SEGA Model 3 Emulation for Dummies – A Quick Guide

J

UPDATE 22/05/17: Turns out Supermodel’s distributed through the site forums now. Oops! Keep an eye on this thread for updated versions. I’ve replaced the version linked in this article with the new build, but with my config setup still intact.

Just a heads up, this build may report as malware on Avast. I let it through and my computer hasn’t melted though, so I’d say it’s just a false positive.

Oh shit, I have a website! This place died quite a death, huh.

Well, now I’ve been asked to write stuff. And since I’ve nowhere else to put it, it gets to go here! Sorted, lads.

WHAT IS THE SEGA MODEL 3?

It’s an arcade platform! The successor to SEGA’s beloved Model 2 board, that being the thing that brought us classics such as Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtual-On, and so much more.

Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge, one of the Model 3’s darlings.

Comparatively, the Model 3’s kind of… forgotten. This is mostly due to the fact that many of the games on it were never ported. Some, such as Virtua Fighter 3 made it onto the Dreamcast (though many consider that one butchered), but on the whole some of the best titles on the board such as Daytona USA 2 and SCUD Race are sadly locked away to the arcades.

Or they were, but there’s emulation now. 

SEGASonic Arcade – An Adventure In Early Sonic

It’s everyone’s favourite needlemouse! And some rejects!

Oh good, my first article on here is Sonic the Hedgehog themed. We’re off to a great start, aren’t we? I’ve already banged on about why I love Sonic and the like, so let’s cut to the chase; June 1993 saw the release of Sonic’s first foray into arcades outside his cameo in Rad Mobile courtesy of AM3, and that was SEGASonic Arcade. I have no idea why SEGA is incorporated into Sonic’s name for this outing, nor do I care; point is, the game’s remained somewhat elusive over the years since SEGA hasn’t really bothered giving us a way to play it legally. SEGASonic used a trackball as it’s method of controlling Sonic, which isn’t exactly fun to emulate with modern controllers; indeed, this is why it never showed up on the Sonic Gems Collection, as was apparently intended. Saying that, after dabbling about with the ROM settings in MAME a bit, I did actually manage to make the game at least playable with an Xbox 360 controller, and so I could finally experience this thing in a way at least slightly closer to how SEGA intended than with the default emulator settings.