LIBRETRO FRONTEND
One frontend for your systems.
Run emulators, game engines and media playback through one configurable frontend.
Controller maps, playlists and menu options stay on the same host list. Cores arrive separately.
FEATURE SYSTEM
RetroArch is a Libretro frontend. Controller maps, playlists and menu options stay together across supported hosts. Original discs can load from the same menu.
Input, shaders, networking and controller mapping meet in the same interface. Cores arrive separately. No game images ship with the package.
FIG. 01 — INPUT / DISPLAY RESPONSE
01 / PERFORMANCE
The frontend can answer a press on the following frame.
When that path holds, delay should sit with original hardware, FPGA clones or the real console.
FIG. 02 — RELEASE PACKAGE
02 / RELEASE
Install the current RetroArch package for your host.
The public homepage still leads with 1.21.0. Verified stable on Download is 1.22.2.
FIG. 03 — MENU SYSTEM
03 / INTERFACE
Browse the collection through a set-top menu.
After a scan, titles group by system. Thumbnails and motion backdrops belong to that menu.
FIG. 04 — HOST RANGE
04 / PLATFORMS
Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are first-class desktops.
Apple and Android cover phones and tablets. Consoles include PS3, PSP, PS Vita, Wii, Wii U and more.
FIG. 05 — CONFIGURATION
05 / CONFIG
Advanced rows expose how titles run and how they are drawn.
Each option starts from a working default so you can play before you tune.
FIG. 06 — CONTROLLERS
06 / INPUT
Common controllers configure on plug-in, the way a console would.
That path helps when a guest brings their own pad. Manual remaps still exist for combos.
FIG. 07 — GPU SHADERS
07 / VIDEO
Shaders are light GPU filters that can sharpen or restyle older games.
They can also rebuild a CRT monitor look. Presets stack if you want a custom chain.
FIG. 08 — ACHIEVEMENTS
08 / TROPHIES
Achievements sit on classic games you already hold.
After a RetroAchievements sign-in, trophies and badges track like a modern console.
FIG. 09 — NETPLAY
09 / NETWORK
Host or join a networked session.
The built-in lobby returns local multiplayer over a distance. Spectator mode lets you watch without playing.
FIG. 10 — RECORD / STREAM
10 / CAPTURE
A session can be written to a video file.
The same path can send a live stream to Twitch or YouTube.
FIG. 11 — CORE LIBRARY
11 / LIBRARY
New programs continue to enter the RetroArch library.
Core Updater can fetch those programs as soon as they are published.
02 / PLATFORM SUPPORT
The frontend lists across desktop, mobile and console storefronts.
Store builds can differ from the site package. Platforms sometimes require cuts so the listing can stay.
App Store
MOBILE
Amazon Appstore
MOBILE
Steam
DESKTOP
itch.io
DESKTOP
AppGallery
MOBILE
Galaxy Store
MOBILE
Google Play
MOBILE
03 / TECHNICAL FILE
Libretro lists more than 200 cores. The set still grows. Engines, games, media tools and emulators share the same API.
OpenLara rebuilds an early Tomb Raider engine.
The core is listed for Windows and Linux.
Read the core notes here.
It needs the original data files. Extra lighting sits on the old engine without fighting the original look.
LRPS2 is a PlayStation 2 emulator. Its Vulkan LLE renderer is ParaLLEl GS.
ParaLLEl-GS aims for software-level accuracy on the GPU. That headroom also allows enhancements that are too slow in software, including supersampled antialiasing.
Read the core notes here.
DOSBox Pure is a plug-and-play DOSBox build written for Libretro. It covers MS-DOS and Windows 9x titles, plus savestates and rewind.
Many DOS games get automatic detection and gamepad-to-keyboard maps.
Read the core notes here.
PX-68K emulates the Sharp X68000, a late-80s Japanese home computer that Capcom used as arcade devkits.
Namco, Konami and Capcom titles lived on that machine.
The core is listed for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
04 / ARCHIVE NOTES
Several ideas left this frontend and later became common. As an active open-source project, it still adds features each year.
05 / BULLETIN
1.21.0 added a PipeWire camera path, Vulkan adaptive vsync and Ozone fixes. Verified stable is now 1.22.2.
Continue readingA Libretro-side tool for cleaning ROM sets, listed with the 1.21.0 news cycle.
Continue readingRetroArch gained support for the Bliss-Box 4-Play adapter so original controllers can pass through that hardware.
Continue readingLRPS2 ships ParaLLEl GS, a Vulkan LLE renderer. Core notes live on the features page.
Continue reading1.20.0 was the official news stable published 5 January 2025, before 1.21.0.
Continue readingA CRT beam-racing simulator shader landed, the same family used for rolling-scan display work.
Continue readingThe PlayStation 2 was built around analog video, scanlines and timing, not a fixed pixel grid.
Continue reading1.19.1 stays on the official news list as the point release before 1.20.0.
Continue reading06 / SIGNAL
RetroArch