Video game emulators have been around since the 1990s, offering a useful way of preserving some entertainment classics that would otherwise get left in the dust as hardware continues its rapid ascent. As Life Wire writes here, PCs and the internet made emulators possible and helped keep hits from Atari and Nintendo systems alive. Still, many wonder if they have to download software to make use of the best emulators. Here, we’ll explore that.
Expansive Gaming is Available on Browsers
While we’re beyond the pinnacle of browser-based Flash games, gaming is still very much available through your Chrome, Safari, or any other browser. As you’d assume, since the 1990s, browser infrastructure and functionality have advanced tremendously, so you’d think that much larger and more comprehensive gaming experiences would be available.
This is certainly the case in some corners of gaming. When it comes to one of the most popular forms of online games that boomed in the 1990s, that of poker, there are now several large free-to-play online poker platforms. The range of Global Poker sister sites shows that there are several options for anyone who wants to play different variants of poker online against others, with the best running just as well on browsers as they do when downloaded.
It requires a lot to keep these online poker sites running smoothly, which is why it tends to just be large companies that run them. Game emulation is more niche and, in some ways, just as or even more demanding as a product to deliver via a browser. This hasn’t stopped some sites from getting a sizable offering off of the ground. Emu Browser is the prime example of this, but perhaps the one criticism of the experience is the slow load times.
Downloading Emulators for a Better Experience
Having free online browser-based emulators is a good way to make retro games more accessible and readily available for anyone who wants to experience them. However, due to the demand for even the oldest games, the experience tends to be better through a downloaded game emulator. One of the best overall for many, due to its selection of games from many different past consoles, is Retro Arch.
It’s very much an all-inclusive platform and best of all, you can control the library you get. The Stable download is the Retro Arch Stable version that offers the established selection. The Nightly Arch Stable download lets the software update with new additions to the library. For more niche games from your favorite past platform, though, it’s usually better to download a more specific emulator.
Game Boy Advance has long been a popular target for emulator seekers. For this, MyBoy! Lite and the full Premium version of $4.99 are excellent choices, as is John GBAC if you want the range from Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA. There’s also a very good emulator for one of the best and most novel libraries of games ever with the PPSSPP emulator for Sony’s classic handheld console.
You’ve also got DuckStation for playing the beloved collection of original PlayStation games, Snes9X EX+ to play SNES games, and Dolphin Emulator to get back into GameCube and some Wii games. Something that should be noted, though, is that studios have been keen to remaster the best of the past, as was covered as far back as 2018 by an article from The Michigan Daily. Still, most emulators are free or very cheap with loads of retro hits included.
Overall, for the best retro game emulator experience, you’ll be looking at downloading some software. If this isn’t an option, though, there are still ways to enjoy the classics of yesteryear through your internet browser.
