There are lots of different ways you can play retro games these days, but my favorite (and most used) computing device has been the iPad since the launch of the second one. So, in general, I try to see if I can do something with my iPad first before moving on to other platforms—which includes getting my retro gaming fix.
With Apple relaxing the limits on game emulation, and increasing support for a wider variety of peripherals, I’ve found my iPad has become the most flexible device I have to strike a balance between convenience and simplicity for retro gaming.
Emulation on iPad Is Better Than Ever
One of the biggest developments when it comes to iOS and iPadOS is that Apple now allows for game emulation. It took a long time, but finally we have tacit acknowledgment from Apple that emulation itself is not illegal, and that it’s OK for people to play games they already own on an emulator.
The only real issue at the moment is that Apple does not allow JIT (Just In Time) code to run in iOS as a security measure. Sadly, emulation of consoles like the PlayStation 2 relies on JIT to work correctly, so for now emulation is limited to consoles like the original PlayStation and older generations. However, that leaves plenty of options, and PS1 games in particular are simple to dump from your original disc to your iPad, like I’ve done here with my copy of G-Police
All you need is an optical drive and software like ImgBurn. PlayStation 1 discs aren’t even encrypted, so you won’t run afoul of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) which makes defeating copy protection illegal, even though you are allowed to make backups of your legally-purchased media for personal use. However, I am not a lawyer, and it’s always your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the laws that you live under in your region of the world.
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Allowing emulators onto iPhones and iPads is just the last big step to making them great retro gaming devices. Several moves by Apple over the years have laid the groundwork. Adding exceptional controller support means you can connect just about any controller to your iPad and it will work. Perhaps most importantly for my purposes, is how Apple has improved external display support, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
The App Store Has Many Great Retro Games With Controller Support
If you don’t want to enter the sometimes legally gray area of emulation, or you just don’t want to bother with the extra level of technical tweaking, there are heaps of retro games on the App Store sold by the copyright holders. Not every conversion that comes to mobile is great, of course. For example, my iPad copy of Valkyrie Profile doesn’t support controllers at all, even though the original PlayStation game did.
Then you have some releases that are pretty great. I own many different retro games through the app store, including most of the Final Fantasy games (not the pixel remasters, sadly,), R-Type, Ys I & II, and Lunar Silver Star Story to name but a few. With some exceptions, most of them do a good job of providing the original pixel art without the misguided attempt to smooth those graphics out. Alternatively, in the case of Lunar, there are extensive graphics options in the menu so you can tweak the game to look as original or as modified as you like.
The iPad Pairs Beautifully With a CRT Monitor
As you can tell from the above image and, of course, the big title image at the top of this article, I’m pairing my iPad with a CRT computer monitor. Now, before you ask, I did try it with both of my CRT TVs using an HDMI to S-Video converter, but although I can get the TV to work properly as an extended monitor, it won’t allow apps to go full-screen.
Using the iPad’s default screen mirroring mode causes the converter to freak out and squash the image with no way to adjust it on the TV or the tablet. You may have more luck, depending on the TV you have and what inputs it supports, but that was a no-go for me.
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Using a USB-C VGA adapter with my 17-inch Samsung SyncMaster monitor, however, works perfectly. Both displays have the same aspect ratio, and, of course, as a PC monitor, it has no issue accepting the progressive scan signal from the iPad. Also, PC monitors let you adjust the image so that there’s no overscan or an image that doesn’t fill the display correctly.
The main downside compared to using this monitor for retro gaming on my PC or Mac, is that I can’t find a way to manually change the resolution, which means in some games there may still be unwanted scaling, but for the most part if looks great. Most importantly, in emulators such as those for the PS1 I can set games to render at the much higher resolution of the monitor, which gives them an immense glow-up.
You Can Use Practically Any Controller
As I mentioned earlier, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS support basically every major controller you can think of. This is pretty great because it means you can grab any controller and start playing, but it’s also cool that you can use a Switch Pro controller for SNES games, or a PS4 controller or DualSense for PlayStation emulation.
For me the most important implication here is that I can use my 8BitDo Arcade stick with my iPad. The stick works in both Switch and Xbox controller modes, which means I can play my arcade style games using an arcade controller using my iPad, hooked up to a CRT monitor if I like.
8Bitdo Arcade Stick for Switch
- Number of Colors
- 1
- Control Types
- Arcade Stick
- Wireless?
- Bluetooth and 2.4GHz USB Dongle
- Compatible Systems
- Nintendo Switch and any Xinput-compatible Device
- Brand
- 8BitDo
- Color Options
- Retro
Screen Mirroring Is the Only (Minor) Issue
The only real problem I have is that this only works with my CRT monitor running the iPad in mirrored mode. I would have preferred some way to turn the iPad’s internal screen off, or to have it display something other than a duplicate of the game. For now, the best solution I’ve found is to simply turn the brightness of the iPad’s screen down to zero, and put it face-up so I can’t be distracted by movement on the second screen.
Even when the iPad is in extended display mode, there’s no way to get games full-screen, but hopefully this is something that can be changed in a future iPadOS update that might have more screen controls.
Of course, using something like DuckStation on my MacBook connected to my CRT monitor effectively solves this issue, but my MacBook is inherently less mobile and convenient compared to my iPad. So I’m happy to simply put up with it.
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The iPad Is My Most Flexible Retro Gaming Device
I have numerous devices I can play retro games on, including original console hardware hooked up to period-accurate display devices. Yet, in most cases, my iPad is the best balance of portability and screen size for playing around the house, or even when I go on a trip. I even have a DOS emulator that lets me play my legally-purchased DOS games from GOG. Don’t forget, the iPad also supports mice and keyboards.
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The fact that I can now also just plug my CRT monitor into my iPad and be deep into Chrono Trigger within literal seconds makes it way more likely that I’ll actually play my retro games instead of just thinking about it, and then deciding it’s too much hassle. Likewise, having my PS1 games with higher resolution graphics and without the geometry wobbling means I’m more likely to play them on my iPad than on my PS2.
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Why I Think Chrono Trigger Is the Best Video Game Ever Made
We’ve all got our favorite games, but is yours as good as Chrono Trigger?
The good news is that if you have an iPhone or an iPad, and you already have a controller, you can go to the app store right now and start playing retro games. If you have your original game CDs or carts, you can dump them to your iPad with a DVD drive or a cheap ROM dumper from online stores like Amazon.
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The world of retro gaming is already in your hands, you just need to make it happen!
