The BEST Way to Play Retro Games in 2024 

I just homebrew my Wii.

A few other benefits to emulation is that you can get translations and fixes to games we wouldn't have with the original hardware. One fix that comes to mind is the US version of Lufia 2. There is a glitch in a late game dungeon that garbles the screen and is near unplayable. Luckily someone out there provided a patch to correct it.

What a great summation of all the options - great stuff!

Great summary in just 10 minutes! Well done

Im happy to watch this channel grow.

Awesome content, love your videos!

I think a combination of approaches works best, but each person will find what works best for them. great retrospective on things Pojr!

I prefer original hardware for my retro gamessss. Love pojr videosssss.

I do own lots of consoles (Odyssey2, Dactar, Atari 2600 Jr, Master System, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 and a few emulation machines like Atari Flashback, Retron 5, NES Mini, PSX Classic and a Raspberry Pi that I put inside an arcade cabinet. In the end, I play a lot in emulation machines, mostly the PSX Classic with Project Eris, because of convenience. It is easier, it is easy to add cheats or save states to play short periods and it just works well enough. I would say, pick the option that gives you more satisfaction, and it is all right. Do not mind any purists.

My system of choice to collect for is the NES/Famicom/FDS (though I do collect for others a bit). While I do have all original hardware, the Retro USB AVS gets the most use unless I want to play a light gun game or play around with ROB. It's extremely reliable, and it's less wear on my classic consoles with daily use, so I can break them out for special occasions.

I really love RetroArch

A few points for "emulation" that got missed, and the first is how games that may struggle or run poorly on original hardware can be boosted or hacked with emulation. Games that may have ran at 30fps like BotW on the Wii U can now run at 60fps or greater if hardware allows. Graphic resolution can also be boosted so if a game runs native at HD can be upped to 2K or 4K depending on the emulator and as before, the power behind it. Certain emulators also allow for aspect ratios to be changed, or the game alone can be changed, something like Mario 64 in widescreen is next level. As stated below, games that have defects or issues can be fixed through patches or just acquire the "fixed" rom, or "English" translations for games is also a thing. So take Mother 3 as an example, it has an amazing English translation and will never be released, and while that version can be added to a cart and played on OG hardware, it's just simpler with emulation. Hardware differences across regions can also be implemented, like the Sega Master System were the Japan version allowed for FM audio, and the US system did not. But the US games kept the feature in the carts, and with emulation those music files can now be played. I get the pluses and minuses of all three options, but for me, Emulation wins hands down, it's not even a contest.

It's an innocent topic but some people get so outraged about what "the best" is. That's why my answer has always been a bit of a riddle: "The best way to play is ANY way to play, as long AS you play." I'm not fixated on "best" or "right" - I just want people to play and enjoy themselves.

I collect cartridges of games I really care about. Same philosophy for the consoles. I love both emulation and FPGA alternatives as I love to add the HDMI output clarity applied on some Arcade and 16-bit games, but there's always something in my heart that any emulation option can't compare with the original hardware: pinballs! ❤

The software emulation could probably be subdivided into licensed and unlicensed. With licensed such as the Atari 50th, TMNT The Cowabunga Collection, Capcom Beat 'em ups, Evercade etc you tend to have a more polished experience vs "plug and pray" of cheaper chinese boxes.

I come here for the smile.

The best method to play retro games is on the actual hardware because you get the authentic experience. If you can't afford it, have fun anyway you can.

Thanks POJR. I'd like to share one experience I had, in case this helps even one other person. When you mentioned original hardware and compatibility issues... I still have a Panasonic plasma TV from 2008 and it works great. However, I think around 2010, I decided I wanted to get an original NES (again for like the third time) and some of my old favourite games, thinking I could just hook it up with the composite cables. The first time I hooked it up, it worked, but it looked terrible. I think it worked two more times and then... the TV, as if it learned on its own, just stopped allowing the signal to come through, so it was just a black screen. So if you still have a plasma TV and are thinking about going with a retro console... don't. I also, stupidly, always buy Megaman collections for current hardware (my newest console is a PS4) and always forget how hard they are to finish without the original NES controller. I remember someone saying playing Mega Man II with the original NES controller was akin to dancing in the ballet and they were right. Trying to finish it with a PS4 controller... yeah, no.

