PicoDrive 0.92 released for the 3DS – Sega CD emulation and many improvements!
Last week, a standalone version of PicoDrive was released for the 2/3DS which guaranteed much better performance on the older models of the consoles than the RetroArch core. Now, thanks to developer bubble2k16, it’s got yet another update to make it even better!
What is PicoDrive and what’s special about this 3DS port?
PicoDrive is an open-source and multi-platform Genesis/SMS/32x and Sega CD emulator that is available on various platforms, such as the PSP and OpenPandora. Its developer is ‘notaz’ but many developers have worked hard at porting it and making it more optimised for the console of their choice.
You now have the (dis)honour to play Sega CD games on your old 2/3DS with a decent speed and good audio!
The main reason why it is a popular emulator on lower-end devices is because it focuses on performance rather than on accuracy so you can enjoy your favourite Genesis games at the proper speed without a high frameskip!
This standalone 3DS port is different from the RetroArch core because it uses a series of extra optimisations that offload most the audio workload to the 2nd core of the 2/3DS. Without these optimisation, the old 2/3DS wouldn’t get a full 60FPS in games and they’d lag like they do in the RetroArch core.
What got updated in PicoDrive 0.92 for the 3DS?
Thanks to this emulator, Sonic won’t run slower than he should (for the most part)!
PicoDrive 0.92 for the Nintendo 3DS brings about the following:
- Support for Sega CD games – that means you can play Sonic CD (one of the few good Sega CD games) at a decent speed on your old 2/3DS!
- Many optimisations, both in the Genesis and Sega CD departments (CD games may still drop some frames on the old 3DS but you’ll at least get smooth audio).
- Many bugs were fixed
- Options to force 60, 50 or default FPS were added
- Lag was reduced in music and sound playback
- Much more
Conclusion
To get this updated version of the emulator, simply follow the link below and install the version you wish for your device (Homebrew launcher or CIA version) from the ZIP file. If you have any issues, report them in the issues tab of the GitHub link below:
GitHub release page (full changelog + download link + place where you can report bugs): https://github.com/bubble2k16/picodrive_3ds/releases/tag/v0.92
I wish more people used the many cores of the 3DS for optimizations like these. the emulation scene would explode
nerd
that picture is from sonic 1 though
There were actually quite a few good Sega CD games though. Notably games like, Shining Force CD, Snatcher, Sonic CD, Heart of the Alien, Popful Mail, the Lunar games, and Dark Wizard. It’s truly an under appreciated add-on because of it’s reputation with bad FMV games.
I think the Ps4 HEN should be on top of the page!!! VV1LD just made this loader and now we can load our own elfs and pkgs
just look up his github
I think you might be pleasently surprised by the quantity+quality of RPGs (which I know you like) available on the SegaCD. It doesn’t compare to the library of great games on SNES or PSX (sadly Sega of Japan had less faith in their own product than SoE and SoA… a trend we sadly see continued today regarding how they handle their software library).
aguante la vieja sega loco! agauante la sega genesis!!
I use jenesis for my emulation needs of the geny
Where do I copy & paste this file on my R4 sdhc rts ? Do I have to create a folder? Because my other picodrive app is an .nds file it works but it has no sound. However this new version has a 3dsx file extention and I do not know where to insert it … Help please