Is emulation legal?

The emulators themselves are legal, widely used software — the legal question is entirely about the games. Running a title is legitimate when it is a game you legally own, and copyright applies to the game files and any BIOS a system needs. Handheld Verdict covers the hardware and honest performance ceilings only: we never host, link, name, or explain where to obtain ROMs or BIOS files, and all of our emulation coverage assumes a library you already have the right to. If you own the games, emulation is a lawful way to play them on better hardware.