Free to playRetroArch Every classic console, one interface
One program for all your classic games. RetroArch runs games from dozens of old consoles through a single interface, with rewind, CRT shaders and rollback netplay built in. Configure it once and every system just works, whether you play alone or elbow to elbow with a friend.
Is RetroArch worth it?
RetroArch is worth it if…
- you want one program for all your retro games instead of a different emulator for each console
- you miss the look of a tube TV and want your old games to match the memory
- you like tinkering with settings until everything is exactly right
- you want to play classic local multiplayer games online with a friend
- you enjoy old games but could do without their merciless difficulty, thanks to rewind
Screenshots
Every console, one shelf
RetroArch is a frontend: it does not play games itself, it runs "cores", one for each old system, all behind the same interface. Instead of installing a separate program for every console, you pick a core, point it at your games and play. Settings are unified, so you configure your controller and video once and it applies everywhere. The interface takes some getting used to, with plenty of menus to explore, but the payoff is a single tidy library for everything from 8-bit cartridges to early 3D discs. It is open source and cross platform, built by people who take game preservation seriously.
Make it look like 1995
Shaders are the feature that hooks people. They change how the picture looks: smooth the pixels, adjust the colors, or recreate the soft glow and scanlines of the tube TV you played on as a kid. On a modern monitor, a good CRT shader can make a 16-bit game feel like it did in a bedroom decades ago. The same menu holds the performance tricks: runahead and next-frame response times cut input lag, so old games that demand tight timing feel as sharp as they did on original hardware, sometimes sharper.
Rewind, and play together
Missed a jump in a game that gives you no continues? Rewind. RetroArch lets you go back in time and undo a mistake, which turns punishing old games into something you can actually finish. For playing with people, there is netplay: rollback-based, latency-hiding online play for games that were local multiplayer only. Your Player 2 can be across the ocean and it still feels like they are on the couch next to you. There is local multiplayer too, so a controller each on one screen works exactly as it did back then.
What should you know before starting?
Do you need your own games to use it?
Yes. RetroArch is a frontend, not a store: it runs the games you provide yourself. The developers are upfront about this, and the whole project is built around preservation, letting you play content you originally bought on modern hardware. Support for running original game discs is on the way as well.
How hard is the setup?
There is a learning curve, and it is the one thing nearly everyone agrees on. The menus are deep and the interface behaves unlike anything else on your desktop, so expect some trial and error the first evening. Once your cores, inputs and shaders are set, configuration is done once and for all, and the library of guides and tutorials out there is large.
