If you’re looking for an Android PSP emulator to relive the glory days of games such as Daxter, Lumines, and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, PPSSPP is the best choice out there. Better still, thanks to a new update, it’s even more impressive than before, boasting performance and UI upgrades to make the experience as engaging as the real thing.
The latest PPSSPP update should arrive on the Google Play Store this week, but if you can’t wait to play the best PSP games, you can download the latest version from the PPSSPP site directly. The emulator should work on any decent Android device, but some of the options from our list of the best gaming phones, such as the OnePlus 12R and RedMagic 9S Pro, have the performance power to run the games at the same level, if not better, than the original Sony console.
If you’ve used PPSSPP before but want to check out the full scope of the updates, the patch notes are available on the developer’s blog. As we said earlier, it’s mainly UI and performance improvements, but the update also enables you to open saves from zip files, so you can easily transfer your saved data from device to device without taking up too much space or waiting forever for it to upload.
It’s also worth pointing out that the latest PPSSPP update is coming to iPhone, but the developer behind the app can’t be sure when it might arrive due to Apple’s more complicated app review process. While we’ve only had emulation on iPhone in recent months, with this new update, PPSSPP is by far the most robust for PSP emulation, offering a level of quality and customization you just don’t get from the competitors.
That’s everything you need to know about the new PPSSPP update, but if you’re looking for something cheap to play on, be sure to check out our picks for the best budget gaming phones while you’re here. Or, if you’re looking for something a bit bigger, we’ve also got a list of the best gaming tablets to suit all budgets.