RetroArch explained

RetroArch
Developer:Libretro
Operating System:Haiku, Unix-like, Linux, Android, iOS, FreeBSD, macOS, Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, Xbox, Switch, New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 2DS, GameCube, Wii, Wii U,PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Vita, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Classic, tvOS, webOS
Platform:IA-32 (x86), x86-64 (x64), ARMv7, AArch64, PowerPC, MIPS, Cell
Language:English, Mandarin, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Persian, Hebrew, Asturian
Genre:Video game console emulator
Website:,

RetroArch is a free and open-source, cross-platform frontend for emulators, game engines, video games, media players and other applications. It is the reference implementation of the libretro API,[1] [2] designed to be fast, lightweight, portable and without dependencies.[3] It is licensed under the GNU GPLv3.

RetroArch runs programs converted into dynamic libraries called libretro cores, using several user interfaces such as command-line interface, a few graphical user interfaces optimized for gamepads, several input, audio and video drivers, plus other sophisticated features like dynamic rate control, audio filters, multi-pass shaders, netplay, gameplay rewinding, cheats, etc.

RetroArch has been ported to many platforms. It can run on several PC operating systems, home consoles, handheld consoles, smartphones, smart TV's, single-board computers and web browsers.[4] [5] Versions for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 are not out yet, but are available unofficially (as of 1st April 2024.)[6]

History

Formerly known as SSNES, initially based on pseudonymous programmer Near's predecessor libsnes,[7] it began its development in 2010 with Hans-Kristian "themaister" Arntzen committing the first change on GitHub.[8] It was intended as a replacement to bsnes's Qt-based interface[9] but it grew to support more emulation "cores". On April 21, 2012, SSNES was officially renamed[10] to RetroArch to reflect this change in direction.

RetroArch's version 1.0.0.0 was released on January 11, 2014, and at the time was available on seven distinct platforms.[11]

On February 16, 2016, RetroArch became one of the first ever applications to implement support for the Vulkan graphics API, having done so on the same day of the API's official release day.[12]

On November 27, 2016, the Libretro Team announced that, alongside Lakka (LibreELEC-based RetroArch operating system), RetroArch would be on the Patreon crowdfunding platform to allow providing bounties for developers who fix specific software bugs and to cover the costs for matchmaking servers.[13]

In December 2016, GoGames – a company contracted by video game developer and publisher Sega – approached the RetroArch developers with the intention of using their software in their SEGA Forever project but ultimately the cooperation did not come to fruition due to licensing disagreements.[14] [15]

In April 2018, an input lag compensation feature called "Run-Ahead" was added.[16]

The Libretro Team planned to release RetroArch onto Steam as a free download, integrating Steamworks features into the platform in July 2019. It would have been the first major dedicated emulation title to be released on the platform at the time.[17]

In August 2020, someone impersonating a trusted member of the team got access to the buildbot server and the GitHub account for the libretro organization, causing vandalism and server wipes.[18]

In November 2020, RetroArch in conjunction with a PCSX2 libretro core allowed the Xbox Series X and Series S to emulate the PlayStation 2, something that Sony's own PlayStation 5 could not do at the time.[19]

On September 14, 2021, RetroArch was released on Steam.[20]

On May 15, 2024, RetroArch was officially released on iOS through the App Store.[21]

Features

Its major features include:

Supported systems

RetroArch can run any libretro core. While RetroArch is available for many platforms, the availability of a specific core varies per platform.

