11 Best Retro Game Consoles (2025), Tested and Reviewed

What About Nintendo Fans?

It’s a shame that 2 of the champion retro gaming consoles successful caller years, the NES Classic Mini and the SNES Classic Mini, person been discontinued. Both diagnostic large designs with a miniaturized look that’s existent to the originals, silky performance, and beardown crippled lineups of Nintendo’s top hits. You tin inactive bargain them online (usually from third-party resellers), but prices are earnestly inflated. The SNES Classic Mini, for example, was $80 astatine launch, but a reseller has it for much than $320 connected Amazon close now. You mightiness person amended luck buying 1 used.

Nintendo fans keen connected immoderate classical gaming enactment are amended served snagging a Nintendo Switch and buying a Nintendo Switch Online rank ($20 for a year) to entree much than 100 NES and SNES titles (here’s the afloat list). Add the Expansion Pack ($50 for a year) and you tin get these N64 games too. If you’re craving immoderate old-school pocket-sized Nintendo fun, cheque retired the revived Game & Watch ($55) line. They are constricted to a mates of games each, but erstwhile those games are Super Mario oregon Zelda titles, that tin beryllium capable for hours of fun.

Other Retro Consoles

The Analogue Mega SG ($200) (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is expensive, and it doesn’t travel with immoderate games oregon controllers (they outgo $25 apiece). But it tin play aged Sega Genesis cartridges, truthful it’s a coagulated prime if you person a container of them successful the basement. Thanks to an FPGA chip, this console runs the archetypal games conscionable arsenic you retrieve them.

ModRetro Chromatic for $199: The ModRetro Chromatic is simply a beautifully built handheld susceptible of playing archetypal Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. It feels authentic, boasts large artillery beingness (three AA batteries), responsive controls, a coagulated speaker, and a show agleam capable to usage outdoors. I instantly mislaid an hr playing Tetris. ModRetro has eschewed modern additions similar saves oregon downloadable games, but is publishing caller titles connected Game Boy cartridges. As beauteous arsenic this retro handheld is, to accidental that ModRetro laminitis Palmer Luckey is arguable is putting it mildly, and that could beryllium capable to enactment you off.

There are plentifulness of classic arcade games disposable connected PlayStation 4 oregon 5. If you opt for a PS Plus Premium subscription ($18 for a period oregon $160 for a year), you get the Classics Catalog, packed with aged PlayStation games.

The Xbox Series X|S boasts the champion backward compatibility, arsenic Microsoft’s newest consoles tin play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and archetypal Xbox titles. You tin besides find classical titles included successful our favourite gaming subscription, the fantabulous Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ($20 per month).

If you person Valve’s Steam Deck, cheque retired the comprehensive EmuDeck to emulate a wide assortment of aged systems successful style. PC gamers besides person an tremendous prime of emulators. I like RetroArch due to the fact that it emulates aggregate systems, but if you person a favourite aged console and privation to get adjacent to that archetypal experience, you tin apt find a tailor-made emulator to scratch that itch.

The Panic Playdate ($229) (7/10, WIRED Recommends) isn’t strictly a retro console, but it is fun, creative, and quirky, and it has a chiseled retro feel. It adjacent has a crank for an all-new mode to interact with games!

The Analogue Duo ($250) (6/10, WIRED Review) makes TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine games look unthinkable connected immoderate HDMI screen. It boasts HuCARD and CD-ROM functionality, truthful existing games enactment careless of media, region, oregon different requirements. Sadly, it’s pricey, controllers outgo extra, and there’s nary openFPGA support.

Finally, if you miss each those Flash-based browser games you utilized to play successful the bureau erstwhile you were meant to beryllium working, work this guide: How to Play All of Those Old Flash Games You Remember.