The gaming industry has grown leaps and bounds with the advancement in technology. However, a lot of people still receive a dose of nostalgia whenever they come across games of their childhood. With the help of emulators, these games can now be experienced on android without obsolete consoles. Everyone has access to android devices nowadays. The android device allows gameplay of retro games with the help of the ROM of these games and emulators.
Requirements of playing retro games on android
There are some basic devices and cables required for playing retro games on android. Most of these can be found easily in our homes. Some of these are:
- An android phone, tablet, or TV box
- A USB HDMI adapter and cable
- Game controller
- Power cable
- Suitable emulator or retro gaming suite
As mentioned above, most of these parts can be easily found in the market. The two of the trickiest components to find are ROM and emulation solutions. Classic game’s ROM is needed to play these games on android. A lot of games can be easily found online. Similarly, the retro arch is a platform that acts as a front end to the Libretro project, a collection of emulation solutions.
Downloading games with the help of ROM
ROM or Read Only Memory represents the copy of the file which is needed for the functioning of games. Most of the time, a copy of these files is available on the internet. However, it is advised that the ROM being downloaded is an official copy or has been downloaded from the official website. Illegal downloading of ROM is condoned. With the help of ROM, the games on the emulator can be run. In case the ROMS cannot be downloaded directly on the android, they can be downloaded on the system and then transferred through wireless file transfer apps.
There are a lot of websites where a copy of ROM is available. Romspedia.com is one such website where a variety of games are available through the official source. It is suggested to download the ROM files in zip format only.
Downloads in the form of apk format must be avoided as much as possible. Retro ROMS are barely more than a few megabytes. Even ROMS, which are advanced retro games, are of very small size as compared to the modern gameplay downloads.
Best Android emulators for playing retro games
There is always a sense of joy when you come across games like Mario, donkey kong, chip n dale, contra, etc. There is an instant urge to relive childhood memories by playing these games. With the help of android emulators, this has been made possible. Some of the best android emulators are:
Classic boy – This emulator allows you to play video games by copying game ROMS like Snes9x EX+. With the help of its accelerometer controller and gesture mode, gameplay like original video games is possible. Classic Boy is an all-in-one game emulator supporting Gameboy advance, Nintendo 64, NES, Sega Genesis, and other games consoles.
The classic boy has several configuration settings. Ranging from allowing games to be played on full screen to auto-saving the game data, it allows users to play games having a similar experience to what they had in their childhood.
Mega N64 – This is a super-fast emulator used for playing N64 games. It is the advanced version of open source Mupen64+ but without its slowdowns. High definition N64 games can be played on android without any performance lags or stoppages. It supports fetching ROM games from an SD card, thus allowing easy import of a variety of games in N64, V64, Z64, and zip files. It allows different configuration solutions for improving the user interface.
My Oldboy – For fans of game boy and game boy color, this dual system emulator is compatible with a host of Android devices. It is also full of configuration settings like cheat codes, data saving, auto-saving, color pallets, external controller support. It also includes a Gameboy camera and game boy printer.
It not only has low battery consumption but also has a screen layout editor, which helps it in making settings on the screen. It can fetch games from ROM and SD cards and allow games to be fast-forwarded and rewound. It not only supports cheat codes but also various sensors for making gameplay easy.
Mame4 android – It supports playing arcade games using the original MAME and the latest retro games using the newer MAME releases. Touch controller buttons and fitted overlays are present to adjust settings. It also supports over 2000 ROMS which can be easily fetched through the SD card. The external controller may be used for gameplay. Even though the gameplay is possible on most android versions, smoother gameplay is possible on newer versions.
Reicast – This emulator supports Dreamcast games in HD quality. It also allows you to save game progress and fetch ROMS from an SD card. In this video, FPS can be limited, and an internal frame limiter can be enabled. It also supports advanced frame skipping options to make sure there is no performance lag on older software. It supports a variety of ROMS like CHD, CHD V4, GDI, CDI, etc. It is based on the source code of null DC and null DCE. Even though the original reicast has been abandoned, there are many versions of it available on the internet.
AD – This is amongst the best Gameboy emulators for android that lets you play all classic games. It is quick and supports all high-end features like fast-forwarding games, game cheats, saving games progress, and joining the games leader boards. It also allows customization of its interface with the help of themes. It also allows users to create their profiles and use external controllers where needed.
Retro gaming is a trend that seems to have got back due to the presence of these emulators. Many young people are turning towards these games to relive their childhood memories. However, it is important to keep in mind the copyright rules while downloading ROMS of games.