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SPECCY EMULATORS FOR DOS

This page last updated on 14 August 2001

[DOS] [Windows] [UNIX/Linux] [OS/2] [Mac] [Archie] [Amiga] [Psion 5] [Windows CE] [ST/TT] [Java] [Playstation] [Dreamcast] [QL] [Other Platforms]
[Benchmarks]

37 emulators listed:

[E++] [Elwro] [Finspe] [JASPE] [JPP] [Nuclear ZX] [R80] [RealSpectrum] [Roman ZX] [SimCoupe] [Sinbas] [Sinclair] [SP] [SP48] [SPEC] [Spec256] [Spec32] [Speccy] [Spectre] [SpectrEm] [SpectrEm-Dr] [SPECTRUM] [Spectrum Emulator] [SPM] [SSpec] [UKV Spectrum Debugger] [Unnamed Spectrum Emulator] [Warajevo] [x128] [Yet Another Spectrum Emulator] [Z80] [Z80Stealth] [Z80 TR-DOS] [ZX (Rindt & Brukner)] [ZX Emulator] [ZX-Jam] [ZXSpectr] [ZX Spectrum Emulator 128K] [ZX-Spectrum Emulator]

As well as the emulators listed here, you may also be interested in the emulators for Windows.

E++ v1.03 (James Sutherland)

  1. Emulates Spectrum 48K with Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads SNA snapshots (from the command line only).
  3. No snapshot saving.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VESA 2 compatible video card or drivers (though if you bypass the menu by giving it a snapshot filename on the command line you can run it without such drivers).
  6. Speed acceptable on a P100.
  7. Freeware, though see the included license.
  8. Also emulates a number of arcade machines, e.g. Centipede, Phoenix, Invaders, and does them very well.
  9. Very basic compared to other Speccy emulators. Z80 emulation not entirely correct; e.g. Commando and Ghosts'n'Goblins do not run correctly (This is an undocumented flags problem).
  10. Source code available; no longer being updated by the author.
  11. Available from E++ homepage or World of Spectrum.

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Elwro 800-3 Jr v1.0 (Piotr Schmidt and Piotr Wolter)

  1. Emulates an Elwro - not 100% compatible with ZX Spectrum (the real Elwro had problems with JetPac while other games were ok) - with two disk drives accessed via * commands (e.g. SAVE * "file") with capacity of about 700kB. These are physically files.
  2. Loads files from disk. Snapshots/tape files?
  3. Saves files to disk. Snapshots/tape files?
  4. Real tape support?
  5. Requires Hercules, CGA or EGA.
  6. Speed?
  7. Commercial only.
  8. Capable of running CP/M. Changeable interrupt frequency (45, 50, 65, 70 Hz). Comes with utility to read the real Elwro Junior disks on PC.
  9. Bad points?
  10. All system messages are in Polish.
  11. Available from?

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[Updated!] Finspe v1.41 (Jussi Lähteenmäki)

  1. Emulates the 48K Spectrum and the Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads from .SNA, .SP and .Z80 snapshot files, and from .TAP tape files.
  3. Saves to .SNA, .SP and .Z80 snapshots, and also .SCR screenshots.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. No sound if run from a Windows DOS prompt.
  6. Runs at real Speccy speed on my PII-233.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Allows palette editing.
  9. No outstanding features.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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[Updated!] JASPE 000118 Beta (Julio Fernández)

  1. Emulates the 48K and 128K Spectrums.
  2. Loads from .SNA and .Z80 snapshot files.
  3. Saves to .SNA snapshot files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Needs a VESA-compatible video card, XMS memory and a SoundBlaster for sound.
  6. Runs at real Speccy speed on my PII-233.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Good points?
  9. Bad points?
  10. Documentation now available in both English and Spanish; above comments apply to version 000115 Beta, as I can't find any documentation for the changes.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum or the author's home page.

