Retro-Saturn

A Sega Saturn emulator built on the Ymir core, for the disc images and BIOS you own.

THE MACHINE, ON SCREEN

The launch page is the console itself: the disc in the drive, and what is plugged into each of the two controller ports, shown as the hardware rather than named in a list. Step a port through the Control Pad, 3D Control Pad, Arcade Racer, Mission Stick, Virtua Gun and Shuttle Mouse and the picture changes with it.

YOUR DISCS, ON A SHELF

Point it at one folder of disc images -- CUE/BIN, CHD, ISO or CCD -- and it reads them into a shelf with cover art, grouped back together when a game came on more than one disc, and filed under an initial so a large collection is one tap from any letter.

SAVES THAT SURVIVE AN UPDATE

Save states are per game and per slot, four of each, and the Saturn's own battery memory is written back to disc where a real console would have kept it. Both live in a folder you choose, outside the app's private storage -- so reinstalling or updating does not take your saves with it, and you can copy them off the device yourself.

SOUND AND PICTURE

The emulator is paced from the audio clock, which is what keeps a Saturn running at its own speed rather than drifting against it. The picture is drawn with hard pixels when the window is a whole multiple of the Saturn's own resolution and smoothed when it is not, so it is sharp where sharp is correct and not banded where it is not. Integer scaling and a 4:3 lock are there for anyone who wants to be certain.

LIGHT GUN

The Virtua Gun is aimed with a finger or a mouse -- tap to fire, and the crosshair is as large as you need it to be.

WHAT YOU SUPPLY

No BIOS and no games are included. A Sega Saturn BIOS image and the disc images themselves are yours to supply, from hardware and discs you own.

Emulation by Ymir (github.com/StrikerX3/Ymir), GNU GPL v3 or later. The exact source this ships is at github.com/CrownParkComputing/ymir. This front end is at github.com/CrownParkComputing/Retro-Saturn.