Sega Game Gear
The Sega Game Gear was Sega's response to Nintendo's popular Game Boy portable console. Released in Japan on October 6th, 1990, and then on April 26th of 1991 in North America and Europe. Touting color graphics and an illuminated screen, the Game Gear was poised to surpass the competition on its technical merits alone, but the initial price of $149.99 and the lackluster battery life were as an albatross hung from the Game Gear's proverbial neck.
This system scrapes metadata for the “gamegear” group(s) and loads the gamegear set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Quick reference
- Emulator: RetroArch
- Cores available: libretro: GenesisPlusGX, libretro: Picodrive
- Folder:
/userdata/roms/gamegear - Accepted ROM formats:
.bin,.gg,.zip,.7z
BIOS
No Sega Game Gear emulator in Batocera needs a BIOS file to run.
ROMs
Place your Sega Game Gear ROMs in /userdata/roms/gamegear.
Emulators
RetroArch
RetroArch (formerly SSNES), is a ubiquitous frontend that can run multiple “cores”, which are essentially the emulators themselves. The most common cores use the libretro API, so that's why cores run in RetroArch in Batocera are referred to as “libretro: (core name)”. RetroArch aims to unify the feature set of all libretro cores and offer a universal, familiar interface independent of platform.
RetroArch configuration
RetroArch offers a Quick Menu accessed by pressing [HOTKEY] + 
which can be used to alter various things like RetroArch and core options, and controller mapping. Most RetroArch related settings can be altered from Batocera's EmulationStation.
Standardized features available to all libretro cores: gamegear.videomode, gamegear.ratio, gamegear.smooth, gamegear.shaders, gamegear.pixel_perfect, gamegear.decoration, gamegear.game_translation
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all cores of this emulator | |
GRAPHICS BACKEND gamegear.gfxbackend | Choose your graphics rendering ⇒ OpenGL opengl, Vulkan vulkan. |
AUDIO LATENCY gamegear.audio_latency | Audio latency in milliseconds, turn it up if you hear crackles ⇒ 256 256, 192 192, 128 128, 64 64, 32 32, 16 16, 8 8. |
THREADED VIDEO gamegear.video_threaded | Improves performance at the cost of latency and more video stuttering. Use only if full speed cannot be obtained otherwise. ⇒ On true, Off false. |
libretro: GenesisPlusGX
Genesis Plus GX is an open-source Sega 8/16 bit emulator focused on accuracy and portability. The source code, originally based on Genesis Plus 1.3 by Charles MacDonald, has been heavily modified & enhanced, with respect to initial goals and design, in order to improve the accuracy of emulation, implementing new features and adding support for extra peripherals, cartridge & systems hardware.
Genesis Plus GX has 100% compatibility with Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega/Mega CD, Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000 & Pico released software (including all unlicensed or known pirate dumps), also emulating backwards compatibility modes when available.
libretro: GenesisPlusGX configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all systems this core supports | |
REDUCE SPRITE FLICKERING global.gpgx_no_sprite_limit | Reduce sprite flickering when enabled ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
| Settings specific to megadrive | |
NTSC FILTER megadrive.gpgx_blargg_filter_md | Enable blargg NTSC video filters ⇒ Off False, Composite (color bleeding + artifacts) composite, SVideo (color bleeding only) svideo, RGB (crisp image) rgb. |
SHOW LIGHTGUN CROSSHAIR megadrive.gun_cursor_md | Shows crosshairs for Menacer and Justifiers devices ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
CONTROLLER 1 TYPE megadrive.controller1_md | Select 3 or 6 button controller, mouse or Multitap ⇒ Joypad Auto 1, Joypad 3 Button 257, Joypad 6 Button 513, Joypad 3 Button + 4-WayPlay 1025, Joypad 6 Button + 4-WayPlay 1281, Joypad 3 Button + Teamplayer 1537, Joypad 6 Button + Teamplayer 1793, Mouse 2. |
CONTROLLER 2 TYPE megadrive.controller2_md | Select controller, Multitap, mouse or Gun ⇒ Joypad Auto 1, Joypad 3 Button 257, Joypad 6 Button 513, Joypad 3 Button + 4-WayPlay 1025, Joypad 6 Button + 4-WayPlay 1281, Joypad 3 Button + Teamplayer 1537, Joypad 6 Button + Teamplayer 1793, Mouse 2, Menacer Light Gun 516, Konami Justifiers 772. |
| Settings specific to mastersystem | |
NTSC FILTER mastersystem.gpgx_blargg_filter_ms | Enable blargg NTSC video filters ⇒ Off False, Composite (color bleeding + artifacts) composite, SVideo (color bleeding only) svideo, RGB (crisp image) rgb. |
FM CHIP (YM2413) mastersystem.ym2413 | Enhanced sound output support for compatible games ⇒ Autodetect automatic, Off disabled, On (forced) enabled. |
SHOW LIGHTGUN CROSSHAIR mastersystem.gun_cursor_ms | Shows crosshairs for Light Phaser device ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
CONTROLLER 1 TYPE mastersystem.controller1_ms | Select 2 button controller, Lightgun or Multitap ⇒ Joypad 2 Button 769, Joypad 2 Button + Master Tap 2049, Light Phaser 260, Paddle Control 261. |
CONTROLLER 2 TYPE mastersystem.controller2_ms | Select 2 button controller, Lightgun or Multitap ⇒ Joypad 2 Button 769, Joypad 2 Button + Master Tap 2049, Light Phaser 260, Paddle Control 261. |
| Settings specific to gamegear | |
LCD GHOSTING FILTER gamegear.lcd_filter | Simulate LCD ghosting effects ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
EXTENDED SCREEN gamegear.gg_extra | Extend the game screen area like on a Master System ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
libretro: Picodrive
libretro: Picodrive configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all systems this core supports | |
REDUCE SPRITE FLICKERING global.picodrive_sprlim | Reduce sprite flickering when enabled ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
CROP OVERSCAN global.picodrive_cropoverscan | Crops out video edge hidden under bezel of analog TV ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
CONTROLLER 1 TYPE global.picodrive_controller1 | Select 3 or 6 button controller ⇒ Joypad 3 Button 3 button pad, Joypad 6 Button 6 button pad. |
CONTROLLER 2 TYPE global.picodrive_controller2 | Select 3 or 6 button controller ⇒ Joypad 3 Button 3 button pad, Joypad 6 Button 6 button pad. |
Controls
Here are the default Sega Game Gear's controls shown on a Batocera Retropad:
The default button mapping to the Game Gear is as following:
Troubleshooting
Further troubleshooting
For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.
- systems/gamegear.txt
- Last modified: 16 months ago
- by atari