Game Sources

This page aims to list all legal options of obtaining ROMs for emulators and any other games playable on SBCs.

This page is a work-in-progress and we know more games need to be added to the list. We also hope to add info on ROM dumping and ROM hacks soon.

We link to and recommend buying games from GOG or Itch.io when possible due to their lack of DRM and (in GOG's case) overall better releases of games (such as including music that some re-releases omit due to publishers not wanting to pay royalties to composers). If a game is not available on GOG or Itch.io, we link to Steam due to their excellent return policy and the fact that most anywhere else will be selling a non-returnable Steam key.

We are not affiliated with any of the sites linked and do not make any money from said links.

1. Free

In some cases, the original owners of certain games have released their games for free non-commercial use.


Arcade


Thanks to the generosity of a few individuals, MAME has been given permission to distribute a few games.


Consoles


Atari - 2600

Bjar has several games here for the 2600, with notable titles being Cave In and Bombs Away.

Atari - 5200

Atari - 7800

Atari - Jaguar

Coleco - ColecoVision

GCE - Vectrex

Magnavox - Odyssey2

Mattel - Intellivision

NEC - TurboGrafx-16

NEC - TurboGrafx-CD

Not a game, but useful for testing if TG-CD emulation is working correctly.

Nintendo - Gamecube

Nintendo - N64

Nintendo - NES

Nintendo - SNES

Nintendo - Virtual Boy

Nintendo - Wii

Panasonic - 3DO

Sega - 32X

Sega - Dreamcast

Sega - Genesis

Download link in description.

Sega - Master System

Sega - Saturn

Sega - Sega CD

SNK - Neo Geo

SNK - Neo Geo CD

Not a game, but useful for testing if NG-CD emulation is working correctly.

Sony - PlayStation

An unofficial collection of all surviving Net Yaroze homebrew games. Guide

Sony - PlayStation 2


Handhelds


Atari - Lynx

Bandai - WonderSwan Color

Java - J2ME

Nintendo - 3DS

Nintendo - DS

Nintendo - Game Boy

Game Boy Color is also mixed in here.

Game Boy Color is also mixed in here.

Nintendo - Game Boy Advance

Nintendo - Game Boy Color

Game Boy is also mixed in here.

Game Boy is also mixed in here.

Nintendo - Pokémon Mini

Sega - Game Gear

SNK - Neo Geo Pocket Color

Sony - PSP


PCs


Amstrad - CPC

Apple - II

Atari - ST

Commodore - Amiga

The source for freely distributable Amiga software.

Commodore - C64

Commodore - Plus/4

Microsoft - DOS

Game download links in description.

A curated selection of shareware, freeware, or public domain games for DOS.

Microsoft - MSX

ScummVM

Sinclair - ZX Spectrum

This site will try to mess with you. Just keep hitting History until you get a version where Nohzdyve is available.

The source for freely distributable ZX Spectrum software.


RetroPie Ports - Raspberry Pi


Commander Keen
The first and fourth in the series are shareware. The "Commander Keen 7: Keys of Krodacia" mod was made with the fourth so it is also shareware.

Doom WADs

A completely free replacement of Doom and Doom 2 that can be used to play anything that requires said games.

An interesting child-friendly game that ran in the Doom engine, was given away in cereal boxes, and is now a free standalone game.

An add-on for Doom 2 that has been released for free as a standalone game.

An updated version of HacX. Requires Doom 2 v1.9 (or Freedoom) to play.

A Star Wars themed mod. Requires Doom 2 v1.9 (or Freedoom) to play.

Quake PAKs

Fifth episode for the original Quake made by MachineGames. Requires Quake to play.

This is a total conversion of Quake to an X-Men themed game. MODDB mirror seems to be the recommended version.

2. Paid (Digital)

Many PC game 're-releases' are actually original ROMs packed with some sort of emulator or engine to run them on your computer. As such it is often possible to extract the ROMs from the archive for your own personal use.


Arcade


Neo Geo

  • Good Old Games

Certain Neo Geo games available on GOG contain ROMs that work perfectly fine with certain emulators available on SBCs, and even include a BIOS. DATs for GOG's Neo Geo ROMs


Consoles


Atari - 2600

Coleco - ColecoVision

Mecha-8 is available for free in the "Team Pixelboy's Christmas 2017 ROM Gift" in the Free section, but buy it if you really enjoy it.

Mattel - Intellivision

Can be downloaded for free in the Free section, but buy it if you really enjoy it.

Nintendo - NES

Demo available to try and for purchase on Itch.io and Steam, though Itch.io is recommended due to all of the additional versions it includes that lack DRM and it includes a Steam key as well.

Nintendo - SNES

Sega - Genesis / Mega Drive

Sony - PlayStation


Handhelds


Nintendo - Game Boy / Game Boy Color

Sony - PSP


PCs


Commodore - Amiga

This emulator is the jewel of Amiga emulation, and is the only legal source for Kickstart ROMs (BIOS).

It is said in the Steam discussions that the games can be extracted from the "Anthology.exe" using WINRAR, but there are conflicting reports on this. Which games are available for Amiga is also unknown.

Cinemaware Anthology might be a better value. Extraction of the ROM is done simply by using WINRAR on the EXE.

Cinemaware Anthology might be a better value. Extraction of the ROM is done simply by using WINRAR on the EXE.

Cinemaware Anthology might be a better value. Extraction of the ROM is done simply by using WINRAR on the EXE.

Microsoft - DOS

It is said in the Steam discussions that the games can be extracted from the "Anthology.exe" using WINRAR, but there are conflicting reports on this. Which games are available for DOS is also unknown.

Can make a version for DOS using Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Ultimate Talkie Edition (Beta Version).

Can make a version for DOS using Secret of Monkey Island Ultimate Talkie Edition.

ScummVM

Day of the Tentacle (1993) and Maniac Mansion Enhanced Version (1989) can be extracted from this. Extraction Method

Full Throttle (1995) can be extracted from this. Extraction Method

Can make a version for ScummVM using Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Ultimate Talkie Edition (Beta Version).

Can make a version for ScummVM using Secret of Monkey Island Ultimate Talkie Edition.


RetroPie Ports - Raspberry Pi


Contains episodes 1-5 of the series.

Sadly, episode 6 isn't included in this collection due to legal issues. There exists three full versions of the game in both CGA and EGA modes with EGA v1.4 being the version you need.

Installation Guide that hopefully works fine with the currently available version.


3. Paid (Physical)

Some games have been re-released physically in some form that you can extract digital ROMs from.


Consoles


Nintendo - NES

NES games can actually be extracted from the NES Classic. The NES Classic uses the regular ".nes" format. We at SBC Gaming apologize for lack of further information at this time.

Nintendo - SNES

SNES games can actually be extracted from the SNES Classic. SNES uses the Wii U Virtual Console-based ".sfrom" format, which can be easily converted to ".sfc" by a tool. We at SBC Gaming apologize for lack of further information at this time.


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License