In the era of AAA titles, old-school games are still loved by both casual and pro gamers. This is because it reminds us of our good childhood days. Although old consoles are now hard to find, users can still enjoy retro games on their Smartphones. And playing retro games is now also possible on iPhone and iPad using emulators that are available on the App Store. You don’t have to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad anymore to enjoy games in Emulator.
Yes, old game emulators are now available in the App Store which makes it quite easy to play retro games on iPhone and iPad. This is a big achievement because Emulator apps were banned in the App Store. Apple started accepting Emulator apps in the App Store just recently.
There is a different feeling of playing retro games, they help keep the player’s mind cool and relaxing. If you own an iPhone or iPad and want to enjoy your free time, you can follow this guide to get old retro games. Let’s now jump into the guide.
How to Install and Play Retro Games on iPhone
In this guide, we will be using Delta Emulator. It is a popular emulator that was available outside the App Store and is now available officially in the App Store for free. This means no more Jailbreaking to try Retro Games. The Delta emulator supports a bunch of game systems. Here are the supported game systems:
- Nintendo Entertainment System
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System
- Nintendo 64
- Game Boy (Color)
- Game Boy Advance
- Nintendo DS
Install Emulator on your iPhone/iPad
- Open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.
- Search for Delta – Game Emulator and open it from the results (app from Testut Tech). If you don’t find it, you can open it from this link.
- Install the Delta Emulator by tapping on the Get button.
- Once you have the emulator installed on your device, open it.
Download Game ROMs
To enjoy your favorite retro games through an emulator, you will need their ROM. These ROMs are quite small as low as a few MB. You can download these ROMs for free. Here’s how to download Retro Game ROMs.
- Open a browser of your choice on your iPhone/iPad.
- Search for Retro Game ROMs.
- Now open a secure site from results.
- Here you can choose from various game systems like GBA, Nintendo 64, and others.
- Then choose your favorite game and download its ROM.
- Open Files, and create a separate folder for game ROMs, and move the downloaded ROM to the folder.
Play Retro Games on iPhone using Delta
- Open the Delta Emulator app on your phone.
- Tap on the + icon at the top right corner.
- Now tap Files, and choose the ROM you downloaded.
- Wait for a few seconds, and your game will be added to the Delta app’s homepage.
- Tap on the game, and you can enjoy the retro game in the emulator.
If any of the games you imported missing artwork, you can easily add artwork by long tapping the game icon and selecting the artwork option. Follow the on-screen instructions and you will be able to add artwork to your game.
How to change Controller Skin
When you launch a game in the Emulator, it will also open a controller with the required buttons. You can use these buttons to control the game. By default, controller skins are quite basic, but you can import cool skins. Here is the process:
- First, you need to download the Controller skin. To do this you can search for Delta Controller skin, and download your favorite skin.
- If you don’t find a good site, you can open the Delta4skin site and download the skin of your choice.
- Remember the location of the downloaded skin, or you can also move it to the ROM folder you created earlier.
- Now open the Delta emulator app, and tap on the Settings icon to open app settings.
- Under Controller Skins, select the game system for which you downloaded the Skin. Here I am selecting Game Boy Advance.
- Next, choose between Portrait and Landscape (choose based on your download).
- Tap on the + icon at the top right corner, and select the file you downloaded.
- Once you see the new skin, tap it. You can now play retro games with the new skin.
How to Save Game Data in Emulator
You can also save your game data in the Delta Emulator. With Saved data, you can begin your game from the point you saved the game. It’s like a checkpoint.
- Open Delta Emulator and launch a game.
- While in the game, tap the Menu button.
- Now tap on the Save State followed by the + icon at the corner.
- You will see a new entry that means the game is saved.
To load a saved game, you can follow the same process. But this time choose Load State options and choose your saved game.
So this is all about how to play retro games on iPhone/iPad for free. Earlier users had to jailbreak their iPhone to enjoy old games, but its no longer the case as Apple officially lifted the ban and allowed emulators in App Store. If you have any queries, you can ask in the comment section.
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