ROM & ISO sites
Verifying Good Dumps
- Main article: File_Hashes#Determining_Good_Game_Dumps
Game Recommendations
Game recommendations are highly subjective, but big lists like these usually cover the worthwhile games for each system.
- /v/'s Recommended Games Wiki
- Retro-Sanctuary's Top 100 Lists
- Racketboy's Defining Games
- Racketboy's Hidden Gems
Searching for ISOs
A lot of the above sites have ISOs for disc-based games, but some of the more obscure titles can be hard to find. If you want to find these games, searching for their ID number is generally more effective than searching for their title. Both Mobygames and GameFAQs will list these under the game's release information. This number is region specific and is very useful if you want to find an ISO from a specific region.
Download Managers
Many resources we've listed will link to files called .DLCs that contain a list of urls to download. We've voluntarily listed some programs you can use in the event that you come across one and don't want to deal with the links manually.
- JDownloader 2 (Adware-free installer) - Written in Java, and quite possibly the most recognized tool for the job.
- pyLoad - Written in Python under AGPL3, PyLoad is a good alternative.