RetroArch 9+
A frontend for emulators
Daniel De Matteis
-
- Free
Screenshots
Description
RetroArch is a free, ad-free, open source, and cross platform frontend/framework for emulators, game engines, video games, media players, and other applications. Supported systems come in the form of libretro cores. The following cores are included:
* 2048
* Acorn - BBC Micro (b2)
* Amstrad - CPC (CrocoDS)
* Amstrad - CPC/GX4000 (Caprice32)
* Anarch
* Arcade (DICE)
* Arcade (FinalBurn Neo)
* Arduboy (Ardens)
* Atari - 2600 (Stella 2014)
* Atari - 2600 (Stella 2023)
* Atari - 2600 (Stella)
* Atari - 5200 (Atari800)
* Atari - 5200 (a5200)
* Atari - 7800 (ProSystem)
* Atari - Lynx (Handy)
* Atari - Lynx (Holani)
* Bandai - WonderSwan/Color (Beetle Cygne)
* Cave Story (drs)
* Cave Story (NXEngine)
* Commodore - Amiga (PUAE)
* Commodore - C128 (VICE x128)
* Commodore - C64 (VICE x64, fast)
* Commodore - C64 (VICE x64sc, accurate)
* Commodore - C64 SuperCPU (VICE xscpu64)
* Commodore - CBM-II 5x0 (VICE xcbm5x0)
* Commodore - CBM-II 6x0/7x0 (VICE xcbm2)
* Commodore - PET (VICE xpet)
* Commodore - PLUS/4 (VICE xplus4)
* Commodore - VIC-20 (VICE xvic)
* Dinothawr
* Doom (PrBoom)
* DOS (DOSBox-Pure)
* Fairchild ChannelF (FreeChaF)
* GCE - Vectrex (vecx)
* Game Music Emu
* Handheld Electronic (GW)
* MSX/SVI/ColecoVision/SG-1000 (blueMSX)
* Mattel - Intellivision (FreeIntv)
* Mr.Boom (Bomberman)
* NEC - PC Engine / CD (Beetle PCE FAST)
* NEC - PC Engine / SuperGrafx / CD (Beetle PCE)
* NEC - PC Engine SuperGrafx (Beetle SuperGrafx)
* NEC - PC-FX (Beetle PC-FX)
* NEC - PC-98 (Neko Project II Kai)
* Nintendo - DS (DeSmuME)
* Nintendo - DS (melonDS DS)
* Nintendo - DS (NooDS)
* Nintendo - Game Boy / Color (DoubleCherryGB)
* Nintendo - Game Boy / Color (Gambatte)
* Nintendo - Game Boy / Color (Gearboy)
* Nintendo - Game Boy / Color (SameBoy)
* Nintendo - Game Boy / Color (TGB Dual)
* Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (VBA Next)
* Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (VBA-M)
* Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (gpSP)
* Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (mGBA)
* Nintendo - NES / Famicom (FCEUmm)
* Nintendo - NES / Famicom (Mesen)
* Nintendo - NES / Famicom (Nestopia UE)
* Nintendo - NES / Famicom (QuickNES)
* Nintendo - Nintendo 64 (Mupen64Plus-Next)
* Nintendo - Pokemon Mini (PokeMini)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC (Snes9x 2005)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC (Snes9x 2010)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC (Snes9x)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC (bsnes)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC (bsnes-hd beta)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC (bsnes-jg)
* Nintendo - SNES / SFC / Game Boy / Color (Mesen-S)
* Nintendo - Virtual Boy (Beetle VB)
* Palm OS (Mu)
* PocketCDG
* Quake (TyrQuake)
* Rick Dangerous (XRick)
* SNK - Neo Geo AES/MVS (Geolith)
* SNK - Neo Geo CD (NeoCD)
* SNK - Neo Geo Pocket / Color (Beetle NeoPop)
* SNK - Neo Geo Pocket / Color (RACE)
* ScummVM
* Sega - MS/GG (SMS Plus GX)
* Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD (Genesis Plus GX Wide)
* Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD (Genesis Plus GX)
* Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD/32X (PicoDrive)
* Sega - MS/GG/SG-1000 (Gearsystem)
* Sega - Saturn (Beetle Saturn)
* Sega - Saturn (Yabause)
* Sharp - X68000 (PX68k)
* Sinclair - ZX Spectrum (Fuse)
* Sony - PlayStation (Beetle PSX HW)
* Sony - PlayStation (Beetle PSX)
* Sony - PlayStation (PCSX ReARMed)
* Sony - PlayStation Portable (PPSSPP)
* Texas Instruments TI-83 (Numero)
* The 3DO Company - 3DO (Opera)
* Thomson - MO/TO (Theodore)
* Vircon32
* VirtualXT
* WASM-4
* Watara - Supervision (Potator)
RetroArch supports a broad range of features, including:
* Netplay
* Soft patching
* RetroAchievements
* Save states
* MFi controller support
* Key remapping per core or per game
* Gyro
* Cheats
* Custom overlays
* Shaders
* Fast forward and rewind
* Game artwork
* AI translations
* Advanced latency management
**RetroArch and Libretro are in no way affiliated with Nintendo. The name "Nintendo" and all associated game console names are registered trademarks of Nintendo Co., Ltd.**
What’s New
