RetroArch

RetroArch isn't an emulator. It's the front-end that hosts them: you install cores (one per system), and you get the same interface, the same shortcuts, and the same controller setup everywhere. One program to learn instead of fifteen.

1. What it covers

On the host side, RetroArch runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and Apple TV, as well as Switch, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PS Vita, PSP, PS2, Xbox, Raspberry Pi, and even the browser.

On the emulated side, it's the core catalog that decides: from 8-bit consoles to the PlayStation, by way of arcade and 1980s home computers.

2. Installing RetroArch

• PC (Windows, macOS, Linux): the stable version is available on the official website. The buildbot also offers daily development builds — for those who enjoy living on the edge.
• Android: the Play Store, or the buildbot's APK.
• iOS and Apple TV: the App Store, since it opened up in 2024.
• Steam: a version is published there, handy on Steam Deck.

RetroArch contains no games and no BIOS. What the app offers to download are cores, box art, and databases.

3. Installing cores

1. Main Menu → Online Updater → Core Downloader.
2. Pick the core matching your system; it installs itself.
3. If the entry doesn't show up: Settings → User Interface → Menu Item Visibility, and enable the core downloader's display.

A few pointers: Genesis Plus GX for 8- and 16-bit Sega, Snes9x for the Super Nintendo, mGBA for the Game Boy Advance, Beetle PSX or SwanStation for the PlayStation, FinalBurn Neo and MAME for arcade.

On versions installed through a Linux package manager, and on some consoles, the downloader is disabled: cores are then provided through the system package instead.

4. The system folder, for cores that require a BIOS

Many systems need nothing at all: NES, Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, and Game Boy Advance boot straight up. Others require the original files — PlayStation, Saturn, and Dreamcast, among others.

1. Find the expected folder: Settings → Directory → System/BIOS.
2. Drop the files in there without renaming them at random: the name and region matter.
3. The core's documentation, on the libretro website, lists exactly what it expects.

5. Organizing and importing your games

1. Start with Online Updater → Update Databases, as well as the core info files. Without that, scanning won't recognize anything.
2. Then Playlists → Import Content → Scan Directory. The scan goes into subfolders, so you can point it at your entire library.
3. The strict scan compares the file's checksum against the database and only keeps what it recognizes. To add unrecognized content anyway, there's manual scanning and the option that accepts content with no match.
4. For box art: Online Updater → Thumbnails Updater, system by system. Note that a manually added game will only get its image if its name exactly matches the one in the database.

6. File formats

• Cartridges: cores read .zip and .7z directly, no need to extract.
• Disc-based games: .cue + .bin, .chd, or .iso depending on the core. .chd is the best compromise, lossless compression.
• Multi-disc games: create an .m3u file, one disc per line, in the same folder. That's the file you open, not the discs one by one.

Never compress a disc-based game into a .zip: the official documentation is explicit about this — it doesn't work.

Mid-game, you swap discs via Quick Menu → Disc Control: eject, pick the disc number, insert.

7. Settings that actually make a difference

• Video driver: Vulkan when your machine supports it, otherwise Direct3D on Windows, OpenGL elsewhere. This is the first lever to pull when things stutter.
• Latency: under Settings → Latency. Run-Ahead computes frames ahead of time to catch up with the game's internal lag; it's spectacular on fast-paced games, but costs CPU.
• If scrolling becomes choppy, the documentation specifically recommends lowering or disabling Run-Ahead and frame delay: your machine can no longer keep up.
• Shaders: very pretty, very demanding. Turning them off is the first move if things slow down.

8. Saves

Two different things, best not to confuse:

• The game save (.srm): the equivalent of the cartridge's battery or the memory card. This one is reliable.
• Save states (.state, .state1, .state2… depending on the slot): a full snapshot, accessible via Quick Menu → Save State.

By default, everything lands next to your ROMs. Settings → Directory lets you group it all elsewhere, which simplifies backups.

A save state is tied to the core, and often to its exact version. After an update, it may refuse to load. For a playthrough you care about, use the game's internal save instead.

9. Running into trouble?

• It's stuttering → turn off shaders, lower the video scale, switch video driver, enable threaded video, disable Run-Ahead.
• BIOS not detected → wrong folder, wrong name, wrong region, or a corrupted file. RetroArch's log states precisely which of the four it is.
• A disc-based game refuses to launch → check that it isn't inside an archive, and that the loaded core actually matches the system.
• Controller not recognized → RetroArch auto-detects most models; failing that, configuration is done button by button in the input settings.

10. Official addresses

• retroarch.com — downloads, platform by platform.
• buildbot.libretro.com — stable and development builds.
• docs.libretro.com — the documentation, including each core's page and the BIOS it requires.