About this site

Captain Nemo's Retro Lab is for people who want to pull an old game back out and actually play it. Running a game from twenty or thirty years ago on today's hardware usually means converting file formats, applying a translation patch, and repackaging it into something the target device understands. This site collects the tools for that work, the guides that explain it, and reviews of the games worth going to the trouble for.

Four parts

Tools — convert disc images to CSO, ZSO or CHD, repackage PS1 games as PSP EBOOT.PBP files, apply translation patches, and inspect files whose format you cannot identify. Nothing to install, no account needed.

Korean patches — fan translation patches organised by console, with the original author and source credited for each one.

Improvement patches — patches that change the game itself rather than translate it: bug fixes, slowdown reduction, control and quality-of-life tweaks, enhanced music. Like the translations they credit the author and list the target ROM checksums, and you can apply them right on the patch page.

Reviews and guides — write-ups of games actually played, and step-by-step documentation for the work above.

Your files go nowhere

Every tool here runs entirely inside your browser. Files are never uploaded, so even a multi-gigabyte disc image costs no upload time and nothing personal leaves your machine.

Game ROMs are not provided. These tools are for working with backups of games you own.