MAME 0.194

As console gaming became the video gaming platform of choice for many game developers and players, the golden age of the arcade could have easily been forgotten. From Pacman and Space Invaders to Outrun and Street Fighter, the arcade games that cropped up throughout the eighties kept millions of teenagers happy. Despite the advances in computer technology, the feeling of nostalgia connected with these arcade classics is immeasurable. If only there was a way to revisit them on your computer.

MAME, or the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, tackles the problem faced for those nostalgia-driven gamers. MAME, which was first released in 1997, is the world’s most renowned arcade emulator. MAME enjoys this position for a very good reason – for arcade emulation, you can do no better than with MAME. With MAME downloaded, you can download the old arcade games you played when you were young, or if you are of a younger generation, visit them for the first time.

Pro's: The best arcade emulator there is, free and open-source, compact download.

Con's: The GUI for MAME itself is also quite dated.

Conclusion: It is hard to write a bad word against MAME; for those who want arcade emulation there is no better option than the emulator, which is fast-becoming as classic as the games it helps emulate. For a small project born over fifteen years ago, MAME has become a household name in the emulation software market.