SEGA's 8-bit machines share one family: the SG-1000 (1983), SEGA's first console, the Master System (1985), which fought the NES and won in Europe and Brazil, and the Game Gear (1990), a Master System turned into a handheld with a colour screen.
We have about 340 Master System games, about 360 Game Gear games and about 70 SG-1000 games on My Abandonware. One emulator runs all three.
Emulators
Gearsystem runs the three systems and is free on Windows, Mac and Linux. Genesis Plus GX does the same in RetroArch, and also plays the Genesis.
- Gearsystem (Windows, Mac, Linux): a very accurate emulator of the Master System, Game Gear and SG-1000, still updated, and also a RetroArch core. Recommended.
- Genesis Plus GX: the same three systems, plus the Genesis and the SEGA CD. The easiest way to get it is as a core in RetroArch.
- Emulicious (Windows, Mac, Linux): very accurate, made for people who write games, with strong debugging tools. It needs Java.
- MEKA (Windows, Linux): the old emulator of these machines, written in the 90s and still updated. Handy for the odd hardware of the SG-1000 family.
Running the games
Unzip the game and open the file in the emulator, or drop it on the window. Master System and Game Gear games are small cartridge files that need nothing else.
The file ending says which machine the game is for: .sms for the Master System, .gg for the Game Gear, .sg for the SG-1000. A Game Gear game opened as a Master System game shows a wrong picture, so keep the right file with the right setting: most emulators pick the machine from the file ending by themselves.
The Game Gear screen was much smaller than a television: 160 by 144 points against 256 by 192. A Game Gear game therefore fills a small square in the middle of your screen. Emulators can stretch it, and some can also show the part of the picture the handheld cut off.
FM sound for the Japanese games
The Japanese Master System had a second sound chip, the YM2413, and about 60 games carry music for it. Turn FM sound on in the emulator to hear those games as they were meant to sound.
The games work either way: without the chip, they play their normal music. In Genesis Plus GX, set the FM option from "auto" to "enabled"; Gearsystem, Emulicious and MEKA have the same switch. Worth trying on games like Wonder Boy III or Phantasy Star.
The BIOS
These consoles need no BIOS file. A Master System BIOS is optional, and only useful for a few games, or to see the startup screen of the real machine.
If you want it, the files are named bios_U.sms, bios_E.sms and bios_J.sms, one per region, and bios.gg for the Game Gear. See our page about BIOS files. Some emulators also use the BIOS to run the small maze game built into the first Master System.
I need help!
We do not provide support for running abandonware games. SEGA's 8-bit scene has one very good reference site.
SMS Power! holds everything about the Master System, Game Gear and SG-1000: game lists, hardware notes, homebrew and a busy forum.
Checked in October 2026 against each emulator's own documentation and, where it exists, its source code. Game counts and file sizes come from our own catalogue. These guides were drafted with the help of an AI assistant and checked by hand before publishing. If something here is out of date, tell us.