Best way to play your favorite handheld games today

By Monolith | Crazytorials | 30 Aug 2024

Remember those days spent playing your favorite retro games? Think it's time to relive those magical moments and all we need is our smartphone.

There're many emulators available, for PCs and mobile devices, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, but one of the most comfortable, comprehensive, and stable is Lemuroid. (RetroArch ain't bad either).

Fantastic choice for emulating a wide range of handheld games, easy to use with an intuitive interface: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swordfish.lemuroid

Lemuroid offers a wide range of supported systems (more than 20) covering classic consoles from the 8-bit era to modern days. You can enjoy the NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance, as well as more powerful systems like the Sega Genesis, N64, and PlayStation. It also supports popular handhelds like the Game Boy Color, Game Gear, and PSP, along with more niche systems like the Neo Geo Pocket and WonderSwan.

If you have a powerful device, you might want to emulate also GameCube and Wii games. For this, Dolphin emulator is highly recommended. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dolphinemu.dolphinemu

Keeping all your classic favorites with you is easy! Simply download the ROMs to your phone or SD card and place them in a folder. You can organize them within the folder however you like, even creating subfolders, as Lemuroid will read the entire directory you specify in Settings > ROMs.

Ok now you're probably wondering where to get all those amazing titles you want to play without spending a dime. There are several websites where you can download ROMs for free, but for it's great collection and download simplicity, I recommend www.romsgames.net.

Remember, if you're bothered by ads while searching or trying to download games from any websites, you can install a browser with a strong ad blocker like Brave, or Opera Mini.

There are certain franchises and titles you won't want to miss if you couldn't get them back in the day, and this is definitely your chance.

In other posts I'll talk about some specific games (hidden gems that are worth revisiting), but you should definitely start with classics like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Metroid Fusion on Game Boy Advance, or dive into the Pokémon world with Fire Red/Leaf Green/Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. On Nintendo DS, New Super Mario Bros. and Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum are must-plays, also The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass offers a memorable experience. For N64, Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 are legendary, alongside GoldenEye 007 and Mario Kart 64. On PSP, God of War: Chains of Olympus and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops are action-packed, while Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Patapon offer different flavors. And don't forget the SNES classics like Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Super Metroid, or the NES gems like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Mega Man 2.