Tech riderRev. 22 Sept 2026
Mega-Pi
- 1Runs onLinux
- 2CostsNot stated by the maker
- 3Supported platformsRaspberry Pi
- 4BIOS requirementrequired
- 5Save statesYes
- 6CD audio supportYes
5 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: github.com
Overview
Mega-Pi is ranked #12 of 19 in Sega CD emulators on Specifiction. It runs on Linux.
Compared on Sega CD emulators
- Free plan
- Yesgithub.com
- Supported platforms
- Raspberry Pigithub.com
- BIOS requirement
- requiredgithub.com
- Save states
- Yesgithub.com
- CD audio support
- Yesgithub.com
Facts
- Purpose
- Mega-Pi is a bare-metal Sega Mega Drive/Genesis emulator designed to run on Raspberry Pi.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Boot and latency
- The project says bypassing an operating system such as Linux enables near-instant boot times and ultra-low input latency.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Emulation core
- Mega-Pi uses the Picodrive emulation core and the Circle bare-metal C++ framework.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Multicore design
- The README assigns orchestration, video, audio, and input work to four Raspberry Pi ARM cores.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Sega CD support
- It supports Sega CD/Mega CD games in .cue with .bin tracks and compressed .chd formats, and describes emulation of the Sub-CPU, PCM audio, CD audio, and rotation/scaling graphics hardware.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- ROM formats
- The emulator scans .bin, .md, and .gen Genesis/Mega Drive files, plus .cue and .chd Sega CD/Mega CD files.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Video and sound
- The README describes 2× integer nearest-neighbor upscaling to 640×480 and 44.1 kHz stereo audio through the Pi PWM sound engine.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Controls
- It supports USB gamepads and USB keyboards, with menu and gameplay shortcuts documented for each.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Favorites
- Users can persist game favorites in SD:/roms/favorites.txt.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Setup requirements
- Running it requires a FAT32 SD card, a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 kernel image, game files, and USB input devices; Sega CD games also require appropriately named BIOS files.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Build requirement
- Compiling the project requires the GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain, and the Circle framework must be configured and built first.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Distribution
- The repository page lists a mega-pi-release-v1.1.zip file and documents packaging a release archive.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- Credits
- The project credits R. Stange for Circle and notaz and community contributors for Picodrive.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
- BIOS setup
- Sega CD support requires regional BIOS files named `bios_CD_U.bin`, `bios_CD_E.bin`, or `bios_CD_J.bin` in a `bios` folder on the SD card.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
- Display and audio
- The video core performs 2× integer nearest-neighbor upscaling to 640×480, and audio is output as 44.1 kHz stereo through the Pi PWM sound engine.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
- Supported hardware
- The build instructions describe Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 4 targets.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
- Installation
- Running it requires a FAT32 SD card containing the boot files, the compiled kernel image, a `roms` folder, and—when using Sega CD games—a `bios` folder.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
- Maker
- The GitHub profile identifies the repository owner as Alexsander Loula and lists Sao Paulo, Brazil.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
Best Mega-Pi alternatives
See all 12 All accessCh 01 RetroArch Free planAndroidiOS Free to start7.9 All accessCh 02 MAME Free planAndroidLinux Free to start7.4 All accessCh 03 webЯcade Free planAndroidiOS Free to start7.4 All accessCh 04 ClownMDEmu Free planLinuxMac Free to start7.3 All accessCh 05 BlastEm Free planLinuxMac Free to start7.1 All accessCh 06 Genesis Plus GX Free planLinuxWindows Free to start7.1
Where it ranks on Specifiction
- Best Sega CD Emulators in 2026#12 of 19
Is Mega-Pi yours?
Claim it for free: prove the domain, then correct facts, plans and screenshots. An editor reviews every change.
Sources
- github.com/aloula/mega-pi· checked 2 Oct 2026
- github.com/aloula· checked 3 Oct 2026