The Sega Master System is an 8-bit console released in the mid-80s. Emulators for the Sega Master System also work for Sega Game Gear, the portable console, because of hardware similarities between the systems.
In fact, the cartridges from the Sega Master System can be played on the Game Gear by using an adapter. Aside from the Game Gear, Sega Master System emulators can also run SG-100 and ColecoVision games.
The Sega Master System is home to benchmark games like Phantasy Star, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Alex Kidd games. Other good games in the system R-Type, Prince of Persia, Double Dragon, the 2D Ninja Gaiden.
Below are the best emulators for the Sega Master System so you can relive some of those classic games.
1. Genesis Plus GX
Genesis Plus GX is an emulator meant to emulate the Sega SG-100, Sega / Mega CD, Genesis / Mega Drive, and of course, Master System / Game Gear on GameCube and Wii. Thankfully, it is also a core for the Retroarch, allowing it to be run on hardware other than the GameCube and Wii.
This emulator is the continuation of Genesis Plus which runs on Windows systems. However, it is recommended to just use the Retroarch core as Genesis Plus is not maintained anymore.
The Genesis Plus GX is supposed to run 100% commercial games for the Master. Its Retroarch core also has shader support, and dynamic sync, among others. Strictly speaking, Genesis Plus GX, is for the Wii and GameCube only, but since it is a core for Retroarch, you can use it to emulate Sega Master System games on any hardware where Retroarch is.
Features include common emulator features like save states, and cheat support, and can even emulate the extended screen mode for the Game Gear.
Pros
- All Sega Master System games are compatible
- Very high accuracy
- Available as core in Retroarch
Cons
- Standalone plays on the Wii and GameCube only
- Feature set is anemic
2. MAME
MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is an open-source, multi-platform emulator written in C++. MAME differs from Retroarch in that Retroarch is not an emulator, whereas MAME is. MAME is a huge program that supports thousands of machines and ROM sets; however, what is supported is not always what is playable; your mileage may vary. If you don’t like MAME’s default interface, you have a number of options, including the aforementioned Retroarch. Despite the fact that it is not an emulator, Retroarch is the third recommendation on this list.
MAME’s main goal is to preserve decades of arcade, computer, and console history. MAME keeps these important retro systems from being lost or forgotten as technology advances. MAME typically runs cycle-based emulators, although it also supports plugins.
These plugins are mostly for convenience, not to improve performance or accuracy. Because of its age, the Sega Master System is no longer difficult to emulate, therefore having plugins for that reason is superfluous. In short, for emulating the Sega Master System, just use Retroarch with MAME or Genesis Plus GX as cores.
Pros
- Accurate
- In (very) active development
- Fast
Cons
- No standalone port for ARM / mobile devices
Download from the Official Website (All Platforms)
3. Retroarch
Retroarch is not an emulator per se. It is a front-end program to run emulators. It uses “cores” of emulator programs to run emulated games. The reason for using frontend programs as opposed to standalone emulators like Genesis Plus GX is the convenience to swap in and out of different platforms. Truthfully, Sega Master System games are incredibly dated that you might change to another system to emulate, and here’s where Retroarch shines. However, setting up Retroarch is not beginner, oh, at all.
It is recommended to use any of the two Sega Master System emulators in this list when running Retroarch. Retroarch shines with its settings and configurations. Whether you play on a small screen like a smartphone or a gigantic TV, the UI can be adjusted to suit the type of screen. It might be exhausting to look for those settings, but they are there.
The amazing feature of Retroarch is how it reduces input lag. This is important with arcade systems like Neo Geo and specific games on video game consoles like action games or fighters. However, the Sega Master System is so old, that a toaster could emulate games without performance issues. This particular feature set is not just useful for this use case.
Another great component of Retroarch is the achievements obtained through Retroachievements. It gives gamers the ability to gain achievements by playing emulated games. Remember that achievements were not introduced until the seventh generation of the video game console generation. Although, people who are looking to emulate the Sega Master System would be satiated with the in-game hi-scoring system of the games.
Pros
- Highly configurable
- Miraculous input lag reduction
- Available in a surprisingly broad range of gaming hardware including the PSP and the 3DS
Cons
- Not beginner friendly
- Menu digging
Download from the Official Website (All Platforms)
4. Bizhawk
BizHawk, like Mednafen, is a multi-system emulator. It is one of our recommendations for PlayStation One emulators because it is just so accurate. However, the PlayStation One uses the Mednafen core for PlayStation One emulator. Meanwhile, the Sega Master System is an original emulator from Bizhawk’s developers. Bizhawk’s feature set is anemic compared to other emulators on this list though.
BizHawk is the preferred emulator for Tool Assisted Speedruns (TAS). So, what exactly is TAS? Tool Assisted Speedruns (TAS) is a considerably new type of speedrunning. A TAS enables a player to use any emulator-supplied tool. This will include topics such as slowing, rewinding, saving, and loading states. Purists consider this heresy, but the speedrunning community is infamous for pushing the envelope, and TAS is no exception. TAS is more concerned with the optimal way to accomplish the game than with execution.
Any modern features like rewind, are acceptable in speedrunning, which are also available on BizHawk. Other features implemented in BizHawk are full-screen support, auto controls, rerecording in all its flavors, frame/lag/rerecording counters, TAStudio, and Lua Scripting.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Speedrunning Community (TAS) approved
Cons
- Barebones
