This article reviews and discusses the various platforms where you can play Retro Games Online developed for various platforms like Nintendo SNES, Sega, PlayStation, Dreamcast, MS-DOS, etc. I am working on another article which will discuss all the various ways to download and install Retro games on your system like an old pc, laptop or even a smartphone but in this article we are looking at ways to play Vintage Games directly from your browser.
What is Retro Gaming?
Wikipedia quotes Retro Gaming as “Retro Gaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the current playing and collection of obsolete personal computers, consoles, and video games. Usually, retro gaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retrogaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports or compilations. It is typically for nostalgia, preservation, or authenticity”
Why am I Writing About Retro Games in 2022?
I feel that Retro Games have significant sentimental significance for everyone who has held a console controller in his hand. I know that there are many who are trying to make sure that we do not forget some of the historic games that have been etched in our brains throughout our childhood. I am going to blog very frequently on Retro Gaming as I am still amazed when I get to play some of these games and I want to share this with everyone. In today’s age of technology, almost everyone has at least one device which can get them up and running playing some of these games.
This is just a quick web story on some of the best Retro games of all time.
Who can Play These Games?
This article will only discuss the multiple ways to play Retro Games Online, hence I would say anyone who has access to Internet and a device with a browser such as Chrome or Safari should be able to play these games. We all carry mobile phones and most of us carry a smart phone which is sufficient enough to allow us to play these video games.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated to the websites that I am going to list down below. I am just expressing my views on the various websites I have tested which allow to play Retro Games online. I have tried these websites myself and they seemed pretty legit. However, please be responsible while accessing any of the below websites and make sure you do not share any personal or financial information. I cannot be held responsible in case of any data loss by visiting any of these websites.
Alright! With that out of the way. Lets get started! I am going to list down some of the websites I have tried and tested playing retro games.
PlayRetroGames.Online
If you google Play Retro Games Online, this usually ranks at the top on google search.They provide a large selection of games from many vintage systems such as the Nintendo Game Boy, PlayStation 1 and 2, Sega, and Atari. A short check on SEMRUSH revealed that they have 10-11k visits each month, which is not bad for a site that just hosts Retro Games. When you click on a game, you have two options: Play or Download. We will not explore the second alternative because this post is about playing Retro Video Games Online. After selecting play, you will be sent to a website where an emulator based on the game and platform you picked is being loaded behind the scenes. The game may be played in either the default or full screen mode.
I must warn you that this site has a lot of advertisements, which I suppose is acceptable given that they need money to continue providing such wonderful games and delight for free.. It seemed like a free site as I could not find any links to paid membership. In case any one finds links to donate or buy them a coffee, please comment below and we can all try supporting them. I tried playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on this platform and it ran smoothly within the Chrome browser. It even supported a Red Gear Wireless controller connected to my PC, though the analog sticks did not work but that was expected.
RetroGames.CC
This site ranks second in the google search and it is as good as the first one. It again has a similar experience with a large collection of games from various platforms. I played a PlayStation 2 Game called 3D Baseball and it worked very smoothly on the browser. This web application also had many ads and again I cannot complain as everything seemed free to play. I played another game, the famous EA Sport Frachisee Fifa 2003 and it was an amazing experience. Can you believe the team line up for Manchester United and Real Madrid in Fifa 2003? Everywhere I see legends!
RetroGames.CZ
Another similar website hosting a wide collection of retro games played through online emulators. This one looks and feels like a website built in the early 2000s as well. This website also has many ads displayed which for the third I will say that it’s tolerable because once again they are giving us all these different games to play for free without the need for any good hardware. I played one of my favorite games of all time, Contra and the experience was amazing specially after playing it in full screen on a 24 inch monitor.
OldGameShelf.Com
This site might seem similar to all the three sites mentioned above, but one of the big advantage is that the emulation seems to be fastest. The game load times were so quick that it did not feel like an emulator was loading at the backend. I have no clue how have they managed this but this is remarkable. I did face site unresponsiveness a few times but then again a simple browser refresh fixed it and it was never during a game being played. I played another one of my favorite games on this platform called ExciteBike and it sound track just got me so nostalgic. I did crash multiple times during the first track itself and the engine overheating were frequent unlike before when I used to get the first podium very easily. Another great site to bring back your childhood.
MyEmulator.Online
This is the fifth and the last site on my list for now. I am sure by now you must have understood that there are many sites which are following this path and allowing anyone to visit them from the comfort of your web browser and start playing Retro Games online without any downloads and installations. This site has a great collections of games as well specially from Nintendo. I did not find much content on PlayStation on this one but they match up by making sure they have a wide collection from all other platforms specially Nintendo. I played the Super Smash Bros. on this and the experience was amazing and had a many options to customize your controller setup similar to the other four above.
Conclusion
We went over five websites which allows you to play Retro Games Online from the browser. Please note that they do not use flash and hence you should ideally be able to play these games well in future as long as the sites are active. Playing Retro Game Online is an experience that is made so much easier by these developers who have made it possible to emulate games built on multiple platforms without the need for an installations locally. What are some of your favorite vintage games? Let us know in the comment section.