After Years of Ban, Retro Games Are Now Playable on iPhones; Here’s How

Apr. 19, 2024

EU’s Digital Markets Act has brought a pivotal shift in how Apple operates and the ol’ days of the walled ecosystem are beyond us. In a first, Apple has now allowed retro gaming emulators on the App Store. It surely seems like a dream that you can now play retro games on your iPhone using a game emulator without jailbreaking the iPhone. While the first retro game emulator to arrive on the App Store was iGBA, it wastaken down within a dayas the app was a cheap knockoff of GBA4iOS.

Now, the real deal has arrived that we all were waiting for. Riley Testut, the mastermind developer behind the popular game emulators has finally launched the Delta game emulator on the App Store. For retro gaming enthusiasts, Delta has been a well-known name. It is an all-in-one retro gaming emulator that supports all the popular game systems including Nintendo Entertainment System, SuperNintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy (Color and Advance), Nintendo DS, and more.

You can also connect controllers and turn your iPhone into a portable retro game machine. Then, there are other features like save state, automatic backup of save states, support for cheat codes, and controller mapping.

If you’re as excited as me, here’s how you can play retro games on your iPhone right now.

How to Play Retro Games on iPhones?

Now, you’re all ready to relive your childhood gaming memories. As soon as I completed the above steps, I downloaded the ROM for Super Mario Bros., connected a controller, and started playing. Playing retro games on my iPhone without having to jailbreak it is a unique experience. Riley Testut’s Delta Game Emulator is a polished app and there’s a lot you can do on it. I solely

Apple has witnessed a tumultuous year so far, thanks to the EU’s DMA act. Now that game emulators are here, it gets me wondering what other ecosystem-walled features can we expect Apple to bring (forcefully) next. If there’s one thing I want Apple to add is torrent apps for iPhone. It would absolutely smash the platform barrier for those who want to switch from Android.

With 6 years of experience as a writer and editor in the tech media industry, Anmol is an enigmatic savant in all kinds of tech. He loves to scour internet for new information. When not conjuring words, Anmol can be found watching Manchester United matches or glued to his MacBook watching re-runs of his favorite TV shows for upteenth time.