Going Retro: Best Emulators for Android

Oh Snap! Those old school games from the past were just so pleasing and addictive. One would certainly pass his whole lot of day playing these crazy games, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.  If you do own an Android device, you can revive those joyful moments of the old school retro gaming. There are these powerful programs called emulators which would allow you to virtually run different consoles and systems on your own system. Earlier, these programs were limited only to high end computers. But the versatility of Android is just incredible, for having support for such programs is quite astonishing, isn't it? All you need to do is to dump a ROM file of your game and open those ROMs in theses emulators. Below is a list of emulation apps which you can install on your Android device to relive those gaming days of past. Please do note that this list sorts out the best emulator among all others for any specific console.

1. Nintendo Entertainment System

My pick for the NES emulator is JohnNES. It is pretty much straightforward. As soon as you install and open the app, it'll search for the ROMs in your SD card. It will list out the games and you can start playing NES games on your Android phone. The controls are transparent and quite intuitive, making it easier to play the games. The best part of JohnNES is it's ability to support dual players using the Netplay function. It'll ensure that you have a great time playing Contra with with your friends.

2. Super Nintendo Entertainment System 

For emulating SNES on your android device, I'd recommend Snes9x EX+. It accurately emulates the SNES on Android and has a very high compatibility rate. It supports upto 10 save state slots for a particular game. The supported games format are .smc, .sfc, .fig, .1 and obviously the .zip compression format. You can change the layout of the controller as per your requirement. It is capable of supporting multiplayer gaming, enabling you to enjoy the game with your friends. One of the best part about this emulator is that it is totally free (even no ads). And it's open source too.

3. Nintendo 64

MegaN64 is by far the most popular N64 emulator available on Google Play. The emulator is based on the open source MupenN64 AE+ project, but has some good performance tweaks and impressive support for some exclusive devices. Like most other N64 emulators, it has some compatibility issues, so it may happen that it'll not play some games successfully. There are some minor graphical glitches that may bother you while playing games, but that won't be such a big issue. After all, it is one the highest rated emulators on the Google Play.

4. Nintendo GBC

If you want to play GBC games on your device, then look no further than John GBC. It's one of the most highly rated GBC emulator on the Google Play. It has a very high compatibility rate, meaning it'll able to run almost all the commercial games available for GBC. It is rock stable, accurate and performance is just phenomenal. It includes some really great features like customisable controller layout, fast forwarding and slow motion emulation, ability to transfer saved games over Dropbox, turbo buttons support and Bluetooth controller support.

5. Nintendo GBA

My Boy! GBA emulator is the perfect app for GBA emulation on Android. It has almost every feature that you'll have on a real GBA. It has a high compatibility, running 95% of the GBA titles without any problems. It comes with configurable controller mapping, Dropbox saving, gameshark cheats functionality,supporr for external controllers, OpenGL rendering and support for video shaders. It has a high level of BIOS emulation and you are freed from the unnecessary BIOS file. It has a very intuitive and easy to use interface.

6. Nintendo DS

To play DS games on your Android device, my top pick will be Drastic DS emulator. It is the only fully working DS emulator available on Google Play. It can emulate DS platform quite accurately and the performance is par above other broken DS emulators available on Play Store. It is loaded with a bunch of useful and exiting features like cheat support, video scaling, intensive controller mapping, portrait and landscape mode, Google drive save support and fast forwarding emulation. What it is really missing is the support for Wi-Fi multiplayer mode. But that doesn't matter much, does it?

7. Sony PlayStation 

FPse is the emulator of choice when it comes to PlayStation emulation. It supports a large number of PlayStation titles and easily outperforms other emulators available for this console. One can even expect to play some multiplayer games with this. You need to have a BIOS file of your original PlayStation console in order to run it. Where it really lacks is it's not so user friendly interface. You need to spend time learning it's interface and appropriate configuration for your device. Once you are done with that, you won't regret for purchasing this app.

8. Sony PSP 

Of all the PSP emulators available on Google Play, PPSSPP seems to be good choice for emulating this handheld device. The interface is user friendly and you won't have trouble finding what goes where. Performance wise, you can expect it to run games quite accurately except some very minor graphical glitches. Compatibility for commercial games is also good. A free version is also available with some limited functionality. Having so many touch controls for PSP buttons can become a hindrance while playing games, so it provides a good support for external controllers.

Did I missed a good emulator to be mentioned on the list? Or have any suggestions for a more better option? Then do tell me your opinions through the comments section below.