The launch of the first PlayStation (also known as PS1, PSOne or PSX) back in 1994 completely changed the video game industry. It managed to sell more than 102.4 million units and marked the beginning of a success story for «la Play».
Now you no longer need that gray console (or its whiter, more compact redesign) to enjoy its games, as there are plenty of emulators for your Android phone that allow you to load backups of some of the best PlayStation games ever . Let’s review our favorite emulation apps.
ePSXe for Android
ePSXe is considered by many to be the best PlayStation emulator, since it has been running on PC for many years and its adaptation to Android has been one of the most successful.
ePSXe emulator
It costs 2.99 euros, a fairly cheap price and well invested considering the possibilities it offers, since it is one of the options that has the greatest compatibility with games, since it supports about 99% of PlayStation titles.
fpse for android
FPse is the other great alternative for those who don’t like ePSXe, although its operation can be somewhat more complex.
In this case, the price goes up to 3.39 euros, but it is capable of running all the games with a much better resolution, and you can even play the games as if they were widescreen, although not natively.
RetroArch
RetroArch is a multi-versatile app, which means that in order to do anything, it needs modular programs called kernels. These kernels are not included as standard, you have to go to Online Updater -> In-app Kernel Updater to download them.
Within these cores, there are open source emulators that are receiving constant updates and have a very easy and user-friendly interface.
ClassicBoy
If you want to kill several birds with one stone and have an emulator compatible with a multitude of platforms at the same time, including the first PlayStation, you may be interested in ClassicBoy.
You lose some quality and options only for PSX games, but gain on alternatives, including Nintendo 64, NES, Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Boy Advanced. It has a free version and a paid upgrade option (2.94 euros) with other emulation cores.
Matsu PSX Emulator
Matsu Player is another one of the best emulators that supports many different platforms, although it was created with the original PlayStation in mind.
Matsu Emulator
Despite being free, an advantage that it has over other options, it can end up being somewhat annoying since it plays quite a few ads during your games. It is no longer in the Google Play Store, but you can download your APK.
zebra
For the end we are going to leave this option, because the quality of its emulation, with a fairly good resolution, is diluted by a fairly complex interface to navigate.
Bearing in mind that it’s free, you can download it and try out its interface, or wait for its developers to update the app.
Is it legal to use these programs?
Owning the original game does not give us permission to play it anywhere. In order for it to be 100% legal to be able to use the emulator, it is necessary to have the console (which, in the end, is still a kind of “license” to be able to play the games), and the game.
