The reason I am writing this is because:
1.Classic games are way better than the crap Gameloft comes out with
2. Google has begun to remove popular emulators from the market. Whether this be due to open source issues or Game companies complaints I cannot confirm, but in either case the users of these apps lose and may not know where to find the emulator.
3. Numerous Fake emulators are listed when you search the market for "Emulator" . I do not know why the people are doing this but it is over 1,000 now and they are all basically the same thing and do not work. What happens though is it is hard to find the legitimate ones...I almost wonder if this is Google's doing as well.
N64oid: N64 emulator by Yongzh. Works quite good but the dev is still working on compatibility. I am able to play about 80% of my games. NOTE: A powerful phone is recommended For example Goldeneye ran sluggish on my Nexus One but on my Evo 3D it is full speed. For best performance get a phone with 1 gb of ram and a decent processor. Here is a link to download SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Ataroid: Another emulator by Yongzh and it works great has a wonderful interface. There are several other atatri emulators in the market but I recommend Yongzh. SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Gearoid: Works perfect in my tests. There are a few others but I recommend Yongzh: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Game Boy Color: Again works perfect and there are a few other sources if you like but I recommend Yongzh: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace Alternatively Brogila is a great emulator developer who is still on the market you can get his EMU here for the Game Boy Color: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Robert+Broglia
Game Boy Advance: Yongzh also has a great one. Notice you will need a BIOS. Google is your friend. Try not to look dumb and complain about the BIOS missing.: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Snesoid: Wonderful emulator by Yongzh for the SNES: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace. Alternatively Brogila is a great emulator developer who is still on the market you can get his EMU here for the SNES: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Robert+Broglia
NESoid: Again all Yongzh here SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Gensoid: I recommend Yongzh : SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace . Alternatively Brogila is a great emulator developer who is still on the market you can get his EMU here for the Genesis: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Robert+Broglia
Playstation one: I recommend FPSE. FPSE has NUMEROUS features. You can have different settings for each game and almost all games work. The dev keeps constant updates and has an active support forum: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Schtruck+&+LDchen forums: FpseCE Forum - Index page. Keep in mind you WILL need a BIOS file. Also the initial setup may take some time. Additionally PS1 ROMS average about 1/2 a GB but there are numerous software programs which can make them smaller. I recommend you research them (Pocket ISO, ICEDTEA and PS2PSP etc). Alternatively Zodttd has a FREE PS1 emulator that is also quite good and has good compatibility. I recommend having both in case you do come across a problem with a game. Odds are one of the two can get the game to work or get you passed the area that froze. psx4droid updated to 3.0.5 Zodttd is on a bit of a hiatus but if updates do come out you will be notified in the app.
Turbo Graphix Extreme (TG16): This is a great emulator that offers many old arcade games. Robert Brogila is an excellent developer who has kept support up for this product. https://market.android.com/details?id=com.PceEmu his website is also here : Ex Plus Alpha
DOSBOX : There are 3 DosBOX emulators I can recommend. The one I prefer IS : https://market.android.com/details?id=org.hystudio.android.dosbox&feature=search_result Android DosBox
But the following are also quite good:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.locnet.dosbox&feature=search_result (https://sites.google.com/site/andosbox/)
Android Games Development - Home page
With Dosbox you will need to edit the .CFG file that is saved on your phone's SD card in the app data folder. if you want to play more demanding games like Fallout or Doom. I recommend increasing Cycles, changing the core to dynamic/auto and increasing the memory used to 32 or 64 MBs. For more info browse these developers websites. The Dev for Adosbox seems to be the most responsive. Our phones are not strong enough for some Dos Games currently but will be in the future. DosBox emulation can be very rewarding but it is not for the faint of heart. You need to be willing to spend some time researching each game you want to play and possibly changing the control scheme used for each game(Dos was played on a full size keyboard so it can be awfully difficult or almost impossible)
CPS2HD : This is a great Capcom Arcade emulator that is almost 100% perfect game compabaility wise. Games like Marvel vs street fighter work great and are very small compared to their Ps1 counterparts. https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Jrioni. Android CPS2 Emulator
Jararcade: Note on NeoGeo/CPS1/MaME emulators: You may find that your ROMs do not work. That may not mean the emulator cannot run them. There are numerous formats for Arcade roms they are not like SNES or PS1. I recommend checking the developer's site for good sources for Roms or researching the specific rom set used by that arcade emulator. With that Said. I have found Jararcade to be the best for CPS1 Roms. Neo Geo roms work as well but I have had better luck with Tiger Mame with those. https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Jrioni and Jrioni Arcade
TIGER MAME: This is the BEST NEO GEO emulator. Many CPS1 games have sound issues with Tiger MAme but most all Neo Geo games run perfect. IMPORTANT NOTE: As I mentioned earlier rom sets differ between Mame emulators (my neo geo roms often do not work on Jararcade). Download a Neo Geo Bios to make this work with neo geo games .the Download games site he lists in the emulator is not very good. I did find a site that worked well and now have all 6 Metal Slugs working and just about every KOF, Samurai Shodown, and Aero Figthers games running. Install the app at this link ALL Tiger Emulators which will then direct you to all of his other emulators which are also very good but I feel some of the above are better. Once in the app download Tiger MAME. Try Rom world (mame section) for the best source of Neo Geo games. Some Roms have a long startup time and if you press too many buttons it may ask to force close just hit wait. Trust me if you use the source I suggest you will get them to work
APPLE 2 : This is an old Apple 2 computer emulator. This is a little dated even for me but it works pretty good. The only game I play on this is Oregon Trail...that alone is reason enough.