Below is a non-exhaustive table of which systems are available to RetroArch and what project the core is based on:

SystemComputer system/video game console emulator
3DO4DO
Amstrad CPCCaprice32
CrocoDS
ArcadeMAME
MESS
FinalBurn Neo
FinalBurn Alpha
Atari 2600Stella
Atari 5200a5200
Atari800
Atari 7800ProSystem
Atari FalconHatari
Atari JaguarVirtual Jaguar
Atari LynxMednafen
Handy
Atari STHatari
WonderSwanMednafen
ColecoVisionblueMSX
Gearcoleco
Commodore 64VICE
Frodo
Commodore 128VICE
AmigaPUAE
UAE4ARM
Commodore CBM-IIVICE
Commodore PETVICE
Commodore Plus/4VICE
VIC-20VICE
MS-DOS and compatible operating systemsDOSBox
DOSBox-Pure
DOSBox-SVN
Electronika BK-0010/BK-0011M
Fairchild Channel FFreeChaF
Vectrexvecx
Handheld electronic gameGW
Mac IIminivmac
Odyssey²O2EM
IntellivisionFreeIntv
Mega DuckSameDuck
MSXfMSX
blueMSX
NEC PC Engine / CDMednafen
NEC TurboGrafx-16 / SuperGrafxMednafen
NEC PC-8000 / PC-8800QUASI88
NEC PC-98Neko Project II Kai
Neko Project II
NEC PC-FXMednafen
NEC TurboGrafx-CDMednafen
Nintendo 3DSCitra
Citra 2018
Nintendo 64Mupen64Plus
Mupen64Plus-Next
ParaLLEl N64
Nintendo DSDeSmuME
DeSmuME 2015
melonDS
Nintendo Entertainment Systemhigan
Emux
FCEUmm
Nestopia UE
QuickNES
Mesen
Famicom Disk SystemFCEUmm
Mesen
Nestopia
higan
QuickNES
Game Boy / ColorEmux
Gambatte
SameBoy
TGB Dual
higan
Mesen-S
Game Boy AdvanceMednafen
gpSP
Meteor
mGBA
VisualBoyAdvance
GameCubeDolphin
Nintendo Pokémon MiniPokeMini
Super Nintendo Entertainment Systemhigan
Mednafen
bsnes
Snes9x
Mesen-S
Virtual BoyMednafen
WiiDolphin
Palm OSMu
Philips CD-iSAME CDi
Cdi 2015
32XPicoDrive
DreamcastRedream
Flycast (formerly Reicast)
Game GearGenesis Plus GX
PicoDrive
SMS Plus GX
Gearsystem
Master SystemPicoDrive
Genesis Plus GX
SMS Plus GX
Gearsystem
Mega CD/Sega CDGenesis Plus GX
PicoDrive
Mega Drive/GenesisGenesis Plus GX
BlastEm
PicoDrive
SaturnuoYabause
Mednafen
YabaSanshiro
Kronos
Sega ST-VKronos
Sega VMUVeMUlator
SG-1000blueMSX
Gearsystem
Sharp X1X Millennium
X68000PX68k
ZX81EightyOne
ZX SpectrumFuse
PlayStationMednafen
PCSX ReARMed
DuckStation
SwanStation
PlayStation 2Play!
PCSX2
PlayStation PortablePPSSPP
Neo Geo Pocket / ColorMednafen
RACE
SpectravideoblueMSX
3DO Interactive MultiplayerOpera
Thomson computersTheodore
UzeboxUzem
VectrexVecXGL
Watara SupervisionPotator

Reception

RetroArch has been praised for the number of systems and games it can play under a single interface.[28] [29] [30] [31]

It has been criticized for how difficult it is to configure, due to the extensive number of options available to the user, and at the same time has been praised for the more advanced features it possesses.[32]

On Android, it has been praised for the fact that overlays can be customized, for the expandability of the libretro cores it supports, for its compatibility with several USB and Bluetooth controller peripherals, in addition to the app being free and having no ads.[33]

Kyle Orland, writing for Ars Technica, said that RetroArch's 'Run-Ahead' feature is "arguably the biggest improvement to the experience the retro gaming community has yet seen".

