Emulators
This page contains standalone emulator options for systems that will run on the RP2.
For the preinstalled emulators on the RP2, it is not recommended to update the apps, as the Retroid developers seem to have chosen these builds because they run well on the device.
| System | Recommended Emulator | Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAME Arcade | MAME4droid (0.139u1) with Identical Romset | ||
| DOS | Magic DOSBox | Paid App | |
| Atari 2600 | 2600.EMU | ||
| NES | NES.EMU | Paid App | |
| Sega Master System | MD.EMU | Paid App | |
| Atari Lynx | RetroArch with Handy Core | ||
| Sega Genesis | MD.EMU | Paid App | |
| TurboGrafx 16 | PCE.EMU | Paid App | |
| TurboGrafx CD | RetroArch with Beetle PCE Core | BIOS Files Needed | |
| NeoGeo | NEO.EMU | Paid App | |
| Sega Game Gear | Nostalgia GG | ||
| SNES | Snes9x EX+ | ||
| Sega CD | RetroArch with Genesis Plus QX Core | ||
| Panasonic 3DO | Real3DOPlayer | BIOS Files Needed | |
| Nintendo Virtual Boy | RetroArch with Beetle VB Core | ||
| Sony PS1 | PCSX-R | ||
| Nintendo 64 | Mupen64Plus FZ | * | |
| Nintendo Game Boy Color | My Boy! | Paid App | |
| NeoGeo Pocket Color | RetroArch with Beetle NeoPop Core | ||
| Sega Dreamcast | Flycast | * | |
| Nintendo Game Boy Advance | My Old Boy! | Paid App | |
| Nintendo DS | DraStic DS | Paid App, * | |
| Sony PSP | PPSSPP |
(*): The Taki discord (under #retroid_pocket) has pinned .cfg files for DC controller, Mupen64 Plus FX controller + emulation (game settings) and preconfigured DraStic settings with instructions.
Initial findings with each EMU: {most if not all of them got fixed by Taki's configs mentioned
in standalone emulators section}
- N64: The installed EMU Mupen is really good and gives you stellar performance without
tweaking. One option I recommend changing is going into settings/Display and changing the resolution to 640x480. It makes a big difference and Mario 64 still rendered at 30 fps for me.
- PPSSPP: This is the next easiest to configure, again runs pretty well out of the box. The
RP2 can’t handle the most demanding games though. I tried god of war and it was a car crash, about 10 fps and completely unplayable.
- DS: You must buy Drastic from the play store, it doesn’t cost much and is hands down the
best DS emu for the RP2. To configure the controller go into settings/external controller and choose Select key mapping, you want to choose playstation 3. Then you can choose Map control and go through the standard buttons on the RP2. Then select Map Special. Personally I like to have left trigger as screen swap (I have full screen on the RP2 and switch to the other screen with L2), also map start and select to the correct buttons and menu to R2. You can then press R2 to bring up the menu when in gamepad mode. Remember as above when you are skipping between options that needs to be done in mouse mode, when you are then pressing the button to map that has to be done in controller mode. {or map my settings above}
We'd recommend starting out with a simple game to make sure you've got the controls mapped how you'd like.
A side note for LOZ Phantom hourglass and spirit tracks: there is a patch to allow you to use the dpad/analog stick for control rather than the default stylus.
- Dreamcast: This was the hardest. Firstly all config has to be in reicast, then once saved
you run flycast to actually play the games as it has much better performance. Download flycast here and then open the APK using file explorer https://flyinghead.github.io/flycast-builds/
Currently the latest 6MB versions are considered the best, the 11MB ones don’t run as well {11MB builds currently have something wrong in the Android version that makes them extremely slow and choppy}
Click on the DC bios and format memory card 1.
In settings controllers I did the following to get it to work (remember this is in reicast). Under physical controllers I set the ports of all to none and the port for Android playstation to A. Then click Map. First do the buttons on the left which is pretty self explanatory but remember to switch between mouse and controller mode if you aren’t doing all of this in controller mode, I haven’t mapped C,D,Z I don’t think ther are used. Then move to the analog axes and map stick X & Y, you just need to move each stick in one of the directions for these. Click Done, then Done and you are finished with reicast, I think the only option is to hold home to get back to the android home screen, I haven’t found a way to quit.
Then launch flycast, it shares the config with reicast and play the games.
{Flycast config fix comment by u/Chainsaurus} : You need to goto the gamepad config file for flycast and edit the line towards the bottom where it shows the deadzone value and erase the line. Go into the folder where your directory path is set for flycast. In a folder called mappings, there should be Android_Playstation3.cfg. Or you can just install Reicast 20.02b and not have that issue and still have the same performance, in some games Reicast works better and vice-versa. {Fixed with Reicast 20.02b onwards then?} {Taki has mapping .cfg file that should fix this?}
Significant contributions to these lists were made by u/beldandy561, u/Captain_Shoe, and u/TortugaSs