Scummvm: This allows you to play old point and click adventure games like Night of the Tentacle and Sam and Max hit the road. It works very well and the dev has a good update cycle: Android Games Development - Home page
The Below are other emulators that work well but I have not tested myself:
ZX Spectrum: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.seleuco.xpectrum&feature=search_result, xpectrum - hand-held ZX Spectrum Emulator - Google Project Hosting
Commodore 64: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.ab.c64&feature=search_result, Twitter
Amiga: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.ab.uae
EMULATORS UNDER DEVELOPMENT:
NDS: Two sources : Tiger has a good one ALL Tiger Emulators can be found the same place Tiger MAME is found. and https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chaos.nds4droid&feature=search_result
I find that the two NDS emulators are about the same but I trust Tiger more for updates. To give you an idea of how they run I have an EVo 3D which is Dual core and has 1 Gb of RAM. I have Overclocked it so each core is running at 2GHZ instead of 1.2 and the NDS emulator is still only 50%. I am sure this could run on my phone but the devs need to make some modifications...notable Open GL and enable sound.
Dreamcast: This is under development by the author of NullDC. nulldc - A dreamcast emulator, for win86 - Google Project Hosting. For updates get in touch with the dev at [email protected] here is a video of the emulator on an android phone: [video=youtube;I5-kV_TRNyg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5-kV_TRNyg]nullDC Android Alpha- pt2 - Crazy Taxi & Dead or Alive 2‏ - YouTube[/video]. I think with the new phones coming out this year we should be able to play it.
GAME ENGINE PORTS (not emulators but just as cool)
If you want to play some classic games like Baulder's Gate 2 and Icemane Dale, or Heores of Might and Magic 2 and 3 among others check out this devs work https://market.android.com/developer?pub=pelya
start - [GemRB wiki]
VCMI Project - Heroes 3: WoG recreated ::
Quake 2 and 3: These work good and you can even play on normal Quake 3 online servers https://slideme.org/user/andershizzle. It appears this devs apps have fallen victim to Google's policing as well. I will try and get links to Quake 2 for you all. it appears he put Quake 3 up on Slide me though.
Quake 1: The best port I found was done by Zodttd I will see if I can get him to host it. When he does I will follow up with a link.
I also Recommend:
Spectral Souls:This is a port of a PSP game directly to Android. Lets all hope that more game companies follow suit. https://market.android.com/search?q=specteral+souls&so=1&c=apps
Triple triadhttps://market.android.com/details?id=com.viish.apps.tripletriad&feature=search_result
Tips and Tricks:
Some of these games have in game save features that use a memory card file. I highly recommend you use these. Sometimes updates break save states. You have been warned if you only use save states do not complain if they are corrupted. The devs have a hard enough time making these emulators work...trying to factor in updates just to include old save states sometimes delays an update or makes it impossible.
Use your phone's hard ware keys! You will find that it may be very hard to push two buttons at the same time if they are on the same side of the screen. If your phone has a camera, trackball or search button I recommend you map one of the keys that gives you trouble to one of those.
Example:
Resident Evil 2 requires you to hold R1 or R2 and then push X to shoot. I mapped R2 to the tracball on my phone and was able to beat the entire game no problem
Most people look past these emulators because the controls are hard BUT if you take time to get used to them you will find most games are very playable and a lot more fun than Angry birds.
Some games have memory cards. You can download memory card saves from gamefaqs.com and load up the memory card save for your game to skip to a certain point or say unlock all the characters in Tekken 3 etc. This may require conversion to different formats though. PM me if you need help. Also check with the devs on the emulators they are very helpful and can point you in the right direction.
If an emulator gets removed from the market check 3rd party app stores.
For questions or help post here and I am sure many of us can help you. Also check the developer sites and forums.
