Best Master System Emulators for Android
This is an article about Sega's Master System best emulators for Android devices, so let's talk about the Master System. Sega released the console (as Sega Mark III) in Japan in 1985, a year later in North America and in 1987 in Europe as a direct competitor to Nintendo Entertainment System, aka NES, aka the Famicom.
The size of its game library varies based on region. In Europe, where the console was much more popular, it received over 300 licensed games. In comparison, North America received a little bit over 100 games and Japan received even less than that.
Most popular games from Master System that you can play on your Android emulator
Even though the Master System was blown away in terms of sales by the NES, no question about it, it did hold its own in certain regions plus it produced some memorable games. One of the most popular titles, Phantasy Star, is considered to be a benchmark when it comes to the role-playing game (RPG) genre.Another very popular franchise that the Master System spawned was Alex Kidd. To name a few more popular and personal favourites, there's Alien Storm, After Burner, Disney's Aladdin, Double Dragon, Earthworm Jim, Disney's The Lion King, Ninja Gaiden, Pit Fighter. All titles that you should try out.
If you want to do that even though you don't own a Master System (but you do have an Android device), the solution is really simple. All you need is to install a Master System emulator app. There are a quite few of them out there, so which one should you choose? Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will have your answer.
If you are already familiar with how emulators work, you can just go ahead and skip this part, but if you are not, let's clear some things out first.
About Sega Master System emulators
I've tried out almost every available Master System emulator for Android devices out there before I started writing this article. What I've noticed is that many people complain that they can't play any games. The thing is, an emulator isn't a game by itself. Emulators are simply apps that allow one system to behave like another one. That's all. For you to play any game on any emulator, you are going to need a ROM file.About Sega Master System Roms
OK, so you have found the right emulator and have installed it on your Android device, now what? How can you actually play a game? For that, you are going to need the actual game files, aka ROM. Once you have it, you just launch the emulator and you load that file. I cannot tell you how you can obtain the ROM files of your favourite game here, but with a simple online search, you'll find all the answers to your questions easily.So now, since we've got everything out of the way, it's time to move on to our list of the best Sega Master System emulators for Android devices. Let's get right into it.
Lemuroid
Price: Free
Another multi-emulator platform, Lemuroid can support systems such as Sega Genesis (aka Mega Drive), Master System, Game Gear, PSX, DS. If what you are looking for is an app that can play Master System games, as well as other console games, you might want to give it a try. It’s definitely easier to set it up than RetroArch for example, in fact, you don’t have to do anything else other than installing the app and run your ROMs. Lemuroid features autosave and restore, fast forward support and can only support multiplayer locally by connecting multiple gamepads to the same device.
You can get Lemuroid from Google Play Store here
Nostalgia.GG
Nostalgia.GG / Pro
Price: Free Pro Version: $1.49
Nostalgia.GG adds to the long list of Nostalgia emulators. Fully customizable controls layout which means you can adjust both the size and the position to your liking. It also supports fast forward, save and load states, of course, and custom cheats input. As with most emulators that can run Master System games, it can also support Game Gear titles. The free version has those annoying ads (not a lot compared to other emulators) but it can be upgraded to PRO version if you want to get rid of them.
You can get Nostalgia.GG (free version) from Google Play Store here
RetroArch
Price: Free
To the emulator enthusiasts, RetroArch is well known as one of the best multi-platform emulators out there. This emulator ‘hub’ offers support for multiple systems (called ‘cores’ in RetroArch). It’s not very hard to set it up, but it will take some online reading to learn how to do it correctly. If you are just a casual gamer then maybe this app isn’t for you. But if you are looking for an app that will let you tweak pretty much everything, you should give this one a try as it offers some of the best emulators for many systems for free.
You can get RetroArch from Google Play Store here
MasterGear
Price: €4.99
MasterGear is the total package when it comes to Master System/Game Gear emulators. It offers everything that you want your emulator to have. Custom cheat input support, fast forward, customizable control layout, save and load states, automatic screen orientation and more. Netplay feature is very interesting as it allows you to play with your friends either online or over a local network. With that being said, if you are just looking to play a few old Master System games and then move on to the next thing, then maybe this isn’t the app you are looking for. The only reason why I say this is because the app isn’t free and there are good enough free alternatives in the market.
You can get MasterGear from Google Play Store here
MasterEmu
Price: Free
MasterEmu doesn’t look like much at first glance. Its interface is very plain and it does miss some important features such as custom cheats input and fully customizable layout. You only have two options when it comes to this. Either a big control layout or a small one. If that’s something that you can pass over, then I highly recommend you try this emulator out. The reason is, MasterEmu offers high compatibility with many titles and performance wise, it’s up there with any Master System emulator.
You can get MasterEmu from Google Play Store here.
