Android



Google's Android used to be the "other" phone/tablet operating system, but its market share has since skyrocketed far above Apple's iOS. Still, there aren't quite as many games, because Apple consumers seem to have more disposable income, and Android is much less locked down (yarr!). It's basically PC mustard race, for phones. Speaking of which, it is possible to run it on your regular computer too, with Android x86 (installed, or as a live CD, or under VirtualBox). Or you can use BlueStacks.

Get your apps from here:
 * Google Play Store - Default "app store" that every 'droid phone should have
 * AppBrain - An alternative way of browsing the apps available on Google Play
 * SlideME marketplace - Download emulation apps from here

Some emulation apps are available at the SlideME marketplace, some are on the Google Play Store!

Protip: If you're buying from Google Play, you've got a 15 minute grace period to return the app. After you buy it, if you go back to the Google Play page on your device, you'll have a 'refund' button. Great for if you're getting buyer's remorse in the first 15 minutes.

Protip 2: If your cellphone experiences random framerate drops and stutters, activate flight mode and enjoy your superior performance.

Free Games
If a game is free to install, but pay-for-play, it goes in the other list. If the game has a free version or demo that's good enough you'd play it without ever buying the full version, it goes here.

Paid Games
Stuff that you pay to download, or subscribe to play online.

Note: If you really don't give a fuck about the developers who made these great games, you could just google the name of the game and add apk at the end, and you'll almost always find an apk file from some site like apkmania, then just install it on your phone. Only works for games that AREN'T subscribe to play online. (Really though, if you enjoy one of these games and play it all the time, spare a few bucks and buy it from the store)

Emulators
Just install and play the games of yesteryear directly on your phone! Also, did I mention that there's no rooting required for these apps to work?

Free
We now strongly recommend RetroArch, a free all in one emulator app; packed with the very best engines for pretty much every game console around; PS1, SNES, NES, GB, GBA, Mega Drive, Genesis/CD, PC Engine/TurboGrafx, WonderSwan, Neo Geo, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Doom, even Virtual Boy, with more to come. RetroArch was designed to consolidate emulators into one single app and counter carpetbaggers who make money out of open-source projects. This app tends to get a bit complicated by design, so seriously, read the manual and life will be better.

RetroArch does have it's flaws; the GBA emulator VBA Next tends to be slow and power draining on weaker phones, so use MyBoy or Gameboid  instead. You will need a seperate N64 emulator; Mupen64AE is the best and is not bloated with adware (if you're too cheap to donate a buck, get it free legally from FDroid.

There's also PPSSPP for emulating PSP games. While still a work in progress, it runs decently to really well on mid to high end devices respectively though it can only run a handful of games. Check it out.

Remember; for example, it will be hard to run PS1 games at full speed on an 800MHz CPU, so understand the limits of your device. If you want to play anything serious, your device should be as powerful as a Google Nexus 7. (it's $200, get one)

Paid
On the Google Play Store, head to the page for [https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Robert+Broglia#?t=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDEsImNvbS5leHBsdXNhbHBoYS5HYmNFbXUiXQ.. Robert Broglia]. Buy his line of emulating apps. They're fast, reliable, and very authentic to the original systems. Robert is a faster developer and he likes talking to customers first hand in you throw him an e-mail.

Recently released, DraStic allows you to play Nintendo DS games at full speed and with multiple screen layout options. Definitely worth checking out, especially for touch-based games such as Animal Crossing.

Yongzh doesn't support his emulators anymore, especially after Google removed most of his apps due to flagrant violations of the GPL.

Root required
1337 hackers only