Turn your Android phone into a Sega Genesis

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AndroGens

Who needs a PS4 when you can experience 16-bit goodness on your Android phone? Okay, I’ll take a PlayStation 4, but sometimes you want to experience your childhood.

I was searching through the Play Store the other day, just looking for something compelling to try and test out. Little did I know that I was on the verge of introducing myself to a parasitical time suck know as console emulators.

An emulator is a piece of software that functions as a virtual console. This allows you to play ROM files that will function as digital copies of cartridge or disc games. I have used emulators in the past. They’re not the cleanest implementation of 16-bit heaven, but they function well enough for you to get your Madden ’95 on.

So how do you get started? 

In the Play Store I stumbled across an app called AndroGens. AndroGens is an emulator for the Sega Genesis.

  1. Downloading the application will do nothing for you without downloading ROM files to load within the application. From your phone, do a quick Google Search for Genesis ROM files. You can find ROMs on sites like CoolROM.
  2. Locate the game you would like to play. I just finished watching Aladdin with the kids, so I decided to start there.
    1. Download the file.
    2. The downloaded file will be a zip file. Extract the file.
    3. Locate the new folder. Move the .bin file to the Genesis>roms folder located within your device storage.
  3. From within AndroGens, tap on Load ROM.
  4. Tap on the file name of the game you would like to play and you are off and running!

Emulators are available for most vintage console platforms like NES, SNES, Gameboy, Dreamcast, etc.

AndroGens is available for free in the Play Store. It is ad-supported, but you can purchase an ad-free version which, at the time of writing, costs $2.07.

AndroGens – FREE

AndroGens No Ads – $2.07