Anybody up for a game of Super Mario Brothers on your Android phone?
Modern smartphones are rather impressive devices, aren’t they? Even the lowest-grade droid on the market can outperform the vast majority of pre-2000 computer systems. That includes old-school game consoles, of course.
I’m sure you see where I’m going with this: Given the right apps, a smartphone or tablet could be turned into a full-featured gaming device, complete with all the greatest titles of yesteryear.
Unfortunately, if you’re looking to play games spanning more than a few consoles, things can get a touch complicated. Before long, you might well find yourself juggling eight different apps and a confusing mishmash of games.
Alternatively, you could simply use RetroArch. Designed for Android phones, Retroarch serves as a front-end for a wide array of emulators, and can run anything from Nintendo to Sega to Playstation games.
The following engines are currently supported by Retorarch(via MakeUseOf):
- PlayStation 1, using PCSX ReARMed
- Super Nintendo, using SNES9x Next
- Nintendo Entertainment System, using either CEUmm or NEStopia)
- GameBoy and GameBoy Color, using Gambatte
- GameBoy Advance, using VBA Next
- Arcade games, using Final Burn Alpha
- Neo Geo Pocket Color, using Mednafen NGP
- Virtual Boy, using Mednafen VB
- Sega Genesis or Mega Drive, using Genesis Plus GX
- Sega Master System or Sega Game Gear, using Genesis Plus GX
- Sega CD or Mega CD, using emulator: Genesis Plus GX
- PC Engine or PC Engine CD, using Mednafen PCE Fast
- WonderSwan Color or Crystal, using Mednafen Wonderswan
- Cave Story, using the NX Engine
- Doom 1, Doom 2, Ultimate Doom or Final Doom, using prBoom
Installation
Unlike many of the Android emulators currently on the market, it doesn’t require you to root your system in order to install. It’s actually available for download on the Google Play Store. You can get it here. From there, just install it as you would any other application. Quick, easy, and entirely painless, right?
One disclaimer is worth noting before you start using it, though: You’ll still need to use a touch-screen controller to play all the games you’ve installed. Given how terrible those tend to be for gaming, I’d recommend nabbing some sort of peripheral controller (perhaps the Razer Edge, once it releases?) to make things easier on yourself.
Using the App
Using Retroarch is a fairly painless process. When you open it, you’ll be presented with a list of game engines supported by the system. Tap on your engine of choice, and then browse your device until you’ve found a ROM that’s supported by the engine. I’d recommend keeping all your Roms in one folder to make the process a bit easier on yourself.
Once you’ve selected the ROM that you want to play, you’ll be launched immediately into the game, with touchscreen controls displayed on the sides. An additional button on the right-hand side of the screen (a downward-pointing arrow) will bring up the emulator’s in-game menu. Here, you’ll find the typical save and load state buttons, as well as rewind, slow motion, and fast-forward commands. You can also select a number of alternative overlays, or even disable the overlay altogether.
If you’re tired of dealing with a tangled, chaotic mess of game software, Retroarch is the perfect application for you.
It’s not just available on Android, either: you can find Retroarch for the PC at this website.
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