EMU7800 vs Test7800

EMU7800 is a free emulator for the Atari 7800 ProSystem and the backward-compatible Atari 2600 Video Computer System. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS and supports saved game states. The maker says it runs on Windows 11, and its Windows installer does not need administrator permission. Windows users can connect Stelladaptor, 2600-daptor, 2600-daptor II, and Xbox 360 controllers. Saved game state is kept in the user profile at %USERPROFILE%\.emu7800savedgames. The project lists Linux ARM and ARM64 targets using SDL3; Linux systems may need SDL3, SDL3 image, and SDL3 TTF installed. Its macOS x64 and ARM64 targets are described as experimental and untested. Building from source requires the .NET 10.0 SDK and Git. The project was originally completed in 2003 as a .NET programming exercise, is licensed under GPL-2.0, and is maintained as a non-commercial endeavor. The current release listed is v5.7.0.0, released December 31, 2025.

Test7800 is an experimental Atari 7800 emulator for playing many available 7800 ROM files. It supports flat .a78 ROMs, several bankswitching SuperGame ROMs, and ELF cartridges with an embedded ARM chip. Its emulation includes 6502, TIA, RIOT, and ARM components taken from Gopher2600; the MARIA implementation is new to this project. POKEY and many of its layouts are supported. Players can use a keyboard or gamepad, with a mouse for paddle and trackball input. QuadTari mode supports up to four joystick players, with assignments configurable through -players. An optional overlay displays MARIA state, and the -tv option selects PAL instead of the default NTSC BIOS. Test7800 is available for Linux, macOS, the web, and Windows, and is published under GPL-3.0. The project describes itself as incomplete: important features are missing, and some conglomerate cartridge hardware configurations are not emulated. Its basic command-line debugger lacks many features, and performance was not a design focus. Occasional nightly builds are distributed as prereleases.