Emulators

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Old games can be brought back to life on today’s gaming devices by using an emulator that mimics the functions of the target device. It is almost impossible to achieve the original compatibility that the game would have had with the original device, but most of the games function fairly well on the emulator. The factors contributing to the compatibility include the device that’s being emulated, the setup of the machine being used, and the version of the emulator.

Computers

Amiga

Superfrog on Amiga emulator

Amiga Forever

Amiga Forever is an affordable package that includes Kickstart-ROM files for emulating Amiga, and Workbench desktop software from version 0.7 to version 3.x. Ready-to-use Workbench 3.x includes pre-installed programs like AWeb, Personal Paint 7.1c and Magic User Interface. On top of that, the package contains many games and demos, Amiga Explorer for file transfers between Amiga and Windows, and much more.

Amiga games can be legally downloaded from many sites, including Amiga Future and Amigaland. Games developed by Team17 such as Alien Breed, Superfrog, and Worms can be found on Dream17 website. Katakis, R-Type and BC Kid can all be downloaded from Factor 5’s website.

Commodore

VICE

  • Main article: VICE

VICE (Versatile Commodore Emulator) is one of the best emulators for emulating Commodore’s 8-bit computers: C64, C64DTV, C128, VIC-20, all PET-models (excluding SuperPET 9000), Plus/4 and CBM-II. Emulators come in one package and work as separate programs, but they have the same user interface, same settings and support for the same file formats. The Windows version of the emulator is known by the name WinVICE.

DOS ja Windows

DOSBox

You can play many of the old MS-DOS games on DOSBox that don’t work well or at all on newer PC’s and operating systems. The Intel x86 PC that the program emulates includes MS-DOS compatible environment where you can use many different display modes and sound cards. The emulator is used from a DOS-type command line. It doesn’t have all the features that you’d find on MS-DOS but it does support most commands needed for the installation and launching of games. You can even install Windows 3.11 with this emulator.

ResidualVM

ResidualVM was originally planned to be used for 3D adventure games that used LucasArts GrimE game engine. The program’s stable version currently supports Grim Fandango, as well as partly Presto Studios’ Myst III: Exile, which uses Sprint game engine. They are developing support for Escape from Monkey Island and other games.

ScummVM

Full Throttle on ScummVM

ScummVM enables the gaming of many classic adventure games in environments that the games were originally not developed for. The program replaces the executable that comes with the game, and you only need other data files from the original game. Thanks to the newly written game engine, the game needs less power from the computer than if played with an emulator. Also, the game’s menu options can be better or there might be other options that have been added to the game.

Game Consoles

GameCube ja Wii

Dolphin is a program for emulation of GameCube, Wii and Triforce. Many games work very well with it on a powerful machine, or they’ll only have very small errors. There are also a lot of games that don’t work with it yet. They are actively developing the emulator and the game compatibility is constantly getting better.

Nintendo 64

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on 1964 emulator

1964 ja Project64

1964 and Project64 are the oldest and most popular emulators for playing Nintendo 64 games.

N64oid

N64oid is a N64 emulator for Android. The list of compatible games can be found on the official forum.

PlayStation

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped on ePSXe emulator

ePSXe

Many think that the ePSXe is the best PlayStation emulator for Windows and Linux. If your computer is powerful enough, you can play many games straight from the disk or as disk image from a hard drive, with the latter being a method with a smoother result. For more information on this emulator, you can visit their website or NGemu forum.

FPse

FPse is a paid PlayStation emulator for Android. Game compatibility information can be found on the official forum.

pSX

pSX is a popular emulator for playing PlayStation games on Windows and Linux. More information on the emulator can be found on the official forum. A site maintained by Smegforbrain lists compatible games.

Xbox Emulators

There are multiple emulators available on the Xbox that work on a modified device. You can make gaming easier on for example the DOSXBox by attaching a keyboard and a mouse; alternatively you can use a virtual keyboard and joystick. More information on compatible games for these emulators can be found on Xbox Scene forum.

Other Emulators

A mixed collection of compatibility lists for other emulators. Here we have listed emulators that work at least on Windows.

For more information on game compatibility can be found on the emulators’ homepages, forums, and by searching on Google. Emulators have been listed on Wikipedia: List of computer system emulators and List of video game console emulators.


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