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JPP (Arnt Gulbrandsen)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, Kempston joystick (using PC joystick).
  2. Loads .SNA snapshots and from sampled tapes (.VOC).
  3. Saves .SNA snapshots.
  4. Tape support (read-only) via sampled sound files (.VOC).
  5. Requires VGA. Real-speed version requires 386 or above.
  6. 386/25MHz or faster is needed for the best perfomance. 486/25MHz or 386/44MHz is needed for good sound emulation.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Includes program for reading and converting snapshots from MGT disks. Also includes a very old version of SPConv. Two versions; JPP and PJPP, the latter being an exact-speed version.
  9. Screws up system screen mode on quit. Restore with MODE CO80 command. Z80 emulation - R register imperfectly emulated.
  10. Two versions supplied; one for slower machines, and one (PJPP) for faster machines; PJPP has better emulation and emulates the FLASH attribute and the border. No longer being updated (last version was in 1992).
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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Nuclear ZX v3.69 (Radovan Garabik and Lubomir Salanci)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum with ZX printer.
  2. Loads .SNA and its own .SNP snapshot format and from .TAP and its own .LTP tape files.
  3. Saves its own .SNP snapshot format and to .TAP and its own .LTP tape files.
  4. Real tape support via external program.
  5. Requires Hercules, CGA or VGA.
  6. One of the fastest emulators.
  7. Freeware. More than $8 or poem about Spectrum for source code.
  8. Tape file emulation supports some non-standard loaders (even from ordinary .TAP file). Many Hercules modes supported. Comes with program to convert .SNP to .Z80, .SNA to .SNP and .TAP to .LTP files and vice versa. Has a simple debugger.
  9. R register incorrectly implemented, only one of flash and bright paper can be displayed at a time, and the flash emulation flashes only the ink, not the paper colour.
  10. Previously known as ZXSpectrum_v3.67, and as ZX in this FAQ.
  11. Available from the author's home page, as well as World of Spectrum.

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R80 v 0.30 (Raúl Gómez Sánchez)

  1. Emulates 48K, 128K, +2 and +2A Spectrums, Pentagon and Scorpion (Russian Speccy clones), Multiface 128, and Kempston and Sinclair joysticks.
  2. Loads from .Z80, .SIT, , .SLT, ..SNA (48K and 128K) and .SP snapshots, from .BLK, .TAP, .TZX and .VOC tapes, and from .FDI, .TRD and .SCL disk files. Can also read from .ZIP and .RAR archives.
  3. Saves .SNA and .Z80 snapshots, .TAP tapes, .SCR, .PCX or .GRP screenshots and .PSG sound files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires a VGA, 486 DX4-100, 2Mb of RAM and an Adlib or GUS soundcard for 128K sound. VESA 2.0 is "highly recommended" (though it runs fine without).
  6. Runs at normal Spectrum speed on this P100; it did seem to run about 20% slow on an WinNT 4 machine I tried it on a long time ago.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Now comes with a nice GUI and long filename support for Win95. Has a built-in debugger and you can configure the keys you want to use to emulate the Speccy joystick.
  9. Very little wrong with this at all.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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[Updated!] RealSpectrum v0.90.38 (Ramsoft)

  1. Emulates virtually every bit of Spectrum hardware you've ever heard of.
  2. Loads .SNA and .Z80 snapshots, .TAP, .TZX, .WAV and .CSW tape files, .IMG, .MGT and .SCL floppies, and .POK poke files. Can also load from the PC's floppy drive.
  3. Saves to supported snapshot and tape formats, to .AZX and .YM sound files, to .BMP, .PCX, .SCR and .TGA screenshots and to .AIR 'record' files, allowing you to record your gaming actions for posterity.
  4. No real tape support?
  5. Speed?
  6. Earlier versions required a P200 for full speed. Newer versions quicker?
  7. May be freely distributed.
  8. Good points? Claimed by the authors to have "100% exact reproduction of all the multicolor effects". Can also 'flashload' certain loaders from .TZX files.
  9. Bad points?
  10. All comments above basically taken from the docs supplied, as I don't have a DOS machine to test things on any more.
  11. Available from the RealSpectrum official homepage.