1.Classic games are way better than the crap Gameloft comes out with
2. Google has begun to remove popular emulators from the market. Whether this be due to open source issues or Game companies complaints I cannot confirm, but in either case the users of these apps lose and may not know where to find the emulator.
3. Numerous Fake emulators are listed when you search the market for "Emulator" . I do not know why the people are doing this but it is over 1,000 now and they are all basically the same thing and do not work. What happens though is it is hard to find the legitimate ones...I almost wonder if this is Google's doing as well.
N64oid: N64 emulator by Yongzh. Works quite good but the dev is still working on compatibility. I am able to play about 80% of my games. NOTE: A powerful phone is recommended For example Goldeneye ran sluggish on my Nexus One but on my Evo 3D it is full speed. For best performance get a phone with 1 gb of ram and a decent processor. Here is a link to download SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Ataroid: Another emulator by Yongzh and it works great has a wonderful interface. There are several other atatri emulators in the market but I recommend Yongzh. SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Gearoid: Works perfect in my tests. There are a few others but I recommend Yongzh: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Game Boy Color: Again works perfect and there are a few other sources if you like but I recommend Yongzh: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace Alternatively Brogila is a great emulator developer who is still on the market you can get his EMU here for the Game Boy Color: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Robert+Broglia
Game Boy Advance: Yongzh also has a great one. Notice you will need a BIOS. Google is your friend. Try not to look dumb and complain about the BIOS missing.: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Snesoid: Wonderful emulator by Yongzh for the SNES: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace. Alternatively Brogila is a great emulator developer who is still on the market you can get his EMU here for the SNES: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Robert+Broglia
NESoid: Again all Yongzh here SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Gensoid: I recommend Yongzh : SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace . Alternatively Brogila is a great emulator developer who is still on the market you can get his EMU here for the Genesis: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Robert+Broglia
Playstation one: I recommend FPSE. FPSE has NUMEROUS features. You can have different settings for each game and almost all games work. The dev keeps constant updates and has an active support forum: https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Schtruck+&+LDchen forums: FpseCE Forum - Index page. Keep in mind you WILL need a BIOS file. Also the initial setup may take some time. Additionally PS1 ROMS average about 1/2 a GB but there are numerous software programs which can make them smaller. I recommend you research them (Pocket ISO, ICEDTEA and PS2PSP etc). Alternatively Zodttd has a FREE PS1 emulator that is also quite good and has good compatibility. I recommend having both in case you do come across a problem with a game. Odds are one of the two can get the game to work or get you passed the area that froze. psx4droid updated to 3.0.5 Zodttd is on a bit of a hiatus but if updates do come out you will be notified in the app.
Turbo Graphix Extreme (TG16): This is a great emulator that offers many old arcade games. Robert Brogila is an excellent developer who has kept support up for this product. https://market.android.com/details?id=com.PceEmu his website is also here : Ex Plus Alpha
DOSBOX : There are 3 DosBOX emulators I can recommend. The one I prefer IS : https://market.android.com/details?id=org.hystudio.android.dosbox&feature=search_result Android DosBox
But the following are also quite good:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.locnet.dosbox&feature=search_result (https://sites.google.com/site/andosbox/)
Android Games Development - Home page
With Dosbox you will need to edit the .CFG file that is saved on your phone's SD card in the app data folder. if you want to play more demanding games like Fallout or Doom. I recommend increasing Cycles, changing the core to dynamic/auto and increasing the memory used to 32 or 64 MBs. For more info browse these developers websites. The Dev for Adosbox seems to be the most responsive. Our phones are not strong enough for some Dos Games currently but will be in the future. DosBox emulation can be very rewarding but it is not for the faint of heart. You need to be willing to spend some time researching each game you want to play and possibly changing the control scheme used for each game(Dos was played on a full size keyboard so it can be awfully difficult or almost impossible)
CPS2HD : This is a great Capcom Arcade emulator that is almost 100% perfect game compabaility wise. Games like Marvel vs street fighter work great and are very small compared to their Ps1 counterparts. https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Jrioni. Android CPS2 Emulator
Jararcade: Note on NeoGeo/CPS1/MaME emulators: You may find that your ROMs do not work. That may not mean the emulator cannot run them. There are numerous formats for Arcade roms they are not like SNES or PS1. I recommend checking the developer's site for good sources for Roms or researching the specific rom set used by that arcade emulator. With that Said. I have found Jararcade to be the best for CPS1 Roms. Neo Geo roms work as well but I have had better luck with Tiger Mame with those. https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Jrioni and Jrioni Arcade
TIGER MAME: This is the BEST NEO GEO emulator. Many CPS1 games have sound issues with Tiger MAme but most all Neo Geo games run perfect. IMPORTANT NOTE: As I mentioned earlier rom sets differ between Mame emulators (my neo geo roms often do not work on Jararcade). Download a Neo Geo Bios to make this work with neo geo games .the Download games site he lists in the emulator is not very good. I did find a site that worked well and now have all 6 Metal Slugs working and just about every KOF, Samurai Shodown, and Aero Figthers games running. Install the app at this link ALL Tiger Emulators which will then direct you to all of his other emulators which are also very good but I feel some of the above are better. Once in the app download Tiger MAME. Try Rom world (mame section) for the best source of Neo Geo games. Some Roms have a long startup time and if you press too many buttons it may ask to force close just hit wait. Trust me if you use the source I suggest you will get them to work
APPLE 2 : This is an old Apple 2 computer emulator. This is a little dated even for me but it works pretty good. The only game I play on this is Oregon Trail...that alone is reason enough.
