Gone are the days of jailbreaking to play retro game emulators on iOS devices. After years of stringent regulations, Apple has finally lifted the ban on them, allowing players to revisit the consoles of yesteryear — and legally, to boot. Less than a month later, Delta is leading the charge as an all-in-one emulator, making waves with support for various retro devices, including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), N64, Nintendo DS, and more.
It’s been a strong start for developer Riley Testut. The app is currently ranked top in the Entertainment category, scoring an average score of 4.9 (out of five) against 13.6K ratings. Being free of charge certainly adds to its appeal, but the host of nifty features is largely responsible for its quick rise to popularity.
For starters, the Delta emulator is compatible with all major console controllers, as well as Bluetooth and wired keyboards. Specific input methods, such as gyroscope and microphone controls, are supported for select titles, while Delta Sync lets users sync their games, save files/states, cheats, controller skins, and mappings between different devices.
Personalisation options are available as well, taking the form of layout customisation, additional button mapping, and custom skin creation. Those looking to share the joy are in luck – the app supports local multiplayer on the NES, SNES, and N64, inviting up to four players in a team.
As with all emulators, Delta requires ROMs (short for “read only memory”), or digital copies of a game, to work. Simply download the desired ROM, import it into the app, and it’ll automatically be sorted to its corresponding platform. To successfully run the game, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:
- iPhone and iPod touch – requires iOS 14.0 or later
- Mac – requires macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or later, and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later
- Apple Vision – requires visionOS 1.0 or later
Delta is available on the Apple App Store for free. For those familiar with the emulator scene, its popularity shouldn’t be a surprise – the app has had five years to iron out any kinks since entering version 1.0 in 2019, and is now recognised as one of the most polished options on the market.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
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