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Roman ZX (Roman & Easy Inc.)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum.
  2. Doesn't load snapshots, loads files from .H (header) and .B (bytes) files.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots, saves to .H and .B tape files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires CGA.
  6. Non-graphic applications quite fast but Manic Miner, for instance, is 10 times slower than on Z80.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Good points?
  9. Z80 emulation - bug in IM/2 emulation. Lots of wasted slack space on disks with large cluster sizes due to tape emulating method using lots of small files.
  10. This program appeared on the SEZAM-BBS in Belgrade in the summer of 1991, most probably from Slovenia. It seems, according to one newspaper, that the author is Peter Kroselj.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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SimCoupe 0.78 (Allan Skillman)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and the SAM Coupé (as you may have guessed from the name!).
  2. Spectrum emulation has no loading ability (Coupé can load from either real disks or images thereof).
  3. Spectrum emulation has no saving ability (Coupé can save to either real disks or images thereof).
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA.
  6. About twice as fast as a real Spectrum on a P100.
  7. Freeware (available as either source or binary).
  8. Good points?
  9. Sound emulation requires use of the SimCoupe Audio Drivers TSR, which is available from Aley Keprt's home page.
  10. The above is a bit unfair, as this is a Coupé emulator first, and a Spectrum emulator second. Also available for Unix/Linux.
  11. Version 0.78 is available from the SimCoupe homepage; Version 0.72 is available from World of Spectrum, as either a binary or source distribution.

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Sinbas v1.3 (Pavel Napravnik)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum Basic with ZX printer.
  2. Loads .TAP files, snapshot can be loaded from CONFIG.DAT file, and screens can be loaded from .SCR or .PCX files.
  3. Saves .TAP files, snapshot can be saved into CONFIG.DAT file, and screens can be saved into .SCR or .PCX files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires EGA or VGA.
  6. Very fast (Author claims it to be twice as fast as Z80).
  7. Shareware (No specified amount).
  8. Can create standalone running programs, and has a simple built-in debugger and online help for Basic commands.
  9. Requires COMMAND.COM to be in the root directory of current disk. Documentation and everything is in Czech. Poor user interface.
  10. Obviously, can't run machine code programs. Above comments apply to version 1.2; any updates much appreciated.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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Sinclair v3.00 (Pedro M. R. Salas)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and 128K Spectrum, and Kempston joystick using the PC joystick.
  2. Loads .SIT and .Z80 snapshots and from .TAP and .BLK tape files.
  3. Saves .SIT and .Z80 snapshots and to .TAP and .BLK tape files. (The .Z80 snapshots written are slightly non-standard in that they include the ROM in the snapshot; some other emulators, eg Warajevo, don't like these).
  4. Real tape support via a separate program only supplied with registered version.
  5. Requires VGA, and an Adlib card for 128K sound.
  6. Speed quite good on a 486SX/25, very fast on a P100.
  7. Shareware; unregistered version has nag screen that renders the built-in debugger practically unusable. Registered version can save Spectrum screen to .PCX screens and comes with a tape loader program, plus a disk full of games as .BLK files.
  8. Built-in debugger (much like Borland's Turbo Debugger) for stepping through, breakpointing, modifying etc. Z80 code (including the ROM). 128K sound is very clean.
  9. Currently available only in Spanish.
  10. The .BLK file format is the same as Z80's .TAP format, just with a different name.
  11. Available from the author's web site or World of Spectrum.

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SP (J. Swiatek)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum.
  2. Doesn't load snapshots. Loads from TAPE_ZX.SPC file.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots. Saves to TAPE_ZX.SPC tape file.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires CGA or EGA and a ROM file called ROM.SPC - this file is just a 16Kb ROM dump, identical to the SPECTRUM.ROM file included with JPP and xz80.
  6. 'One of the fastest emulators' so I'm told.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Built in MON-like debugger (press F8) for stepping through Z80 code.
  9. No accompanying documentation at all. Colour palette a bit odd. The version available on the net is a 1988 version, probably unfinished, with dozens of bugs.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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SP48 (Jose Ignacio Fernandez Gonzalez)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum.
  2. Loads from .SNA files.
  3. Saves to .SNA files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires a 386 or better.
  6. Runs faster than Speccy speed, and can't be slowed down.
  7. Freeware?
  8. It works :-).
  9. No border.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from the SP48 Home Page or World of Spectrum.

