I downloaded this because I wanted to play a five-minute round of a game I liked when I was seven years old.

Twelve hours later, I have become a digital archeologist and a full-time IT consultant for my own living room. I have spent 90% of my time downloading BIOS files from suspicious corners of the internet, configuring custom shaders to make my high-end 4K monitor look like a dusty 1990s television, and meticulously organizing a library of 5,000 games I will almost certainly never play.

In real life, I struggle to set a digital clock. In RetroArch, I am a wizard of core-remapping and latency-reduction. I have successfully synchronized a Bluetooth controller from 2024 to an emulated console from 1988 so I can play a Japanese RPG that was never translated, just to see if the intro music is as good as I remembered. (It was).

The interface says 'all-in-one convenience,' but the reality is a deep, dark rabbit hole of 'just one more setting.' I went in to play a quick level of a plumber jumping on mushrooms; I came out three days later having mastered the art of 'Save State' abuse to beat a boss that haunted my childhood nightmares.

10/10. I have spent more time looking at the menu and tinkering with the aspect ratio than actually playing the games. It is the best 'Settings Simulator' ever made.

Great alternative to messing around with a bunch of emulators. As long as you can wrap your head around how it works, it's great software.

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