Emulators: Difference between revisions

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*PPSSPP - Use the recommended profile settings per game for optimal performance.
*PPSSPP - Use the recommended profile settings per game for optimal performance.


*Reicast - The back end for Flycast (is only included with beta batch units).
*Reicast - The back end for Flycast (beta units only have Reicast installed).


*ScummVM - Shows no directories on launch. Fix is to search for a game and place a “/“ in the search box and select “Choose”. This will bring up the directory listing.
*ScummVM - Shows no directories on launch. Fix is to search for a game and place a “/“ in the search box and select “Choose”. This will bring up the directory listing.


===Best Performing Emulators===
===Best Performing Emulators===

Revision as of 11:50, 19 September 2020


Emulation within RetroidOS

RetroidOS supports the following systems, with the listed emulator cores:

System Emulator core
Arcade Final Burn Alpha (2.97.08, 2.97.42, 42_ORI, 42_HOME)

MAME (0.37, 0.78, 0.106, 0.139, 139_RA)

NES/Famicom FCEmu
Master System Genesis Plus
Gameboy/Gameboy Color TGB Dual
PC Engine Beetle PCE
Wonderswan/Wonderswan Color Beetle Cygne
Mega Drive/Genesis/CD/32X Genesis Plus
SNES/Super Famicom SNES9X
Gameboy Advance mGBA
PlayStation 1 PCSX (labelled as PSCX)
Nintendo 64 Mupen64 Plus
PlayStation Portable PPSSPP
Dreamcast Reicast

There are no changeable settings for emulators within RetroidOS, and currently there is no way to add new emulation cores.

Emulation within Android

This section contains free RetroArch and stand alone emulator options. The one paid app that many recommended is DraStic for Nintendo DS emulation.

It is generally not recommended to update the pre-installed emulators, as the Retroid developers seem to have chosen these builds because they run well on the device.

RetroArch Cores

The Retroid Pocket 2 comes pre-installed with two versions of RetroArch (1.8.4 & 1.5.0) and the listed emulator cores:


RetroArch 1.5.0

  • Game Boy Advance (gpSP) This is installed separately because RA 1.5.0 has the best performance for gpSP/GBA


RetroArch 1.8.4

  • Arcade (FB Alpha 2012 CPS-1)
  • Arcade (FB Alpha 2012 CPS-2)
  • Arcade (FB Alpha 2012 Neo Geo)
  • Arcade (MAME 2000)
  • Arcade (MAME 2003)
  • Arcade (MAME 2010)
  • Arcade (MAME 2015)
  • Atari - 2600 (Stella)
  • Atari - 5200 (Atari800)
  • Atari - Lynx (Handy)
  • Bandai - WonderSwan/Color (Beetle Cygne)
  • Commodore - Amiga (P-UAE)
  • Commodore - C64 (VICE x64, fast)
  • DOS (DOSBox - SVN)
  • GCE - Vectrex (vecx)
  • Microsoft - MSX (fMSX)
  • Minecraft - (Craft)
  • MSX/SVI/ColecoVision/SG-1000 (blueMSX)
  • NEC - PC Engine / CD (Beetle PCE FAST)
  • Nintendo - Gameboy / Color (Gambette)
  • Nintendo - NES / Famicom (FCEUmm)
  • Nintendo - SNES / SFC (Snes9x 2002)
  • Quake (TyrQuake)
  • Sega - Dreamcast/Naomi (Flycast)
  • Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD (Genesis Plus GX)
  • Sega - MS/GG/SG-1000 (Gearsystem)
  • Sega - MS/MD/CD/32X (PicoDrive)
  • SNK - Neo Geo CD (NeoCD)
  • SNK - Neo Geo Pocket / Color (RACE)
  • Sony - PlayStation (PCSX ReARMed)
  • The 3DO Company - 3DO (4DO)
  • ZX Spectrum (Fuse)


Stand Alone Apps

The RP2 Comes pre-installed with the following stand alone apps:

