Ultimate Emulator / System
Genesis / Mega Drive
Six buttons, sixteen bits and the cartridge library.
RazorGENESIS plays Genesis and Mega Drive cartridges on three- or six-button pads, with save states and online play, and needs no firmware. Each cartridge's own region decides the console it runs on; Sega CD and 32X games are not supported.
1989
Platform Sega
- Core
- RazorGENESIS
- Firmware
- Not required
- Game files
-
-
.md -
.gen -
.bin
-
- Players
- Up to 2 on one PC
- Online
- Native Multiplayer
- Rendering
- Original resolution
01 / Current support
Where Genesis stands today.
Status describes the core, not every game. Compatibility is always title-dependent.
- Beta
- Included, broader qualification continues.
- Core
- RazorGENESIS, a first-party core included with Ultimate Emulator. It is chosen automatically for Genesis games.
- Unrated
- No comparable per-core performance rating is claimed.
- Release note
- Cartridge games; no Sega CD or 32X.
- Cheats
- Free. In the Game Menu's Cheats section, choose + Add Cheat Code and enter a code you have. There is no built-in cheat list, and cheats are switched off in online multiplayer sessions.
02 / Your collection
The files it plays.
These are the Genesis game files RazorGENESIS opens. Ultimate Emulator does not supply games; add them from your own collection.
Game files
.md.gen.bin
Set up
03 / Firmware & BIOS
No external firmware required.
RazorGENESIS is complete on its own. Systems shows Genesis as Not required: add your games and play.
04 / Input
How it plays in your hands.
Connect a controller and it is mapped automatically. Change the layout for every game, for this system only, or for a single game in Settings → Controllers.
Genesis in Ultimate Emulator
- Two controller ports. Each takes the six-button control pad, with X, Y, Z and Mode, or the original three-button pad.
- Port 1 has the six-button pad unless you change it. Choose the three-button pad for a game that misreads the six-button one.
05 / Picture
The original picture, on a modern screen.
Window mode, Fit and Integer Scale, aspect ratio, pixel filtering and effects come from Settings → Graphics, for every system or for one game.
- Resolution
- Drawn at its original resolution, then scaled to your window with Fit or Integer Scale and your choice of pixel filtering and effects.
- Sprite Limit
- Reduce Flicker is the default; choose Original Hardware for the console's own limit. A choice of Original Hardware you made earlier is kept. It changes the picture only.
- Renderer
- Shown for information. The system's built-in engine chooses how it draws, with a safe fallback.
06 / Your progress
In-game saves and save states.
In-game saves
- Battery-backed cartridge saves, in save RAM or a serial EEPROM, are kept as one save file per game.
Save states
- Available for local play: Quick Save and Quick Load, saved states in the State Manager, Auto-Save and Auto Resume.
- Coordinated multiplayer sessions have their own state policy.
Rewind is not integrated with this core.
Learn more
07 / Play together
Together on one PC, or across two.
A system profile does not make a single-player game multiplayer. The game decides how many can play.
- On one PC
- Up to 2 players, one controller each, in games made for more than one player. No account needed.
- Across PCs
- Native Multiplayer, with ROM Mode. Each PC runs the game and the players' inputs are shared. Online sessions need Premium for everyone taking part.
08 / Honest compatibility
What to know before you play.
Current limits of the included core, as of this release.
Known limitations
- Cartridge games only. Sega CD (Mega-CD), 32X and Master System games are not supported.
- Cartridges with an extra processor on board, such as Virtua Racing, stop when the game first uses it.
- In Native Multiplayer both players use the three-button pad, and games that save to a serial EEPROM cannot be played online.
- A few rarely used video modes are not implemented yet; a game that switches to one stops with a message.
- Region
- Read from the cartridge: Japanese and American cartridges run on an NTSC console, European cartridges on a PAL one, and cartridges for every region on an American console. There is no manual region choice.
09 / Gaming History
Why it mattered.
How Genesis works in Ultimate Emulator is this page. Why it mattered is in the Gaming History collection.