I will add, That's a modded console with an SD card is probably going to be the most true and the best of all worlds. The only downside is going to be the cost and the space required for each console. But it's pretty much going to be the best option if you only have a few consoles that you really want. But again, be prepared to sink a couple grand in.

Nah. I'm fine with my PC. Emulation of retro games has been damn near or at 100% for a long time. I only find compatibility issues with emulators for newer systems. (Anything newer than PS2.) For me, the convenience of emulation far outweighs any differences to the experience on real hardware (which I find are often negligible).

I'm doing the consoles loaded up(hacked) say, SNES, NES, Playstation Classics. I play my arcade games on my Atgames Legends Ultimates, Pinball on Atgames Legends Pinball machines. For Atari I am using the Gamestation Pro as well as the Atari VCS, Flashback 12 Gold, Atari 2600+ which is my favorite yp play Atari 2600 and I am collecting the carts. Back to the classics is the nice ability to use wireless controllers. Would love to pick up a turbographix soon! We just need an Intellivision + this year and I will be in heaven.

FPGA cores typically lack save states.

emulation is simply the best way

I'm glad that you explored all options here. I thought this was going to be one of those videos that pushes the FPGA Gospel.

I have many old consoles, starting with a Coleco Telstar that I had as a kid, up to new-fangled PS3's and XBox 360s. They are all currently sitting in their boxes, stored away for future play with grandkids, etc. I have an 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 on one TV, and use my main PC for some emulation to play my favorite old games. Mike Tyson's Punch-out being one of them I honestly don't feel input lag while playing the games, but haven't played on real hardware in a long time, maybe I'm in for a surprise. Maybe it's time to make the rounds and hook a few of the old consoles up, just for nostalgia sake.

The “gamey” console is currently my favorite for two reasons. 1- Joysticks. In recent years I’ve used joysticks over d-pads even in my 2D games mainly due to the pain in my hands I immediately feel when pressing any d-pad. I wish they required less force. 2- Size. I never in my life would’ve figured smaller = better. I never disliked my switch, but I did dislike how my phone lacked games but was obviously more comfortable to game on. And I missed my psp. Bonus reason: runs on retroarch, giving it insane customizability.

My biggest gripe with some emulation is that controller electronics technology can have lag. USB has a translation layer to go from serial bit by bit data to 8-bit parallel, coupled with the USB bus translation layer. FPGA is nice, as they usually deal with the translation layers as much as they can with hardware. You called it with Punch Out. Megaman 2 also can test latency issues. Also, congrats on crossing the 10K mark.

I’ve always thought the best method to play games is anyway you can anyway you can afford them just play and if you’re having fun, that’s all that matters. I’ve got plenty of consoles starting with my nes all the way through PS5. For older games I find myself using my computer, they make the games look even better than it was when I played originally. Also, I certainly don’t feel bad about not buying from the original company because you can’t buy these games from the companies anymore. They’re only available used or overpriced by a third-party so Nintendo and sega ain’t gettin that money lol some games due to licensing of music and whatnot will never be available in the original way we fell in love with them u less you emulate.

I have a HTPC that I built mainly for emulation from the 7800 to PS3/WiiU. Every few months Retroarch and others tend to change the configs on their own or suddenly a game no longer works on Duckstation unless I redownload the rom files. Original hardware and emulation is annoying and not for the casual person who want to venture back or relive their childhood. The casuals, simply play on the official recent hardware (i..e Switch online), buy a collection, or buy an official mini system.

