RetroArch Beginner's Guide

Introduction to using RetroArch for gaming

What is RetroArch?

Retroarch is a frontend for emulators. You can find most popular emulators available on Retroarch to play your favorite retro games.

Why use RetroArch instead of standalones?

RetroArch makes it easy to manage your settings across multiple emulators, such as button mapping, drivers, shaders and filters, video and audio, as well as online play for certain systems and achievements through RetroAchievements.

Getting Started

From Steam itself you can download each Core (emulator) in the form of a free DLC.

So far the following cores are available this way:

Core	System
Mupen64Plus-Next	Nintendo 64
Kronos	Sega Saturn, Sega Titan Video
PCSX ReARMed	PlayStation 1
Stella	Atari 2600
SameBoy	Game Boy, Game Boy Color
mGBA	Game Boy Advance
Mesen	Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Mesen S	Super Nintendo (SNES)
Genesis Plus GX	Sega Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, Mega-CD, SG-1000
Final Burn Neo	Popular motherboards (Capcom CPS1-2-3, Neo Geo, Konami, etc.)

What about other systems?

The Retroarch team will slowly add more cores to download from the Steam page. In the meantime you can download the remaining cores from here (click)[buildbot.libretro.com].
Once downloaded you can follow these steps:

1. Extract the files into a temporary folder
   
2. Copy the cores you wish to add to Retroarch
   
3. Go to the root Retroarch folder (Steam Library -> Right click Retroarch -> Manage -> Browse local files), enter the "cores" folder and paste them there.
   

BIOS

Some cores need a special file called the system BIOS to work, while for others it's optional or doesn't exist. Here is a reference table for the current available systems:

Core	Has BIOS	Requires BIOS
Mupen64Plus-Next	No	No
Kronos	Yes	Yes
PCSX ReARMed	Yes	No
Stella	No	No
SameBoy	Yes	No
mGBA	Yes	No
Mesen	Yes	Only for Famicom Disk System
Mesen S	Yes	No
Genesis Plus GX	Yes	No
Final Burn Neo	Yes	Depends on the arcade system board

In any case it is recommended to insert the BIOS of any system that supports it, as it often enhances game emulation.

BIOS for other systems

For cores you install yourself, you can check whether they need a BIOS the following way:

1. From the main menu select Load Core
   
2. Pick a core
   
3. Information
   
4. Core Information
   
5. The BIOS will appear as either Required or Optional
   

How to get BIOS and games

To obtain the BIOS for a particular system, and games for that system, you need to dump them from your own physical console. The process is different for each system and will not be explained in this guide.

Note that searching for these files online is a form of piracy and is not condoned by Retroarch.

How to add your BIOS

All BIOS files must be placed inside the "system" folder, located in the root RetroArch folder mentioned previously.


It will then appear as Present inside Core Information for that system.

File Extensions

Inside Core Information you can also view the file extensions compatible with that system:


For example. PCSX ReARMed is compatible with these file types: .bin, .cue, .img, .mdf, .pbp, .toc, .cbn, .m3u, .ccd, .chd
If the file is insize a .zip or .7z, RetroArch will extract it before running it.

Ready to play

To open a game first select Load Core, pick the system you want, then select Load Content




You can now find the file of the game you want to play in your computer and select it.


Time to play!

Conclusion

If you have any questions about setting up and using RetroArch, feel free to leave them below. I will answer as soon as possible.

Thank you for reading!

[Lady Zora]

Is there a way to install Mods to games in Retroarch? Otherwise, I'm enjoying using it to play such nostalgic classics like Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Crash Bandicoot 2 so far!

[Boombox888]

I'm trying to get Parallel N64 to work as a core but for some reason it is not working...

[namornas]

Did someone tried this on Steam deck?

[roosterpants66]

whats he best ds/3ds emulator?

[gipsydanger7]

hi , i just downloaded steam and retroarch. i found my game but it says '' failed to load content ''. i read that i need to downloads pcsx2 and pcsx2 bios which i did and im stuck. i have tried following youtube videos how to deal with '' failed to load content'' . i cant find the bios in the pcsx2 when i try to configure it and i dont know how to make them visible on the list so i can choose them. could anyone help me out please? i dont have a gaming laptop, just a normal hp laptop. i can open the game but i cant play it cuz of pink squares covering the screen and i can barely see anything.

[KilledBySlovakia #FixTF2]

This guide was helpful. I'm still, of course, considering if I should get RetroArch, but if I do, this is a good guide to come back to. The one thing I wanna ask: Is there any risk involved in doing this? Acquiring ROMs doesn't count, because I know a safe place to get those (not that I would ;)).

[brett.peake]

Ridiculously complicated ... you'd have to be a gifted tech genius to successfully do any of this! No bios is A big drawback to using Retro Arch!

[Rumrush]

when i downloaded the cores it just downloaded on text file

[xbrz66]

is it possible to add my dos games library?

[lolmurphyy]

i just wanna play melee can i do that?