New in Recalbox 10.1: SugarBox2 joins the Amstrad CPC as a third emulator. This release also ships several fixes for the core: Sonic is now fully functional and the floppy-disk launch heuristics have been improved.
SugarBox2 is a free and open source Amstrad CPC emulator developed by Thomas Guillemin. It ships with Recalbox under the license of its upstream repository; refer to it for the exact terms.
System page: Amstrad CPC
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro SugarBox2 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
The core is rated with high compatibility and high speed, and it is built for every board supported by Recalbox.
Cap32 is still the default Amstrad CPC emulator: select SugarBox2 explicitly in the emulation options of the system or of a given game to use it. It is the core to try first when a game misbehaves with Cap32 or CrocoDS, especially titles that push the hardware.
The same core is also used for the Amstrad GX-4000 console, which shares the CPC Plus architecture.
| Feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Netplay | ❌ |
| Softpatching | ❌ |
| CRT output | ✅ |
| RetroAchievements | ✅ (Amstrad CPC system property) |
| Light gun | ❌ (not supported on this system) |
A keyboard is required to fully enjoy the Amstrad CPC, with a pad recommended as a complement. Netplay is not available with this core: use Cap32 or CrocoDS if you want to play online.
No BIOS is required for this core.
.bin .cdt .csw .dsk .kcr .m3u .sna .tap .wav .zip .7z
/recalbox/share/roms/amstradcpc/
For a game spread over several floppy disks, create an
.m3ufile listing the.dskimages in order: Recalbox then sees a single game and disk swapping is done from the RetroArch menu.
While in game, press HOTKEY + B to open the RetroArch menu, then go to the core options section to display the settings specific to SugarBox2.
The options exposed by SugarBox2 change from one core release to another: rely on the list displayed in the RetroArch menu of your installation rather than on a fixed list. They notably let you pick the emulated machine model — a game written for a specific model may refuse to start on another one.