Tweaker Sprite_tm Gets Sega Master System Emulator Working On Espressif Soc

Tweaker Sprite_tm got the Sega Master System emulator SMSPlus working on an Espressif ESP31 soc. A short demo video shows how the microcontroller manages to send 15 images per second to a small connected LCD.

The Espressif ESP31 is a beta version of the ESP32, Sprite_tm explains further on the Espressif forum. According to the Tweaker, the program works on a single 160MHz core, which required some software adjustments. The integrated ram of the second core serves as the Master System vram. The video output is an image of 320×240 pixels at 15fps, but according to Sprite_tm the fps could be even higher, were it not for the fact that the screen can no longer handle the spi bus. “Nevertheless, the game is very playable,” said the Tweaker.

For users who want to create the same setups, Sprite_tm has released the source of the software on GitHub. Required are an ESP31 chip with at least 2MB of flash memory, an ILIU9341 display with four-wire SPI interface and possibly an I2S codec to handle the sound. Finally, users can connect a PlayStation controller to control the game, just like Sprite_tm did.

The Sega Master System competed with the Nintendo Entertainment System in the late 1980s. The Chinese Espressif, which Sprite_tm works for, is currently developing the ESP32 microcontroller. The ESP31, which this emulator runs on, is a beta version of the ESP32, 200 of which are now in the hands of testers worldwide.