A new version of Saturn emulator Kronos is available to download, its lead developer announced today.
The developer, whose screen name is Benjamin Siskoo, made a thread on SegaXtreme that lists quite a few improvements since Kronos’ last update a year ago.
The improvements include implementing SH2/SCU concurrent access on the CPU bus, improving frame time accuracy on Windows, improving seek timing accuracy and using Kronos timing for SCU DMA. It also fixes framebuffer access, EDSR and screen sync.
This new version also adds a variety of input methods, including support for the mouse, Virtua Gun and PlayStation 4 controller.
Kronos runs on both Windows and Linux. It comes in two flavors — 32-bit and 64-bit, depending on the type of operating system you’re using. You can download them here:
64-bit: https://www.tradu-france.com/download.php?emul=90
32-bit: https://www.tradu-france.com/download.php?emul=146
Or you can compile it yourself by checking out the Kronos Github.
The SegaXtreme thread also has a litany of games that are newly playable or significantly improved by version 2.5 of Kronos. Some of the highlights shown in Benjamin Siskoo’s YouTube video that went up today include Culdcept, Deep Fear, Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
You can check the emulator’s compatibility list here.
Many of the improvements listed are credited to another developer named FCare, but it appealed for even more help. “We need a dev for few months,” the thread says, “if you can help, join us.” The project’s Discord server is here.
Kronos also has an English-speaking forum here.
Kronos is a fork of the Yabause emulator that has been in development since at least early 2018. It’s been almost exactly a year since Kronos’ last update, version 2.3.1, which brought back debug tools, added translations in several languages and improved the emulation of several dozen games.
Danthrax is a contributor to the Shiro Media Group, writing stories for the website when Saturn news breaks. While he was a Sega Genesis kid in the ’90s, he didn’t get a Saturn until 2018. It didn’t take him long to fall in love with the console’s library as well as the fan translation and homebrew scene. He contributed heavily to the Bulk Slash and Stellar Assault SS fan localizations, and has helped as an editor on several other Saturn and Dreamcast fan projects such as Cotton 2, Rainbow Cotton and Sakura Wars Columns 2.
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