  • Flycast - You will need to configure Reicast and configure the Bios. See DC Configuration Tips at the bottom of this page (Flycast is not included on beta batch units).
  • MAME4droid(0.139u1) - You will need a .139 MAME Romset.
  • Mupen64Plus FZ - Use recommended rendering profile per game for optimal performance. Here is Mupen's settings & render profiles if you lose them, copy to internal storage.
  • N64oid - Right joystick will not map.
  • NeoDroid - NeoGeo MVS Emulator - Compatible with MAME Roms. Put neogeo.zip bios file in your roms directory “/sdcard/neodroid/roms”.
  • PPSSPP - Use the recommended profile settings per game for optimal performance.
  • Reicast - The back end for Flycast (beta units only have Reicast installed).
  • ScummVM - Shows no directories on launch. Fix is to search for a game and place a “/“ in the search box and select “Choose”. This will bring up the directory listing.

Best Performing Emulators

This table of stand alone apps & RetroArch cores seem to get the best performance out of the device. We have prioritized cores over apps whenever possible, and only if performance is equivalent or better. We have also prioritized free apps over paid apps whenever possible, and again, only if performance is equivalent or better.

System Emulator Options Notes
MAME Arcade MAME4droid 0.139u1 App. Pre-installed. Needs the .139 MAME Romset.
DOS DOSBox Core. Pre-installed.
Atari 2600 Stella Core. Pre-installed.
FC/NES FCEUmm Core. Pre-installed. Has netplay for multiplayer.
Sega Master System Genesis Plus GX Core. Pre-installed.
Atari Lynx Handy Core. Pre-installed.
MegaDrive/Sega Genesis Genesis Plus GX Core. Pre-installed.
PCE/TurboGrafx 16 Beetle PCE FAST Core. Pre-installed.
PCE-CD/TurboGrafx CD Beetle PCE FAST Core. BIOS Files Needed
NeoGeo NeoDroid App. Pre-installed.
Sega Game Gear Genesis Plus GX Core. Pre-installed.
SFC/SNES Snes9x 2002 Core. Pre-installed. Has netplay for multiplayer.
Sega CD Genesis Plus GX Core. Pre-installed.
Panasonic 3DO Real3DOPlayer App. BIOS Files Needed
Nintendo Virtual Boy Beetle VB Core.
Sony PlayStation PCSX-R Core. Pre-installed.
Nintendo 64 Mupen64Plus FZ App. Pre-installed. *The most recent PlayStore version will not work. This is the latest working version.
Nintendo Game Boy Color Gambette / My Old Boy! Core. Pre-installed. Paid App. / My Old Boy! has Link cable emulation for local and remote multiplayer.
NeoGeo Pocket Color RACE Core. Pre-installed.
Sega Dreamcast Flycast App. Pre-installed (not in beta batch units). Core. Pre-installed. See DC Config Tips below. Docs. RA 1.9.0 has been tested to achieve better Flycast performance than RA 1.8.4.
Nintendo Game Boy Advance gpSP / MyBoy! Core. Pre-installed in RA 1.5.0 only. Other GBA cores in other RA versions do not run as well. / Paid App. MyBoy! has Link cable emulation for local and remote multiplayer.
Nintendo DS DraStic Paid App. To set controller mappings, go to Settings -> External Controller and choose Select Key Mapping, then choose PlayStation 3. Use home button to enter mouse mode when needed. You can set right stick as stylus.
Sony PSP PPSSPP App. Pre-installed. Struggles with more demanding 3D games such as God of War.
SCUMMVM SCUMMVM App. Pre-installed. Has a known bug that shows no directories on launch. Fix is to search for a game and place a “/“ in the search box and select “Choose”. This will bring up the directory listing

All Emulation Options within Android

Click the title of a column to sort the table by the contents of that column.

The performance ratings are:

  • A: Plays almost all of the system's games at full speed (or better, for example increased resolution) with few to no glitches.
  • B: Plays many of the system's games at full speed, or with minor glitches.
  • C: Plays some of the system's games at full speed, or with major glitches.
  • D: Technically plays some of the system's games, but often not at full speed, or with major glitches.
  • E: Does not run any of the system's games in a playable state.