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SPEC v1.4 (Robin Edwards)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, Kempston joystick (using PC joystick), cursor joystick (on cursor keys).
  2. Loads .SNA snapshots.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots or files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA, P100+.
  6. Needs more than a P100 for normal Speccy speed - P120 might do.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Undocumented Z80 instructions emulated, doesn't run too fast on fast machines (goes to maximum of 100% Speccy speed).
  9. Allows modification of the ROM. Z80 emulation incomplete. No user interface. Slow.
  10. Written by the author mostly to learn about writing an emulator! Now also available for Windows.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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Spec256 v1.17 Beta (Iñigo Ayo and David Goti)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum with special 256 colour mode (see below).
  2. Loads .SNA or .Z80 snapshots.
  3. No saving.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires?
  6. Can run at full Speccy speed on this PII-233, but the autodetection is broken and it by default runs at about 30% speed.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Has a special 256 colour mode in which the Speccy's graphics are mapped onto 256 colour ones.
  9. Other than the 256 colour mode has very few features.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from the Spec256 Home Page; also available from here are some games updated for the 256 colour mode.

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Spec32 (Paul Robson)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads .SNA and .Z80 (up to v2) snapshots, and from .TAP tapefiles.
  3. Saves .SNA snapshots.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Needs a 486-33, 4Mb of RAM, VGA and an OPL2 compatible soundcard at 0388h for sound.
  6. Runs fine on this P90; the 486-33 mentioned above is the author's guess of the machine speed need for true Spectrum speed.
  7. Freeware (source available).
  8. Has a built-in debugger.
  9. Incomplete emulation of bits 3 and 5 of the flags.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from the author's Sinclair Emulators page or World of Spectrum.

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Speccy v0.21 (Pawell Kostenko)

  1. Emulates Pentagon (Russian Spectrum clone) with TR-DOS.
  2. Loads from (128K only?) .Z80 snapshots and from .TAP tape files.
  3. Saves to .Z80 snapshots.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Needs?
  6. Adjustable; can run much faster than a real Speccy on this PII-233.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Attempts to play AY sounds through the PC's speaker if a soundcard is not available. Built-in debugger.
  9. Bad points?
  10. All documentation in Russian.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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Spectre v0.4 (Johan Andersson)

  1. Emulates 48K only.
  2. Loads from .SNA and .Z80 snapshots.
  3. Saves to .SNA or .Z80 snapshots.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Needs a 200MHz Pentium to run at real Speccy speed (according to the author). Doesn't work under a WinNT command prompt.
  6. Runs at full Speccy speed on this PII-233.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Comes with a (fairly simple) built-in debugger. Good undocumented flag emulation.
  9. Not all Z80 instructions emulated yet (just barfs if it finds one which it doesn't emulate).
  10. Unrelated to Spectre for the Sam Coupé. The Sophos Sweep virus checker reports a virus in DOS32.EXE, but this is a false alarm.
  11. Available from the Spectre Home Page or World of Spectrum.

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SpectrEm v0.9 (Andrew Davidson)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and Kempston(?) joystick.
  2. Loads from .SNA snapshots and .TAP tap files.
  3. No saving as yet.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Needs a SoundBlaster for speaker output.
  6. Speed?
  7. Freeware? (Source provided)
  8. Comes with a built-in debugger.
  9. Still pretty buggy: many games don't work properly.
  10. Other points?
  11. Available from the SpectrEm Homepage or World of Spectrum

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SpectrEm-Dr v0.7 (Andrew Davidson)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads from .SNA snapshots.
  3. No saving.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires?
  6. Quick, due to compilation of Z80 code into x86 machine code.
  7. Freeware? (Source provided)
  8. Comes with a built-in debugger.
  9. Very buggy: virtually no games work. No sound.
  10. Other points?
  11. Available from the SpectrEm-Dr Homepage.

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SPECTRUM v0.99 / VGASPEC / SPEC386 (Pedro Gimeno)

  1. Emulates 16K and 48K Spectrums.
  2. Loads .SP snapshots (VGASPEC uses a different .SP format) and .TAP tape files.
  3. Saves .SP snapshots.
  4. Loads from tapes through a SoundBlaster card, or a wire connected to the parallel port.
  5. Requires VGA and a 286. An enhanced version for 386s and above is also included.
  6. Matches a real Spectrum speed on a 386/25, and can be slowed down on faster machines.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Includes diagram for tape interface. Versions from 0.99E onwards also have R register emulation and some brief English documentation, which was missing from previous versions.
  9. Incomplete emulation of undocumented instructions/flags, and no IM 0 emulation.
  10. VGASPEC emulator is an illegal prerelease of this emulator. All onscreen messages in Spanish. Previously called 'Sinclair' in this FAQ.
  11. Available from the author's Spectrum page or World of Spectrum.

