You have ONE iPhone and looking to play classic video games? I have good news for you.
This year Apple has started enable emulator on the App Store. Emulators are software applications that simulate older game consoles like Nintendo and Sega. They can load game files, called ROMs, that are ripped from the original cartridges or discs.
The ease of availability of emulators means you no longer need to jailbreak your iPhone to load ROMs and play classic games. It also means you don’t have to mess around with a Raspberry Pi or buy dedicated classic game console to play classic games on your phone or even TV.
I should mention that downloading ROMs for games you don’t own is illegal, so I won’t explain where you can download ROMs. However, assuming you have access to a ROM collection, here’s how you can turn any iPhone or iPad—including that old one you have stashed in a drawer—into a retro gaming console.
Emulator Setup
The first thing you’ll want to do is set up an emulator or emulators. The simplest option, and the one I recommend, is Delta Emulator. This is an extremely complete application that supports titles from the NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and even the Sega Genesis. Even better, it’s free to download and incredibly easy to use, as we wrote in April.
If you want compatibility with more systems, including Playstation, Atari and even MS DOS, you should check out Retro Architecture. It takes more work to set up—you need to download cores for every system you want to emulate, and there’s no limit to the settings you can tweak—but you’ll be rewarded with the ability to play more games and make them look exactly the way you want.
Connect the controller
You can play classic games with a touchscreen, of sorts; the two emulators above will even display an on-screen controller that mimics the original hardware. The problem is that most games are nearly impossible to play without touch buttons, which is why you’ll want to pair a controller with your device.
There are a few options here. You can Buy a specially designed mobile game controllerif you want—some are even designed to hold your phone in place to give you a similar form factor to the Nintendo Switch. Or, if you don’t want to spend the money, you can use the controller you already have. We have articles that explain How to Connect a PlayStation or Xbox Controller to Your iPhonealong with another guide for Pair Switch Joy-cons with your iPhone; Apple provides more general official documentation. The Basics: Open Setting application, towards Bluetooththen press and hold Connect on your controller. You should see your controller as an option to connect in your iPhone’s list of available devices. Tap it and you’re done.
I did this with my Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, and it worked perfectly. Loading up a few games in Delta, I found the controller worked exactly the way I expected. I can also configure button mappings in the settings if anything seems off. It’s also worth noting that you can connect multiple controllers at once, which is great if you want to play multiplayer games, and they don’t have to be the same type—you can mix and match controllers if you want.
Stream to your TV
Now I can load up classic games and play them with a real controller, but there’s one thing missing: a nice big screen. Sure, an iPhone or iPad screen works, but these old games were designed to be played on a TV.
You have a few options here. Delta supports and works pretty well with Apple’s AirPlay, assuming you have an Apple TV streaming box or an AirPlay-enabled TV. I tested this with a Sony TV and found the latency made everything unplayable—good for an RPG, sure, but terrible for a Mario game. The Verge tested it and noticed no lag.But it’s worth noting that they’re using an actual Apple TV. Your experience will vary—I recommend giving it a try.
If you don’t like the results, you might consider buying an HDMI dongle for your iPhone. These allow you to connect your phone directly to your TV, meaning you can play games on the big screen with less lag. Apple sells official cablesBut you can also just find a Lightning to HDMI adapter if you’re using an older iPhone, or a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter if you have a newer model. Note that better adapters, including Apple’s official ones, offer pass-through charging; this will let you charge your phone while still connected to your TV, which will be important if you’re planning on playing for longer periods of time.
Either way, you can now play any classic game with ROM right on your phone, complete with real controllers and the ability to play on your TV, just like the old days.
