The gaming industry has boomed in the last couple of decades. Games of every type, casual and competitive, exist on several platforms and players can access them through various media. Most of these games are released on certain platforms of the developers’ choosing and not on all of them due to several reasons, though.
Games like the God of War and Persona series are PlayStation exclusives while the Forza Horizon and Halo series have always been Xbox exclusives. This is in addition to Nintendo having its own exclusive library and its own universe in which most of these series interact with each other.
In modern times, there have been some crossovers between the platforms with games such as Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn being released on PC, but the best ones are usually limited to their own platforms. As such, if you own the game and want to play it on your PC, there is a way to do so.
10 best PC emulators in 2023
There are certain applications developed by independent creators called emulators. These apps help you run games from other platforms on your PC, assuming your system meets the minimum requirements to run those games smoothly.
Emulators simulate a virtual environment for the game, which means your system will need to have more resources than what the game would usually demand on its native platform. While some games simply do not allow emulation, most of them still do, so your choices are pretty vast.
As such, we have compiled a list of the 10 best emulators you can run on your PC. For modern systems, most of these emulators should run smoothly enough. If you are a fan of classic games and your older consoles do not work anymore, the emulators for these platforms should work almost flawlessly.
10) Retroarch
For fans of old-school games, there is no better emulator to use than Retroarch. This emulator covers several older consoles in one app such as the Nintendo Wii, Gamecube, NES, SNES, among several others. The interface is very user-friendly and is similar to the PlayStation 3’s UI, giving off a nostalgic yet modern feel to it.
Each device in this mega-emulator runs on various cores that can be installed depending on the games you want to play. Retroarch provides a comprehensive tutorial on their app that will lead you through the installation process efficiently. Once you have the console of your choosing that you want to be emulated, simply run the games on it.
9) ePSXe
An original PlayStation emulator that can seamlessly play all the games on the platform. If PS1 nostalgia is your thing, ePSXe is easy to use, runs flawlessly, and rarely crashes, if ever. When it comes to the rich library of the PS1, few games match the quality of the original Metal Gear and Resident Evil series. Final Fantasy made its resurgence on the PlayStation as well.
For fans of arcade fighters, the Tekken and Mortal Kombat series were some of the best-selling games of this era. Vehicular combat from the Twisted Metal series pioneered some of the modern games we see today. Getting the ePSXe will ensure you step into a treasure trove of classic games that defined the industry for decades to come.
8) PCSX2
Going to the next era of emulation, PCSX2 is arguably the best PlayStation 2 emulator that exists today. The PS2 had the largest library of games and the selection of games from every genre is unmatched compared to any other era in gaming. Quite frankly, there are too many great games in this era that naming only a few would not do them justice.
We can still try, though. The beginning of the God of War series happens here with God of War and God of War 2. Shadow of the Colossus is an exceptional game that still holds today despite the mechanics being somewhat dated. A more modern example would be the remake of Resident Evil 4, with the original game being a bestseller on the PS2.
Rockstar Games’ most popular titles from that era, Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas work smoothly on this emulator. If you don’t feel like going back to the clunky remastered editions that Rockstar has put out recently, the originals still hold up today. These are just a few of the choices that await you on the PCSX2.
7) RPCS3
The PlayStation 3 had a shorter lifespan than its predecessor with a fraction of its library to boot. The console gave us several instant classics, however, such as the God of War and Persona series, just to name a few. The RPCS3 brings all of those games to life with access to optional high-resolution texture packs if you’re looking to upscale these older games with a more modern look.
FromSoftware’s classic titles such as Demon’s Souls and the original Dark Souls run flawlessly on the RPCS3. The original Persona 5 is another classic example of a modern game that runs great on the emulator. And finally, God of War 3 and God of War: Ascension bring a fitting end to Kratos’ Greek saga before he undertakes the harrowing trials of the Nordic lands that came later.
6) PPSSPP
We finally come to the humble PlayStation Portable. The first handheld PlayStation console had some memorable games on it as it struggled to find its identity between the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 eras of gaming. The emulator itself, PPSSPP, runs smoothly on any modern system with little trouble since it is not as resource-intensive as a couple of the previous entries on this list.
