MasterGear vs vibe-sms
MasterGear
fms.komkon.orgvibe-sms
github.comSide by side
| Figure | MasterGear | vibe-sms |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 0 |
| Spec score · Sega Master System Emulators | 9.1 (#1) | 6.5 (#21) |
| Save states | Users can save and reload emulation states, although a state file is not guaranteed to work across different hardware versions. | It provides nine save-state slots, with F7 to save and F5 to load. |
| What it does | MasterGear emulates Sega Mark III/Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000, SC-3000 and SF-7000 hardware and runs their cartridge or disk images. | vibe-sms is a Sega 8-bit emulator written in Rust for Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000 and SC-3000. |
Plans
MasterGear
- MasterGear Windows/LinuxFree
- Windows/LinuxFree
- Android$4.99, paid once
- MasterGear Android$430, paid once
In their own words
MasterGear
MasterGear emulates 8-bit SEGA consoles and computers, including MasterSystem, GameGear, SG1000, SC3000, SF7000, Mark2, and Mark3. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Android. The maker says hobbyists can use it to debug software without rare development hardware. Documentation reports support for about 98% of the maker’s SMS, GG, SF7000, SC3000, and SG1000 cartridge and disk images, while noting compatibility is not complete. Emulated hardware includes the Z80 CPU, console video processors, SN76489 sound, and Mark3 YM2413 FM sound. It can save and load emulation states, but state files are not guaranteed to work across versions on different hardware. Other listed features include automatic GZIP ROM handling, MIDI soundtrack logging, a built-in debugger, cheat support, and NetPlay. Windows and Linux are free; the Android plan costs 430.00 USD once. Game ROM images are not included, and source code is not publicly available.