Homebrew Saturn emulation using Cotton/Guardian Force testing and debug

[adrianomarcel]

You can try to replace the rom file.

I put several games to create the nsp and then the same error!

 

[dragonz]

Oh that's right. It's a site called Retro Game Talk, it's what CDromance transitioned into, it's the same person and same site. But this time you're required to have an account to access the repository. Until you do the link probably wont work for you. You can google Retro Game talk, go to the site and search "Akumajou Dracula X - Gekka no Yasoukyoku" and find the Saturn Ultimate hacked version. But before you can use the search you will need to make an account. I'll try to find another way to share it with you

Post automatically merged: Aug 22, 2025

Ah dang. Thanks for trying to help me anyway

Post automatically merged: Aug 22, 2025

here is another link but these are just the patch files. You will need to get your own copy of Akumajou Dracula X - Gekka no Yasoukyoku and patch it yourself. there is a readme on how to do it in the download

https://mega.nz/file/A0VmDb6Q#uVtjpjm_WrhIyhj-ch8ACf-VqDthnS3i666C4rRLTLE

Post automatically merged: Aug 22, 2025

Okaaaay so..

I was able to officially get Castlevania - Nocturne in the Moonlight Ultimate to run as a stand alone NSP using Satrun2NSP v3.1 with a few caveats:

You have to use the 1.0 version. Back in Jan 2024 is when the Meduza Team released the patch 1.0 initially, then later in Feb 2024 they released a new patch v1.1 with a few more bug fixes and a slightly different hard mode. I realized I never tried 1.0 so I gave it a shot and low and behold it worked.
The caveats are that some of the emulator functions don't work. If you try to use the 'Quick Save' or 'Quick load" Function, or try to 'Reset' in the emulator menu, the game with just crash. Besides that everything works just fine. So if you are okay not having save states then this will work for you! I retried doing v1.1 just in case I did something else 'right' that I didn't catch but no it still crashed. So it's just the differences in the two versions I guess. No idea what would cause that..

Here are the v1.1 changes if anyone is curious:

• Increased overall performance in the game (increased CPU frequency);
• Removed voids at the top of the screen in some locations; 
• Improved “Hard Mode” (enemies deal 2X damage); 
• Added translucency of clouds against the background of the moon (flickering); 
• Added translucency to the large window in Count Dracula's apartment; 
• The name of the current location is now displayed in teleport rooms; 
• Fixed the flame palette in the prologue (before the picture burns); 
• Fixed a bug with the palette of a huge skull in an inverted castle; 
• Fixed minor bugs in pop-up messages;

So those are features you wont have, nothing really to cry about.

The game runs really well so far with no hiccups! granted I just got it going but from what I can tell everything is smooth

A new version is out!?
Anyone care to try making the .nsp out of it?

 

[Olinnae1]

A new version is out!?
Anyone care to try making the .nsp out of it?

Hey that's pretty awesome!

I did give it a shot and created a NSP of this version, but it had the same result as the v1.1 of the original PSP script and just crashed right away.

If I were to guess it looks like both versions are exactly the same, with this newer version just replacing the PSP script with the PS1 script

 

[dragonz]

Hey that's pretty awesome!

I did give it a shot and created a NSP of this version, but it had the same result as the v1.1 of the original PSP script and just crashed right away.

If I were to guess it looks like both versions are exactly the same, with this newer version just replacing the PSP script with the PS1 script

Thanks for giving it a go. I finally got my switch restored and was just about to try it.

 

[adrianomarcel]

Does anyone have a working copy of the Shinobi Legion Sega Saturn NSP game? I converted the game, but the screen remains black on the Switch!

 

[delson_anr]

A new version is out!?
Anyone care to try making the .nsp out of it?

i've tested.
Patched the .bin .cue files - OK
try to create a NSP, but no success.
The game spots when try to load the ROM file.

The rom file opens normally on external PC Emulators.

Post automatically merged: Jan 13, 2026

Does anyone have a working copy of the Shinobi Legion Sega Saturn NSP game? I converted the game, but the screen remains black on the Switch!

DM me on Discord
delson_anr

 

[dragonz]

Does anyone have a working copy of the Shinobi Legion Sega Saturn NSP game? I converted the game, but the screen remains black on the Switch!

I had the same black‑screen issue. I skipped the cutscene immediately, saved the game, and then just loaded that save file to keep playing. lol

 

[delson_anr]

I had the same black‑screen issue. I skipped the cutscene immediately, saved the game, and then just loaded that save file to keep playing. lol

first i struggle to get a working NSP for this title.
So i managed to create one with the saturn2nsp 1.2
But get the same problem as you and i used the same method to bypass the issue.

A friend of mine said that he gameover a game for 1 time, than after that the game opens normally without any black screen, even after playing a lot.

 

[DaSkanker]

Does anyone have a working copy of the Shinobi Legion Sega Saturn NSP game? I converted the game, but the screen remains black on the Switch!

To get game to run just like with some other Saturn games you need to overclock your switch. I use sys-clk manager. Obviously any overclocking is done at your own risk

Post automatically merged: Jan 25, 2026

To get game to run just like with some other Saturn games you need to overclock your switch. I use sys-clk manager. Obviously any overclocking is done at your own risk

Lol now I'm having issues with it even with over clocking. Strange as I'm sure I had this running fine before.

Update
Decided to delete save data on switch for said game and now it's running.
However I did need to reset the game in the emulator to get it to boot

 

[smecque]

Hello!
Thanks for sharing this emulator, it's perfect for switch.
Has anyone tried tu use the embedded version in Wolf Fang Skull Fang Saturn Tribute Boosted ?
It seems more advanced, with more options for screen and musics (still based on zebra).

