nightly builds available
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Windows: Doesn't mention minimum (32 or 64-bit x86 processor)
Linux: Likewise (32 or 64-bit x86 processor)
Mac: (OSX+ 32 or 64-bit x86 processor)
Requires: SDL2, GLEW and OpenGL