Emulator Tutorials - Sega Game Gear

SEGA GAME GEAR

How to run Sega Game Gear games on your computer - In 4 Easy Steps

The Sega Game Gear handheld video game system was released (in the USA) on April 26, 1991. It had a color LCD screen and played games on 8-bit cartridges, many of which were ports of games from Sega's Master System, the 8-bit home console. This was probably the greatest competition for Nintendo's original 2-color Game Boy. There was even an optional TV tuner for using the Game Gear as a television, along with many other accessories, like magnifying lens attachments for the screen. This tutorial will show you how to use Fusion (the same emulator in the Sega Genesis tutorial) and get you running with a nice homebrew game called Fire Track. This tutorial is intended for Windows PC.

(Would you rather play Sega Game Gear games in your browser with no downloads? Click here.)

STEP #1: Download the emulator to your computer:

Go to the Kega Fusion Official Download Page and download the latest Windows version. (Mac & Linux also available.)
You will get a ZIP file containing all you need. (Can't open ZIP files? Get 7-zip. It's FREE!)
Extract the ZIP to a new folder. (For example: "C:\FUSION\".)

STEP #2: Create a new folder for game ROMs:

Go to your new FUSION folder, right-click the background and select: "New>Folder".
Name the folder "GAME GEAR ROMS" or something like that you can remember.
While you're here, you may want to right-click "Fusion.exe" and select: "Send To>Desktop (create shortcut)"

STEP #3: Download a game ROM for your emulator:

There were nearly 400 different game titles produced for the Game Gear and they are all available online at various websites in the form of a ROM. However, since they are protected by copyright law, it is illegal to download or store the ROMs in most countries. Sure, anybody could query a search engine with "Sega Game Gear", "ROMs" & "game title" after checking a Best Sega Game Gear games list, but this tutorial will keep things legal and use a royalty-free homebrew game called Fire Trak that is free and legal to download for this purpose.

DISCLAIMER: It is not legal to download or store copyright-protected Sega Game Gear Roms in many countries. Check your local laws for information on backup copies of software in your area to be sure. Some video games are abandonware, which is software whose copyright was held by a company which no longer exists. Homebrew video game ROMs are produced by amateur of independent game developers and are usually free to download without legal liabilities.

Go to the Fire Trak info/download page at: smspower.org
Click the download link for the latest version of Fire Trak.
Save the ZIP fle to your new GAME GEAR ROMS folder in your FUSION folder.

STEP #4: Setup Fusion & play your game:

Start "Fusion.exe".
On the menu at top, click "Options>Set Config...".
When the Fusion Configuration dialog pops up, click on the "Controllers" tab.
Under Master System/Game Gear Controllers you can change controls for Game Gear.
By Port 1, set the 1st drop-menu to "Control Pad", set the 2nd drop-menu to "Keyboard" (or game controller if you have one).
Click on the "Define" button to follow a sequence of directions to set each control.
Click OK when the controls have been set to your preference.

With controls set to your preference, click "File>Load GameGear ROM".
The ROM Browser will open your FUSION folder, where you should find your new GAME GEAR ROMS folder.
Double-click your GAME GEAR ROMS folder and then double-click your game ROM.
The Game Gear emulation should begin.