Retro gaming on the Mac: emulators for console and slot games

Nowadays, video games are complicated: Expensive hardware, complex graphics, gigantic installations, permanent online connections and, last but not least, complex game worlds prevent many veteran gamers from enjoying the games. The longing for simpler times is therefore great: times when it was enough to insert a diskette or a module or insert a coin and get started immediately. Games like Asteroids, Another World, Lemmings, Sonic, Super Mario or Zelda offered fantastic game depth and long-term motivation despite the simplest block graphics on a few kilobytes of storage space. While there are still countless clones or modern games with old concepts and retro graphics, few of them come close to the genius of the originals. Incidentally, this knowledge does not only apply to old hands: younger generations are also impressed by the minimalism of the classic games. So it’s no wonder that the legendary Mario Kart on the Super NES is still a party hit to this day – and that retro gaming is all the rage.

For many, browsing flea markets and online marketplaces for used consoles is not an option: years of gaming marathons and aging electronics often make the old devices prone to errors. And the modern mini-consoles, which have been offered again and again for several years, are not only expensive, but often limited to a few game titles. Fortunately, there is a third solution: emulators that bring the old game consoles to the Mac for free with just a few clicks.

With their help, current Mac systems can be transformed into complete system collections in just a few simple steps. This is fun and saves space, because the old games from the 8- and 16-bit era are usually only a few hundred kilobytes in size. In addition, retro gaming with the emulator even has a decisive advantage: the nostalgic fun can be used at any time without additional hardware, which is particularly enjoyable when you are on the go with the MacBook.