¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: Sega
- Year of release: 1998
- Units sold: 9.13 millions
- Best-selling game: Sonic Adventure
- CPU: Hitachi SH-4 @ 200 MHz
- RAM: 16 MB
- VRAM: 8 MB
- Video: NEC PowerVR2 CLX2
- Resolution: 640x480
- Sound chip: Yamaha AICA (ARM7 core @ 45 MHz), 64 channels
- Media: GD-ROM (1.2 GB)
- Network: built-in modem (56k on western models)
¶ Presentation
The Dreamcast is a sixth generation video game console marketed by Sega. The last home console designed by the Japanese company, it succeeded the Saturn and was released on November 27, 1998 in Japan, on September 9, 1999 in North America and on October 14, 1999 in Europe. It was the first console of its generation, arriving nearly two years before the PlayStation 2, the GameCube and the Xbox.
Technically, the Dreamcast broke with the complexity of the Saturn: a clear architecture built around a single Hitachi SH-4 processor and a PowerVR2 graphics chip, a Windows CE derived operating system offered to developers, and a proprietary 1.2 GB GD-ROM drive intended to slow down copying. The console also innovated with a built-in modem as standard, making it the first home console natively connected to the Internet, and with the VMU, a memory card fitted with a screen and buttons that slots into the controller and acts as a second display.
The western launch was an immediate success, but the announcement of the PlayStation 2 and Sega's damaged finances got the better of the machine. Production stopped in March 2001, after around 9.13 million units sold, and Sega refocused on publishing games. The Dreamcast retains a cult reputation, carried by a library packed with arcade conversions (its architecture is close to that of Naomi boards) and by iconic titles such as Shenmue, Soulcalibur, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star Online. It still enjoys a particularly active homebrew scene today.
¶ Emulators
New in Recalbox 10.1: Flycast moves to flycast-next, a more recent and better optimised code base. On RPi5/500, Flycast-Next is now the emulator launched first.
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro Flycast | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro Flycast-Next | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Reicast | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Flycast-Next is not available on Odroid Go Advance/Super, RG351 and RG353: on those machines only Flycast is provided. Reicast is now only shipped on RPi3 and RPi Zero 2, where it acts as a fallback for the games Flycast struggles with.
By default Recalbox launches Flycast, except on RPi5/500 where Flycast-Next takes priority. Netplay and softpatching are not available on this system. Both libretro cores handle CRT output; Reicast does not. RetroAchievements are supported. A controller is mandatory; keyboard, mouse and light gun are optionally supported for the games that use them. A six-button controller with two analog triggers, such as the 8BitDo Pro 3, closely reproduces the original pad.
¶ BIOS
Both files are mandatory: without them, no Dreamcast game will start.
| File name | Description | MD5 | Mandatory | Emulators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
dc_boot.bin |
Console boot BIOS | e10c53c2f8b90bab96ead2d368858623 | ✅ | Flycast, Flycast-Next, Reicast |
dc_flash.bin |
Flash memory (region, date, system settings) | d6e11a23f1fa01cddb5dfccf7e4cc8d7 | ✅ | Flycast, Flycast-Next, Reicast |
Place your BIOS files like this:
/recalbox/share/bios/dc/
├── dc_boot.bin
└── dc_flash.bin
Several revisions of these files are accepted. Recognised MD5:
dc_boot.bin e10c53c2f8b90bab96ead2d368858623
d552d8b577faa079e580659cd3517f86
d407fcf70b56acb84b8c77c93b0e5327
dc_flash.bin d6e11a23f1fa01cddb5dfccf7e4cc8d7
93a9766f14159b403178ac77417c6b68
0a93f7940c455905bea6e392dfde92a4
23df18aa53c8b30784cd9a84e061d008
69c036adfca4ebea0b0c6fa4acfc8538
74e3f69c2bb92bc1fc5d9a53dcf6ffe2
2f818338f47701c606ade664a3e16a8a
The
dc_flash.binfile holds the region and the settings of the emulated console. If your Japanese games display menus in the wrong language, this is the file to change.
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/dreamcast/
All three emulators accept the same extensions:
.bin .cdi .chd .cue .elf .gdi .iso .m3u
The CHD format is strongly recommended: it compresses a GD-ROM losslessly, cuts the space used by two or three, and avoids
.gdifiles shipped with dozens of separate tracks.
For games spread over several GD-ROMs, such as Shenmue, create a .m3u file listing the discs in order, one path per line, and launch that .m3u file rather than the individual discs: the virtual memory card contents then stay shared between discs.
.cdi images come from the old "auto-boot" dumps and do work, but they are often recompressed and have lower audio quality. Prefer Redump dumps converted to CHD.
Also have a look at the Dreamcast guide for game preparation, configuration and system-specific tips.