All Mame Bios Today
This is the elephant in the room. MAME does not come with BIOS files.
MAME is an open-source emulator. Its code is legal to distribute. However, the BIOS files are copyrighted binary code owned by the original manufacturers (Sony, Sega, all mame bios
To truly own all MAME BIOS, your roms directory must contain these less common but equally essential files. Without them, specific game libraries will remain inaccessible. This is the elephant in the room
| BIOS Zip Name | Systems Covered | Example Games | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | atari900.zip | Atari 7800 / Atari 2600 arcade conversions | Food Fight, Joust 2 | | decocass.zip | Data East Cassette System | Burgertime, Bump 'n' Jump | | galgbios.zip | Galaga hardware (Namco) | Galaga '88 | | itech32.zip | I.Tech 32-bit Slot system | Shuffleshot, World Class Bowling | | megadriv.zip | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis-based arcade boards (Mega-Tech, Mega Play) | Mega-Tech: Sonic the Hedgehog | | nss.zip | Nintendo Super System (SNES arcade hardware) | Super Mario World arcade version | | pgm.zip | PolyGame Master (IGS) | Martial Masters, Knights of Valor | | playch10.zip | Nintendo PlayChoice-10 (NES arcade hardware) | Super Mario Bros. 3 arcade | | skns.zip | SNK Neo-Geo AES (home console) BIOS | Used for console-mode emulation | | taitof3.zip | Taito F3 System | Bubble Symphony, Cleopatra Fortune | | vgmplay.zip | Various sound chip BIOS | For playing back VGM music files | | vicdual.zip | VIC Dual system (Vic 20 based) | Various early 80s games | If you've ever tried to run a classic
Note on home computers: MAME also emulates Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. These require computer system ROMs (e.g., amiga3000.zip, c64.zip). While not "arcade" BIOS per se, they are part of the "all BIOS" scope for a full MAME set.
If you've ever tried to run a classic arcade game like Mortal Kombat, Neo Geo titles (Metal Slug, King of Fighters), or a home console game in MAME, you’ve probably run into the dreaded "Missing BIOS" error.
Don't worry. This post will explain everything you need to know about MAME BIOS files and how to get your games working properly.