And just to add to Compatibility List:
Working games:
Assault Suit Leynos 2
Burning Rangers
Delisoba Deluxe
Fighting Vipers
Golden Axe - The Duel
Guardian Heroes
Mystaria - The Realms of Lore
Nekketsu Oyako
Radiant Silvergun
Sega Rally Championship
Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 Club Edition
Shienryu
Shining Wisdom
Suiko Enbu Fuunsaiki
The King of Fighters 97 (4MB)

Not working/Don't launch:
Dark Legend => switch game error after 1st screen (japan version Suiko Enbu Fuunsaiki is OK)
Segata Sanshiro => crash after 1st FMV played while completing a minigame
Wolf Fang => switch game error after 1st screen

 

[purple_bandit]

They encrypted the newer games or some shit so you can't inject roms into them

 

[hippy dave]

Yeah newer releases use more encryption that hasn't been cracked. Certainly wouldn't be unbreakable if the right person with the skills chose to work on it, but we haven't been that lucky so far.

 

[dragonz]

Hello!
Thanks for sharing this emulator, it's perfect for switch.
Has anyone tried tu use the embedded version in Wolf Fang Skull Fang Saturn Tribute Boosted ?
It seems more advanced, with more options for screen and musics (still based on zebra).

And just to add to Compatibility List:
Working games:
Assault Suit Leynos 2
Burning Rangers
Delisoba Deluxe
Fighting Vipers
Golden Axe - The Duel
Guardian Heroes
Mystaria - The Realms of Lore
Nekketsu Oyako
Radiant Silvergun
Sega Rally Championship
Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 Club Edition
Shienryu
Shining Wisdom
Suiko Enbu Fuunsaiki
The King of Fighters 97 (4MB)

Not working/Don't launch:
Dark Legend => switch game error after 1st screen (japan version Suiko Enbu Fuunsaiki is OK)
Segata Sanshiro => crash after 1st FMV played while completing a minigame
Wolf Fang => switch game error after 1st screen

LTTP: What is going in here?

 

[GSB]

I had a strange occurrence regarding the save data of Panzer Dragoon II Zwei and Sagas using NSPs created by CaVE. I messed around with various options in JKSV and Checkpoint to see if I could force Sagas to recognize the Zwei save data, checking the in-game currency on a new save file of Sagas to see if it worked. As I expected it didn't, but suddenly Zwei could no longer have its data be exported to SVI and then it unlocked Pandora's Box while I'm still on stage 4 and have just over 1 hour in terms of game time.

I assume the only way this could've happened is if Zwei somehow saw save data for Sagas. Does anyone know what could've caused this to occur?

 

[dragonz]

Has anyone managed to get a stable version of Shinobi Legions running? I’ve tried both the US and EU releases, but both eventually freeze. I converted both versions using Saturn2NSP.
I’m also experiencing the same issue with Bulk Slash — it freezes after loading the first stage.
All three games were running with overclock settings at CPU 1785 MHz / GPU 921 MHz / Memory 1600 MHz.

 

[mspy]

Manage to somewhat get the game THREE DIRTY DWARVES to work (previously it crashed at 99% loading)
When on the game menu press L+R to go into the cheat menu.
There use the cheat code: MOSHOLU
This will unlock all the levels and make them selectable on the game options.
Just select any other stage aside from the first one which makes the game crash.
Didn't test all the stages, just a few random ones that worked fine.

Note: when on the game menu to go into the options press L+RightAarrow to go up and down.
Then press Plus+ZR to enter.
Plus+ZR also starts game.

 

[dragonz]

Shinobi X kept freezing after Stage 2 because the emulator was loading corrupted system/BKRAM save data.

When we deleted or blocked the system save files (or disabled BKRAM in system.json), the emulator stopped loading that corrupted data.

Result:
- Stage 3 loaded normally
- No more black screens
- Game played fine using save states only

That’s the whole reason the fix works.

Some Saturn games built with Saturn2NSP freeze or black screen because the emulator corrupts its own BKRAM/system save.
Once corrupted, the game always black screens at the same spot.

---

TL;DR — The Fix (Two Options)

A) Disable BKRAM in system.json
After building the NSP:

- Open romfs/config/system.json
- Change:
"backup": true → "backup": false"
or
"bkram": "enable" → "bkram": "disable"

Repack → install → done.

B) Make the system files unreadable
- Delete the BKRAM/system files inside the NSP
or
- Change permissions so the emulator can’t read/write them

If it can’t access BKRAM, it can’t corrupt it.

---

TL;DR — Why This Works
No BKRAM =
no corruption →
no corrupted loads →
no more black screens

Save states still work.

---

TL;DR — Applies to Many Saturn Games
Any Saturn game that freezes at a consistent point is probably hitting this same BKRAM bug.
Either fix stops it permanently.

 

[Taffer]

You people have these games as nsps? Where can I get them?

 

[purple_bandit]

A new fully working version of Yabusa Sanshiro emulator bundled with the emulator frontend 'Tico' just released today.

And it seems to run Saturn full speed, no input lag from what I've seen. With all the options and goodies of emulators.

Maybe worth an entire new thread for this!!! Exciting!

https://github.com/ticohq/tico/releases

Update: 1mb/4mb ram cart isn't enabled in this version. Dev says possibly in next update.

 

[dragonz]

A new fully working version of Yabusa Sanshiro emulator bundled with the emulator frontend 'Tico' just released today.

And it seems to run Saturn full speed, no input lag from what I've seen. With all the options and goodies of emulators.

Maybe worth an entire new thread for this!!! Exciting!

View attachment 557604
https://github.com/ticohq/tico/releases

Update: 1mb/4mb ram cart isn't enabled in this version. Dev says possibly in next update.

The Yabusa Sanshiro emulator has not been ported outside of PC right?