Sony Play Station’s are among the favorite gaming consoles available in the market. And among all the PS consoles developed by Sony, PS2 is the most sold and popular gaming console. The success of the console led to the development of many local variants and emulators. Several emulators on PC could handle the game’s graphics and processing smoothly due to similar specifications. However, playing PS2 games on mobile was a distant dream you power and compatibility issues. But as time progressed, the emulators are developed to run on Android devices.
There are several PS2 emulators developed, keeping in mind mobile limitations. These emulators are compatible and optimized to run on Android devices. Mobile phones are equipped with high-end graphics and processing engines; it is becoming palatable to install and play PS2 games on Android.
Emulators are the applications that run on one system and act as another system. For example, an Android emulator will run on a Windows PC with a simple Exe file installed on the PC and will function like Android. So, a PS2 emulator will run on Android with an APK and allow you to use the PS2 as a core application on mobile.
Note: Most of the Apps available online are not authentic PS2 Apps. They have either tweaked PSOne emulators or sold under a Psuedoname.
Best PS2 Emulators for Android
Here are the Best Free PS2 Emulators for Android to Play all PS Games on your Mobile.
1. PPSSPP
PPSSPP lets you play Sony PSP games on a smartphone. With millions of downloads and 4.2+ of an average rating, it definitely qualifies as the best PSP emulator available in the market. The PSP is a portable handheld console by Sony that lets gamers play all the popular PS2 with a console and TV box. So, being a portable console, the PPSSPP emulator is optimized to make most of the mobile screen space play the PS2 games visibly.
The emulator is pretty solid and handles the games smoothly. Though there are occasional lags here and there, overall, the PPSSPP lets you play all the PS2 games with a very characterized control mapping.
PPSSPP supports many games, including Persona, Dragon Ball Z, Little Big Planet, Burnout Legends, Burnout Dominator, Final Fantasy: Crisis Core, Final Fantasy: Type-0, Monster Hunter 2 Unite and 3: HD Remake, and much more. The good part is it is available on the Google Play Store to download.
2. Play!
Play! is a PlayStation 2 emulator with which you can enjoy some of the best 128-bit games. To name some games which you play on Play!, Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Final Fantasy X, Pro Evolution Soccer 3, God of War, Mortal combat, etc. The Play! is developed by independent constructors, and it has its own native problems. Currently, the App is not under development since 2017, but it is capable enough to run some of the popular titles on Android. As I said, it is not a perfect emulator as you may face problems like frame drops, eternity loadings, and ROMs being unacceptable. The Play! is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.
3. PPSSTWO PS2
PTWOE is an emulator which is available on the Play Store as it was being received well by the gamers but was removed from the Store for unknown reasons. But it is available to download from its official site. The developers have released two versions of the App. One is faster but is a little buggy, while another one is slower and more stable. Test both versions to check which one is more stable.
To install the PTWOE, just run the emulator; if you need the BIOS file, the app lets you download it quickly (click Download). Then place the BIOS file in a directory.
Android → data → com.ptwoe → data → BIOS
If you face any issues, find the location and create a folder called “BIOS”, then place the BIOS file in that folder.
4. DamonPS2
Free PS2 Emu is one of the fastest Playstation 2 emulators and is developed in order to emulate PS2 games on your Android Phones. The software can run most of the PS2 ROMs, but the overall performance depends on the power of your device (RAM, Graphics, Storage). The Emulator also allows you to play games from other consoles like using a PSP, PSX, and PS2.
The PS2 Emu supports games like Spider+Man 2, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, Driver 2, WWF War Zone, Gran Turismo 2, and more. And the games run pretty smoothly with a Frame Rate up to 50. In addition, the DamonPS2 emulator can smoothly run PS2 video games on Snapdragon 835\845 smartphones.
Features of Free PS2 Emu
- Supports NEON Acceleration.
- You just need a PS2 iso image of the PS2 game.
- Resume and Play
- Supports Multi + Threading, Acceleration + Exceed.
- Don’t need PS2 BIOS or PSP bios.
- Supports Skip BIOS boot game.
- Supports 2X~5X PSP Resolution (1080p HD).
- Supports Gamepad and Control Mapping
- Enjoy forming great graphics and high+quality sound effects.
