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Stella for Mac

Atari 2600 game emulator.

Free
In English
Version 6.7
4.6
Based on 16 user rates

Stella overview

Stella is a multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Stella was originally developed for Linux by Bradford W. Mott, however, since its original release several people have joined the development team to port Stella to other operating systems such as OS X, AcornOS, AmigaOS, DOS, FreeBSD, IRIX, Linux, OS/2, and Unix. The development team is working hard to perfect the emulator and we hope you enjoy our effort.

Oh, for those of you too young to remember, the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS), introduced in 1977, was the most popular home video game system of the early 1980's. Now you can enjoy all of your favorite Atari 2600 games on your Mac thanks to Stella!

Note: While the software is classified as free, it is actually donationware. Please consider making a donation to help support development.

What’s new in version 6.7

Important notes:
  • Because of fixes to JSON handling, all remappings will be reset to defaults; if you had custom mappings, they will need to be re-entered again.
  • Because of internal changes, all state files are now invalid.
Completely reworked the file launcher:
  • Redesigned user interface
  • Added tracking of user favorites, recently played and most popular games
  • Added virtual directories for selecting tracked games
  • Added quick path navigation
  • Added navigation history
  • Added icons for files and directories
  • Added option to show/hide file extensions
  • Extended context menu and shortcuts
  • Fixed sluggish behaviour when reading large and/or invalid files
Other:
  • Added hotkey display to tooltips.
  • Added option to automatically pause emulation when focus is lost.
  • Added option to toggle autofire mode.
  • Improved controller mappings for Paddles.
  • Improved controller mappings for Driving controllers.
  • Improved Mindlink support.
  • Added another oddball TIA glitch option for score mode color.
  • Enhanced TV jitter emulation.
  • Enhanced support for CDFJ+ bankswitching type.
  • Added 0FA0 bankswitching for Fotomania ROMs.
  • Added ARM chip auto detection.
  • Extended support for older BUS (experimental) ROMs that worked with an older, obsolete version of the BUS scheme; special thanks to SpiceWare for the code.
  • Fixed Stella crash due to invalid ZIP files.
  • Fixed TV mode auto detection in some ARM ROMs.
  • Fixed color loss when switching TV mode from/to PAL.
  • Fixed score mode glitch emulation corner case.
  • Fixed state messages staying on screen forever.
  • Added M1 support for the macOS build.
Debugger improvements:
  • added PlusROM information
  • fixed patching code in ZP-RAM
  • improved bank origin detection
  • Updated internal ROM properties database to ROM-Hunter version 17 (thanks go to RomHunter for his tireless research in this area). Related to this, updated the snapshot collection.

Stella for Mac

Free
In English
Version 6.7
Write a detailed review about Stella

What customer like

User Experience
Security
Privacy

What needs improvements

Bug fixing

Stella qualities

Value
4.0
Ease of use
5.0
Features
4.0
Reliability
5.0
Customer support
5.0

Write your thoughts in our old-fashioned comment

MacUpdate Comment Policy. We strongly recommend leaving comments, however comments with abusive words, bullying, personal attacks of any type will be moderated.
4.6

(17 Reviews of Stella)

  • Comments

  • User Ratings

orbannatalie
orbannatalie
May 17 2021
6.5.3
4.0
May 17 2021
4.0
Version: 6.5.3
I couldn't believe, I find this app. Oh, my God, thanks!
emerywehitney
emerywehitney
Feb 25 2018
5.1.1
4.5
Feb 25 2018
4.5
Version: 5.1.1
love this app
cookinglizard
cookinglizard
Feb 13 2018
5.1
5.0
Feb 13 2018
5.0
Version: 5.1
Remember you were a kid once? Now I do! Thank you soooo much!!!
Cjbolland
Cjbolland
Oct 31 2015
4.6.7
5.0
Oct 31 2015
5.0
Version: 4.6.7
Awful graphics, awful sound, awful controls, ... I LIKE IT ! :-) Best 2600 emulator
Fredducker
Fredducker
Aug 4 2015
4.6.1
0.0
Aug 4 2015
0.0
Version: 4.6.1
Can I find documentation somewhere on how to use it? I have ROMs in .bin, .stx, .tap, .cas, .atr, .cpgz, .st formats and only the .bin can be recognized? Is that normal? And at first the .bin ROMs appeared in the "browse" window of Stella, now they are all gone but they still are in the folder? Would lvoe some help figuring it out :)
orbannatalie
orbannatalie
May 17 2021
6.5.3
4.0
May 17 2021
4.0
Version: 6.5.3
emerywehitney
emerywehitney
Feb 25 2018
4.5
Feb 25 2018
4.5
Version: null
TDark555
TDark555
Feb 24 2018
5.0
Feb 24 2018
5.0
Version: null
cookinglizard
cookinglizard
Feb 13 2018
5.0
Feb 13 2018
5.0
Version: null
Cjbolland
Cjbolland
Oct 31 2015
5.0
Oct 31 2015
5.0
Version: null
CarlosCambra6779
CarlosCambra6779
Feb 25 2014
5.0
Feb 25 2014
5.0
Version: null
Quiiick
Quiiick
Jan 24 2014
5.0
Jan 24 2014
5.0
Version: null
AlexHughy
AlexHughy
Sep 1 2013
5.0
Sep 1 2013
5.0
Version: null
Lancetx70
Lancetx70
Dec 24 2012
4.5
Dec 24 2012
4.5
Version: null
Jason-Milles-76
Jason-Milles-76
Jun 2 2012
5.0
Jun 2 2012
5.0
Version: null
Christa_Moal
Christa_Moal
Jun 1 2012
5.0
Jun 1 2012
5.0
Version: null
fran-6
fran-6
Sep 8 2010
5.0
Sep 8 2010
5.0
Version: null
Bdkennedy1
Bdkennedy1
Apr 22 2010
5.0
Apr 22 2010
5.0
Version: null
Guest
Guest
Oct 17 2005
5.0
Oct 17 2005
5.0
Version: null
Guest
Guest
Feb 21 2005
1.0
Feb 21 2005
1.0
Version: null
Guest
Guest
Apr 6 2003
5.0
Apr 6 2003
5.0
Version: null