Scummvm: This allows you to play old point and click adventure games like Night of the Tentacle and Sam and Max hit the road. It works very well and the dev has a good update cycle: Android Games Development - Home page
The Below are other emulators that work well but I have not tested myself:
ZX Spectrum: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.seleuco.xpectrum&feature=search_result, xpectrum - hand-held ZX Spectrum Emulator - Google Project Hosting
Commodore 64: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.ab.c64&feature=search_result, Twitter
Amiga: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.ab.uae
EMULATORS UNDER DEVELOPMENT:
NDS: Two sources : Tiger has a good one ALL Tiger Emulators can be found the same place Tiger MAME is found. and https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chaos.nds4droid&feature=search_result
I find that the two NDS emulators are about the same but I trust Tiger more for updates. To give you an idea of how they run I have an EVo 3D which is Dual core and has 1 Gb of RAM. I have Overclocked it so each core is running at 2GHZ instead of 1.2 and the NDS emulator is still only 50%. I am sure this could run on my phone but the devs need to make some modifications...notable Open GL and enable sound.
Dreamcast: This is under development by the author of NullDC. nulldc - A dreamcast emulator, for win86 - Google Project Hosting. For updates get in touch with the dev at [email protected] here is a video of the emulator on an android phone: [video=youtube;I5-kV_TRNyg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5-kV_TRNyg]nullDC Android Alpha- pt2 - Crazy Taxi & Dead or Alive 2‏ - YouTube[/video]. I think with the new phones coming out this year we should be able to play it.
GAME ENGINE PORTS (not emulators but just as cool)
If you want to play some classic games like Baulder's Gate 2 and Icemane Dale, or Heores of Might and Magic 2 and 3 among others check out this devs work https://market.android.com/developer?pub=pelya
start - [GemRB wiki]
VCMI Project - Heroes 3: WoG recreated ::
Quake 2 and 3: These work good and you can even play on normal Quake 3 online servers https://slideme.org/user/andershizzle. It appears this devs apps have fallen victim to Google's policing as well. I will try and get links to Quake 2 for you all. it appears he put Quake 3 up on Slide me though.
Quake 1: The best port I found was done by Zodttd I will see if I can get him to host it. When he does I will follow up with a link.
I also Recommend:
Spectral Souls:This is a port of a PSP game directly to Android. Lets all hope that more game companies follow suit. https://market.android.com/search?q=specteral+souls&so=1&c=apps
Triple triadhttps://market.android.com/details?id=com.viish.apps.tripletriad&feature=search_result
Tips and Tricks:
Some of these games have in game save features that use a memory card file. I highly recommend you use these. Sometimes updates break save states. You have been warned if you only use save states do not complain if they are corrupted. The devs have a hard enough time making these emulators work...trying to factor in updates just to include old save states sometimes delays an update or makes it impossible.
Use your phone's hard ware keys! You will find that it may be very hard to push two buttons at the same time if they are on the same side of the screen. If your phone has a camera, trackball or search button I recommend you map one of the keys that gives you trouble to one of those.
Example:
Resident Evil 2 requires you to hold R1 or R2 and then push X to shoot. I mapped R2 to the tracball on my phone and was able to beat the entire game no problem
Most people look past these emulators because the controls are hard BUT if you take time to get used to them you will find most games are very playable and a lot more fun than Angry birds.
Some games have memory cards. You can download memory card saves from gamefaqs.com and load up the memory card save for your game to skip to a certain point or say unlock all the characters in Tekken 3 etc. This may require conversion to different formats though. PM me if you need help. Also check with the devs on the emulators they are very helpful and can point you in the right direction.
If an emulator gets removed from the market check 3rd party app stores.
For questions or help post here and I am sure many of us can help you. Also check the developer sites and forums.
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