Two new gaming emulators are now available in the App Store. The popular emulator frontend RetroArch allows gamers to play their favorite retro games on their iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, or Apple TV. Meanwhile, the PPSSPP emulator allows Sony PSP fans to play their favorite games on their iPhone or iPad.
RetroArch
RetroArch is a popular multi-platform emulator that is available on most popular device platforms, including the Mac. The app allows gamers to play their favorite retro games on their Apple devices. The popular emulator is available for iPhones or iPod touch devices running iOS 14.2 or later, iPads running iPadOS 14.2 or later, Apple TVs running tvOS 11 or later, and Apple Vision Pro headsets running visionOS 1.0 or later.
Retro gamers will be able to play games originally on Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Commodore, Sinclair, and other classic video game and computer platforms. Gamers will have to supply their own legally owned ROM archives. Only the game “2048” is included as the emulator download.
RetroArch allows users to emulate a long list of classic gaming consoles and computers through its built-in libretro cores.
RetroArch can emulate the following retro consoles and home computers:
- Amstrad CPC
- Atari 2600
- Atari 5200
- Atari 7800
- Atari Lynx
- Bandai WonderSwan
- Commodore Amiga
- Commodore 64
- Commodore 128
- Commodore CBM-II
- Commodore PET
- Commodore Plus
- Commodore VIC-20
- ColecoVision
- GCE Vectrex
- Fairchild Channel F
- Mattel Intellivision
- Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom (NES)
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
- Nintendo Virtual Boy
- Nintendo Game Boy Color
- Nintendo Game Boy Advance
- Nintendo DS
- SNK Neo Geo
- SNK Neo Geo CD
- SNK Neo Geo Pocket
- Sega Master System
- Sega Game Gear
- Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
- Sega CD
- Sega Saturn
- Sharp X68000
- Sony PlayStation 1
- Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)
- Sinclair ZX Spectrum
- Texas Instruments TI-83
- Thomson MO/TO
- Watara Supervision
The open-source application is ad-free and is available free of charge in the App Store. The emulator offers support for AI translations, shaders, Made For iPhone (MFi) controllers, and more.
The developer says no data is collected or tracked by the app.
PPSSPP – PSP Emulator
The PPSSPP – PSP Emulator is now available for the Apple Vision Pro, iPhone, or iPad platforms. PPSSPP is the original and only PSP emulator for mobile devices.
No games are included with the emulator, so you’ll need to source your own legally owned games. Users can take their games and convert them to .ISO or .CSO files (the PPSSPP homepage has a section that will walk you through the instructions on how to do it), or they can play free homebrew games, available via the emulator’s built-in “Homebrew Store”.
The PPSSPP – PSP Emulator is available free in the App Store and is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch devices running iOS 12 or later, iPads running iPadOS 12 or later, and Apple Vision Pro headsets running visionOS 1.0 or later.
