Summary
- PS2 emulation on Android has gotten an upgrade, thanks to a recent update to NetherSX2, a PS2 emulator for Android.
- NetherSX2 is a fork of AetherSX2, a PS2 emulator for Android that ceased development years ago.
- There is also another PS2 emulator for Android in the works called ARMSX2, which promises big performance gains.
If I had to pinpoint one console in particular that really kick-started my passion for gaming, it would be the PlayStation 2 (PS2). While I played my fair share of Xbox games back in the day, I spent far more time playing PS2 games, and its games catalog remains legendary to this day. Titles like Sly Cooper, God of War, Tony Hawk: Pro Skater 3, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Kingdom Hearts 2 immediately spring to mind.
Unfortunately, like many others, I no longer have my PS2, so revisiting these titles isn’t easy. While some games have remasters and remakes, nothing beats playing the original. Thanks to advances in emulation, revisiting past generations of consoles and handhelds has become much easier for gamers. And it’s not just emulation on PC either; recently, many emulators have become available on Android, enabling you to play classic games from many different platforms anywhere, whether it’s the PlayStation 3, PSP, Game Boy, or even the Nintendo Switch.
That said, if you have a nostalgia itch to scratch for the PS2, then luckily, revisiting PS2 games on Android via the powers of emulation is becoming even better. Recently, the PS2 emulator NetherSX2 for Android released an update that improves the overall performance of games and includes specific fixes for popular titles such as Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, TimeSplitters, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, among others.
NetherSX2 isn’t on the Google Play Store
You’ll have to download it from GitHub and sideload it to play PS2 games
If you’re interested in trying the NetherSX2 PS2 emulator, here’s some background information on it. The emulator is based on an older PS2 Android emulator called AetherSX2, which ceased development back in 2023. Since then, PS2 emulation efforts have slowed, but projects like NetherSX2, which is a fork of AetherSX2, are picking up steam, and this latest update from developer Trixarian is proof of that.
If you want to download and test the NetherSX2 PS2 emulator yourself, you’ll need to sideload it onto your Android device since it’s only available on GitHub and not on the Google Play Store. When you go to download it, you may notice there are two versions available. The reason for this is that the builds are based on different versions of AestherX2, and some builds work better on certain PS2 games than others.
According to Android Authority, the build that most people should download is build 4248, as it includes fixes for games that utilize the Snowblind engine, such as the Jak series, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, and Ace Combat. The other version of NetherSX2 is build 3668, which the developer says runs games like NASCAR and Colin McRae Rally games better. It’s worth noting you can only have one build of NetherSX2 installed at a time on your device, and the saves aren’t cross-compatible, so choose wisely.
If you want to play PS2 games on the go, then trying out the NetherSX2 PS2 emulator on Android is worth a shot.
Once you download either build of NetherSX2 and sideload it to your Android device, you’ll have to supply your own PS2 BIOS and PS2 game ROMs/ISOs to actually play anything on it. For legal reasons, you’ll need to figure that part out yourself, but fortunately, Google Search exists.
Aside from NetherSX2, there is also another PS2 emulator on Android called ARMSX2, which is currently under active development (via Notebookcheck). That emulator is still in its early stages, but test builds feature a reworked GL renderer that promises a 15 to 40 percent increase in performance compared to the regular GL renderer. The developer of ARMSX2 has stated that it will offer an easy migration process from NetherSX2, so switching to it in the future should be simple. However, since it’s still in early development, you’re probably better off sticking with NetherSX2 for now if you want more reliable performance while playing PS2 games on your Android device.
In my view, the PS2 is hands-down one of the greatest consoles of all time, and while I love the PS3 and Xbox 360, the sheer amount of incredible titles that came out for the PS2 is hard to beat. If you want to play PS2 games on the go, then trying out the NetherSX2 PS2 emulator on Android is worth a shot in my view. If you want to try emulating PS2 games on PC instead, PCSX2 is the go-to open-source emulator for that.
