Sega Saturn: Kronos 2.8.0 fixes over 100 games, Ymir moves to 0.4

Two Saturn emulators move forward in the same week: Kronos 2.8.0, taken over by a French developer, fixes over 100 games, and Ymir 0.4 adds Direct3D 12.


Kronos 2.8.0, the biggest update yet

Benjamin Siskoo, from Tradu-France, took over Kronos, a Yabause derivative, “so as not to see this project die”. On 20 October 2026 the developer released version 2.8.0, which the author presents as their biggest update:

• over a hundred games fixed (freezes, black screens, controls, graphics, sound), including Deep Fear, Sexy Parodius, Discworld, Space Jam, Independence Day and Corpse Killer;
• the return of the built-in BIOS, with which some games don't boot;
• playback of Video CDs;
• filters: FSR 1.0, Lanczos 3, FXAA, CRT and cel shading;
• an experimental graphics editor;
• on the arcade side, ST-V: Decathlete decrypted and playable, new drivers, and emulation that matches MAME's, according to the author.

The author estimates that Kronos emulates “around 99% of games”, while acknowledging that they could not test more than 1,300 games from start to finish and that the emulation is not cycle-accurate.


Ymir 0.4, accuracy above all

Ymir, by StrikerX3, aims for accuracy. Its version 0.4.0 from 17 October, followed by 0.4.1 on the 18th:

• adds Direct3D 12 and Metal renderers (Vulkan will come later). Under Direct3D 12, rendering for the video chips moves to the GPU, “with no compromise on accuracy”;
• makes the Virtua Gun a stable feature;
• now runs on macOS 12;
• reports 94.4% of the library as compatible, and up to 10% more speed.

0.4.1 fixes a startup crash on Windows ARM.


Which one to choose?

Kronos aims for the largest number of games and ST-V arcade, Ymir for hardware accuracy. Both require the BIOS from your own Saturn and your own discs; Kronos's built-in BIOS helps out, without booting everything. The Saturn also runs on Wii with Seta GX.


Sources: Kronos 2.8.0 (Tradu-France) · Ymir 0.4.0 · Ymir 0.4.1