ROMS keep Nintendo childhoods in the 21st century

Emulators provide a modern bridge to classic video games.


College checklist: clothes, shoes, food, bed sheets, fridge, text books. Forget anything? What about videogames? Nintendo 64, GameBoy Advance, etc.? Forget those? Instead of trying to remember to find them the next time you’re home or trying to buy new ones, why not play your favorite games on your laptop?

Emulators are hardware or software that duplicate the functions of one system in another system so the functions closely resemble the real system. What this means is that an emulator can allow a user to play video games without a video game console, on a laptop or smartphone for example.

Nintendo 64: Project 64 (Windows), sixtyforce (Mac), MegaN64 (Android)

For Windows users who want to experience Nintendo 64 games, Project 64 will provide just that. Since 2001, the emulator has “one of the best” emulators of the Nintendo 64 system, according to emulator-zone.com. Project 64 supports multiplayer functions and has all the basic features of the Nintendo 64 system.

The system takes some time learning the different controls. To play, the arrow keys and the keys “z,” “x” and “c” are used, as well as “a,” “s” and “d” occasionally. These can be changed in the program’s menu.

The system also does not allow users to skip the game’s introduction. The game graphics, however are very good and very much like the Nintendo 64 itself.

Mac users can find the Nintendo 64 experience through sixtyforce. According to the emulator’s website, the newest version, sixtyforce 1.0, has “lots of compatibility fixes, speed enhancements, graphic improvements…” and various other tweaks to the original program.

The downside to sixtyforce is that game progress cannot be saved unless the user purchases full use from sixtyforce, which costs $15.

Users of Android phones can download the app MegaN64 from the Play Store to play Nintendo 64 games on their phones. This app is free and works for most games.

Read about some emulators for Game Boy systems at BallBearingsMag.com

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