Emulators

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)

For help setting up and using Retroarch on the RP2, see A Brief Guide to Retroarch.

N64 Core Tips

For those who want to use N64 in your RP2 with RetroArch (so you can use RetroAchievements, for instance).

This only works with Mupen64Next or NextGLES2 (GLES3 and Parallel simply crash).

Paste the contents of Mupen64Plus-Next.opt to:

• <internal storage>/Android/data/com.retroarch/files/retroarch-core-option.cfg

Or paste the full OPT file here:

• <internal storage>/retroarch/configs/Mupen64Plus-Next/

Please note:

• use only glide64 for video (angrylion is slow, parallel simply fails).

• all mupen cores share the same configs, be aware of this.

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	Remember to map the stylus to the right joystick, as there are no touchscreen controls. There are patches to fix this for some games. See here for a list of confirmed playable games, including known patches.
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	B	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. The most recent version in the Play Store version will not work on the RP2. This is the latest working version.
Nintendo - Nintendo 64	N64oid	Yes	A	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	Beetle Saturn	No	D	Retroarch	Free	BIOS files are required. Beetle Saturn uses software rendering, which is extremely CPU intensive. The RP2 can only run games through the Beetle Saturn core at approx. 5-10 fps.
Sega - Saturn	Classic Boy Gold	No	E	Stand-alone	Trial	Based on the Yabause core. Hangs for a few moments then returns to Classic Boy Gold menu.
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 - Saturn	Yabause	No	E	Retroarch	Free	Attempting to load a game with the Yabause core crashes Retroarch.
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 1	FPse64	No	A	Stand-alone	?	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

This only applies to beta batch units (Pink, Blue, Orange). Later units do not include Reicast, and include Flycast pre-installed by itself.

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.

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