GP2X Wiz Emulators

Part 1: Installing Emulators

Part 2: Emulators Reviewed

Emulator:	MAME4ALL Wiz
System(s):	Arcade (many), Neo Geo
Button Functions:	From games list: D-Pad = move up and down in games list L = page up R = page down B or A = select game / go to game options screen L + R = exit emulator From game options: D-Pad = move up and down in options list L / R = change option value B = start game X = return to main games list Within game: If "Type OK to continue" prompt appears:     ... Press Left then Right on D-Pad L + R = pause game Menu + Select = MAME in-game options menu L + R + Menu = return to main games list L + R + Select = show frames per second
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	Pretty much everybody in the emulation community is familiar with MAME. It stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, and it does just that. Ported over to the Wiz, it can play thousands of different arcade titles (including Neo Geo games if you can find the neo geo bios file neogeo.ZIP and drop it in the roms folder). I find MAME4ALL Wiz to be full featured and intuitive for the most part. Some tweaking and button configuration may be required as you start to play more recent games such as Mortal Kombat. In a forum titled Running Mortal Kombat and Super Street Fighter I explain "for games such as Mortal Kombat be sure to tweak the settings inside MAME. For example, before launching MK, set the WIZ Clock option to 800 MHz, and Video Aspect to Scale." Some of the other titles need the video to be scaled, but I approach that on a case-by-case basis. If a game loads and takes up more area than the screen, simply set the video to scale. Another question relates to gameplay button mapping. In games where more than 4 buttons are being used (such as Mortal Kombat) be sure to map the buttons to something which works best for you. In another forum titled Mortal Kombat button mapping in MAME I state "After a lot of trial and error I got the button assignment to reflect what I feel is the most convenient mapping, reminiscent of playing MK on my old SNES console. The button mapping for me is now: A = High Punch Y = High Kick X = Low Punch B = Low Kick R = Block I have posted my revised button mappings and MAME configuration for MK and a couple of other titles for your convenience: First, download MAME-frontend.zip and extract the files to the frontend subfolder for MAME4ALL. Next, download MAME-cfg.zip and extract the files into the cfg subfolder for MAME4ALL." What I should mention is that those .ZIP files also include optimized configuration and button mappings for NBA Jam and Outrun. In Outrun, for example, you can use A as the accelerator, L to switch to low gear, and R to switch to high gear. Top of List

Emulator:	FinalBurn Alpha
System(s):	Arcade - Capcom Systems 1 & 2 (CPS-1, CPS-2)
Button Functions:	From games list: D-Pad = move up and down in games list A = select game / go to game options screen X = color help screen Select = emulator options Menu twice = exit emulator From emulator options: D-Pad = move up and down in options list A = change option value From game options: D-Pad = move up and down in options list A = make selection Within game: L + R + Select = in-game test menu L + R + Menu = return to main games list
Gameplay Buttons:  (no reassignment)
Comments:	This is a really clean and fast emulator for running Capcom arcade favorites such as Street Fighter II, Ghouls n' Ghosts, Final Fight, Super Street Fighter II, etc. The games list includes screen shot previews for the CPS-2 games, and I created a number of screen shot previews for some CPS-1 favorites. You can download the file FinalBurn-previews.zip and extract the files to the preview subfolder for FinalBurn Alpha. One thing that this emulator seems to lack is the ability to change the default button mappings (which results in a slightly tedious experience when playing Street Fighter), but I feel that it makes up for this with solid performance. The other CPS-2 emulator available for the Wiz requires you to manually create a graphics dump file for each rom and playing certain games (such as 1944: The Loop Master) is choppy. FinalBurn Alpha, on the other hand, remains my top pick for CPS-1 and CPS-2 emulation with its "place and play" capabilities and smooth performance. Update: There are several of the newer CPS-2 titles which require cache files to be created for FinalBurn Alpha. This includes Marver Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha 3, etc. Anyways, I explain this in more detail in the pertinent discussion thread CPS-2 Marvel v Capcom + XMen v Street Fighter. Top of List

Emulator:	GnGeo
System(s):	Neo Geo
Button Functions:	From games list: D-Pad = move up and down in games list A or B = select game / go to game options screen L = end of games list R = beginning of games list Select = emulator options Menu twice = exit emulator From emulator options: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in options list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value From game options: D-Pad = move up and down in options list A or B = make selection Within game: L + R + Select or L + R + Menu =           load or save state / exit emulator
Gameplay Buttons:  (no reassignment)
Comments:	Although MAME4ALL is also capable of playing Neo Geo roms, I prefer to use GnGeo for this task. I find it to be more specialized, and I really like the game selection menu (which includes screen shot previews and a fancy moving wallpaper). Unfortunately the buttons cannot be reassigned, but I have not found it to be an issue when playing games. One other thing to note is that by default the games list shows ALL titles available for the emulator. The available titles (roms which you have placed in the appropriate roms folder) will show up in green, and unavailable titles in red. I recommend that you go into the GnGeo options and scroll down to the option which reads SEE COMPLETE LIST by default. Once you reach that option, hit D-Pad Right until the option reads SEE LIST AVAILABLE. Now the games list will be limited to roms which you have installed and will enable you to launch games more quickly. The only other pain with GnGeo is that during game play, if you want to switch to another Neo Geo title, you have to completely exit the emulator and go back in. Not sure why they did that. Note: In a discussion thread titled Neo Geo emulation I state "You need the Neo Geo bios roms in order for the games to be playable. In MAME the file would be called neogeo.ZIP and goes in the ROMS folder. With GnGeo it appears that I selectively placed several of the Neo Geo bios files in the roms folder (NEO-GEO.ROM, ng-lo.rom, ng-sfix.rom, ng-sm1.rom) ...? So if you haven't then use Google to find the Neo Geo bios." Top of List

