Raspberry Pi Pico Powers ZX Spectrum, Atari, and C64 Emulator

Last Updated on September 21, 2021

The Raspberry Pi Pico is the heart of potentially the smallest emulation platform. Twitter user bobricious has created a system that run Commodore 64, Atari 800, and ZX Spectrum games with a VGA output.

With just a 133 MHz dual-core RP2040 processor, the sub-£5 board can be attached to a custom PCB. It’s an SBC which hosts a controller, a built-in LCD display, and a socket for the Pico.

#mcume #raspberrypico #rp2040 #ZXSpectrum emulation pic.twitter.com/nWNeP0tmt1

— bobricius (@bobricius) September 15, 2021

This in turn relies on the MCUME project by Jean-Marc Harvengt. Multi CompUter Machine Emulator is a software layer that enables emulation on RP2040 microcontrollers. The result is a lightweight, compact gaming experience. VGA might be an odd choice, but it is at least more authentic than HDMI and doesn’t have the conversion overhead.

(Via Tom’s Hardware. Image credit: Bobricious Twitter feed)

Christian Cawley

Gaming since 1984, retro gaming since 2004. Contributes to Linux Format magazine, TechRadar.com, and other publications.

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