nonmame.retrogames.comNonMAME

Welcome to ! documents the best open-source emulator for any given system, with priority given to MAME due to its comprehensive scope. This primarily involves arcade, computer, console and handheld systems. This site represents an enormous undertaking involving tons of research with developers, discussions with the user community, and countless hours of testing. seeks to broaden understanding of extant emulation resources in the hope that MAME developers and users alike may find benefit. Bearing in mind that a great deal of information posted here comes from our readers, we strongly encourage any and all comments, questions, suggestions for better emulators etc. You can reach us via email here . Enjoy! Shoegazer What's New 2020/07/21: Updated Xbox section to replace XQEMU with xemu as the emulator of choice. 2020/07/12: Added several games to the Laserdisc-Based Hardware section due to the recent porting of Daphne's Singe plug-in to Linux x64, giving it cross-platform status. Also added Action Max section for the same reason. 2020/06/29: Added Microvision (the first cartridge-based handheld gaming system) to the Driven To Maturity section. Thanks gregf for the tip! 2020/06/27: Updated Nintendo 64 section to reflect addition of ParaLLEl RDP plugin to Mupen64Plus-Next. 2020/05/29: Updated Commodore 64/128/CBM-II/PET/Plus4/VIC-20 section to recommend the RetroArch VICE cores over standalone VICE. Site Information Evaulation criteria for the best emulator of a given system is as follows (in order of importance): Open-source status and availability: Only emulators that are open-source and run natively in Linux (the OS behind the baseline reference system noted below) will be documented Accuracy: The ability to emulate the functions of the target system as faithfully as possible Speed: The ability to deliver an emulated experience at the same speed as the original hardware given the limitations of the baseline reference system noted below Features: Support for certain functions that aren't core to the original experience such as gamepad rumble, shaders, networking, etc. Usability: The ease in which the emulator may be accessed by the "average user" assuming minimal computer knowledge Survivability: The emulator's long-term potential, commonly measured by the frequency in which the emulator is updated MAME driver status documented for each system matches actual MAME nomenclature as follows: Non-existent : There is no driver for this system. Preliminary : An early driver exists. This often represents skeleton drivers under which most software will not run, though some systems may actually launch and load software on a limited basis. Imperfect : Progress has been made, but the driver is far from complete. Software may run under the driver, though some titles may run slowly or with problems. Good : Most software should run with little or no problems. With a bit more improvement, the driver will reach parity with its "competitors", and if the system is not represented on arcade hardware, it will be documented in the "Driven to Maturity" section. The optimal situation, of course, is for no systems to exist in the main section of - meaning that MAME supports all systems as good or better than all other emulators - but don't hold your breath! Specifications of the current baseline reference system used in testing is as follows: Linux Mint 20 x64, kernel 5.4 Intel Kaby Lake (four 2.9ghz CPUs) 16GB RAM NVIDIA GTX 1070M Latest MAME version tested: 0.222 Driven to Maturity The following are non-arcade systems which MAME emulates as good as, if not better than, any other emulator according to our evaluation criteria. Given that there are tens of thousands of systems in MAME, with potentially hundreds of thousands to come, only systems that have known "competition" to MAME will be cited here. This is an experimental section and may be removed if people misunderstand its intent. Please note this does not mean any of these systems are "perfectly emulated" either - emulation is never truly perfect! Please join us in extending thanks to the MAME team for their hard work and dedication to this effort, without which such accurate emulation would not be possible. Acorn [Series] [Computer] ADAM [Computer] Alice32 [Computer] Altair 8800 [Computer] Amstrad CPC [Computer] Apple II (Non-IIGS) [Computer] Apple IIGS [Computer] Aquarius [Computer] Arcadia 2001 [Console] Archimedes [Series] [Computer] Atari 400/800 Series [Computer] Atari 2600 [Console] Atari 7800 [Console] CD-i [Console] Central Data 2650 [Computer] ColecoVision [Console] CPS Changer [Console] CreatiVision [Computer] Cybiko [Handheld] Dreamcast Visual Memory System [Handheld] FM Towns Marty [Console] Game Boy [Handheld] Game Boy Advance [Handheld] Game Gear [Handheld] Genesis [Console] Instructor 50 [Computer] Intellivision [Console] JR-200U [Computer] Lynx [Handheld] Macintosh [Non-PowerPC] Master System [Console] MC-10 [Computer] Microvision (Handheld) MO Series [Computer] MSX Series [Computer] MZ [Series] (Below 2000) [Computer] MZ-2000 [Computer] MZ-2500 [Computer] Neo Geo AES [Console] Neo Geo CD [Console] Odyssey2 [Console] Othello Multivision [Console] PC-6001 [Series] [Computer] PC98 [Series] [Computer] Pico [Handheld] PIPBUG-based Systems [Computer] PocketStation [Handheld] RX-78 [Computer] Sega Computer 3000 (SC-3000) [Computer] Sega Game 1000 (SG-1000) [Console] Sega Super Control Station (SF-7000) [Computer] Studio II [Console] SuperGrafx [Console] SuperVision [Handheld] TO Series [Computer] TurboGrafx 16 [Console] TurboGrafx CD [Console] TV Games Computer [Console] VC 4000 [Console] Vectrex [Handheld] Videopac+ G7400 [Console] WonderSwan [Handheld] X1 [Computer] X68000 [Computer] ZX Spectrum [Computer] Special Notes About RetroArch Given the number of times we cite RetroArch (RA), we feel it deserves its own section. RA is not itself an emulator, but rather an open-source framework composed primarily of multiple emulator "cores" commonly ported from independently-written standalone implementations and sometimes enhanced by the RA development team. RA serves as a reference implementation of "libretro", itself a generic API that allows RA not only to be core-agnostic but to extend beyond emulation purposes as a flexible and powerful instrument of its own right. RA is rapidly gaining widespread popularity, owing primarily to multiple factors including its availability on many host platforms; its support of many "best of breed" emulators (including MAME) under a single framework; its streamlined interface which eschews keyboard/mouse navigation in favor of controllers and other simpler means of input; and its impressive support of cross-platform "shaders" which lend authenticity to its visuals when used properly. That said, RA's primary contribution isn't the preservation of old technology for historical purposes (this site's focus); but rather on broadened awareness and usefulness of such technology to a wide audience across an expanded range of platforms such as personal computers, tablets, and whatever the future may hold. RA does achieve certain preservation goals indirectly however, since emulation of the individual target systems stands a greater chance of being preserved as part of a collective framework than on their own, as history has certainly shown. This is of course similar to MAME in concept, though RA's approach and design differs in several fundamental and obvious ways. While RA may offer its users certain key benefits that its original upstream emulator counterparts do not, users should be aware of its limitations. For example: Each core is typically only as accurate as the upstream emulator itself (though we cite specific cases where the RA team adds downstream value, such as with the Dreamcast "Flycast" core). It's common for development work on a given core to slow or stop altogether, allowing it to be outpaced upstream. Such was recently the case with the PlayStation Portable (PPSSPP) c...