Emulator:	Gpfce
System(s):	Nintendo - NES
Button Functions:	From menus: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select option X = go back Within game: Volume Up + Volume Down = emulator menu
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	A clean and intuitive emulator for the NES. I chose to re-map the buttons in order to have a more ergonimic experience reminiscent of an SNES controller. I have A = B, X = A, Y = B turbo, B = A turbo. You can download fceu2.cfg.zip and extract the .cfg file to the fceultra subfolder of this emulator. Top of List

Emulator:	PocketSNES
System(s):	Nintendo - SNES
Button Functions:	From menus: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select option X = go back From options menu: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value Within game: Volume Up + Volume Down = emulator menu
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	A good emulator for the SNES. Runs all of my favorite roms really well (Mario Kart, Mario World, F-Zero, etc) except for a couple of the "true 3D" titles such as Starfox and PilotWings. Hopefully a later release will take advantage of the Wiz 3D accelerator. They chose the default button mapping to match up with the button names on the SNES controller. Even though this makes sense, it is not correct from an ergonomic standpoint because the Wiz button A is not in the same position as button A on an SNES controller. Subsequently, I chose to re-map the buttons to match the feel of an SNES controller. I have A = Y, X = B, Y = X, B = A. Top of List

Emulator:	Lemonboy
System(s):	Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Super Gameboy
Button Functions:	From menus: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select option X = go back From options menu: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value Within game: Y = emulator menu L = save state R = load state A = full screen
Gameplay Buttons:  (no reassignment)
Comments:	The most recent release runs a lot better than previous versions. The sound is not yet 100% perfect but it is certainly playable and acceptable. I also recommend the original gameboy skin to add even more nostalgia to this emulator. Top of List

Emulator:	gpSP
System(s):	Gameboy Advance
Button Functions:	From menus: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select option X = go back From options menu: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value Within game: Y = emulator menu A = show / hide frames per second display
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	A solid GBA emulator. Can be slightly confusing the first time you launch this when searching for a rom to load, but once you point it to the correct roms folder, you will be automatically taken there when opening gpSP in the future. I chose to re-map the buttons in order to have a more ergonimic experience reminiscent of an SNES controller. I have A = B, X = A, Y = emulator menu, B = show/hide fps. You can download gpsp.cfg.zip and extract the .cfg file to the root folder of this emulator. Take note that the custom .cfg file searches for roms at (root)/game/Gameboy Advance/roms so you may need to repoint gpSP when using this file. Note: A Gameboy Advance BIOS is required for this emulator to run. You must find and place gba_bios.bin in the root directory of this emulator. It should be 16,384 bytes in size with an md5sum value of a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6. I recommend using Google to assist you with this endeavor. Top of List

Emulator:	AlexKidd2x
System(s):	Sega Master System & Game Gear
Button Functions:	From games list: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select game Menu = exit emulator From game options: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value Select = start game Menu = return to games list Within game: L + R = return to games list
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	Runs very well, solid emulation of Sega's 8-bit games. I recommend that you view the file readme.txt after downloading this emulator (open it with WordPad due to the Linux-style line breaks) because there are a number of subtle button shortcuts for loading and saving states. Top of List

Emulator:	PicoDrive
System(s):	Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) & Sega CD (Mega CD)
Button Functions:	From menus: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select option X = go back From game options: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value Within game: Select = return to menu L = save state R = load state
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	It is quite an impressive concept to be able to play Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) and Sega CD (Mega CD) games in a handheld device. PicoDrive does a great job on all levels. For playing Sega CD games, I recommend creating a separate subdirectory for each "CD" within the roms folder. You will then need to obtain a disk image (.iso) file along with corresponding audio tracks (named in the correct fashion and case-sensitive) in order for the emulation to work properly. More details are explained in the emulator's readme.txt, and I recommend that you read through it. Here are a couple of examples: Top Level Folder = (root)/game/Sega Genesis /roms/Sonic CD/Sonic CD.iso = main rom file /roms/Sonic CD/Sonic CD 02.mp3 = audio track 1 /roms/Sonic CD/Sonic CD 03.mp3 = audio track 2 /roms/Sonic CD/Sonic CD 04.mp3 = audio track 3 ... etc /roms/Rebel Assault/Star Wars Rebel Assault.iso = main rom file /roms/Rebel Assault/Star Wars Rebel Assault.cue = audio track definition file /roms/Rebel Assault/Star Wars Rebel Assault 02.mp3 = audio track 1 /roms/Rebel Assault/Star Wars Rebel Assault 03.mp3 = audio track 2 ... etc On a simpler note, the regular Sega Genesis roms come in .ZIP format and can simply be dropped in the main roms folder. Top of List

Emulator:	Temper
System(s):	TurboGrafx-16 (PC-Engine)
Button Functions:	From menus: D-Pad = move up and down in list B = select option X = go back From game options: D-Pad Up and Down = move up and down in list D-Pad Left and Right = change option value Within game: Y = return to menu L = load state R = save state
Gameplay Buttons:  (can be reassigned)
Comments:	Great emulation of the TG-16 games, brings back a lot of memories with Blazing Lasers and Bonk's Adventure. Place the rom files in .PCE format (basically the raw ROM file instead of inside a .ZIP archive). Temper is also supposed to be able to play the CD-ROM games, but I have not attempted to do this yet. Top of List

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