FinalBurn Neo vs Flycast
FinalBurn Neo
github.comFlycast
github.comSide by side
| Figure | FinalBurn Neo | Flycast |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Multi-System Emulators | 8.8 (#4) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Company identity | The official GitHub organization identifies the maker as FinalBurn Neo / Team FBNeo and lists related repositories for cheats, extras, translations and the wiki. | Google Play identifies the developer as Raphael Jean-Leconte, using the developer name Flyinghead. |
| Licence | The bundled licence permits use, modification and redistribution only on a non-commercial basis, requires source sharing and preserves copyright notices. | The repository uses the GNU General Public License version 2. |
| Rating on Google Play | 3.8 out of 5 from 47,700 reviews for RetroArch, the host application that distributes the FBNeo core | 4.3 out of 5 from 1.79k reviews |
| What it does | FinalBurn Neo is a multi-system emulator for arcade games and selected consoles, derived from FinalBurn and older MAME code. | Flycast emulates Sega Dreamcast, Naomi, Naomi 2 and Atomiswave systems and is derived from reicast. |
Plans
In their own words
FinalBurn Neo
FinalBurn Neo is a free emulator for arcade games and selected consoles, with builds or ports documented for Android, Linux, macOS and Windows. Its emulation scope includes Capcom CPS-1, CPS-2 and CPS-3, Neo Geo, and Sega System 16. The project is based on FinalBurn and older versions of MAME, and is intended to run vintage games on modern systems. Described capabilities include accurate emulation, high performance, netplay, rewinding and shader effects. The project documents Windows and macOS builds, Linux SDL builds and Raspberry Pi builds; a LibRetro port is also available through RetroArch for many platforms. It recommends SDL2 over SDL1.2, citing a better renderer, on-screen display, game selection and ROM scanning. Linux SDL2 builds can be compiled with make sdl2 and require SDL2, SDL2_image, GCC, make, Perl and NASM. On macOS, the build supports keyboard and mouse input but not joysticks; its launcher imports ZIP and 7z archives. The listed terms allow use, modification and distribution, but prohibit sale or monetary profit; ROM images require legal distribution rights.
Flycast
Flycast is a free emulator for Sega Dreamcast, Naomi, Naomi 2, and Atomiswave, derived from reicast. It runs on Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows, with releases available as stable tagged versions, master builds, and experimental nightly builds. Android users are directed to Google Play; Linux instructions cover Flatpak and Flathub, while macOS instructions use Homebrew. Windows documentation provides a bootstrap script for building from source. Xbox One and Series users can install a build through Xbox Device Portal. Flycast supports online play, with release notes describing modem-emulation improvements and fixes for online features in several games. Its DCNet service is a free dedicated VPN for Dreamcast games; 30 game servers were available when it was released. Physical Dreamcast controllers work with DreamConn+ and DreamPicoPort adapters. On Android, Google Auto Backup can back up VMU saves and non-volatile memory. The project lists GPL-2.0 as its license and says iOS support has been dropped.