Our medium has a wealthy historical past that stretches far again into the times of DOS gaming, however the additional again in time you go, the extra it is a ache to get these video games working on trendy techniques. Even when I’ve the precise media, what the hell am I alleged to do with a floppy disk picture in 2025? The long-running reply has been to check out DOSBox and its trendy “forks,” or modified variations, however it may be a little bit of a ache to get began should you’re new to emulation.
Enter DOSBox Pure, as soon as a powerful core for the open-source emulation frontend RetroArch—if that seems like gibberish, it simply means you go outdoors sufficient—now a standalone app that may simply load ZIP recordsdata, mounted CD and floppy disk photos, DOS exes, and so forth. It is a pay-what-you-want obtain on developer Schelling‘s itch.io web page, and after giving it a fast look myself, the app is slick and easy proper out of the field.
There’s step-by-step use directions on that web page as nicely if in case you have any hassle getting your video games working—you will must deliver your individual recordsdata, with storefronts like GOG being one potential supply. From there it is bought loads of trendy settings to tweak and soup up your DOS video games of selection: rebindable keys, gamepad and joystick help, save states, a CRT video filter, and even a touchpad mode.
The itch.io web page notes there’s automated controller button assignments if this system efficiently detects your recreation and gamepad, however all the things could be personalized to your liking—one thing Steam Deck customers may discover tantalizing
I’ve fiddled round with DOSBox a bit making an attempt to play an previous model of Prince of Persia and walked away with a number of gripes about its ease of use in comparison with console emulators like Dolphin and DuckStation, so I am excited to provide DOSBox Pure a spin. Emulators like this one supply a strong, if off the overwhelmed path, strategy to play video games that don’t have any enterprise fading from reminiscence.