The cost ratings are:

  • Free: Completely free.
  • Donation: Completely free, but a voluntary donation is requested.
  • Trial: A free version is available, but limited in some way, to encourage users to buy a full/pro version.
  • Paid: No free or trial version; only available as a paid app.
System Emulator Pre-installed? Performance Stand-alone? Cost Notes
3DO Company, The - 3DO 4DO Yes ? Retroarch Free
Arcade (Capcom CPS-1) Final Burn Alpha 2012 CPS-1 Yes ? Retroarch Free
Arcade (Capcom CPS-2) Final Burn Alpha 2012 CPS-2 Yes ? Retroarch Free
Arcade (MAME 0.37) MAME 2000 Yes ? Retroarch Free MAME 2000 is equivalent to MAME 0.37.
Arcade (MAME 0.78) MAME 2003 Yes ? Retroarch Free MAME 2003 is equivalent to MAME 0.78.
Arcade (MAME 0.139) MAME 2010 Yes ? Retroarch Free MAME 2010 is equivalent to MAME 0.139.
Arcade (MAME 0.139) MAME4droid(0.139u1) Yes ? Stand-alone Free Requires MAME 0.139 compatible ROMs.
Arcade (MAME 0.159) MAME 2015 Yes ? Retroarch Free MAME 2015 is equivalent to MAME 0.159.
Arcade (Neo Geo AES) Final Burn Alpha 2012 Neo Geo Yes ? Retroarch Free
Arcade (Sega Naomi) Flycast Yes ? Retroarch Free
Atari - 2600 Stella Yes ? Retroarch Free
Atari - 5200 Atari800 Yes ? Retroarch Free
Atari - Lynx Handy Yes ? Retroarch Free
Bandai - WonderSwan / Color Beetle Cygne Yes ? Retroarch Free
Coleco - ColecoVision blueMSX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Commodore - Amiga P-UAE Yes ? Retroarch Free
Commodore - Amiga UAE4ARM No ? Stand-alone Free
Commodore - C64 AnVICE x64 No B Stand-alone Free Based on VICE v3.0. "Official" Android port of VICE, but no longer supported. Interface is designed around touchscreen and external keyboard, making it difficult to use on the RP2. The RP2 will run the "armeabi-v7a" binary.
Commodore - C64 C64.emu No ? Stand-alone Paid Based on VICE v3.1.
Commodore - C64 VICE x64, fast Yes A Retroarch Free Based on VICE v3.3. Switch sound emulation to "Fast SID" at 44.1kHz to get full-speed emulation. Some disk games may not load with True Drive Emulation activated.
GCE - Vectrex vecx Yes ? Retroarch Free
Microsoft - MS-DOS DOSBox - SVN Yes ? Retroarch Free It is possible to install Windows 3.1 on the emulated machine. It may also be possible to install Windows 95.
Microsoft - MS-DOS Magic DOSBox No ? Stand-alone Trial It is possible to install Windows 3.1 on the emulated machine. It may also be possible to install Windows 95.
Microsoft - MSX fMSX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Minecraft Craft Yes ? Retroarch Free
Microsoft - MSX blueMSX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Morrowind (The Elder Scrolls) OMW (aka "OpenMicroWave") No ? Stand-alone Free Requires the files from a PC installation of the original game.
NEC - PC Engine / CD Beetle PCE FAST Yes ? Retroarch Free
Nintendo - 3DS Citra No E Stand-alone Trial The RP2 is not powerful enough to run Citra.
Nintendo - DS DraStic No A Stand-alone Paid The lack of touchscreen controls make many games virtually unplayable on the RP2. See here for a list of some more playable games.
Nintendo - Gameboy / Color Gambatte Yes ? Retroarch Free
Nintendo - Gameboy Advance gpSP Yes A Retroarch Free Runs under the older Retroarch app (v 1.5.0, with a GBA icon). Newer GBA cores running in newer versions of Retroarch do not perform well.
Nintendo - Gamecube Dolphin No E Retroarch Free The RP2 is not powerful enough to run Dolphin.
Nintendo - Nintendo 64 Mupen64Plus FZ Yes A Stand-alone Donation Use recommended rendering profile per game for optimal performance. Here is Mupen's settings & render profiles if you lose them, copy to internal storage.
Nintendo - Nintendo 64 N64oid Yes ? Stand-alone Free N64oid does not recognize the right joystick at all.
Nintendo - NES / Famicom FCEUmm Yes ? Retroarch Free
Nintendo - SNES / SFC Snes9x 2002 Yes ? Retroarch Free
