¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: Sega
- Year of release: 1985
- Units sold: about 13 millions
- CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 3.58 MHz
- RAM: 8 KB
- VRAM: 16 KB
- Video: VDP derived from the Texas Instruments TMS9918
- Resolution: 256x192, 32 simultaneous colors out of 64
- Sound chip: Texas Instruments SN76489 (3 channels + noise), Yamaha YM2413 (FM) on Japanese models
- Media: Cartridge, Sega Card
¶ Presentation
The Master System is Sega's 8-bit console, derived from the Mark III released in Japan in October 1985. It reached North America in 1986 and Europe in 1987, with the mission of taking on Nintendo's NES. Technically more powerful than its rival — better palette, more VRAM — it nonetheless suffered from a smaller library, as Nintendo locked down third-party publishers at the time.
While the console remained marginal in Japan and the United States, it enjoyed a very different fate in Europe and above all in Brazil, where it was distributed by Tec Toy and stayed on sale for decades. That largely explains its roughly 13 million units sold and the attachment players from those regions still have for it.
Its library is defined by the Alex Kidd series — Sega's mascot before Sonic — along with Wonder Boy, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Golden Axe, R-Type and Castle of Illusion. The Light Phaser, the machine's official gun, comes with a fine set of shooting games such as Safari Hunt, Rescue Mission and Operation Wolf.
¶ Emulators
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro picodrive | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro genesisplusgx | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro gearsystem | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro fbneo | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
The default emulator is picodrive. genesisplusgx offers excellent compatibility and CRT output; gearsystem is a core dedicated to Sega's 8-bit machines and the only one supporting softpatching; fbneo emulates the arcade versions (Sega System E / Mega-Tech) of some titles. All four cores run on every board.
Netplay is supported by all four cores. Softpatching is only available with gearsystem. CRT output is handled by genesisplusgx and gearsystem. RetroAchievements are available on this system.
A light gun is recommended on the Master System: games designed for the Light Phaser (Safari Hunt, Rescue Mission, Operation Wolf…) are played with a gun.
¶ BIOS
Master System BIOS files are optional: they only provide the original boot screen and, on some models, the built-in game. Several revisions of each BIOS are accepted.
| File name | Description | MD5 | Emulators |
|---|---|---|---|
bios_E.sms |
Europe BIOS (optional) | several revisions accepted | genesisplusgx |
bios_U.sms |
US BIOS (optional) | several revisions accepted | genesisplusgx, gearsystem |
bios_J.sms |
Japan BIOS (optional) | 24a519c53f67b00640d0048ef7089105 | genesisplusgx |
Accepted MD5 for bios_E.sms: 840481177270d5642a14ca71ee72844c, 4187d96beaf36385e681a3cf3bd1663d, e8b26871629b938887757a64798df6dc, 02cbb2e348945c9ac41e37502a58ca76, 5cd8f62cd8786af0226e6d2248279338, 08b81aa6be18b92daef1b875deecf824, bdb34f2c471e5d0c358eeec621f9d029.
Accepted MD5 for bios_U.sms: 840481177270d5642a14ca71ee72844c, b264bef9bda264ffe83afcebac21b81f, e8b26871629b938887757a64798df6dc, 02cbb2e348945c9ac41e37502a58ca76, 5cd8f62cd8786af0226e6d2248279338, 08b81aa6be18b92daef1b875deecf824.
Place your BIOS files like this:
/recalbox/share/bios/mastersystem/
├── bios_E.sms
├── bios_U.sms
└── bios_J.sms
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/mastersystem/
Supported extensions per emulator:
| Emulator | Extensions |
|---|---|
| picodrive | .sms .zip .7z |
| genesisplusgx | .sms .zip .7z |
| gearsystem | .sms .zip .7z |
| fbneo | .zip .7z |
No-Intro romsets are recommended. Game Gear and SG-1000 games, although running on very similar hardware, each have their own folder.