[General Topics] Menneisyys:
Now that I’ve reviewed emulating most desktop gaming consoles (DO check them out if you haven't already done so, they're all HERE - you won't find a better source of information on all these questions ANYWHERE else; no wonder they've all have been made sticky the official Emulators forum at MobilitySite / AximSite by Michu, author of the Emupage, himself and some even had the honor of being frontpaged at Pocket PC Thoughts and Just another Mobile Monday!), I found it necessary to review how handheld gaming consoles can be emulated on Windows Mobile.

Note that I do NOT review how the Nintendo Game Boy (GB), Game Boy Color (GBC) and Game Boy Advance (GBA) platforms need to be emulated. The reason for this is very simple: Masterall, one of the biggest players in the Pocket PC and Smartphone emulation scene, has just released another, very cool GBA emulator, GBACE, and is continually working on it. Also, the other “big name” with (currently) GB / GBC (no GBA) emulation, SmartGear, is continuously improved. As soon as they reach a semi-final state, I publish a FULL roundup of all Nintendo handhelds. In the meantime, if you need GBA emulator, use either Sunbug’s PocketGBA or the above-mentioned GBACE.

Note that the first chapter, the one on the Sega Game Gear (GG for short), also discusses a 8-bit, not really advanced (but sill better than the NES) desktop console of the eighties, the Sega Master System (SMS). Some Game Gear games are just Sega Master System titles (with decreased resolution – to see the resolution difference between the original SMS titles and that of GG, compare the SMS screenshots in the reviews below to this GG screenshot); in cases, increased color depth and, in VERY few cases, stereo music as opposed to the mono music of the Master System) in a portable, small cartridge format.

1. Sega Game Gear (and the Sega Master System)

There are three really usable emulators (and one outdated & non-working):

1.1 SmartGear 0.25

(Note that the current version, 0.25, already supports full-screen mode on VGA devices too. In this screenshot, I’ve only used the 150% mode so that the task- and command bar are also visible. Using full screen mode (which you will want to stick to because it’s blazingly fast on ALL VGA devices), I couldn’t have made them visible.)

A screenshot on the WM5 176*220 HTC Oxygen (s310) MS Smartphone:

On the HTC Vox, in Portrait mode:

(And in Landscape – as can be seen, it also supports landscape QVGA Smartphones like the Moto Q.)

It runs most GG and SMS games flawlessly, except for the sound problems. I had absolutely no problems with the following titles:

5 In 1 Funpak (UE) [!]

Adventures of Batman & Robin, The (JUE)

Asterix and the Great Rescue (UE)

Bubble Bobble (UE)

Bust-A-Move (UE) [!]

Defenders of Oasis (UE)

Double Dragon (UE) [!]

Earthworm Jim (UE) [!]

Sonic & Tails (J) [!]

Sonic Chaos (JUE) [b1]

Sonic Drift (J)

Sonic Drift 2 (J)

Sonic Labyrinth (JUE)

Sonic the Hedgehog (UE).sms

Sonic the Hedgehog - Triple Trouble (UE)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (JUE)

Unfortunately, the emulator has SEVERE sound problems, which, it seems, can’t be fixed. I’ve tested all sound / frame throttling / video size settings / screen orientations on all by (wildly different – both Pocket PCs and Smartphones); the problem remained. Hope this problem will be fixed by the author very soon.

Good news for MS Smartphone owners: the emulator runs on the MS Smartphone VERY well. I’ve tested it on the WM5 176*220 HTC Oxygen (s310) and the WM6 QVGA HTC Vox (s710), the latter using both screen orientations and encountered absolutely no problems. It should be noted that both Smartphones have 200 MHz TI OMAP CPU’s – I’ve got VERY good animation speed without any kind of overclocking.

Also note that, because the native screen size of the old(er) / low(er)-end Smartphones, 176*220, is still higher than the resolution of the GG (unlike with the SMS), you won’t have ugly graphics (ignored original scanlines, which can easily ruin the emulation of platforms with higher screen resolution than 176*220) when sticking to original GG titles.

With Dragon Crystal (JUE), I had severe problems: the screen turned black after the second animation (while, with the other three emulators, it ran just fine). I’ve tested this on my Dell Axim x51v, HTC Oxygen, Pocket Loox 720 and HTC Universal. It was only on that the HTC Universal that the game really started when I did wait for the initial intro to be completely played back – on the other models, not even the latter did help. The other emulators all ran the game flawlessly, even without waiting for the initial animation to finish.

Note that the new, 0.25 version indeed works flawlessly on VGA devices. Games are perfectly playable even at full screen on VGA devices (using FitWin; remember NOT to use FitWin* because it may result in a crash).

Finally, note that, as with all the other Game Gear emulators, SmartGear also supports running Sega Master System games (the desktop predecessor to the Game Gear), not only Game Gear ones – actually, the Sonic screenshots I’ve put in this roundup are all based on a Master System game. Of course, the majority of the games I’ve tested are native Game Gear ones.

1.2 CE/gg 0.5

This emulator is slower than SmartGear and it lacks features like full screen. However, it may be preferable if, for example, the sound problems of SmartGear get on your nerves, you want on-screen controls (unfortunately, they aren’t hidden) and/or you need an absolutely free emulator (not that the trial restrictions of SmartGear would be THAT limiting, except for the lack of game state save/load, which is also supported by CE/gg).

Note that sounds are disabled, you will need to enable it in the settings menu. Go for “Best sound” if you don’t want desynchronized, annoying music. (Also make sure you enable throttling by ticking in the “Throttling” checkbox at the top.)

It also lets for remapping hardware buttons; unfortunately, “extra” keys like the red/green phone buttons or WM5 soft buttons aren’t recognized, “only” standard buttons and numeric keys (if present).

All in all, this emulator, in cases, may prove a better alternative to SmartGear. However, give a try to the latter first, particularly if you’re a registered user, have a VERY slow (for example, a TI OMAP-based) device and/or want to save battery life (SmartGear consumes way less CPU cycles and, therefore, battery life than the two other emulators). MorphGear (discussed in the next section) is also a very good, albeit commercial alternative – it’s decidedly faster than CE/gg and is more featureful (full screen capabilities etc).