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: libretro/RetroArch. GitHub. 2017-10-01. 2018-10-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20181023090818/https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/blob/master/libretro-common/include/libretro.h. live.
  2. Web site: libretro/libretro-samples. GitHub. 12 October 2021. 31 October 2017. 12 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612223244/https://github.com/libretro/libretro-samples. live.
  3. Web site: Home – Libretro. www.libretro.com. en-US. 2017-08-02. 2017-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170803073558/https://www.libretro.com/index.php/home-2/. live.
  4. Web site: Marín . Daniel . RetroArch, tutorial: how it works, compatible consoles, games and more . https://web.archive.org/web/20230522034754/https://eloutput.com/en/video-game/guides/retroarch/ . 2023-05-22 . 2024-08-05 . El Output . en.
  5. Web site: Pablinux . 2023-12-12 . RetroArch Web Player, retro console games in the browser . https://web.archive.org/web/20240805115757/https://www.linuxadictos.com/en/retroarch-web-player-retro-console-games-in-the-browser-by-libretro.html . 2024-08-05 . 2024-08-05 . Linux Adictos . en.
  6. Web site: Aurora . 2019-12-28 . News: RetroArch FINALLY gets released on PlayStation 4 with 25 cores including PS1, MAME and experimental Nintendo 64 emulators... . https://web.archive.org/web/20191230061256/https://wololo.net/2019/12/28/news-retroarch-finally-gets-released-on-playstation-4-with-25-cores-including-ps1-mame-and-experimental-nintendo-64-emulators-vitagrafix-5-0-0-released-for-the-psvita-with-re-written-parser-an/ . 2019-12-30 . 2024-08-05 . Wololo.net . en-US.
  7. Web site: Libsnes - libretro/snes9x2010 Wiki. GitHub. 2017-08-06. 2020-10-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20201018142044/https://github.com/libretro/snes9x2010/wiki/Libsnes. live.
  8. Web site: SSNES · libretro/RetroArch@eed8e2b. GitHub. en. 2017-08-02. 2021-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20211210182526/https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/commit/eed8e2bed2d0d7dfe51834d6c27714472017cb6e. live.
  9. Web site: SSNES - The SNES emulator that sucks less. / Community Contributions / Arch Linux Forums. bbs.archlinux.org. en. 2017-08-02. 2014-09-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20140913081048/https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=98044. live.
  10. Web site: SSNES · libretro/RetroArch@9ab51ad2. GitHub. en. 2017-08-16. 2021-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20211210182441/https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/commit/9ab51ad23ad0b9c4a2b93b86c69b25aa0c66d9e2. live.
  11. Web site: RetroArch v1.0.0.0 release information – Libretro. www.libretro.com. 11 January 2014 . en-US. 2017-08-02. 2014-01-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20140115225850/https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-v1-0-0-0-release-information/. live.
  12. Web site: Day 1 Vulkan support – Libretro. www.libretro.com. 16 February 2016 . en-US. 2017-08-02. 2016-02-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20160219135221/https://www.libretro.com/index.php/day-1-vulkan-support/. live.
  13. Web site: We are now on Patreon! – Libretro. www.libretro.com. 27 November 2016 . en-US. 2017-08-02. 2017-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170803054349/https://www.libretro.com/index.php/we-are-now-on-patreon/. live.
  14. Web site: Sega releases classic games on mobile, for free, but at what cost?. Matulef. Jeffrey. 2017-06-21. Eurogamer. en-UK. 2017-08-03. 2019-04-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20190423145908/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-21-sega-releases-classic-games-on-mobile-for-free-but-at-what-cost. live.
  15. Web site: Sega defends Sega Forever launch after fan outcry. Robinson. Martin. 2017-06-26. Eurogamer. en-UK. 2017-08-03. 2017-06-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20170626123058/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-26-sega-defends-sega-forever-launch-after-fan-outcry. live.
  16. Web site: Better than reality: New emulation tech lags less than original consoles. 19 April 2018. 4 May 2018. 19 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180419163214/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/04/better-than-reality-new-emulation-tech-lags-less-than-original-consoles/. live.
