Sega Genesis(Mega Drive) Emulators

The Sega Genesis was one of the two great 16-bit systems of it's time, the other being the Super Nintendo. As Sega was not able to obtain the trademark in the US, the unit was called Genesis there. The Genesis had two major addons: a 32-bit extension called 32X and a CD-ROM drive called Mega CD.

We should also point out that at some point a Sega Master System converter was released that allowed it's games to be used on the Genesis.

Genesis Specs:

CPU: Motorola 68000 at 7.61 MHz
- 1 MByte (8 Mbit) ROM Area
- 64 KByte RAM Area
Co-Processor: Z80 @ 4 MHz (Not Present in MK-1631)
- Controls PSG (Programmable Sound Generator) & FM Chips
- 8 KBytes of dedicated Sound Ram
Graphics:
- 64 simultaneous colors of 512 color pallete.
- Pixel resolution: 320 x 224
- VDP (Video Display Processor)
- 3 Planes: 2 scrolling playfields, 1 sprite plane
Sound:
- PSG (TI 76489 chip)
- FM chip (Yamaha YM 2612)
- 6-channel stereo
- 8 KBytes RAM
- Signal/Noise Ratio: 14dB

32X Specs:

CPU: Dual Hitachi SH-2 RISC Processors @ 23 MHz each, 40MIPS.
Co-Processors:
- Genesis 68000, and Z80
- Genesis 32X VDP
Graphics:
- 32,768 simultaneous colours on screen
- Genesis resolution
- Overlaying over existing Genesis/SegaCD video
- 50,000 texture-mapped polygons/sec
- Texture mapping
- Hardware scaling and rotation
Sound:
- Stereo PCM chip
- Audio mixing with Genesis sound
- Additional 2 channels (8 Channels total, or 16 with SegaCD)

Mega CD Specs:

CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 12.5MHz
Memory:
- 6Mbit (Program, picture data, sound data)
- 512Kbit (PCM waveform memory)
- 128Kbit (CD-ROM data cache memory)
- 64Kbit (Backup memory)
- 1Mbit (Boot ROM)
Sound:
- PCM Sound Source:
- Stereo, 8 Channels.
- 8x Internal over-sampling digital filter
- PCM and CD sound mixing.
- Mixing with mixing terminal possible
- Wavelength characteristics: 20Hz-20kHz.
- Signal/Noise Ratio: Over 90dB (1kHz) (Line Out).
- Stereo channel separation: Over 90dB.
- Sampliing wavelength: 32MHz max.
- D/A Convertor:
16-bit D/A convertor
Misc:
- Battery Backup Durection: Approx. 1 month
- 1x CD-Rom Drive Speed (150kb/s)
- Audio Out: L/W RCA pin jack.
- Dimensions (WHD): 301mm x 212.5mm x 112.5mm (r1).

Sega Genesis

Sega Genesis & 32X

Sega Genesis & MegaCD

Emulators

Gens	Windows	Freeware	Rating: 8.8 (157 Votes)
Genesis/Mega Drive emulator.

Fusion	Windows	Freeware	Rating: 8.6 (340 Votes)
Multi system SEGA emulator

DGen/SDL	Windows	Open Source	Rating: 8.4 (7 Votes)
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulator

HazeMD	Windows	Free	Rating: 8.1 (9 Votes)


BizHawk	Windows	Open-Source	Rating: 8.0 (591 Votes)
Multi-system emulator designed for Tool-Assisted Speedruns (TAS)

Gens Plus!	Windows	Free	Rating: 7.6 (38 Votes)


RetroArch	Multi-platform	Open-Source	Rating: 7.4 (159 Votes)
Frontend for the Libretro API, effectively a multi-system emulator

Ages	Windows	Freeware	Rating: 7.2 (11 Votes)
Genesis/Mega Drive emulator.

higan	Windows	Open-Source	Rating: 6.5 (142 Votes)
Multi-system emulator with emphasis on emulation accuracy

RetroDrive	Windows	Freeware	Rating: 6.4 (11 Votes)
Genesis/Mega Drive emulator.