The God of War games that did not make it to the mainline consoles, God of War: Ghost of Sparta and God of War: Chains of Olympus were released on the PSP. Classics such as Persona 3: Portable and Monster Hunter Freedom were highly popular in the early 2000s and they still hold up today, especially with the PC’s modern graphical capabilities.
5) Visual Boy Advance
Switching gears, we go back to the late 1990s and early 2000s era of Nintendo with the Game Boy Advance. Having some of the most popular games of its time such as the Fire Emblem series and the early generations of Pokémon from Pokémon Red to Pokémon Fire Red, the Visual Boy Advance brings all of them back to your screen, this time on the PC and better than ever.
Pokémon spinoff games such as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team were made popular on this platform as well. Beloved games such as Metroid: Zero Mission and the Super Mario Advance series perform great on this emulator.
The Visual Boy Advance has access to backward capabilities as well, allowing you to play games from the Game Boy Color and the original Game Boy. This opens up several possibilities, allowing you to play games you have played in the past or catch up on old classics that you might have missed.
4) DeSmuME
The next generation of Nintendo included their Nintendo DS handheld console. The lifespan of this console covered some of the most important portions of gaming history and it has the largest library of Nintendo games to date. DeSmuME allows you to emulate these games on your PC, continuing the tradition of Pokémon with the fourth generation games in Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Pearl, and Pokémon Platinum and the fifth generation of Pokémon Black and Pokémon White.
The spinoff Pokémon games continued on this platform with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Space, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. The Pokémon Ranger series also gained popularity on this device. The vast library of the Nintendo DS extends to several Super Mario and Kirby games as well, not to mention the continuation of the Fire Emblem series.
3) Citra
The Nintendo 3DS era was a short one as it mostly focused on a clunky transition between the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Switch. Citra was a work-in-progress emulator for many years now and the finished product allows for several capabilities from the original 3DS console itself, including online play on Citra’s own servers. Since you can’t connect to these games’ official servers, Citra’s online capabilities are still limited.
The Pokémon series went through generations six and seven with Pokémon X/Y and Pokémon Sun/Moon respectively. The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series continued here as well, although it was the last mainstream entry in that spinoff series. Even though the library was limited, there were a few standout games in this era such as Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, both of which are now considered legendary games among the player base.
2) Yuzu/Ryujinx
Getting to Nintendo’s modern era with the Nintendo Switch, we have two emulators that take the top spot. The Yuzu and Ryujinx emulators are popular apps that emulate Nintendo Switch games to varying degrees depending on the game. Games such as Shin Megami Tensei V run smoother on the Yuzu emulator while the Pokémon series of Pokémon Sword/Shield (generation eight) and Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (generation nine) work better on the Ryujinx.
Yuzu and Ryujinx are still under development, however, and some of their features have not been implemented as of yet. Online capabilities are very limited, if any, so we recommend playing single-player games to get the most out of the emulator. If it is a game that is highly dependent on multiplayer, it would be best to stick to the console for the true experience that the game provides.
1) BlueStacks
Our final entry stands apart from all of the rest on this list. BlueStacks is an Android emulator which allows you to emulate your Android device on your PC. If you’re an iPhone user and want to try out Android’s massive library of games and apps, there is no better app than BlueStacks to run them on. You can operate BlueStacks the same way as you would an Android phone with minimal differences.
Features such as a phone’s gallery, emulated storage space, the latest Android version, and support for customized apps are all included via BlueStacks. The app also features online connectivity will full access to the Google Play Store and all of its features provided you log in with your Google account.
There are more benefits to utilizing this emulator than meets the eye at first. When it comes to mobile gaming, some games, especially the ones from the shooter genre, benefit greatly from BlueStacks since you can use your mouse to point and click instead of swiping. While this is generally frowned upon by the multiplayer community, single-player games are a different story.
While there are several other emulators available today, the 10 mentioned above are the most popular ones for games across several platforms and generations. As specified earlier, make sure your system can run some of the newer emulators and you should be good to go.
