DuckStation

DuckStation is a PlayStation/PSX/PS1 emulator for Windows that aims to offer as faithful a gaming experience as possible to what you would have on an original console. That said, the emulator does also let you force higher resolutions, enable post-processing effects, smooth sawtooths, and so on, allowing you to enjoy some of the most significant classics from the 32-bit era comfortably on your desktop PC, laptop, or even Steam Deck.

Configure the BIOS first

The first thing you need to do before you can properly enjoy DuckStation is extract or download the PlayStation BIOS. This process is much simpler than it sounds. The BIOS can be found easily on the Internet Archive or other similar sites. It usually has a format like this: scph1001.bin. All you have to do is put it inside the BIOS folder, then simply select it with a single click from the emulator's Settings. And that's it. The emulator will automatically take care of everything else.

Set up the emulator for the best experience

Before loading any ROM, you should take a look at the setup options in DuckStation. You'll have more than 20 different parameters that you can adjust, enable, or disable to make your games look better or worse. By default, every game will look exactly as it did on the Sony console. After all, one of DuckStation's main purposes is to offer an emulation as close as possible to the original experience. That said, if you feel like playing a PSX video game in 4K, you can do so by simply adjusting the graphics settings.

Automatic control configuration

It's also very important that you take a look at the control settings. If you're going to play with a keyboard and mouse, you'll have the WASD and numeric keypad control layout by default. But it's best to play with a controller, and you can configure any PlayStation or Xbox controller with a single click. All you have to do is go to Controller Settings, select the controller you want to use, and click Automatic Mapping. The emulator will configure all the buttons automatically to make them look as similar to the original PSOne controller as possible.

Compatible with thousands and thousands of games

DuckStation has a virtually endless compatibility list. The emulator is 100% compatible with all PlayStation video games, and, as if this weren't enough, it's also capable of emulating any mod or fangame that's in the correct format. This means that you can emulate any ROM in any of the following formats: .cue, .iso, .img, .ecm, .mds, and .chd.

Download game covers easily

Downloading the covers of all your games to get a nice, complete collection is very easy. Just click on Tools and, in the drop-down tab, click again on Cover Downloader. In the pop-up window that appears, simply paste the text that you find in the xlenore Github repository called "Psx-covers". As soon as you do so, all the covers will appear in your emulator as if by magic.

One of the best PlayStation emulators

Download DuckStation and enjoy what, over the years and updates, has become one of the best PSOne emulators out there. If you already use PCSX2, then you're sure to find its interface very familiar. While the number of options may seem overwhelming at first glance, you won't really need to touch practically any of the options to be able to start playing and enjoying the gems of the 32-bit era.