Original hardware - Using the original controllers can either be a positive or a negative. For example, I'm right-handed and I find having the movement controls on the left to be EXTREMELY awkward, to the point that it makes playing most action games virtually impossible for me. Not that having a d-pad on the right would be much better in my opinion. I grew up playing games with Atari joysticks, and a right-handed joystick is still my preferred way to play action games. Then there are systems with controllers that few people liked, such as the Intellivision and the Atari 5200. Early systems also didn't even have a pause button, and none of them had save states. Consoles before the NES didn't even have a way to save your game progress, and it wasn't until the advent of memory cards that game saving on consoles became standard. Then there's also the issue of regions. Early consoles were based off the TV standards of the countries they were meant to be sold in, and often wouldn't play games from a country with a different TV standard, properly. Later consoles had region locking to prevent them from playing games other regions. You needed a console from the region the games came from. Emulation - I agree that incompatibility is the biggest drawback, however it should be noted that for whatever reason, software emulators running on computers always seem to have better compatibility than the emulators used in dedicated emulation consoles. For example, the Stella Atari 2600 emulator has no problem with Real sports Boxing, or any other game I've ever tried. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that with the exception of the N64 and Atari Jaguar, emulators can run pretty much any game for any console up to and including the PS1 and Dreamcast. After that, incompatibilities start to crop up. Emulation of computers is also pretty fleshed out at this point.

I prefer real hardware. Unfortunately I don't have enough room to store all the games and accessories for them. I have original hardware, accessories and games for SMS, Genesis (CD and 32X), Atari 7800, Odyssey 2, Colecovision, Xbox, DC, PSX, Vita and Game Gear. I have modded Saturn and Gamecube with SD cards with games on it. And I have mini NES, Neo Geo and Turbografx 16. Plus I have a collectorvision phoenix to play my colecovision games in 1080p. Overall very happy.

I got 800$ in my mister with m32pi case extra boards and two sticks of ram. I would buy it again for sure but I can’t wait to try emulation on the new pc I’m getting 😊

Input delay shouldn’t be too much of an issue with emulation of 8-bit and 16-bit games unless you are using extremely weak hardware. Audio delay, however, is very likely so it depends how sensitive you are to that issue. I generally don’t notice it but it really bothers some people.

For me, real hardware, and real original media/carts are for me. I have sacrificed a lot of space for my collection because I love retro games enough to do it. And I love having the real thing, that's how it was back in the day!

I personally like original hardware, for the sake of authenticity and compatibility. But of course, that stuff tends to be expensive, these days. FPGA hardware is interesting, but I've never tried any, and the costs are outrageous.

There are some fairly low-cost clone consoles on the market. They are not without their flaws; they can have color and audio inaccuracies. But if you are able to look past that, it's a decent way to play your old cartridge collection on a modern TV without having to spend a lot of money buying expensive equipment.

I dunno, for compatibility and accuracy emulation is not only fine, but it has been between quite good and flawless since years, expecially for the games you are showing: those can run even on a toaster with great results. I would say that for the best experience you should avoid arm chips and go with minipcs with current CPUS, with those and a linux distribution you'll experience no lag and - almost - anything will work.

HELP PLEASE! Can you connect (for example) three separate retro game consoles using composite, into an AV receiver with enough composite inputs, then go composite out from receiver into a Retrotink 5X and finally HDMI from Retrotink 5X to HDTV via HDMI?

Is there any way to Improve the image quality in the gamestation pro. I played in a smart tv but the pixels are awful

One thing I'd like to mention about using original hardware on modern TVs is that the analog inputs of a HDTV are quite laggy. This is often not the case on the HDMI inputs. Which is why if you want to use original hardware on a HDTV, you should get a RetroTink 2X at the very least. You'll get a good 480p signal out of that which will play much nicer with the in-built scalers on modern TVs and won't be subject to the same lag the analog inputs have. At the end of the day.. ***Cues up Journey's Any Way You Want It***