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The Spectrum Emulator / SPECEM (Kevin J. Phair)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum with Multiface 1, Kempston joystick (with cursor keys and Alt).
  2. Loads .PRG snapshots and files from 'tape' - i.e. your hard disk.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots. Saves files to hard disk, but can't cope with headerless files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires 16MHZ 286, EGA or better.
  6. Works reasonably fast on 286 and a bit faster than necessary on 386/486 systems. 386/40MHz or 486/25MHz is needed for good sound emulation.
  7. Freeware, but a donation to the author gets you the source code plus 'various utilities'.
  8. Includes program for loading snapshots from MGT/Datel Plus-D disks. Comes with a Z80 disassembler written in BASIC, and a speed testing program. Ran at least one snapshot (Scumball) that no other emulator could manage (JPP's documentation makes a mention of this one not working - Arnt thought it was a bad snapshot).
  9. Z80 emulation - imperfect R register emulation. Allows modification of the ROM (though it does get refreshed to normal condition whenever loading/saving).
  10. Onscreen display of Z80 registers (can be disabled, but not removed from the screen). Attributes can be disabled for faster emulation.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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SPM v1.03 (Andrew Moa)

  1. Emulates 48K, 128K and the Scorpion (Russian spectrum clone)
  2. Loads from its own .FDD images of TR-DOS disks.
  3. Saves to .FDD disk images?
  4. Can real from real TR-DOS disks.
  5. Requires?
  6. Faster than a real Spectrum on this PII-233. Can't be slowed down?
  7. Shareware.
  8. Built-in debugger.
  9. Bad points?
  10. All documentation in Russian.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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SSpec v0.01 (Suzanne Archibald)

  1. Emulates 48K, SpecDrum and the Kempston mouse, with partial emulation of the 128K/+2.
  2. Loads from .SP snapshots.
  3. No save capability.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires an Adlib card for 128K sound, and a SoundBlaster for SpecDrum output.
  6. Scaled to real Spectrum speed. Runs fine on my P100.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Not much at the moment, but this is only version 0.01 :-)
  9. Biggest problem is that IM2 is not emulated, so many games won't run.
  10. No longer being developed.
  11. Available from the author's home page, http://www.crysalis.com/suzanne/sspec.zip, but this has now gone away. Anyone?

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[Updated!] UKV Spectrum Debugger v1.2 fix 5 (K Uglekov; fixes by Max Piwamoto and Speed Company)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K/1024K Spectrum with TR-DOS (Technology Research Disk Operating System).
  2. Loads .SNA (both 48K and 128K) and .Z80 snapshots, from .TAP and .SPC tape files, and from .FDI disk images.
  3. Saves .SNA (48/128) and 128K .Z80 snapshots, to .TAP and .SPC tape files, and to .FDI disk images.
  4. Can read from real TR-DOS disks.
  5. Requires EGA and 286. (Very slow on a 286; needs a 386-40 for full Speccy speed).
  6. Much faster than a real Speccy on this P100.
  7. Cracked version of a shareware release.
  8. Supports TR-DOS disks with non-standard sector layouts. Powerful built-in debugger (much in the style of Turbo Debugger).
  9. Can't be slowed down? All documentation in Russian.
  10. Comes with a utility to convert .TRD files to .FDI and vice-versa.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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Unnamed Spectrum Emulator v0.00.02 (Thomas Harte)

  1. Emulates 48K and 128K Spectrums.
  2. Loads from .SNA and .Z80 snapshots.
  3. No saving.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires Allegro WIP.
  6. Runs at real Speccy speed on this PII-233.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Most programs works.
  9. Display sometimes corrupts briefly.
  10. Attempts to map PC keys to Speccy equivalents (eg Shift+8 on your PC goes to Symbol Shift+B). Also available for Linux.
  11. Available from the Unnamed Spectrum Emulator Home Page.