Nintendo - Wii Dolphin No E Retroarch Free The RP2 is not powerful enough to run Dolphin.
Nintendo - Virtual Boy VB Yes ? Retroarch Free
Quake TyrQuake Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - 32X PicoDrive Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Dreamcast Flycast Yes C Retroarch Free Compatibility can be increased by installing the system BIOS ROM.
Sega - Dreamcast Flycast No C Stand-alone Free You may need to use Reicast to configure Flycast and configure the Bios. See DC Configuration Tips at the bottom of this page.
Sega - Dreamcast ReDream No E Stand-alone Donation The RP2 is not powerful enough to run ReDream.
Sega - Dreamcast Reicast Yes C Stand-alone Free Compatibility can be increased by installing the system BIOS ROM.
Sega - Game Gear Gearsystem Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Game Gear Genesis Plus GX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Master System Gearsystem Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Master System Genesis Plus GX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Master System PicoDrive Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Mega Drive / Genesis (plus CD) Genesis Plus GX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Mega Drive / Genesis (plus CD) PicoDrive Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - Saturn Yaba Sanshiro No E Stand-alone Donation The RP2 is not powerful enough to run Yaba Sanshiro.
Sega - Saturn YabaSanshiro No E Retroarch Free The RP2 is not powerful enough to run the YabaSanshiro core.
Sega - SG-1000 blueMSX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sega - SG-1000 Gearsystem Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sinclair - ZX Spectrum Fuse Yes ? Retroarch Free
SNK - Neo Geo AES Neodroid Yes ? Stand-alone Free Compatible with MAME Roms. Put neogeo.zip bios file in your roms directory “/sdcard/neodroid/roms”.
SNK - Neo Geo CD NeoCD Yes ? Retroarch Free
SNK - Neo Geo Pocket / Color RACE Yes ? Retroarch Free
Sony - PlayStation 1 PCSX ReARMed Yes A Retroarch Free Compatibility can be increased by installing the system BIOS ROM.
Sony - PlayStation 1 ePSXe No A Stand-alone Trial Compatibility can be increased by installing the system BIOS ROM.
Sony - PlayStation 2 Damon PS2 No E Stand-alone ? The RP2 is not powerful enough to run Damon PS2.
Sony - PlayStation 2 Play! No E Stand-alone Free The RP2 is not powerful enough to run Play.
Sony - PlayStation Portable PPSSPP Yes B Stand-alone Donation
Spectravideo - SVI blueMSX Yes ? Retroarch Free
Various (PC Adventures) ScummVM Yes ? Stand-alone Free Shows no directories on launch. Fix is to search for a game and place a “/“ in the search box and select “Choose”. This will bring up the directory listing.

Dreamcast Configuration Tips

Configuration for the pre-installed Flycast Stand Alone app is done through the pre-installed Reicast app. Flycast will have better performance than Reicast.

Open Reicast and click on the DC bios and format memory card 1. For controller settings, set the ports of all to none, and the port for Android Playstation to A. Click Map, and map the buttons to their appropriate locations - you may not need to map all buttons. Click Done, then Done again. You may now close Reicast.

Launch Flycast, which shares a config with Reicast, and load and play your game.

If there are issues with the controller, you may need to modify the .cfg file in Flycast. To do this, go into the directory path for Flycast and find the folder named mappings. Inside, there should be a file named Android_Playstation3.cfg. Open the file, scroll to the bottom, and erase the line for deadzone value. This should not be needed if Reicast 20.02b or newer is installed, or if you have used the .cfg file.


Credits to beldandy561, Captain_Shoe, TortugaSs, Ryan86Me, StubbornPixel, CommieColin, Pocchitte

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