What is Sega Genesis ROMS
The Sega Genesis was first released in 1988 in Japan and quickly became one of the most beloved game consoles ever made. It was also regarded as one of the most definitive game consoles from the 90s and was a direct competitor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This competition essentially spurred some of the most memorable game titles of that era. Sega would later follow up with new consoles such as the Saturn and the Dreamcast, the Genesis was easily and hands down the most celebrated piece of game hardware.
By 2001, Sega had stopped making video game consoles and transitioned into making new games to cater to other platforms. With many of the best games for the Sega Genesis having been released in special collections, or remastered for newer video game consoles and smartphones, it made sense to try to revisit some of the best games to come out on the Sega Genesis platform.
SEGA GENESIS EMULATOR GAMES
The rivalry between the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System has already been highlighted. Depending on who you ask, the answers to who won the rivalry will tend to be slightly different. Despite this, the Sega Genesis was enjoyed by many and in fact, had so many great games on the console itself. For those feeling a bit nostalgic from being fans of the Sega Genesis, there are a few emulators to be able to play Sega Genesis games as you wish. These also work with Mega Drive games as well.
MasterEmu
This is one of the new emulators with Master Drive and game Gear support. This emulator actually does come with some decent features including Android TV support, excellent game support, hardware controller support and much more. This emulator is also a fairly new emulator from a relatively new developer and as such, has a few minor bugs. However, and predictably, it could potentially grow to become one of the best emulators for Sega Genesis. There is also a free version as well as a pro version which is reasonably priced.
Retroarch
This is a multi-emulator application that supports a plethora of systems including Sega and others. The emulator also supports Sega CD, Genesis, Master Drive, Game Gear as well as 32X and should work well for anyone who needs it to. The emulator comes with configurable controls as well as the usual array of emulator features including save and load states, cheat codes and so much more. Its compatibility level is quite good, and it comes highly recommended as a great option if one needs to explore more than one emulator at any given time. Furthermore, it is open source and comes entirely free. Its only downside is with the learning curve as it will take you some time to be able to figure out how it works.
MD.emu
This is most probably the best solution for Sega Genesis emulators as it is basically an open source emulator project from which most of the other Sega Genesis are based on. It works with Sega Genesis and Mega drive games and others including Mark III and Sega CD games. In effect, this ensures it comes highly ranked as the most versatile emulator available. Furthermore, it has the longest additional feature list of all, and includes hardware controller support, cheat codes support, auto-saving as well as support for other various controller setups. This emulator comes highly recommended to anyone including those who are just starting to use emulators as it is indeed the most complete.
Classic Boy
This emulator prides itself as an all-in-one emulator as it supports Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation, three different Game Boy consoles, NES and the Sega Genesis. It does seem to work quite well and almost all reviews of the Classic Boy emulator is a generally positive one. Its features include customizable gamepad layouts, local multiplayer support as well as the usual features including save and load states. The Classic Boy emulator remains a great emulator option for anyone who is looking for anything more than just Sega Genesis emulators. It is also worth trying before you buy so as to ensure it does work.
PLATFORMS THAT SUPPORT SEGA GENESIS ROMS
All of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulators as described above can enable you to run your favorite games on Android, iPhone, Mac or PC devices. Various emulators are able to run these games on different devices dependent on platforms ie Sega Genesis/Mega Drive ROMs for Android, Mac, Linux or even Windows platforms.
In furtherance and for anyone seeking to play old Sega Genesis games legitimately, Sega has gone ahead to launch some of its classic games on the Google Play platform. Games such as Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog and a whole lot more which are official Sega Games are now available on Google Play. These games feature mobile controls instead of emulator controls, as well as decent mechanics and come at reasonable price points. It may be worth checking out as the need for an emulator may not arise once you can get these games on mobile. However, you may go ahead to miss stuff like fast forward support and save states on these official releases if these are things you are into.