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Warajevo v2.51 (Samir Ribic and Zeljko Juric)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K/+2 Spectrum, TS2068, ZX Printer, Interface 1 (RS232 and microdrives), Kempston joystick (with cursor keys and + or ~ keys as fire or with PC joystick or mouse), 128's keypad, MIDI port, the Sinclair network and supports user devices (e.g. parallel printer).
  2. Loads .SNA and .Z80 snapshots, standard .TAP and its own virtual tape format. Supports .MDR microdrive format with slight improvements. Comes with an environment which allows conversion of almost any format (including .TZX and .VOC) to supported formats.
  3. Saves .Z80 snapshots, to .TAP tape files and to .MDR microdrive files.
  4. Supports loading (including turbo loaders) from real tapes via an RS232 link from a real Spectrum or with external routine for tape interface.
  5. Requires 286, Hercules, CGA, EGA or VGA, and a SoundBlaster card for MIDI emulation. An Adlib card allows better 128k sound emulation, and a SoundBlaster even better.
  6. Around a 486-33 needed for true speed emulation.
  7. Freeware, though the authors welcome donations, in return for which you at least get your name listed in the documentation of the next release; 80 DM will get you the source code.
  8. Better AY-sound through PC speaker than any other PC emulator. Built-in debugger, though not as friendly as the ones in Sinclair v2.00 and UKV Spectrum Debugger. Can create stand-alone snapshot files that don't need to be loaded into an emulator (including possible mixing of Z80 and 80x86 code). The former problems with speed adjustment are much improved in this version. Now supports rainbowing and changing the colour palette to suit your own taste.
  9. Slightly slower than versions prior to v2.0.
  10. Written under very poor conditions during war in Bosnia. Generally considered one of best DOS-based Speccy emulators on the PC.
  11. Available from the Warajevo Home Page or World of Spectrum.

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x128 v0.93 (James McKay)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum, +2A/+3, Kempston/Sinclair/Cursor joysticks, MGT interface, Multiface 128 and Multiface 3, Also has emulation of the Pentagon 128 and (partially) the Scorpion (Russian Spectrum variants).
  2. Loads .SNA, .Z80 and .SLT snapshots, from .TAP and .TZX tape files (the latter complete with optional loading noise!), from .DSK (+3 disk), .TRD (TR-DOS), .MGT and .IMG (images of MGT disks), and from .POK poke files.
  3. Saves .SNA, .Z80 and .SLT snapshots, .TAP tapes, .TRD disks and .PCX screen dumps (including any rainbow effects).
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA or EGA.
  6. About normal Spectrum speed on a 486SX/25 thanks to rewritten emulation and screen update code (now using Intel assembler instead of C). SAOM version needs a Soundblaster and requires a more high-end 486 or you get fuzzy sound.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Hi-res emulation of screen and left & right border allowing colours in an 8x1 block (rainbowing). Has a nice file selector and Z80-like user interface. Just about perfect 128K sound on the SAOM version, pretty good on the Adlib version.
  9. One of the best Spectrum emulators available, even if bits 3 and 5 of the flags are not completely correct.
  10. Also available for the Amiga. There are versions for Unix, OS/2 and OS/2 XFree86, though these haven't been developed for years. Now supports soundcards on IRQs 8-15.
  11. Available from the x128 homepage or World of Spectrum (Adlib or SoundBlaster versions). You'll also need the ROMs.

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[Updated!] Yet Another Spectrum Emulator v0.8 (Christian Hackbart)

  1. Emulates 48K and 128K Spectrums, Pentagon, Scorpion and Didaktik, along with the Multiface 128/+3.
  2. Loads from .SNA and .Z80 snapshots, .TAP tape files and .TRD disk files.
  3. Saves to all the above, and .PCX and .SCR screen images.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Nothing special needed.
  6. Runs at true Speccy speed on this PII-233.
  7. Freeware (comes with source).
  8. Supports long file names under Windows, and nothing seriously wrong.
  9. Flash not correctly emulated.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum or the author's home page.

