Explore our selection of the best free portable arcade game emulators that can be run directly from a USB flash drive. Enjoy your favorite retro games anytime, anywhere, with these easy-to-use emulators designed for gaming on the go.
Visual Boy Advance (VBA) is an Open Source Game Boy Advance Emulator that allows users to play Nintendo Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games on a PC. Originally released in 2004, VBA quickly became one of the most popular Game Boy emulators for Windows, and it remains one of the best portable emulators available today.
RetroArch is a free and portable open source emulator software that allows users to play their favorite games from a wide range of classic gaming consoles and platforms on modern devices. Rather than functioning as a single emulator, RetroArch acts as a unified front end that brings together multiple emulation engines under one consistent interface.
It is available on many platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and even several gaming consoles, making it one of the most versatile retro gaming solutions available today.
DOSBox is a portable DOS emulator or Portable DOSBox that can be used to run many old DOS games or applications that cannot be run on a modern Windows Operating System. It is great to use for those old DOS software applications or games you may have sitting around collecting dust.
MAME - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator is a free arcade game emulator for PC. This arcade emulation software absorbed its sister project which was previously known as MESS (Multi Emulator Super System). The multi purpose emulation framework can be used to play old arcade games via ROMS on your modern computer. The Game Emulation Software can currently emulate thousands of old classic arcade video games.
Jnes is an old school Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator that can be run from a portable device such as a USB flash drive. This lightweight NES emulation software not only provides accurate gameplay but also includes an advanced database of Pro Action Replay and Game Genie cheat codes to enhance your gaming experience. Best of all, it supports Kaillera netplay so you can play with or against your friends across the network in real time.
Gens is a Sega Genesis emulator. This game emulation software enables users to run their Sega Genesis ROMs from within Windows. A portable version is available directly from the author's site. The zipped version allows you to store and run it from a USB flash drive so you can emulate and play your Sega Genesis games on the go.