Tips for ripping Genesis/Mega Drive sprites
When I need to rip sprites from this system, I usually use one of the tools listed below.
Note: I’ll be listing emulators here, but links to ROMs are prohibited under the forum rules, okay?
Gens
I’ve always used Gens—specifically an alternative version called "debuGens11b." (attached to this resource). It allows you to run Lua code that changes the first palette color to magenta, enabling you to rip sprites from games where the background is solid black.
Save this code with the .lua extension
Code:
gens.registerbefore(function(address,size)
local p,t=vdp.readpalette(1,1);
local c=pal.getcolor(t[1],1);
c.A=255;
c.B=255;
c.G=0;
c.R=255;
pal.setcolor(t[1],1,c);
vdp.writepalette(1,t[1]);
end)Then, run it via the TOOLS > Lua scripting menu.
It works for most games, though some—like *Mystical Fighter*—aren't compatible. Also, this version of Gens doesn't handle 32X sprites well (since they are rendered on a layer separate from the standard Genesis layers).
Currently, there is a version called "Gens KMOD" that adds various debugging features. In addition to toggling layers on and off, you can dump the VDP directly to bitmaps and display 32X sprites. But it doesn't accept the .LUA code to change the background color.
However, dumping 32X sprites doesn't work very well.
BizHawk
Bizhawk is a powerful multi-platform emulator which focuses on core accuracy while being easy to use. It is used for tool assisted speedruns (TAS). As for recent times however it only supports computers that use x64 (64 bit) rather x86 (32 bit) and from Windows 7 and up, this was due to the Sega Saturn emulation based off Mednafen. There are older versions if your computer is 32 bit though.
Currently supported systems
- Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, Famicom Disk System
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom +
- Nintendo 64
- Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Super Game Boy +
- Game Boy Advance +
- Nintendo DS
- Virtual Boy
- PlayStation
- Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000
- Sega Genesis +
- Sega Saturn
- TurboGrafx-16 +
- Apple II
- Atari 2600
- Atari 7800
- Atari Lynx
- ColecoVision
- Mattel Intellivision
- Neo Geo Pocket
- TI-83
- Wonderswan, Wonderswan Color
It has several interesting tools, such as sprite dump, and allows you to configure additional things like background color when you access the "GEN" menu, which is divided into "VDP VIEWER" and "Settings".
Since it is a multi-system emulator, this menu varies depending on the system you load, offering a different number of options.
For instance, if you load a Master System ROM, the VDP Viewer doesn't work very well.
In the case of the SNES, there is no support for the VDP viewer.
ClownMDEmu
ClownMDEmu is a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega CD emulator. It is designed as a modular project, consisting of a portable emulation core written in C and a feature-rich standalone frontend built with C++, SDL3, and Dear ImGui. The project focuses on achieving a balance between high accuracy and performance. While primarily a Genesis emulator, it includes experimental support for the Sega CD via high-level emulation (HLE), allowing many titles (such as Sonic CD) to run without requiring a BIOS file.In addition, it features some very interesting tools:
- There is a version that runs directly in the browser.
- The debug menu is extremely powerful, with various interesting options.
And here’s an extra tool: sound channel debugging.
This even allows you to rip sounds that are otherwise impossible to capture or that aren't accessible via a standard sound test mode.
How to do it:
while the game is running, get to the point where the sound effect you want to use plays.
Using the Debugging menu, you can toggle FM and PSG audio (keep in mind that some Genesis games, like *Streets of Rage*, also utilized the Master System's sound chip) and identify which channel is playing the specific sound effect.
Once you've identified the channel, go to "Toggles" and enable only the channel responsible for that sound effect. You can disable all other audio channels (including Sega CD audio) as well as sprites.
Another very interesting tool is the Visualizer, as it displays the complete Genesis plans—including content that extends beyond the screen - which can be useful in certain situations - as you can see in Plane A bellow
