DREAMNEOCD vs NeoRAGEx

DREAMNEOCD is a Sega Dreamcast emulator for Neo Geo CD games, including selfboot games. It can also be used through DreamShell with an SD card, without CDDA. The project was ported to Dreamcast in 2004 and its maker describes it as the first working Neo Geo CD emulator for the console. It is based on Foster's NeoCD/SDL; the README credits libSDL, using its sound component. To run, it needs a 512 KB system BIOS from an original Neo Geo CD console, named neocd.bin. The README warns that a smaller BIOS will not work with version 1.0 onward, and the repository cautions that the BIOS is copyrighted and users are not entitled to a copy unless they own an original Neo Geo CD console. The program is free, but the maker prohibits selling it and limits source-code and technical-knowledge reuse to noncommercial purposes. The repository lists a GPL-2.0 license. It does not support AES or MVS emulation, related SNK arcade games, netplay, or save states.

NeoRAGEx 5.4e is a free Neo·Geo emulator for playing arcade games on Windows 10 and 11. Its portable edition can run without installation from a USB drive. Display options include CRT effects such as scanlines, curvature, bloom, and vignette, as well as pixel sharp mode. Fullscreen supports integer scaling and 4:3 or widescreen aspect ratios. Xbox, PlayStation, arcade stick, and generic controllers are supported, with automatic detection and button remapping. Save states, rewind, and screenshots are included. The listed minimum requirements are 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, a dual-core 2.0 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, and a DirectX 9-or-newer compatible GPU. NeoRAGEx does not include games or BIOS; it requires a neogeo.zip BIOS file and users’ own ROM files. The download page publishes SHA-256 and MD5 checksums for the installer, and the site links to setup, configuration, and troubleshooting guides. The project describes itself as independent and unaffiliated with or backed by SNK.