Emulators for playing classic retro games have been around for a long time, but the scene has advanced in the last decade to the point where it's trivial to spin up your own retro gaming PC. From handheld consoles capable of emulating almost any retro game you can think of, to one-click installations that add the best of emulation to your device, retro gaming is in a great place. The best part is, if you want to build a retro gaming PC, you don't need the best processor and can get away with a budget-friendly graphics card. That means you can get into retro gaming by assembling almost any old PC parts you have, making it a cheap way to enjoy thousands of classic games.

You don't need powerful hardware for retro gaming

Seriously, if it turns on, it'll probably be fine

If you're not a fan of buying a gaming handheld for retro gaming, you still have many options. Since retro games and their emulators have modest hardware requirements, you can probably cobble together a powerful retro gaming PC from any old PC parts you already have. Emulators like Batocera run on almost anything, and even the recommended requirements are only for 2GB of RAM, a supported GTX/RX/HD series graphics card, a screen with at least the resolution of the desired emulated console, and a 64-bit, x86_64 processor. With Nvidia releasing the first GTX cards in 2005, almost two decades of graphics cards can be used to make your retro gaming console. And now old Macs can get in on the retro gaming fun, as Apple has relaxed the App Store rules, allowing emulators for the first time.

Or, if you don't like having a large PC case next to your TV, you can use a mini PC to make a retro console. You can also use an SBC since the Raspberry Pi is powerful enough. The only thing to remember is that the more recent the console you want to emulate, the more powerful the hardware you will need. That makes complete sense, as emulators have to recreate the hardware of those retro consoles while playing games. And you'll want a controller (or two) to complete your retro gaming PC. Xbox controllers are probably the easiest to set up on PC hardware, but we're also a big fan of 8BitDo and its retro styling.

• 8BitDo Ultimate Wireless 2.4g Controller

  $50 at Amazon

• Microsoft Xbox Core Controller

  $65 at Amazon $60 at Microsoft

Plus, the software is free

Get the retro gaming experience with a few clicks

Of course, putting together a modestly powerful PC for retro gaming is only half the equation. You still need software (and games) to run on it, and our favorite emulator package is EmuDeck. It's powerful, has a good UI, and is easy to use. It's also really easy to install, as all you need to do is download the Windows installer from the website, and it will do everything for you. The only time you need to intervene is after installing it, when you use the Steam ROM Manager to add all of your emulators and games to your Steam library. That makes it convenient to launch your games from Steam, instead of hunting for individual ROM files on your PC.

It's free to use, with some features locked behind a Patreon paywall, but nothing that reduces the basic functionality. EmuDeck was designed for gaming handhelds but now works on any Windows-based or Android device with sufficient power. After Nintendo's lawsuit, EmuDeck no longer has Citra or Yuzu (the Nintendo Switch emulators), but it does have virtually every other console from before the Switch's release. It removes most of the headaches of working with emulators, and is the easiest way to play the huge back catalog of older consoles.

The only thing you need is the ROM files. You can get various abandonware titles from My Abandonware to get you started, from consoles like the Neo Geo, Sega 32X, or Lynx. If you have physical games for many retro consoles, you can rip the games to ROM files, as section 117 of the Copyright Act allows for "archival" copies of computer programs. The methods for doing this might vary depending on the console: for example, cartridge-based consoles will likely need a cartridge interface for your PC, and disc-based consoles will need either a program that runs on the console, or a compatible PC DVD drive to read the discs and copy the data to a ROM file.

It's never been a better time to get into retro gaming

The emulation scene has advanced to the point where it's trivial to set up a retro gaming PC or handheld console that can play almost everything from the past. Some mods even allow for playing games like Ocarina of Time with friends, something nobody envisioned when the game first came out. It will only get better as emulator developers get better at reverse-engineering the consoles of yesteryear. In current times, the experience of retro gaming is just as smooth and painless as modern consoles or PC gaming.