If you’re a gamer, you’ve most likely heard of ROMs and emulators before; in fact, you’ve probably played your favorite classic video games on an emulator at some point. For a couple of years now, there’s been some tension between video game companies and ROM sites, which has led to many of these ROM sites closing down due to copyright issues. As such, a lot of fan-favorite ROM sites are no longer available, and many gamers are left wondering where they should go if they want to download any new games.
That being said, not all hope is lost because there are still countless hidden gems out there where you can download a plethora of ROMS, and you can rest assured that these sites are still working even today.
What Are ROMs?
For the unfamiliar, ROM emulation is popular among—you’ve guessed it—gamers and the gaming community. When you use an emulator with a ROM, you can play a retro (or even a recent game) on your PC. There are various reasons why gamers enjoy ROM emulation. For some, they use it to modify games for personal enjoyment, while others use it because they don’t have the console for that game and therefore can’t play it.
Top 5 ROM Sites That Still Work
You can’t just download from just any ROM site you find on the internet; you need to make sure that the site is safe to download from because you may end up downloading malware and viruses into your PC. Fortunately, we’ve made things easier for you. We’ve listed below ROM sites that are completely safe to use and 100% working.
Free ROMs
As its name implies, Free ROMs offers thousands of ROMs for various consoles, including Atari, N64, PSP, and more. What’s great about this is that all of the ROMs available are free and safe to use, so you don’t have to worry about any unsafe files being downloaded into your PC. To start downloading from Free ROMs, you must first create an account. But other than that, you’re free to roam around the site and download whatever you want.
Romspedia
Another safe ROM site with a myriad of titles you can download is Romspedia. On this site, you’ll find various retro games from your childhood, as well as emulators and BIOSes. Romspedia is easy to navigate and incredibly simple to use, so you don’t need to be a tech genius to figure out where to go and what to do. For to make things even more convenient for you, there’s also a search function on the site if you already have a particular game in mind.
Romulation
Romulation is a popular ROM site, and it has been around for quite some time now. This site stood the test of time, which goes to show that it’s one of the safest ROM sites out there. Its interface is clean and simple to use, and you can easily search for whatever game you have in mind using the search bar category. If you’re looking for a safe site free of harmful viruses, Romulation is the place to go.
VIMM’s Lair
Some sites only have basic ROMs and emulators, but if you’re looking for the more advanced ones, then you should go to VIMM’s Lair. This site has been around for nearly 2 decades now, which is why so many gamers trust it. Whether you’re a beginner or a ROM veteran, anyone can easily use VIMM’s Lair, thanks to its user-friendliness and easy interface.
Dope ROMs
Lastly, Dope ROMs stands true to its name for offering some of the best games out there. Plus, it’s considered one of the best sites for downloading ROMs, especially since it assures its users that everything found on the site is safe to download. Dope ROMs has hundreds of thousands of ROMs available, with multi-language support as well. Awesome, right?
Conclusion
Even when we grow older, the games from our childhood will always stick to us. Even when you no longer have a console available to play your favorite games, you can turn to ROM emulation to relive your childhood. Of course, you have to make sure that you’re downloading from safe sites. Fortunately, you can rest assured that all the sites mentioned above are completely safe from malware and other such viruses.
