Finding the best Sega Game Gear emulator will be easy to find here, but also likely preferable to playing on original hardware. Why’s that you ask? Well, going through 6 AA batteries every few hours and struggling to see the washed-out-looking screen in the daylight are two big enough reasons to maybe relive classic game gear games through emulation!
Aside from this, the Sega Game Gear was essentially a miniaturised Sega Master System in terms of its power, so for the time, it did actually pack quite the punch. Check out the differences between the Game Gear games and the Master System versions using emulators recommended in our best Sega Master System emulator guide.
Best Sega Game Gear Emulator For PC, Mac & Linux
Gearsystem is the best Sega Game Gear Emulator for PC, Mac & Linux without question. Not only does it emulate Sega’s 8-bit handheld, but also emulates the Master System & SG-1000, so is really all you need for Sega’s 8-bit systems.
Gearsystem is still under active development and is open source, so will likely continue to receive updates in the future.
This is such a comprehensive standalone emulator, even if you are a fan of some other Sega-orientated emulators, Gearsystem is just such a great all-rounder for its ability to emulate all the classic Sega 8-Bit systems. Its vast array of options and functionality really help it a must-have for fans of not just the Game Gear, but early Sega systems as a whole.
Gearsystem Game Gear Emulation Features Include:
- High accuracy Z80 CPU emulation
- Region Auto Detection
- Save States
- Reads ROMs held in ZIP files
- Debug Mode
- Emulates multiple systems, the Sega Game Gear, Master System, Mark II & SG-1000
- Available for multiple systems – PC, Mac & Linux
Best Sega Game Gear Emulator For Android
There are a few options out there for Android users, but we think the best Sega Game Gear emulator for Android is through trusty RetroArch, using the ‘Genesis Plus GX’ core.
Sure, it’s another Sega core that runs many of Sega’s systems, but it has excellent performance as well as plenty of options to fiddle about with to get things set just how you want.
The LCD ghosting filter which is built into this core is excellent, it mimics the ghosting effect of the original Game Gear hardware, which gives you a much more realistic account of what it was like to play on original hardware.
The Sega Game Gear was actually a really good system in terms of its power and game library. Problem was, it was up against the Game Boy which not only had its own HUGE library of great games, but it was genuinely portable in both size and battery life.
Other handheld underdogs such as the Atari Lynx, whilst more popular in the US, didn’t have the games (or the battery life!) to compete at the top. Check out some Atari Lynx games and see for yourself with our best Atari Lynx emulator guide.
Check out more Sega emulators as well as more modern handhelds such as the best PS Vita emulator, 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!).