Sega Saturn 4K - RetroArch Emulator - Beginners Guide

Beetle Saturn is fork of Mednafen Saturn. It has been ported to the libretro API. It currently runs on Linux, OSX and Windows.

Beetle Saturn core supports the following file extensions:
.cue, .toc, .m3u, .ccd & .chd

BIOS Files

0:00 - Introduction to Sega Saturn emulation in RetroArch
0:28 - Sega Saturn BIOS file overview for RetroArch
1:04 - Installing the Sega Saturn BIOS files in RetroArch
1:14 - Download Bettle Saturn Core for RetroArch
1:47 - Loading Sega Saturn games in RetroArch
2:38 - Upgrade Sega Saturn graphics to 4K in RetroArch
2:50 - Download Kronos Core for RetroArch
3:14 - Load Sega Saturn Game with Kronos Core for RetroArch
3:18 - Configure Kronos Core Graphics Options in RetroArch
3:41 - Sega Saturn 240p vs 4K graphics comparison in RetroArch
4:06 - Sega Saturn CRT Shader comparison in RetroArch

#segasaturn #sega #saturn --------------------

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[DemorKreations]

Dude, I did this, and I am so damn stoked!! You can play up to 8k, and it fixes the mesh transparency issues!! Damn near brought a tear to my eye. It fixes all the issues I had with the Saturn, and puts it back up on its thrown where it belongs. Thank you so much!!! This truly made my day!!

[sonkunhyperspinretroarch]

Sega Saturn is my number 1 fav system followed by Dreamcast. I remember getting this late 95 when it was fresh in stock for $499 with the arcade stick. I purchased every last Capcom port even the import ones, that era was magical. By the way Crisis I updated my shader pack you should head on over and grab it.

[gonschordleven]

Adding a shader to the 4k output can make the higher res 3D graphics a lot more tolerable. Scanlines make a big difference in blending the art much better. I really liked that shot of Panzer Dragoon in 4k, just looks so crisp.

It’s unfortunate that the Saturn emulators don’t get as much love as the PSX ones, I think Duckstation can now do texture replacement so you can essentially insert 4k textures—especially handy for UI elements. But like I said, 4k Saturn emulator seems to be more of a novelty that hasn’t gotten the development it needs to look and play really nicely.

[alexviralata]

I didn't used to got the appeal of scanlines and crt shader, when I could be using filters and upsamplers, but somewhere I read and explanation that finally made understand. "Scanlines (or crt shaders) are anti-aliasing filters for the brain"

[PixelCherryNinja]

Awesome stuff RC. Saturn is an excellent console

[HardlyQuinn]

I never had a sega Saturn! One of the few consoles I've never had

[richardspillers]

Beetle no longer works. I have every BIOS ever. Ive tried multiple versions of the same games. Bin/Cue, CHD... Nothing works.

[sigmasuke]

Unfortunately Kronos still has the same graphical errors of "Yabause, Yabasanshiro" but i like it, also for mesh trasparency. Beetle can't improve the resolution but everything seems to work fine, also the audio is much better, the audio of Kronos is not good.

[anonymousperson]

Ya its glitchy even when i set resolution for 1080 p. But still cool feature to have

[GameZoneBirdroom]

Very informative video, mate. Enjoy this, I prefer Beetle as it looks, more like how the saturn games look or original hardware. I'm not a fan of shaders or scanlines, tho. I need them razor-sharp pixels, lol. Great video, mate 👍

[socialreport]

Overall the graphics is better without CRT shaders. It's brighter, clearer and sharper but with some aliasing (and not "intended" shapes) and it's the main drawback.

[heilong]

The saturn does 3D as good as the Playstation in most cases but doing squares instead of triangles causing many issues when porting from other sustems and only using one of the systems cpus was a lazy thing many companies did which made it look weak.

[solomani]

Thanks for the tutorial. Any idea how to get this working on a steamDeck? Retroarch (via EMUDECK) defaults to Beetle unless I manually launch retroarch and select the core before loading the game each time.

[VegasD]

why would anyone want to use a crt shader? honest question

[chrisryan]

In my list of Saturn cores Kronos doesn’t show? I’m on an iOS and Mac laptop

[gjtrue]

How precisely do I go about playing the Saturn games via the *Steam* download of RetroArch? I don't see any of this stuff through that version...

[DenkyManner]

Thr core you're using is glitchy, the games are running slow, and then you criticise its 3d capabilities to boot.

[rockhyde]

Why can’t I load Beetle Saturn by default? Whenever I try booting a game using that code, it won’t boot, I get a failed to load message. I downloaded the files. What am I missing? Same problem with other systems like the PC Engine. No problems running PS1 or Neo Geo CD despite being CD-based consoles!

[Dr.Dp]

Urrrghhh. This is an abomination. This era of games just look terrible in upscaled resolutions. They were never designed with it in mind, a low-res texture asset in a Saturn, PS1 or N64 game will still look low-res, no matter how much you upscale them. JUST run them at native resolution with a nicely configured CRT shader for FAR superior image quality.