The one draw back to emulation is the complexity. Even using the raspberry pi takes some getting used to. FPGA quality is so much better but even with the analogue pocket you can’t even play Intellivison games without the strange .intv file extension. If at some point you could do a video on Vector video games like Star Wars, Asteroids and even the Vectrex it would be appreciated

I bounce back and forth between real hardware via Retrotink, Analogue consoles, and Retropie. If i play retropie, i try to match the 8bitdo controller with the appropriate console. Honestly, hardware emulation has gotten much better over the years. On Retroarch, there is the "run ahead" feature that all but eliminates lag. At least none that i can tell. Some ppl are more attuned to detect the smallest amount of latency, but i am not one of them. Bringing out their time sleuths and detecting the lag of each controller. I just want to play the damn thing. I dislike some of the "gatekeeping" i have seen in the community layely. Like if someone isn't playing original hardware on a CRT, then they're doing it wrong. I say there is no wrong answer. It's whatever is easiest for you and your budget.

FPGA! I want to be able to do a Haduken properly. I have tons of emulation on my pc and a lot of the games are impossible to play because of the lag. Specially on a crt!

you need to retrobright that nes model 2

Did you have a reason to bring up cost as a downside of collecting orginal games but not the legal issue of roms?

Retrobrite that nes for the love of god!

At Games 2018 Legends SD upgraded

What's the software you're showing off on the raspberry pi?

Bravo

Emulating Burning Rangers can make the game look beautiful over original hardware. I’m shallow and like some eye candy 😂

the emulation at lest in computer's it have came very good option

Hi pojr

Yor forgot about Backward-compatibility for newer consoles

honestly i think when you as i your whole childhood memories was on nes, snes and megadrive games you will 100% see the latency on software emulation. I can surely play on emulation software but fpga is really the closest thing when you can`t or dont wanna speend your time hunting the games you want. For the money value you usually pay just for the original NES aabout 100 bucks when not higher. Aand just for some games about 50 bucks each. And a bit more bucks and you can buy a fpga mister system. I think i will one day buy my beloved NES but i dont wanna waste my money on many consoles just to play the original games. But yes i think its a personal preference. Some might also prefer software emulation. But thats nothing that suits me

retro = mw2 2009 in my opinion (game that made before i born for 2 years)

I have a good cheaper (about 85 dollar) chinese retro handheld with TV out (rgb30 but maybe there are better alternatives out now) it can run the accurate bsnes performance core with an easier CRT shader, when i needs put out to tv with HDMI and Bluetooth gamepad nowadays we have a lot of affordable possibly.

You wouldn't happen to be the same pojr that is/was on the GameFAQs message boards would you? You know, the guy people would spell the pojr username in topics letter by letter if he posted in their topics on the boards. Just curious if you are the same person or not.

The original way only makes sense with a tube tv. A modern TV has just more input lag, especially with retro consoles. Emulation and Original feels almost the same most of the time on a modern TV. Nothing compares to a tube tv, it is just a fact. But I have no experience with FPGA whatsoever. Maybe that can be the holy grail.

Emulation is the way to go.

What about the new Vcs.

Woah

Why completely ignore clone consoles?

real hardware ftw..as always

The "downsides" of emulation can easily be fixed by one simple solution. Having a "good" PC. Emulators like Dolphin, RPCS3 and Yuzu are constantly being updated by the community and most retro game systems are either at or near 100% compatibility. You can even use retro game controllers via USB. I hate to be that guy lol but ... yeah. No hate towards you though. I actually like your videos.

Best way to play retro games is on the original consoles

Emulation just cos I like too many machines and arcade games and let’s be honest, scalpers have ruined collecting retro hardware and software.

I hate (love) being that guy but.... ok: Computer engineer here - FPGA is NOT emulation.

You have a strong enough computer you can run older games with less input latency than original hardware. I don't see FPGA really doing this yet it is said to be better in this regard. The one thing I admit is better with hardware emulation compared to software emulation is efficiency.