Looking for Nintendo ROM’s? Costing around $44 (£35/AU$49), these tiny computers are an extremely compact way of accessing your old game collection at a budget price. Providing that you’re willing to experiment, the Pi is customizable in terms of choice of emulators and library interfaces. The downside to this set-up is that it is bare bones, meaning you need to supply your own USB controllers, operating system, and storage space. This option is perfect for project enthusiasts and tinkerers, but isn’t as accessible as its commercial counterparts.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sega’s spiny speed merchant proved himself a worthy rival to Nintendo’s Mario with his Mega Drive debut. Yet it was the spectacular loops, corkscrews and clever environmental tricks in the follow-up that proved his makers carried the same swagger. With co-op partner Tails in tow (whose real name, Miles Prower, is one of gaming’s best dreadful puns) this blistering adventure was one of the finest two-player games of the 16-bit era and still leaves many of the modern Sonic games for dust. Read a few extra info on https://www.romsget.io/roms/super-nintendo/.

For the retro collector who has everything, or for the Japanese culture enthusiast in your life, Nintendo’s Famicom Classic is a rare and delightful gem. It shares a level of build quality (and adorability) with its NES counterpart, but comes with a couple of cult favorites that the US model missed. Filling a couple of obvious holes are River City Ransom and Mario Open Golf, but there are also some lesser-known or Japanese exclusive titles that still hold up well, stuff like platformer Atlantis no Nazo or Tecmo’s puzzler Solomon’s Key. And while the original Final Fantasy is an important piece of history, Final Fantasy III (included on the Famicom) is a better game to actually play in practically every regard. The best thing about the Famicom Classic, however, has nothing to do with the games library. It’s the design. True to its namesake, the Classic is stylish in vivid white and deep maroon, and has a much sleeker and more modern-looking form factor than its boxy grey cousin. There’s also space along sides of the console body to slot in the controllers when you’re not using them, which is not only really convenient but looks sharp, too. And while the interface and games are all in Japanese, fluency is definitely not required for the vast majority of the included games, and the interface is easy enough to navigate around with a little trial and error (in fact, if you have access to the NES Classic, it’s virtually identical). If you’re so inclined, it’s actually a great way to practice some basic Japanese as text is all displayed in hiragana and katakana (the original Famicom couldn’t display kanji).

Everyone loves Symphony of the Night. Everyone. In fact, it’s very tiring to hear how much they love it. I’ve got absolutely nothing against the game, but to me, the “metroidvania” thing is not conducive to a true Castlevania. Super Castlevania IV launched shortly after the SNES, and to me it’s one of the last great traditional Castlevania games. The art is still gothic as it should be in a game like this, as opposed the anime-like style of the newer games, and the level design is linear. In my mind, what makes the game better than Symphony is just how pure it is. The monsters are classic, the levels classic, and Simon Belmont is of course, classic. It’s also the only Castlevania where you can whip in 8 directions, which is a godsend. Play it, and send Dracula back to Hell. See a few extra info on Download ROMs & Emulators.