Nostalgia’s Best Kept Secrets: Retro Games & Your Phone

Key Takeaways

• The Delta emulator on the App Store makes it easy to play your favorite GBA, NES, and Nintendo DS games.
• You need to import the ROM files for the games you own to start playing them on your iPhone using Delta.
• To play Nintendo DS games, Delta requires you to import the console’s BIOS files first.

It’s now easier than ever to play your favorite Nintendo classics on your iPhone. And it’s all thanks to the Delta emulator that’s finally available on the App Store. We’ll teach you how to use it to play all the old Nintendo games you own.

Although you can use emulators to play games legally, downloading and installing ROMs for games you don’t own is strictly illegal.

Using the Delta Emulator to Play Retro Nintendo Games

Previously, you had to sideload emulator apps like Delta on your iPhone using third-party app stores like AltStore. But thankfully, Apple updated its App Review Guidelines in April 2024 to allow retro game console emulators on the App Store.

As a result, you can now easily install Delta just like any other app. But before you can actually use the app to play Nintendo games, you need the ROM file for the game you want to play. But how do you get the ROM file, you ask?

If you own the game cartridge, you can use a cartridge dumper like Epilogue’s GB Operator with your PC to extract the ROM file from your cartridge legally. Then, you can transfer the ROM file from your PC to your iPhone and follow the steps below in Delta to start playing:

Download: Delta (Free)

1. TapGet on Delta’s App Store page to install it on your iPhone.
2. Launch the app and tap theplus (+) icon in the top-right corner.
3. ChooseFiles from the context menu and browse to the directory where you saved the ROM file.
4. Select the ROM file, and it’ll show up in the app. Now, just tap the game to run it. All the console controls will appear on the bottom half of your screen.

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The catch with GB Operator is that you can only use it to extract ROMs from Game Boy cartridges. However, you can find similar tools if you own other retro Nintendo consoles like NES, SNES, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 64, etc.

Keep in mind that your ROM files should be in one of the following formats, depending on the console Nintendo made the game for:

While Delta supports Nintendo DS, you can’t play Nintendo DS games out of the box even if you have the ROM files. That’s because Delta requires you to manually add the DS BIOS files by following these steps:

1. Launch Delta and tap thegear icon in the top-left corner to go to its settings menu.
2. Scroll down and tapNintendo DS underCore Settings .
3. You’ll see three filenames under the DS BIOS Files section at the bottom. You need to import these files just like you imported your ROM files before.

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Like ROM files, downloading or importing BIOS files for consoles you don’t own is strictly illegal. So, unless you own a Nintendo DS, don’t try to import its BIOS files into Delta.

As you can see, setting up the Delta emulator to play Nintendo games is pretty straightforward as long as you have the required files. Although Delta is just one of the many Game Boy Advance emulators for iOS devices , its availability on the App Store makes it our recommended choice now more than ever.

Don’t forget that if you already own a Nintendo Switch, Nintendo already makes it easy to play retro NES, SNES, N64, and Game Boy games on your Switch console. You just need to pay for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack .