PS1 Emulator Comes to iOS App Store

There's a PS1 emulator available now in the iOS App Store.

By Hannah Adkins

Apple changed the App Store guidelines last month, allowing game emulators to be listed on the platform for the first time. As such, a developer who has been making emulators amongst other things for jailbroken iPhones for years already, Benjamin Stark aka ZodTTD, has listed Gamma, a free PlayStation 1 emulator. If you're missing the nostalgia behind the PS1 game textures and graphics, Gamma is the perfect download for you. The new emulator is only compatible with PlayStation 1 games, allowing users to burn disks they already own into software, called ROMs.

Apple has previously not allowed emulators to be listed on the platform due to legality issues with game copyrights – while emulators themselves aren't the issue, users choosing to download and use ROMs they did not pay for are an issue when the game is not public domain. But if you've acquired or kept around a PlayStation 1 game, you can take advantage of the Gamma features as noted in the App Store:

Save States:

  • Save and load a game at any point.
  • Automatically save your progress.

Sync:

  • Use your favorite backup services to sync your files.
  • Automatically backs up your save states.

Related:

Hardware Controller Support:

  • Supports your favorite console and PC bluetooth & MFi game controllers.
  • Bluetooth & wired keyboards are also supported!

Controller Skins:

  • Comes with well-crafted portrait and landscape controllers.
  • Create your own controller skins.

Game Cover Artwork:

  • Quickly set game cover artwork to your titles.

Riley Testut who developed another popular emulator, Delta, celebrated the release of Gamma on Threads and gave the following praise:

"For those that don't know ZodTTD, there's no one more fitting to release an emulator on the App Store. They've been developing emulators for iOS longer than anyone, and is the reason there are emulators on the App Store in the first place – the first version of GBA4iOS was basically just a repackaging of their jailbreak-only emulator gpSPhone."

Gamma is available to download for free on the App Store and requires an iPhone or iPad with iOS 15 or later installed. As mentioned above, Gamma only supports PS1 games, but that's hardly a bad thing if you're someone wanting to experience (or re-experience) some pretty iconic titles like Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and much more. Personally, I'm off to look for my copy of Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night.

What game will you be testing out Gamma with? 

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