REVIEW
GENECYST
By Bloodlust Software
I have just seen the future of Genesis emulation, and it's
called Genecyst.
Bloodlust Software, the creators of the outstanding NESticle
emulator, has just recently released Genecyst v0.13, the second build
of an amazing DOS based emulator for the Sega Genesis written in C++
and assembly. It boasts a killer GUI reminiscent of the one in
NESticle and a truckload of features (such as joystick support, VESA
support (you can change resolutions on the fly), Game Genie codes, and
much more). My favorite part about Genecyst is it's blazing speed--I
was able to run many different games on my P90 while in Windows 95
with no frame skipping at full speed! A good number of the games I
tried didn't work properly but the Genecyst proved to me that full
speed 16-bit emulation on my P90 was indeed very possible. I commend
Bloodlust Software for their outstanding work and thank them for
keeping their software free.
Genecyst has a lot of pros, but unfortunately, it also has
it's share of cons. For one thing there is STILL no sound support
(which really drives me crazy!). Also, Genecyst is in VERY early
stages of development right now, and is nowhere near complete. As of
now, v0.13 is lacking many things, namely solid Z80 emulation, sound
emulation (as I stated earlier), 6-button joystick inputs, and a lot
of the graphic modes are yet to be emulated. On top of that, the VESA
2.0 support needs to be refined (I couldn't get some of the video
modes to work, even with Display Doctor) and the 68000 emulation is
still buggy, and as a result, many ROMs don't work properly or don't
work at all. Just judging from the ROMs I have tested, I estimate a
70% compatibility rate.
Despite it's flaws, the future of Genecyst and eager Genesis
fans everywhere is extremely bright. Since NESTicle was released, the
reputation of Bloodlust Software in the console game emulation
community is unparalleled. They are nowhere near finished with
Genecyst and a lot of work is still going to be done. They will refine
the 68000 emulation as well as the graphics emulation, and MMX support
is planned for the future. I'm assuming that sound support is not far
off, and once that's in place, Genecyst will most likely replace David
Michel's MagicEngine as #1 on my list of emulators.
SURVEY
If you would like to respond to the survey, please
cut and paste the following into a new message and send it to
dcepticon@audiophile.com with "EMU SURVEY" in the subject field. (make
sure you answer the questions before sending it). The results of the
survey will be displayed in the "HOT LIST" section of next week's
edition of EMU ZOO.
EMU ZOO SURVEY
- What is your favorite game system?
- What is your favorite emulator?
- What is your favorite ROM?
- What unreleased emulation-related product in the works are you most excited about?