  17. Web site: RetroArch will be Steam's biggest emulation launch yet, coming July 30 . Sam . Machkovech . July 13, 2019 . July 13, 2019 . . July 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190713134247/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/07/retroarch-the-worlds-largest-emulation-front-end-coming-to-steam-july-30/ . live .
  18. Web site: Hacker vandalised our buildbot and Github organization . De Matteis . Daniel . August 16, 2020 . libretro.com . August 20, 2020 . August 16, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200816100612/https://www.libretro.com/index.php/hacker-vandalised-our-buildbot-and-github-organization/ . live .
  19. Web site: Campbell. Ian Carlos. 2020-11-30. Enterprising developers are emulating PS2 games on the Xbox Series S and X. 2020-12-11. The Verge. en. 2020-11-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20201130230253/https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/30/21734149/ps2-emulation-xbox-series-x-s-retroarch-support. live.
  20. Web site: RetroArch on Steam. 2021-09-14. 2019-07-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20190713134108/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118310/RetroArch/. live.
  21. News: Davis . Wes . RetroArch brings its free multisystem emulation to the iOS App Store . May 15, 2024 . The Verge . May 15, 2024 . en.
  22. https://github.com/libretro/libretro.github.com/raw/master/documents/ratecontrol.pdf
  23. Web site: RetroArch. retroarch.com. en. 2017-08-02. 2017-06-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20170606124329/http://retroarch.com/index.php?page=netplay. live.
  24. Web site: ROMs, Playlists, and Thumbnails - Libretro Docs. docs.libretro.com. 2017-12-26. 2017-12-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130317/https://docs.libretro.com/guides/roms-playlists-thumbnails/#retroarch-playlist-scanner. live.
  25. Web site: libretro/libretro-database. GitHub. 19 October 2021. 31 October 2017. 10 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180610235949/https://github.com/libretro/libretro-database. live.
  26. Web site: RetroAchievements.org. RetroAchievements. 2019-12-10. 2012-11-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20121121150009/https://retroachievements.org/. live.
  27. Web site: Matteis. Daniel De. RetroArch 1.7.8 – AI Service – How To Set It Up – Libretro. 2021-04-28. en-US. 2019-08-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20190825201808/https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-1-7-8-ai-service-how-to-set-it-up/. live.
  28. News: How to Set Up RetroArch, The Ultimate All-In-One Retro Games Emulator. 2017-08-03. en-US. 2017-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170803050058/https://www.howtogeek.com/260274/how-to-set-up-retroarch-the-ultimate-all-in-one-retro-games-emulator/. live.
  29. News: How to Set Up an All-In-One Retro Game Emulator with RetroArch. Klosowski. Thorin. Lifehacker. 2017-08-03. en-US. 2017-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170803085626/http://lifehacker.com/how-to-set-up-an-all-in-one-retro-game-emulator-with-re-1745863517. live.
  30. News: The NES Classic is sold out, but these emulators do the same thing for free. 2017-03-31. Digital Trends. 2017-08-03. en-US. 2017-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170803090753/https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/best-emulators/. dead.
  31. News: RetroArch Emulates Nearly Every Classic Gaming Console on Android. Dachis. Adam. Lifehacker. 2017-12-26. en-US. 2017-12-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130314/https://lifehacker.com/5988944/retroarch-emulates-nearly-every-classic-gaming-console-on-android. live.
  32. News: Eight Advanced RetroArch Features that Make Retro Gaming Great Again. 2017-08-03. en-US. 2017-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170803045958/https://www.howtogeek.com/265057/eight-advanced-retroarch-features-that-make-retro-gaming-great-again/. live.
  33. News: RetroArch Emulates NES, PlayStation, Gameboy Color/Advance and a Whole Lot More [Android]]. MakeUseOf. 2017-12-26. en-US. 2017-12-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20171226074303/https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/retroarch-emulates-nes-playstation-gameboy-coloradvance-and-a-whole-lot-more-android/. live.