The PlayStation 2 hit the market to succeed its predecessor, the PS1, and compete head-to-head against Nintendo‘s GameCube and a new rival: Microsoft‘s Xbox. Of course, this was the winner of the new console war, and throughout her life (which was not short) an impressive number of games came to her. Many have been remastered and we can play them again on PC or on the new consoles, however, others have been forgotten and, if we want to play them again, the best way to do it is through a PS2 emulator .
Although until a few years ago emulating a console like the PS2 (and, above all, making it fast and accurate) was quite complicated, right now the games on this console can be played without problems on any more or less powerful computer. Even in micro-computers that work as retro-consoles like the Raspberry Pi.
Next, we are going to see which are the best PlayStation 2 emulators that we can install in Windows 10 to play the mythical Sony console again. Of course, we remember that to be able to play these games again we will need to have the originals and search the Internet to download the PS2 BIOS of our region, something that is not well seen and borders on il-legality.
Requirements to be able to emulate the PS2 well
The requirements that we must meet to be able to emulate this Sony console without problems are:
- Windows 7 or higher (Windows 10 recommended).
- Dual core processor, HyperThreading, SSE2 and AVX2 support,
- Graphics with at least 2GB of video memory (4GB VRAM recommended) like the GTX 1050 Ti.
- 4 GB of RAM, although it is recommended to have, at least 8 GB.
If we want to emulate games in 1080p, or in a higher resolution, these requirements will have to be even higher.
PCSX2, the best PlayStation 2 emulator
One of the emulators that has been running the longest, and that gives the best result when running this type of game is PCSX2. This emulator comes from the same developers who created PCSX, the best PlayStation 1 emulator that we can install on Windows.
This emulator has a large number of advantages over an original PS2. For example, it allows us to customize the resolution up to 4096 × 4096 pixels, and offers a complete Anti Aliasing system and texture filters that make our old PlayStation games look better than the new HD remakes.
It also has excellent features that improve gameplay, such as the ability to create as many memory cards as we want, manual save points, and even the ability to use cheats in games. In addition, we do not have to be tied to the PS2 controller, but we can use other controllers (PS3, Xbox, etc.) and even keyboard and mouse, as we feel more comfortable.
We can download PCSX2 from this link . It is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Play! PS2 Emulator, a simple alternative to play PS2 games
If we are looking for a high-level emulator, much easier to use, then we can opt for Play! PS2 Emulator . The goal of this emulator is to assume certain limitations but, in return, to make PS2 emulation much easier and more accessible for all users, even those who have no knowledge or do not want to spend time configuring anything. Just load the game and play.
Besides being the simplest, its main feature is that it does not need a BIOS to work. Unlike other emulators, this one simulates games at a very high level, so this binary is not required to run the games.
We can download Play! PS2 Emulator from your website . It is an open source emulator, and we can download it for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
RetroArch, the multi-emulator back in action
RetroArch is, today, the emulator for everything. This program acts as a frontend for Libretro, the largest pack of emulators that we can find. This is capable of emulating practically any retro console (and not so retro) directly on our PC.
RetroArch has a lot of virtues and features. For example, it is the most complete emulator that we can find, since it is capable of opening practically any game, and with great emulation precision. It has a super-advanced configuration that will allow us to adjust all the parameters to perfection, and it even has exceptional features, such as the possibility of playing any console over the network and even the support of having achievements in the games.
Among the large number of emulators that we can find within RetroArch, the core Play! Stands out above all. This is the one that will allow us to emulate, among other things, the PlayStation 2 games within this same program.
We can download RetroArch from the following link . This emulator is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and a host of other systems and platforms. If something works, you can probably install RetroArch for it.
Emulatorx, another multiple emulator compatible with PS2
Emulatorx is another of the multiple emulators that we can use that is compatible with the PlayStation 2. This open source program will allow us to emulate a large number of different consoles and platforms through a renewed interface that is very easy to use. The emulators can be downloaded online from the same program as we need them.
This program also has excellent features that will undoubtedly improve the gaming experience. For example, it supports achievements, and also allows us to make backup copies of our saved games so that we never lose a single one.
We can download EmulatorX from this link .