iPhone users who don’t like jailbreaking can finally enjoy the blocky polygons and varied textures of the original PlayStation with Gamma, a free PS1 emulator that hit the iOS App Store last night. Gamma is provided by developer ZodTTD, which has been creating emulators for the iPhone since the dawn of third-party iOS apps.
The app, available for iPhone and iPad, supports Bluetooth controllers and keyboards, as well as customizable screen controller skins. It uses Google Drive and Dropbox sync to back up your game archives and save states (these are snapshots you can save and reload at any time, kind of like pausing your game – perfect for older games that don’t allow you to save at any time). Just like the Delta emulator that dominated the App Store’s list of top free apps for weeks before being replaced by a free donut, the app also automatically grabs the game cover art for you.
However, the landscape default skin is mostly transparent and hard to see, so you’ll want to replace it if possible.
Thankfully, Gamma doesn’t require you to find any BIOS files to run PS1 games. That said, I struggled with the first two games I tried – NASCAR 98 and Shrek treasure hunt. But this could just be the game file I’m using, since I can run Strange World: Abe’s Odyssey Just right. The third time’s the charm, right?
According to Gamma’s App Store page, it collects identifiers that can be used to track you, and may collect location and usage data. Regardless, the app didn’t trigger my location data access request, nor did it prompt me for tracking permissions (although it did do so for my colleague Sean Hollister).
Benjamin Stark, aka ZodTTD, is always around.Stark pointed out edge Via email, Delta developer Riley Testut’s first iOS simulator, GBA4iOS, borrowed code from an simulator called gpSPhone made by Stark that Testut wrote in 2013. But even this app, Stark said, is based (with permission, he added) on gpSP, an Android emulator created by a developer called Exophase.
Updated May 12, 11:36 a.m. ET: Added additional context and details shared by Stark.