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Z80 v4.00 (Gerton Lunter)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum with Multiface 1/128, cursor, Sinclair and Kempston joysticks, AMS Mouse, Disciple disk interface, Interface 1 and Microdrives, SamRam (author's own ROM with a basic MON-like debugger).
  2. Loads .SNA, .Z80 and .SLT snapshots, including level-loader support, and from .TAP and .TZX tape files and .MDR microdrive files.
  3. Saves .Z80 snapshots and to .TAP tape and .MDR microdrive files.
  4. Loads direct from Sound Blaster MIC input, or from parallel port using a custom interface (all these only in the registered version, and the parallel port interface itself costs extra - though a diagram is provided if you want to build your own).
  5. Requires Hercules, CGA, EGA or VGA. Install routine requires Win 3.1/9x/NT.
  6. Very fast; can be slowed down in a user-friendly manner.
  7. Shareware. Shareware version has not real tape support and runs for only ten minutes. If you register, you also get several utilities (for converting from various formats etc.) and source code (mixture of assembler and C) to both the emulator and the utilities.
  8. Most user-friendly emulator; very good menu-interface and documentation. Good high-resolution colour emulation (rainbowing!). Lots of unique features not found in any other emulator.
  9. 128K sound can be a bit wobbly.
  10. One of the best emulators available for any platform; a slightly different version is available for Windows. Please note that Brian Gaff is no longer the UK registration contact: this is now being handled by Chezron Software.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum (this file includes both the DOS and Windows versions).

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[Updated!] Z80Stealth v0.452 (Kolpakov Kirill)

  1. Emulates 128K Spectrum, Pentagon, Scorpion (with ProfROM), and (partially) the Profi 1024 and KAY 1024.
  2. Loads from most snapshot formats (including .SNA and .Z80), .TAP tape files and .SCL and .TRD disk images.
  3. Saves to most snapshot formats, .SCL and .TRD disk images, .PSG sound files and a .SCR screenshot on exit.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires one of various sound cards for sound output. No Adlib support, though.
  6. According to the author, requires a 133MHz Pentium for full speed emulation
  7. Freeware.
  8. Has various other unique features, for example the use of your PC's modem by the Speccy, and hard disk emulation. Now features a built-in debugger.
  9. Bad points?
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from the Z80Stealth Homepage or World of Spectrum.

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Z80-TR-DOS 2.02 (Vitaliy Mochalin)

  1. As Z80 v3.02, with addition of TR-DOS emulation.
  2. As Z80.
  3. As Z80.
  4. No real tape support; if you want that, you'll need to register a real version of Z80.
  5. As Z80.
  6. As Z80.
  7. An illegal hack.
  8. As Z80. Version 3.02 of Z80 had slightly poorer high resolution colour emulation however; and this hack is the same.
  9. As Z80.
  10. This program is an obviously modified copy of Z80 version 3.02 (as released on a PC Format cover disk) with Russian documentation which has been kindly translated for me by Kirill Panyushkin. Vitaliy Mochalin has this to say about this hack of Z80: "The changes to the original version by G.A.Lunter do not pursue the aim of copyright infringement. The adaptation has been made solely for use on the territory of Russia and to add TR-DOS (by Technology Research) disk system support." From other comments in the documentation it appears the price asked for registering Z80 is totally out of the reach of Russians; it is the equivalent of a month's wages for the average person.
  11. Not made available at Gerton's request, nor will I reveal the site I got it from.

