The 13 best Android emulators for retro gaming

Do you want to play retro games on your android phone? Here are the best retro game emulators for Android to get you started. Retro games are gaining popularity. Old games from your childhood are all the rage, with titles as diverse as Frogger, Double Dragon, Doom, and Star Fox 64 enjoying a revival.

Just because your old consoles got trashed doesn’t mean you can’t play those old games. You just need an Android phone or tablet.

This list of retro game emulators for Android will allow you to revisit the games of your youth on a wide range of consoles and computer platforms.

How Android emulators work

To use emulators, you will need game ROMs (and sometimes BIOS ROMs) compatible with the platform you are emulating. However, if you don’t already own the game, downloading and using the game ROMs is copyright infringement.

The ROMs should be downloaded directly to your Android device. Alternatively, you can download to your PC and then copy the ROM files to Android. Retro ROMs are rarely more than a few megabytes, modest compared to today’s massive game downloads. If you want a wireless solution, use FTP software to send games to your phone.

With the ROM downloaded, your corresponding emulator should be able to run it. But which retro game emulator for Android will you use?

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1. ePSXe (Sony PlayStation PS1 and PSOne)

Sony’s original PlayStation is one of the most popular gaming consoles ever and the first to achieve sales of over 100 million devices. With over 7,918 games released in its lifetime (and a few more since then) there is good reason to revisit this platform.

Android users will find that ePSXe is perfect for PlayStation games. You’ll find a useful split-screen mode for two plays and support for up to four. ePSXe was born on PC and the Android version has compatible save states, as well as custom key mapping for most game controllers.

Download : ePSXe (€ 3,75)

2. John NESS (NES and SNES)

By combining the John NES and John SNES apps into one, John NESS allows you to play Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System games on Android.

With cheat support, save states, turbo button, on-screen gamepad, and support for hardware controllers, John NESS also integrates with Dropbox. This means that you can easily copy ROM files from your cloud storage to the emulator to play them. For more gameplay features, John NESS also supports screenshot, recording, and streaming.

Download: John NESS (free in-app purchases)

3. Emulatore DraStic DS (Nintendo DS)

As for the emulators, DraStic DS Emulator is particularly impressive, with the ability to double the resolution and customize the position of the display.

Additional controllers are supported, with save states intended for instant save and resume anywhere. Saved games can be synced with Google Drive, while emulation can be enhanced with a fast-forward mode.

As if all of this wasn’t enough, the emulator includes a database of thousands of cheat modes for Nintendo DS games.

Download: DraStic DS Emulator (€ 4,99)

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4. Emulatore M64Plus FZ (N64)

M64Plus is a highly regarded emulator for gamers who loved Nintendo 64 games.

A variant of the Open Source Mupen64 + emulator, M64Plus features easy-to-use controls positioned in the lower corners of the display. This allows you to play with your thumbs just like you did with the Nintendo64 game controller in the past.

Playing with the software controller is better than relying on a hardware game controller. USB or Bluetooth controllers for the Nintendo 64 are hard to find. As such, comfortable gameplay is only achievable on an Android device that isn’t too big for your hands. It is more suitable for phones than tablets.

Download: emulatore M64Plus FZ (free)

5. My Old Boy! (Game Boy, Game Boy Color)

For Game Boy and Game Boy Color fans, this dual system emulator is compatible with a wide range of Android devices.

It’s also packed with features, from save states and video filters to cheat codes, support for external controllers, and custom palettes. My old boy! also includes Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer emulation.

So, if you feel like revisiting the library of 1046 Game Boy games and 575+ Game Boy Color, install My Old Boy!

Download: My Old Boy (free) | Without advertising (€ 3,99)

6. My boy! (Game Boy Advance)

From the same developer of My Old Boy !, this emulator is again available for a wide selection of Android devices. This makes it suitable for old and new hardware.

Emulating the Game Boy Advance, you’ll find support for Google Drive save and sync states, external controllers and video filters. You can use cheat codes and change the game speed to help you train yourself to master obstacles at high speed.

While no game ROMs are included, My Boy! has BIOS emulation, so no system ROM is required.

Download: My Boy! Free – GBA Emulator (free) | Without advertising (€ 4,99)

7. Magic DOSBox (classic PC games)

Remember the days when you pulled a chair up to your PC and typed cd to go to the game directory? Entering a single command to start the game without a desktop GUI?

