The Best Atari ST Emulators are still considered to be either Hatari or Steem. There is mixed opinion as to which is the best for Atari ST Emulation, but I recommend you give both a try and make your own mind up. The good news is that with Hatari and Steem available, you will find an Atari ST Emulator for Windows, Mac OS & Linux.
Best Atari ST Emulator for PC, Mac & Linux – Hatari
Hatari is my recommendation as the best choice for Atari ST Emulation for Windows PCs. First launched in 2001, it is the most established and well-maintained Atari ST Emulator.
Hatari emulates the Atari ST/STE/TT & Falcon systems. Hatari provides support for much of the ST and STE hardware. The ability to mount hard drives directly from a folder on your PC as well as using hard disk images.
I found Hatari easy to get up and running, primarily due to the inclusion of its own built-in replacement operating system, EmuTOS. You can easily enough though boot from a genuine TOS installation, simply by loading your own TOS image file.
The Hatari user interface perhaps looks a little dated, but don’t let that put you off, it is actually very simple to use and has plenty of functionality for you to enjoy the best Atari ST games.
Hatari Features Include:
- The most widely supported and developed Atari ST Emulator available – Hatari offers versions for Windows, mac OS & Linux, making it hugely accessible for all desktop and laptop users.
- Switch between machines and configurations easily – Hatari emulates the Atari ST/STE, Mega ST/STE, TT and Falcon. Simply set up your ideal setup, save the configuration and easily switch between each configuration.
- Change RAM Size, CPU, FPU & CPU Clock Speeds – Utilise the Motorola 68000 all the way up to the 68060 @ 32mhz as well maxing out your RAM up to 14MB, perfect if you are looking to revisit old applications such as Cubase.
- Full Floppy & Hard Drive Emulation – Load in ST Disk files, a Hard Disk image or create your own Hard Disk from a folder on your desktop/laptop.
- Midi Emulation – Perfect again for revisiting applications such as Cubase.
- Joystick Emulation – Use a USB joystick or remap the joystick to the keyboard.
Best Atari ST Emulator for Android – Hataroid
There are not many Atari ST Emulators for Android, but Hataroid still manages to still be the best available, even though it’s quite old now.
You will need a couple of things before you can get going:-
- A TOS (Operating System) ROM image (Or alternatively, utilise the built-in EmuTOS to get going. It is very good, but you may have some issues with compatibility with some games/software.
- Disk images of games/software you wish to run – They can be in ST, MSA, DIM or STX file formats.
Hataroid offers a range of excellent features, including:
- Emulations for both the ST & STE
- Emulation is based on Hatari, so compatibility is overall very good
- Save states
- External SD Card support
- External Controller & Mouse support
- Built-in soft MIDI output support
- On-screen keyboard / controls
- Scanline/CRT Effects
- Disk drive loading sounds
The Atari ST was one of the most popular home computers of the 1980s, competing primarily with the Commodore Amiga.
Atari ST emulation is something which is not in high demand as it is as much with the best Amiga emulator, WinUAE. But Hatari is still an excellent, well-matured emulator.
The Atari ST can definitely be considered one of Atari’s flagship systems, not so much with the likes of the Atari Jaguar or Atari Lynx, but there are some gems that can still be found on both systems. So why not check out the best Atari Jaguar emulator and best Atari Lynx emulator to experience some of the lesser-known retro Atari classics.
If that’s enough Atari for you, then also find inspiration on what retro system to try out emulators for with our comprehensive emulator guide.
A lifelong avid gamer and computing enthusiast, Matt has decades of Retro Gaming experience. Now over 40 years old, Matt now even considers himself retro, but fortunately, nobody has developed a Matt emulator (not yet at least!).