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ZX (Ludek Brukner and Eduard Rindt)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, ZX Printer.
  2. No snapshot loading. Loads tape files from .001 files, its own tape format.
  3. No snapshot saving. Saves tape files to .001 files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires DOS 3.3+, EGA/VGA.
  6. Very quick. Runs very nicely on my 486SX/25.
  7. Freeware, though the authors ask that you send them $1 if you like it.
  8. Very quick; useable on a 286. Comes with a Tape Manager utility to convert DOS files to .001 tapes and vice versa. Nice keyboard help screen, and two keyboard access modes; one normal and one which maps PC keys to Spectrum equivalents (e.g. Shift-2 = Symbol Shift P).
  9. No speed control; goes way too quick on anything more than a slow 486.
  10. This was previously a commercial emulator, though I'd never heard of it. Hynek Med convinced the authors to make it freeware. There is a program which converts their special format (extension 001, 002 etc.) to TAP, called KDATEZ80.EXE, which is available from NVG.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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ZX Emulator v0.34 (Vladimir Yudin)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K/Pentagon 128K (Russian Speccy clone) with AY mouse and modem.
  2. Loads from .Z80 and .SNA snapshots, from .TAP and .TZX tape images, and from .TRD and .FDI disk files.
  3. Saves to .PCX screenshots only?
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires a soundcard to run at all.
  6. Runs at normal Spectrum speed on this P100.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Good points?
  9. Very flickery when scrolling.
  10. Version 0.34 comes with both English and Russian documentation.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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ZX-Jam v1.12 (Juan Antonio Moreno)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum and has experimental Pentagon 128K support (Russian Speccy clone).
  2. Loads .Z80 and .SNA snapshots and from .TAP tape files.
  3. Saves to .Z80 snapshots and to .TAP tape files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA and a 'fast Pentium'. Best sound produced if you have a GUS; any OPL-based card (e.g. SB) will produce fairly decent sound though.
  6. Runs at good speed on a P100; certainly manages full Speccy speed.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Unusual screen mode - tries to emulate the TV effect by leaving a blank line every other scanline, and does quite well! No dot crawl quite yet though :-) Includes built-in Z80 debugger. Some support for rainbowing and border effects. Nice menuing system.
  9. Z80 emulation incomplete? (e.g. ICUPS crashes the emulator a lot), only partial AY emulation. No joystick emulation. File selector finds only .Z80 and .TAP files, not ones with mixed extensions.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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ZXSpectr 3.0 (Cesar Hernandez Bano)

  1. Emulates the 16K, 48K, 128K, +2, +2A and Inves Spectrum+ (a Spanish clone).
  2. Loads from .SP and its own .ZX snapshots, .TAP tape files and .SCR screenshots.
  3. Saves to .ZX snapshots, .TAP tape files and .SCR screenshots.
  4. Can sample from real tapes to .TAP or .SMP files via SoundBlaster.
  5. Requires CGA/VGA/Hercules, and a SoundBlaster for AY sound.
  6. Can run faster than a real Speccy; its claimed real Speccy speed is about 15% fast on this PII-233.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Comes with a utility to convert 48K .Z80 snaps to .SP and vice-versa.
  9. Runs very slowly from a Windows command prompt.
  10. The .ZX snapshots used are not the same as those used by KGB.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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ZX-Spectrum Emulator 128K v3.05 (Nikolay Shalaev)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum with TR-DOS, Kempston mouse, Interface 1/2/Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads only .TRD (TR-DOS) files (but see below).
  3. Saves only .TRD files (but see below).
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires 386, VGA, MS-DOS 5.00 or better, DOS/4GW extender and an Adlib or SoundBlaster card for 128Kb sound.
  6. Much faster than a real Speccy on this P100; slowing it down isn't particularly user-friendly, but a couple of utilities to help are provided.
  7. Shareware.
  8. Allows writing of TR-DOS disk images.
  9. No snapshot or tape support in the basic program.
  10. Has an open architecture which allows other modules to extend the program: modules to allow the loading of .SNA, .SLT, .TAP and .Z80 files, and saving of .Z80 files are available from World of Spectrum. Also available on WoS is a patch to most of the user interface into English. Now comes with an English translation of the documentation.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum, as is the source code (C++/assembler).

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ZX Spectrum-Emulator v1.0s / SPECEMU (Bernd Waschke)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, Kempston joystick (using PC's analogue or digital joystick).
  2. Loads .SEM snapshots.
  3. Saves .SEM snapshots.
  4. Real tape support (registered version only) via a Soundblaster card, but you have to manually calibrate it with a number.
  5. Requires 386DX/40 and 1Mb of RAM.
  6. About 75% of normal Spectrum speed on a 486SX/25.
  7. Shareware. Some options not present in unregistered version.
  8. POKE facility. Also has what appears to be a Game-Genie/Game Wizard-like option to automatically find POKEs (registered version only).
  9. Z80 emulation - doesn't emulate flags register properly; in particular, the H flag; BRIGHT is also not emulated.
  10. All documentation and onscreen messages in German. Anyone fancy translating it?
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

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