5. Golden PS2
The Emulator is integrated with a virtual ps2 joystick. The Golden PlayStation 2 emulator will assist you in playing ps2 games with high graphics and a perfect resolution, but it depends if the emulator supports the given game. The app supports Multi-threading Acceleration and 2X~5X PS2 Resolution. It also supports Multi-format game ROM which include; #.iso\bin\img\nrg.
6. Pro PlayStation
Pro PlayStation Emulator is an Android emulator that simulates the Sony Play Station games to the Android phone. It’s easy; just install the app and follow the setup screen. Once the setup is finished, you can enjoy the games. But, since it’s a cross-platform transformation, a few of the titles may not work properly, even if you have a high-end smartphone. But most of the ROMs work with high graphics, and the Pro PS optimizes the game for smooth running on a mid to high-end mobile device.
Features of Pro PlayStation
- Enhanced GPU rendering
- Save the game progress
- On-screen controller and mapping
- Support for different hardware controllers
- Excellent game compatibility.
Download Pro PlayStation | Free
7. FPse
FPse for Android is PlayStation 1 emulator with the most compatible PSone emulator for handheld devices. You get all PSone games in high resolution by using OpenGL. Includes up to 10 gamepad options on the screen. Supports files’s extensions .img, .iso, .bin, .cue, .nrg , .mdf , .pbp and .Z disc image formats. Support of PS3-PS4-XBOX360 controller.
8. NDS Emulator
NDS is a DS emulator for Android Mobile. NDS is simple to use and easy to play a simulation system that supports NDS files (.nds, .zip ..). You can save game states and resume the play. Customize the control buttons and game screen control which are editable. The game supports Android 6.0+. You can even enjoy the game with external gamepad support. And all these features are absolutely free to try.
NDS is also one of the oldest Nintendo Emulators for Android. You get all the basic functions along with some tweaks to make the ROMs compatible with the emulator. Unfortunately, there are ads, and they are rather annoying. Though there are few bugs, they are native to certain games. However, a good smartphone with power pack specs can make the NDS a perfect emulator for your device.
9. PPSSPP Gold
PPSSPP is one of the most popular and stable PSP emulators. The free version has already been featured on the list. Now, we are adding PPSSPP Gold to it! It allows users to play PSP games on Android smartphones. It is considered one of the best emulators in the market.
Players can play games in HD resolution without any interruptions. It supports ISO and CSO, ROM files. While the original PPSSPP emulator has many amazing features, PPSSPP Gold has several advanced features like advanced customization, impressive graphics, etc. The user interface is clean and simple to use. The emulator runs smoothly, so do not worry about it crashing. Other features of the PPSSPP Gold emulator include support for 36 languages, high rendering speed, and easy configuration.
There is no doubt that PPSSPP Gold is much better than the original PPSSPP because of its extra features. So try this emulator for a smooth and enjoyable gaming experience.
[Bonus] PCSX2 emulator
PCSX2 Emulator is a great emulator that allows users to play PSP games on their PC. This free emulator is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linus devices.
It promises smooth gameplay, excellent graphics, and support for touch and game controllers. Some features of PCSX2 are custom resolutions, texture filtering, the save states feature, and support for multiple controllers. One of the best features of this emulator is the built-in video recorder that records videos in HD.
The minimum requirements for using this emulator are a Windows 7 or above (32 bit or 64 bit), Arch Linux or other (64 bit), Ubuntu 18.04 or newer, 2GB video memory, and a RAM of 4GB. It is worth mentioning that the process of setting up PCSX2 is a little bit complicated, but it is worth it.
First, a user has to download the version of the emulator that is compatible with their device. Second, they have to obtain the BIOS file and install the emulator. Next, they have to configure it. Instructions of the setup process have been mentioned in the setup guide on the website.
Conclusion: The Apps listed above can help you relinquish your dream to play PS2 Games. Most of the emulators above are capable of running PS2. But I want to make it clear that no official PS2 emulator for mobile is yet released. Therefore, the apps listed above will have their native bugs and issues.
Note: The Apps listed above are not affiliated with DigitBin in any form. All the Apps and their content are the authority of the developer and/or Sony. DigitBin is not liable for any discrepancies.
This post was last modified on June 19, 2021 1:00 pm