RetroBat

There’s an interesting (let’s call it that) debate among hipster-retro-loving-gamers about which is actually better: retro game emulators or the original system. While we agree that emulation usually offers improved gameplay (at least in terms of graphics) and a lot more convenience, and less cost, the original consoles and OSes tend to offer the most authentic experience for purists.

Nowadays, literally most old school games from the 80s and 90s can be found on ROM files, easily downloadable from the Internet. However, specific emulators work for specific platforms, and some emulators are only good for specific types of games (based on what their original device was).

If you don’t want to spend hours on forums and you just want a software solution that can help you run ALL your childhood games (yep, we’re talking all the old school PC games and all of the old school console games) on Windows, well, then check out RetroBat.

RetroBat aims to offer you the best possible experience when it comes to running your collection of ROMs on Windows. Here are the quick facts: it works on the latest versions of Windows (Windows 7 SP3, 8, 8.1, and 10), it’s actually a batch of Powershell scripts mashed together to create a frontend software (GUI) that allows you to run all your favorite ROMS using some of the world’s best emulators out there such as RetroArch, and EmulationStation.

While you can do the same exact thing individually, RetroBat can help you install, download, and set up these apps automatically. Rest assured, even though the process of installing it might seem “rugged,” there are a couple of tutorials on the dev website that can help you out.

All of its components combined give you a product capable of running from a plethora of forgotten and nostalgia-inducing systems and consoles such as 3DO, ATARI, AMIGA, PC-ENGINE, NINTENDO DS and GAMEBOY, Sony PSP, SEGA, PlayStation, and even MS-DOS among many, many others.

That said, it’s easy to see why RetroBat will definitely keep retro gaming fans happy. It does require a bit of patience at the start before you install and configure it, but it surely pays off for anybody that takes the time to do that.