Version 1.21.0
- Two new cores! b2 (Acorn - BBC Micro) and DICE (Arcade)
- New Camera Driver (avfoundation), MIDI Driver (coremidi), and Location Driver (corelocation)
- Fix some issues related to the sandbox
- Menu fixes
Ratings and Reviews
I’ve got achievements, I’m happy
Personally I think this is quite a rough implementation compared to the Delta emulator that released a few weeks ago, but it otherwise plays games just as well as Delta if not better in some cases. RetroArch isn’t as pretty and isn’t integrated as well with iOS devices, with my biggest gripe being that I can’t add games from my iCloud drive into playlists, and have to sift through my files to open games. While Delta’s a bit easier to use, Retroarch offers more settings and a much wider variety of systems to emulate, so if you want to play N64, Sega, or arcade games on your phone you’ve come to the right place. Personally, the big draw for me is support for RetroAchievements, which allows you to unlock community-made achievements as you play. This will definitely be my emulator of choice for the foreseeable future, though I’d be really happy to see some quality-of-life improvements down the line.
RetroArch is great! This implementation, not as much
I’ve been using RetroArch for years on my Mac, on dedicated retro consoles, and on a MAME cabinet, so it’s a delight to finally have it on iOS. But the mobile interface is glitchy and clunky. The buttons at the bottom interfere with the home swipe bar, so I constantly bring up the app switcher when I’m trying to tap the playlists icon. The app stubbornly and randomly refuses to remember some of my settings (like the theme and NOT using HDR). Worst of all, I made the mistake of turning up the touch sensitivity and suddenly none of the tap points was where it should be. I had to go into the Files app and manually delete the .cfg file to force the app back to default settings so I could use it. I realize the glui menu is probably a cross-platform thing and I’m sure everyone involved with this project is volunteering their time. But I just wish this had a bit more of the polish I expect from an iOS app. Delta has a much better interface but I want to use RetroArch because it supports a lot more systems including the early ‘80s consoles.
Good for experienced emulator fanatics, but inexperienced players may need help understanding
I have been around the emulator world for a while now and I enjoy and understand a lot about emulators. I tried getting some of my friends to start emulating games, and I taught them how to dump roms and gave them some devices to start dumping. However, what I didn’t expect, is that they didn’t know how to use the emulator. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the emulator, no, it is wonderful. I am just saying that if you are just starting out emulator, learn about it before you start. You need to know what roms, isos, bios, and all the different file types and names for different things are. Also, please don’t start pirating games. If yall start pirating, nintendo may get apple to take down the emulators. Get your roms from an actual cartridge, don’t just download off the internet. Anyway, tldr: learn what emulators are before you try to emulate. Don’t pirate games.
App Privacy
The developer, Daniel De Matteis, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Daniel De Matteis
- Size
- 336.3 MB
- Category
- Games
- Compatibility
-
- iPhone
- Requires iOS 12.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 12.0 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 12.0 or later.
- Mac
- Requires macOS 10.13 or later.
- Apple TV
- Requires tvOS 13.0 or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Game Controller
- Recommended The developer, Daniel De Matteis, designed this game to be played with a controller for the best experience.
- Languages
-
English
- Age Rating
- 9+ Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Copyright
- © 2025 Libretro
- Price
- Free
Supports
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Game Controllers
Play this game with your favorite compatible controller.