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SEGA GENESIS

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

The Sega Genesis (called the Mega Drive in Japan and Europe) was the first commercially available 16-bit home video game system in the United States, released in 1989, two years before Super Nintendo. It cemented its popularity in the US with a large library of games including accurate ports of popular arcade games, like Mortal Kombat, which was often preferred over the blood-censored SNES version. See the LINKS OF INTEREST page for more emulator links. This tutorial will focus on Kega Fusion, an easy-to-use, full-functioning, FREE emulator dedicated to emulating the Sega Genesis console and 6 other Sega game systems as well.

Sega Genesis

(Would you rather play Sega Genesis 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 & Linus 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 "GENESIS 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 Sega Genesis game ROM:

There are many websites that offer free downloads of game ROMs for Sega Genesis. Anybody could use a search engine to search for "Sega Genesis" "ROMS" & "game title" to pirate games after browsing a list of the 100 Best Sega Genesis Games. However, in this tutorial, we will be installing and playing Metal Sonic Hyperdrive, a fan-made homebrew game (a free, legal ROM) that runs in the emulator like a Genesis ROM.

DISCLAIMER: It is not legal to download or store a Sega Genesis ROM even if you own a physical copy of the game, though this depends on which country in which you live. Check your local laws for details on bakcup copies of software like video games. Some game ROMs are called abandonware. Abandonware is software whose copyright was held by a company that no longer exists. No legislation is currently in place to regulate so-called copyright violation on abandonware. Homebrew games, on the other hand, are usually freeware made by independent developers and ARE legal to download.

Go to the Metal Sonic Hyperdrive download page at: info.sonicretro.org/Metal_Sonic_Hyperdrive
Scroll down to Downloads, and click the download link.
Download/Save "Metal_Sonic_HYPERDRIVE....zip" to your new GENESIS ROMs folder inside your FUSION folder.

STEP #4: Set controls & play your Sega Genesis game:

Start "Fusion.exe"
Set your controls by clicking "Options>Set Config...", then click on the "Controllers" tab.
In the new dialog window, by Port 1, you will see 2 drop-down menus and a "Define" button.
In the first drop-down menu, select 6-Btn Pad, in the second one, select your control method (keyboard or gamepad).
Click the "Define" button and follow the directions at the bottom of the window.
Click "OK" to save the new control settings.

It's always good when emulating to have access to a USB game controller or gamepad. There are even some made to look like original Sega Genesis controllers that connect to USB for use with emulators like Fusion, but any PC gamepad will work. Of course, as with any emulator, you can use keys on the keyboard for now. See TWEAKS below for more info.

With controls set to your preference, click OK to accept the new settings.
Click "File>Load Genesis/32X Rom..." and navigate to your "roms" folder from Step #2.
Double-click your game rom from STEP #3 to start your game. (The Open ROM dialog will default to this folder from now on.)
That's it! Have fun!