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
- ColecoVision North's Homebrew ROM Collection (Direct Download)
- PDROMs' ColecoVision Homebrew
- PDROMs' ColecoVision Homebrew (News)
- Team Pixelboy's Christmas 2017 ROM Gift
GCE - Vectrex
Magnavox - Odyssey2
Mattel - Intellivision
- 2048
- 4-Tris
- Christmas Carol vs. The Ghost Of Christmas Presents
- Clowns and Balloons
- Flappy Byrd
- Go Sub
- Grail of the Gods
- Hotel Bunny
- Intellipongola
- IntyBASIC Contest 2015 ROM Pack
- IntyBASIC Contest 2018 ROM Pack
- Istar
- Meteors
- Oh Mummy
- PDROMs' Intellivision Homebrew
- PDROMs' Intellivision Homebrew (News)
- Pumpkin Master
- Rocketeer
- Space Patrol
- Space Raid
- Snurf Rescue
- Stack'Em
- Stonix
- Stunt Cycle
- Super Pixel Brothers
- Sydney Hunter and the Sacred Tribe
- Towering Inferno
- Ultimate Pong
NEC - TurboGrafx-16
- PDROMs' TurboGrafx-16 Homebrew
- PDROMs' TurboGrafx-16 Homebrew (News)
- Zophar's TurboGrafx-16 Homebrew
NEC - TurboGrafx-CD
Not a game, but useful for testing if TG-CD emulation is working correctly.
Nintendo - Gamecube
Nintendo - N64
Nintendo - NES
- Alter Ego
- Blade Buster
- Cowlitz Gamers' Adventure & Cowlitz Gamers' 2nd Adventure
- D+Pad Hero 1 & 2
- Elite
- Filthy Kitchen
- Gradual Games' Free ROMs
- Gruniozerca
- Gruniozerca 2 - The Great Cavy Rescue!
- Indivisible
- Leak or Die!
- MOON8
- Multidude & Super Painter
- Mystic Origins (Beta)
- NES World's Best of NES Homebrew - NES World's NES Homebrew
- NESert Golfing
- PDROMs' NES Homebrew
- PDROMs' NES Homebrew (News)
- ROMhacking.net's NES Homebrew
- Shiru's NES Homebrew
- STREEMERZ
- Super Bat Puncher (Demo)
- What Remains
- Wit.nes (Demo)
- Wolfling
- Zophar's NES Homebrew
Nintendo - SNES
- N-Warp Daisakusen
- NES World's SNES Homebrew
- PDROMs' SNES Homebrew
- PDROMs' SNES Homebrew (News)
- Rock 'n Roll Racing
- ROMhacking.net's SNES Homebrew
- Shiru's SNES Homebrew
- Super Boss Gaiden
- Zophar's SNES Homebrew
Nintendo - Virtual Boy
- PDROMs' Virtual Boy Homebrew
- PDROMs' Virtual Boy Homebrew (News)
- ROMhacking.net's Virtual Boy Homebrew
- Zophar's Virtual Boy Homebrew
Nintendo - Wii
Panasonic - 3DO
Sega - 32X
Sega - Dreamcast
- PDROMs' Dreamcast Homebrew
- PDROMs' Dreamcast Homebrew (News)
- Volgarr the Viking
- Zophar's Dreamcast Homebrew
Sega - Genesis
Download link in description.
- Old Towers
- PDROMs' Genesis Homebrew
- PDROMs' Genesis Homebrew (News)
- ROMhacking.net's Genesis Homebrew
- Sega Master System Brawl (Beta)
- Shiru's Genesis Homebrew
- Zero Tolerance
- Zophar's Genesis Homebrew
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
- Anguna
- PDROMs' DS Homebrew
- PDROMs' DS Homebrew (News)
- ROMhacking.net's DS Homebrew
- Zophar's DS Homebrew
Nintendo - Game Boy
Game Boy Color is also mixed in here.
Game Boy Color is also mixed in here.
Nintendo - Game Boy Advance
- Airball
- Anguna
- Another World
- Deflektor
- Eliminator (Prototype)
- Flood (Prototype)
- Goldrunner
- Nebulus
- PDROMs' Game Boy Advance Homebrew
- PDROMs' Game Boy Advance Homebrew (News)
- ROMhacking.net's Game Boy Advance Homebrew
- Zophar's Game Boy Advance Homebrew
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
- PDROMs' Neo Geo Pocket Color Homebrew
- PDROMs' Neo Geo Pocket Color Homebrew (News)
- Zophar's Neo Geo Pocket Color Homebrew
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
- 3D Realms' Freeware
- Adventures of Maddog Williams in the Dungeons of Duridian
- Amulets & Armor
- Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021
- Battle of the Eras
- Bip Bop 1 & 3
Game download links in description.
- Blackthorne
- Connex
- Elder Scrolls: Arena
- Elder Scrolls: Chapter 2: Daggerfall
- Galacta
- God of Thunder
- Helious 1 & 2
A curated selection of shareware, freeware, or public domain games for DOS.
- Sango Fighter
- Sango Fighter 2
- SkyRoads
- Squarez Deluxe
- Supaplex
- Teenagent
- Telengard
- TerraFire
- Tom & Jerry
- Tyrian 2000
- Ultima 4
- Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
- Wings
- Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire
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.
- Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars
- Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle
- Commander Keen 7: Keys of Krodacia
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.
- Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
- HeXen: Beyond Heretic
- HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
- HeXen II
- Quake: The Offering
- Quake III: Gold
- Strife: Veteran Edition
- Wolfenstein 3D + Spear of Destiny
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.