If so, revisit the classic era of MS-DOS PC gaming on your mobile with Magic DOSBox. Thousands of games were released on PCs before Windows 98 was able to support launching desktop games. Many classic PC game titles have been declared abandoned or made open source. Over 2,500 games are available on the Internet Archive.

Most PC games of this era are comparable to Amiga and Atari titles. Along with common platformers you will notice a greater number of simulators and divine games.

Download : Magic DOSBox (free)

8. PPSSPP (PSP)

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) was an incredibly popular portable gaming system when it first came out in 2004. With over 1,370 games released between launch and retirement in 2014, PSP fans have an incredible choice of titles, all in HD.

The PPSSPP emulator will take you back to 2004. Loading ROMs is simple and the app is configurable with a wide selection of settings. HD resolution is supported, saves can be transferred from a physical PSP, and anisotropic filtering and texture scaling settings can be changed.

If you are a PSP fan, this is definitely the emulator to install on your Android.

Download: PPSSPP (free)

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9. GENPlusDroid (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive)

If you enjoyed playing on Sega Genesis (Sega Mega Drive internationally), then the GENPlusDroid emulator is for you. A key player in the so-called console wars of the late 80’s and 90’s between Sega and Nintendo, over 900 games are available.

GENPlusDroid supports physical controllers, has support for rewind, forward and cheat, autosave, custom key mapping and many other features. Ultimately you can enjoy an almost authentic Sega Genesis experience on your Android device with GENPlusDroid.

Download: GENPlusDroid (free)

10. Uae4arm (Friend)

Perhaps the most popular computer system of the 16-bit era, the Amiga was launched in 1985 with the final version, the CD32, produced until 1996. During that time, 4,850,000 Amigas were sold, with over 2000 games released while it was. in production.

Amiga games can be run on current platforms with the help of various UAE-based (or inspired) emulators. Uae4arm is perhaps the best option on Android, capable of running in any configuration of the Amiga line. So, you can emulate an Amiga 500, a 4000T or a CD32. The Amiga game library does not run on the same device; there are three basic system generations, hence the Uae4arm granular configuration tools.

Download : uae4arm (free)

While a generic Amiga Kickstart file is available with most emulators, for full support you should purchase the official version. This is available from Amiga Forever Essentials.

Download : Amiga Forever Essentials (€ 1,99)

11. Mobile C64 (Commodore 64)

The most popular home computer of the 1980s, the Commodore 64 is currently enjoying a resurgence as a retro gaming clone system. If you don’t care about breadbin aesthetics as much as games, you can run them on Android.

Several emulators for the C64 are available on Android, but of these Mobile C64 appears to be the most stable. Including a software keyboard for text entry and support for USB and Bluetooth controllers, the Mobile 64 also comes with some public domain games to get you started.

Download : Mobile 64 (free in-app purchases)

12. Speccy (Sinclair ZX spectrum)

In the UK and Europe, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a popular, albeit modest, home computer system. Incredibly affordable, it has sold over 5 million units, a figure that doesn’t include clones like the Timex Sinclair 2068.

Speccy is an extraordinarily complete emulator. Offers support for all Sinclair ZX Spectrum models and most clones. Speccy also supports game snapshots, file loading to tape (with an authentic tape loading effect), and you can play games using USB and Bluetooth controllers for gaming.

This is just scratching the surface. If you liked Spectrum games, this is the best emulator on Android for you.

Download : Speccy (free) | Without advertising (€ 4,99)

13. Emulate retro games on Android with RetroArch

There are many other emulators available for Android. But if you’re installing more than a couple of emulators, it might be smarter to stick to one solution.

RetroArch installs with 50 emulation cores, giving you an amazing selection of emulation systems. All systems listed here are included in RetroArch, along with PC Engine and Sega Dreamcast. Do you want to emulate classic arcade games? MAME is also included in RetroArch.

Download: RetroArch (free)

Retro games on your Android device

We think these are the best game emulators for Android, but whether you agree or not, you should find them simple to install, set up and play.

Simply copy the ROM files to your Android device, load them into the appropriate emulator and start playing.

Android is a great option for playing classic games, capable of handling most emulated platforms. In fact, you could even use Android to create a retro gaming hub.