1987 · Sharp Corporation · Japan · computer
Sharp X68000
Housed in an iconic twin-tower "Manhattan" chassis with twin motorized auto-ejecting floppy drives, the Sharp X68000 was the ultimate dream machine of…
Essential Fiddly Needs a keyboard Awkward on a modern pad ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
Housed in an iconic twin-tower "Manhattan" chassis with twin motorized auto-ejecting floppy drives, the Sharp X68000 was the ultimate dream machine of Japanese gamers and developers.
Because Capcom used the X68000 as their CPS-1 arcade development workstation, home conversions like Akumajou Dracula (Castlevania Chronicles), Street Fighter II Dash, and Strider were virtually indistinguishable from coin-op arcade cabinets.
Under the hood
- CPU
- Motorola 68000 @ 10.0 MHz (68030 @ 25 MHz on X68030) with 1 MB to 12 MB RAM
- Sound chip
- Yamaha YM2151 (8-channel OPM FM synthesizer) + OKI MSM6258 ADPCM voice + Roland MT-32 / SC-55 MIDI support
- Graphics
- Up to 768 × 512, 65,536 colors, 128 hardware sprites, 4 independent background scroll planes
- Media
- Dual auto-ejecting 5¼" or 3½" Floppy Drives & SCSI Hard Disks (Human68k DOS)
What it cost
around a month and a half of an average wage in 1987 · about $7,031 today
| Japan launch price (¥369,000 / ~$2,600 USD) |
¥369,000 (1987)
The legendary dual-tower Japanese home computer. |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | ≈150,000 estimate Estimated 150,000 units sold. |
Why it mattered
Because Capcom used the X68000 as their CPS-1 arcade development workstation, home conversions like Akumajou Dracula (Castlevania Chronicles), Street Fighter II Dash, and Strider were virtually indistinguishable from coin-op arcade cabinets.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | XM6 Pro-68k, PX68K (libretro), WinX68k |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Fiddly (7.5 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | Many games use a mouse, while setup screens and computer software still expect a keyboard. |
| Runs on a handheld | No — it needs a real machine |
Requires BIOS and Font ROM files (`iplrom.dat`, `cgrom.dat`) in the `keropi` system directory for RetroArch PX68K core. The emulator names above are starting points, not a promise that every title or accessory behaves identically. Computer platforms usually add model selection, disk handling and keyboard setup even when CPU emulation itself is mature.
X68000 IPL-ROM & Font ROM (iplrom.dat, cgrom.dat)
The Sharp X68000 requires two essential motherboard ROM dumps: the 128 KB IPL-ROM (iplrom.dat / iplrom30.dat) and the 768 KB Kanji font character generator (cgrom.dat). Without them, Human68k and games cannot boot.
How many files you need: 2. Two files inside bios/keropi/ folder: iplrom.dat (128 KB) and cgrom.dat (768 KB).
Where it stands legally: Copyrighted by Sharp Corporation; dumped from original X68000 computer hardware.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Libretro — PX68K core documentation for the current list.
Where the software is
TOSEC catalogues computer disks and tapes broadly, including many revisions. It is useful for preservation, while a smaller curated selection is usually easier to play.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- Akumajou Dracula (Castlevania Chronicles) Action Platformer
The holy grail of classic 2D Castlevania, with multiple soundtrack arrangements (YM2151, Roland MT-32, SC-55).
- Cho Ren Sha 68K Vertical Shoot 'em up
One of the greatest indie dōjin vertical shmups ever crafted with blistering bullet-grazing action.
- Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou Horizontal Shoot 'em up
Flawless arcade-perfect conversion of Konami’s horizontal arcade titan.
- Final Fight Beat 'em up
Includes Guy, Cody, Haggar and 2-player co-op with zero sprite cuts (unlike the SNES version).
- Street Fighter II' Champion Edition Fighting
Near-identical CPS-1 arcade perfection in your home.
- Strider Hiryu Action Platformer
The definitive home translation of Capcom’s plasma-sword ninja.
- Nemesis '90 Kai Shoot 'em up
Enhanced remake of MSX Nemesis 2 featuring breathtaking X68000 visual updates.
The verdict
The Ferrari of Japanese retro computers. Capcom developed arcade games (Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Ghouls 'n Ghosts) directly on X68000 hardware, giving it 100% 1:1 arcade-perfect conversions.
The strongest software can be rewarding, but original controls and setup assumptions may matter more than screenshots suggest.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about sharp, fujitsu and msx and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 5/5 for fun today and 5/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.