Although it is becoming easier to create a game and put it on sale through the different platforms, the games from before still have their magic touch. Today it is almost impossible to play the games of 30 or 40 years ago, both because we cannot find platforms that allow us to do so, and because we cannot find the games themselves. However, if we feel nostalgic for these games, we can always resort to the famous “emulators” that allow us to run these classic games on our computer. And one of the best (if not the best) that we can find is RetroArch.
RetroArch is a program designed to function as a frontend of Libretro libraries . In other words, this program is in charge of working as an interface between us and all Libretro libraries so that we can access all Libretro emulators from a single program. Both RetroArch and Libretro are developed by the same group of developers, and all of this is completely free and open source.
characteristics
On the Internet we can find a large number of emulators for practically all kinds of platforms. Even for the latest generation consoles, like the Nintendo Switch. So what is it that makes RetroArch unique?
The main feature of this browser is that everything is completely free and open source . From the cores to the frontend. Everything. In this way, we will be able to download the program and install it without having to pay anything or put our PC in danger.
Also, instead of having to download a different emulator for each console (one for NES, one for GameBoy, etc.), RetroArch will allow us to emulate all these consoles from one place . No need to download and install different programs. Each emulator is a “core” that we can download from the frontend itself to prepare it to run the games on that console.
Each console has several cores , so each user can choose the one they want to use. Also, something that many are unaware of, is that many of the cores are open source emulators that we can use independently, since the developers have asked their original creators for permission to convert them into libraries and add them to the program.
Compatibility goes far beyond classic consoles, which are capable of emulating virtually all. RetroArch is available for practically any platform, from PCs (Windows, Linux and macOS) to smartphones (Android and iOS), consoles (PSP, PSVita, PS2, PS3, Wii, WiiU, Nintendo DS, 3DS, Switch), even for devices like Steam Link and Raspberry Pi. For the latter we can even find specialized distros, such as Lakka (official RetroArch distro for retrogaming) or RetroPie.
This program is also compatible with practically any game controller that we can connect to the computer. Many of them will recognize and configure them automatically, and if this is not the case we can always map the controls ourselves.
Other important features that make this software stand out are:
- It allows you to save games at any time and resume them from there.
- It offers a large number of audio and video settings to optimize emulation.
- Supports multiplayer game over LAN.
- Compatible with own trophies.
- Allows you to record games without the need for additional software.
- It has a powerful library and cataloging system for games.
- Supports tricks.
- Automatically download game covers for libraries.
Emulators available
As we have already explained, the main advantage of RetroArch is the possibility of having emulators for all old consoles at our fingertips from a single program. As standard, this emulator comes without the cores installed, but we can download the ones we need from the download manager that is included in the program. Even the program can recognize the rom that we are trying to open and download the necessary core automatically.
The emulators that we can find within this program are:
| Console | Emulator / Core |
|---|---|
| 3DO | 4th |
| Arcadian | MAME mess FinalBurnAlpha |
| Atari 2600 | Stella |
| Atari 5200 | Atari800 |
| Atari 7800 | ProSystem |
| Atari Jaguar | Virtual jaguar |
| Atari Lynx | Mednafen Handy |
| Atari Falcón | Hatari |
| Cave story | NXEngine |
| Bomberman | Mr. Boom |
| CHIP-8 | Emux |
| ColecoVision | blueMSX |
| Commodore 64 | Vice |
| Doom | PrBoom |
| Dreamcast | Redream Reicast |
| Famicom Disk System | Nestopia Higan |
| FFmpeg | FFmpeg |
| Game Boy / Gameboy color | Emux Gambatte SameBoy Dual TGB Higan |
| Game Boy Advance | Mednafen gpSP Meteor mGBA VisualBoyAdvance |
| GameCube / Wii | Dolphin |
| Game gear | Genesis plus GX |
| MSX | fMSX blueMSX |
| Neo Geo Pocket Neo Geo Color | Mednafen |
| NEC PC-98 | Neko Proyect II |
| Nintendo 64 | Mupen64Plus |
| Nintendo Entertainment System | higan Emux FCEUmm EU Nestopia QuickNES |
| Nintendo DS | DeSmuME MelonDS |
| Nintendo 3DS | Citra |
| Odyssey | O2EM |
| PC-FX | Mednafen |
| 32X | Picodrive |
| Mega CD / Sega CD | Genesis plus GX |
| Mega drive | Genesis plus GX |
| Master system | PicoDrive Genesis plus GX |
| PlayStation Portable | PPSSPP |
| PlayStation | Mednafen PCSX ReARmed |
| Pokémon Mini | PokeMini |
| Quake 1 | TyrQuake |
| Sega saturn | Yabause Mednafen |
| Super NES | Bsnes Higan Snes9x |
| tomb Raider | OpenLara |
| TurboGrafx-16 / SuperGrafx | Mednafen |
| TurboGrafx-CD | Mednafen |
| Vectrex | VecXGL |
| Virtual boy | Mednafen |
| WonderSwan | Mednafen |
| ZX spectrum | Fuse |
| ZX81 | EightyOne |
The last cores that have been added to this emulator have been Dophin, the emulator for GameCube and Wii, Citra, the core for running 3DS games, MelonDS, for Nintendo DS games, and SameBoy, a new emulator for GameBoy and GameBoy very accurate color for perfect emulation. Very curious projects have also been recently introduced such as OpenLara, a free recreation of the Tomb Raider engine, PX-68K, an emulator for the Sharp X68000 team and Redream, an emulator project for Sega Dreamcast.
Download and install
This emulator is completely free for all users. In order to use it, all we have to do is access the following link , and from there download the version that corresponds to our operating system. The web will automatically detect the type of OS we are using, but it will also allow us to download the installer for other platforms.
In the case of Windows, for example, we can download an installable version, which we can install on our PC by following the steps indicated by the installer itself (totally free of unwanted software), or download a portable version that we can always carry with us. . We even have a UWP version, with a certificate, that we can install in Windows 10.
First use
The first time we open this emulator, the first thing we will see will be a message indicating that a default configuration has been generated and saved. And behind it, the main interface of this emulator.
This interface may catch our attention. And is that, if we have used this retro emulator for a long time, we would probably expect an interface inspired by the PlayStation XMB. However, in just a few minutes we can see that this interface is much more intuitive and organized.
Download cores
The first thing we are going to talk about is the online updater. This component is the one that will allow us to download all kinds of content for this emulator. For example, from here we will be able to download the cores we want to use, as well as thumbnails and all kinds of content.
If we have in mind which consoles we are going to emulate, we can download the cores to have them at hand. If not, we can let the program download them as needed.
Configure controls
Within “Settings” we will find a large number of options that we can configure. In order not to complicate ourselves in the first use of the emulator, what interests us most is the “Controls” section. From here we will be able to change the mapping of the controls and assign new controls to the keyboard and mouse. An important step to be able to adjust the control of the games to our liking.
Load games
There are two ways to load games into RetroArch. The first one is from the main menu. We can use the option to load content to load any rom that we may have on the computer and thus be able to start playing it directly, without complications.
But the ideal, and where this software gains power, is creating libraries. In the “Import content” section we will find the option to analyze any folder and add all the games found to the database.
A new category will be created from which we can access all the games we have, and each game will also have its cover or a screenshot of the game itself.
Load a game
Once we have the game selected, all we have to do is press “Enter” to open the rom. Here we will be able to see the specific options menu for each emulator. Even when launching it we will be able to choose which core we are going to run it with.
Now we can only enjoy the classic games.
Close RetroArch
When we get tired, to exit RetroArch we only have to press the Esc key twice and RetroArch will close.
