YouConsoles Help

Open a game and press the big Start Game button on the screen. The emulator and the game are downloaded once (usually 1–3 MB, more for Nintendo 64 and big DOS games) and cached by your browser.

Every game page lists the keyboard layout for that console next to the screen, for player 1 and (where the console had two controllers) player 2. You can remap any key from the gear icon → Controls inside the emulator; your layout is remembered.

DOS games run in js-dos, a DOSBox PC emulator. They use the keyboard (and mouse) exactly as they did on a 1990s PC: click the screen first, then read what the game asks — many start with a menu or a sound-card question. The Fullscreen button is under the game title. Save states are not available for DOS games; use the game’s own save feature.

Atari 2600 and 7800, Sega SG-1000, Master System, Game Gear and Genesis / Mega Drive, NES, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and MS-DOS. Nintendo 64 games need a fairly fast computer and play best with a gamepad.

Yes. Plug in a USB controller or pair a Bluetooth one (Xbox, PlayStation, 8BitDo, generic), then press any button on it while the game page is open. The first pad is player 1, the second is player 2.

Use the save/load buttons in the emulator toolbar, or the hotkeys 1 (save) and 2 (load); 3 switches between save slots. Saves are stored in your browser on this device — clearing site data removes them.

Yes. On touchscreens an on-screen gamepad appears over the game. Landscape orientation and fullscreen work best.

Yes. Side by side, two players can share one keyboard (the second player’s keys are listed on each game page) or use two gamepads. Online play is available for Super Nintendo games: start the game, press Host a room in the Play online panel next to the game and send your friend the link; they open it, press Start Game and play as player 2 on their own computer, both with the player 1 keys or a gamepad.

Both browsers run the same game and exchange only button presses, frame by frame, so you both see exactly the same thing. Each press is applied a few frames later on both screens (the input delay, shown under the game) to give it time to arrive; the closer you are, the shorter it gets. Browsers that can reach each other connect directly; otherwise the YouConsoles server passes the presses along. A direct connection shows each player the other’s IP address, as in any peer-to-peer game. Saving, loading and pausing are off during an online game.

No. Every game, the live chat and the comments work without one; guests show up as Guest plus five letters, a name kept in your browser. An account (a username and a password, no email) lets you use your own name. There is no email address to send a reset link to, so keep your password safe.

Be kind, stay on topic and don’t spam. Posts are plain text; very fast or repeated posting is slowed down for a while. Moderators remove posts that break the rules and can ban their authors. You can delete your own posts from the ⋮ menu next to them.

Close other heavy tabs, and try Chrome, Edge or Firefox with hardware acceleration on. If a shader is enabled in the emulator settings, switching it off helps too.

Click once on the game screen so it has keyboard focus again. Browser shortcuts or text fields elsewhere on the page can take focus away.