Multi Emulator Super System
emulation software that aims to recreate the hardware of many classic home computer systems
Multi Emulator Super System (MESS) was an emulator for various consoles and computer systems, based on the MAME core. It used to be a standalone program (which has since been discontinued), but is now integrated into MAME (which is actively developed).
MESS emulated portable and console gaming systems, computer platforms, and calculators. The project strived for accuracy and portability and therefore was not always the fastest emulator for any one particular system. Its accuracy made it also useful for homebrew game development.
As of April 2015 MESS supported 994 unique systems with 2,106 total system variations. MESS was first released in 1998 and was under development up until 2015.
MAME and MESS were once separate applications, but were later developed and released together from a single source repository. MAMEDEV member David Haywood maintained and distributed UME (Universal Machine Emulator) which combined much of the functionality of MAME and MESS in a single application. On May 27, 2015, MESS was formally integrated with MAME and became a part of MAME.
License
MESS was distributed under the MAME Licence, which allowed for the redistribution of binary files and source code, either modified or unmodified, but disallowed selling MESS or using it commercially.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q778644. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2015 and 1998.
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