This review will help you choose the best free PlayStation Portable emulators for your Windows computer. Start playing the good old console games on your PC right now!
The older we get, the more attracted we are to the old games we used to play in our childhood. There are still lots of fans of PS games feeling like playing Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Spider-Man, and many other titles that once made Sony PlayStation the best-selling console. Still, what shall we do if our physical console is no longer there and there is no chance to original PSP game discs? Does it mean that we should give up our retro dream? No way, as long as we have our Windows PC at hand! Emulators are those magic tools that can help you. Today, thanks to the brilliant job of hundreds of enthusiastic developers, there are several good software packages that allow you to run PSP game discs (and their images) on your computer without any problem.
Below you can find a list of the most popular, best-quality PSP emulators for the Windows operating system. Feel free to select the one that suits your needs and your hardware, get the coolest PSP ISO for it and knock yourself out!
ePSXe
ePSXe is arguably the best PSP emulator for Windows. To run ePSXe, you need a special BIOS file, which can be obtained via the Internet. Once you download this tool, you’ll be able to run games from a disk or images ported from PS games. With ePSXe the absolute majority of PS and PSP games run smoothly.
pSX
The pSX emulator is a free Sony PlayStation game console emulator. As with the previously mentioned emulators, you’ll need a file with the PSP BIOS dump. pSX supports disk images in such formats as .iso, .bin, .cue, .ccd, .cdz, .img and runs them without noticeable lags and freezes.
PCSX-Reloaded
PCSX-Reloaded is a project that grew out of the abandoned PCSX emulator. PCSX-Reloaded differs from the above applications in that it does not require any original BIOS file, since it’s capable of simulates its functions itself. This emulator provides decent compatibility with most PSP games. You may also avail yourself of the different version of PCSX-Reloaded that will be compatible not only with Windows, but also Mac and even Linux.
PSXeven
PSXeven is another good and fast PlayStation emulator worth being mentioned. It boasts good compatibility and convenient, user-friendly interface, which undoubtedly makes it one of the best in its category. As with the first two emulators, the original BIOS is required for running your favorite titles smoothly.
Among other well-known PS emulators are PCSX (a pretty good emulator that gave rise to many spin-offs) and AdriPSX (the project that started off so good but ended quickly). There is also the MESS emulator, not that powerful, but quite a decent application, supporting a lot of retro games, including those released by Sony PS.
P. S. As you may have noticed, most of the emulators we have included on our list require a PSP BIOS dump file, whose distribution and use, frankly speaking, is prohibited by Sony. Still, we must note that you can easily find and download the necessary file from the Internet.
