How to Play PS2 Games on Android

PlayStation 2 is a big part of our childhoods, and we often get a nostalgic itch to go back and replay our favorite titles. What if we said there’s a way to bring back those days where you’d skip school to play PS2? This article shows you how to play PlayStation 2 games on Android phones using free emulators.

Steps to do first

Before playing games on any PS2 emulator, you must follow a few steps:

• Install the Emulator: All three emulators we discuss are available on the Google Play Store. 

• Download the ISO File of the Game: The ISO files of different PS2 games are available on the internet, or you can take the ISO from a PS2 game that you own. We recommend downloading PS2 ISO files from The Internet Archive as it’s the safest source.
  
  Important: for legal & copyright reasons, only download the ISO of a PlayStation 2 game you already own in CD format

• Download the BIOS File: To play PS2 games on Android devices, we need to download the BIOS file of PS2. You can download the PS2 BIOS file from here.

• Extract the Files: Use ZArchiver or your phone’s default extractor to extract the PS2 ISO game from its .zip archive.  Next, extract the BIOS files.

AetherSX2 Emulator

AetherSX2 emulator is one of the best PS2 emulators available on the Google Play Store. However, the emulator is in its early access stage, and it might lack some features at the moment.

After following the four common steps mentioned above, you can follow this step-by-step guide to play PlayStation 2 games on Android with AetherSX2 emulator:

1. After installing AetherSX2 from the Google Play Store, launch the app and press ‘NEXT.’ 
   

   

2. The app will ask you to select your preferred settings. Leave the settings to default (Optimal/Safe) unless you have a specific problem/need.

   

3. Press the ‘Import BIOS’ button to locate the BIOS file you downloaded in the Common Steps. Once you have located the BIOS file, select it and tap on ‘NEXT’ to import.

   

4. Next, tap the ‘+’ button to locate the game folder. These should be the folders containing ISO files of the PS2 game you chose to download (see Common Steps above). On Android, this will most likely be your Downloads folder.

   

5. After locating the game folder, tap on ‘Allow access to – [Game name].’ In our case, the game is Prince of Persia.

   

6. You will see the game file in the app itself, which means the AetherSX2 emulator has access to it.

   

7. Tap on the game and start playing.

   

Pro PS2 Emulator 2

Kloda developed the Pro PS2 Emulator 2 in 2019.

Unlike the AetherSX2 emulator, the Pro PS2 Emulator 2 already has a pre-installed BIOS file. So, you don’t need to install it separately.

After following the standard steps mentioned earlier in the article (except for downloading the BIOS file), follow this guide to play PlayStation 2 games using Pro PS2 Emulator 2.

1. After installation, open the Pro PS2 Emulator 2 app on your Android phone.
   

   

2. Press the ‘PLAY NOW’ button after the app loads.

   

3. Allow the app to use the storage. The app will now automatically start scanning for any PS2 games available on your phone.

   

4. Go to the ‘Unsorted’ tab from the menu bar on the left.
   

   

5. You will see all the PS2 game files installed on your Android device.

   

6. Finally, tap on the game icon to play.

   

DamonPS2 Emulator

DamonPS2 emulator is one of the oldest PS2 emulators on the Google Play Store. It comes in both free and paid versions.

To get rid of the annoying ads being shown on the app’s free version, you can use the paid version of the app.

Follow this step-by-step guide to play PlayStation 2 games using Damon PS2 Emulator:

1. After installing DamonPS2 emulator, launch the app.
   

   

2. Go to the BIOS section in the app. Browse the location of the BIOS file you extracted (see common steps section above) and select that file.

   

3. Go to the Games section and browse the location of your extracted PS2 ISO game.

   

4. Tap the game file to launch the game.