Decent retro emulator
Discussion
Can anybody recommend a decent retro gaming emulator?
I've had full iRacing Sim, not enough time to put into it.
Bought a PS5 instead. As per the other thread, basically a paperweight. Who knew it needed monthlies?!
Anyway, now PS5 is sold and I think a retro emulator would suit. I've watched various YT vids and they all seem to have a million games the majority of which don't work properly.
Basically I want something I can pick up and play with minimal effort. Used to love Super bomberman!
Have HDMI and a big screen projector. Ideally something with 2 gamepads and maybe 10 or 20 actually decent games that work.
Any recommendations?
thanks.
I've had full iRacing Sim, not enough time to put into it.
Bought a PS5 instead. As per the other thread, basically a paperweight. Who knew it needed monthlies?!
Anyway, now PS5 is sold and I think a retro emulator would suit. I've watched various YT vids and they all seem to have a million games the majority of which don't work properly.
Basically I want something I can pick up and play with minimal effort. Used to love Super bomberman!
Have HDMI and a big screen projector. Ideally something with 2 gamepads and maybe 10 or 20 actually decent games that work.
Any recommendations?
thanks.
You could literally run RetroArch off a phone with a Bluetooth controller and link it to a big screen. All depends on what you really want to play.
If you want to play Bomberman and other SNES titles just about any phone, PC, tablet or bespoke gaming stick will do the job.
I did buy an Anbernic RG335X about a year ago, shaped like a Gameboy I flashed the Garlic OS and downloaded my own titles to it. Very ease, I'm a dunce and it was easy to follow the Youtube tutorials.
I now just have RetroArch running on my phone which does all my NES, SNES, N64, Master System, Megadrive, C64, Amiga and Speccy games I like to go back and play. If your looking at Dream Cast, Gamecube, PS1 again most high end phones will run those to a degree.
There are so many ways you could to this or if you have a spare £1000, go for this.
https://www.retrogaming-console.com/boutique/conso...
If you want to play Bomberman and other SNES titles just about any phone, PC, tablet or bespoke gaming stick will do the job.
I did buy an Anbernic RG335X about a year ago, shaped like a Gameboy I flashed the Garlic OS and downloaded my own titles to it. Very ease, I'm a dunce and it was easy to follow the Youtube tutorials.
I now just have RetroArch running on my phone which does all my NES, SNES, N64, Master System, Megadrive, C64, Amiga and Speccy games I like to go back and play. If your looking at Dream Cast, Gamecube, PS1 again most high end phones will run those to a degree.
There are so many ways you could to this or if you have a spare £1000, go for this.
https://www.retrogaming-console.com/boutique/conso...
The MiSTer FPGA hardware will do games up to PS1/N64/Saturn generation (the N64 and Saturn cores are still in beta state).
Absolutely rock solid reproductions of the original experience with lots of options like analogue output for CRT viewing if you want or even use your original controllers directly with the cores. You can really get something virtually indestinguishable from the original hardware.
Drawbacks are some assembly required - basically plugging boards together - and can be confusing to decide what bits to buy (or you could go for a MiSTer MMS setup which basically turns it into a console with an all in one board and nice case). Also quite expensive these days due to the core DE10 Nano board price going up.
But the OS/UI is super-simple, super easy to set up, doesn't get in the way and as I say it's about the most accurate reproduction of the original experience that you can get.
Other than that, the retro-arch software emulator runs on almost everything and supports a ton of emulators under the same frontend. Also goes up into recent console territory. But I've always found that frontend confusing.
Absolutely rock solid reproductions of the original experience with lots of options like analogue output for CRT viewing if you want or even use your original controllers directly with the cores. You can really get something virtually indestinguishable from the original hardware.
Drawbacks are some assembly required - basically plugging boards together - and can be confusing to decide what bits to buy (or you could go for a MiSTer MMS setup which basically turns it into a console with an all in one board and nice case). Also quite expensive these days due to the core DE10 Nano board price going up.
But the OS/UI is super-simple, super easy to set up, doesn't get in the way and as I say it's about the most accurate reproduction of the original experience that you can get.
Other than that, the retro-arch software emulator runs on almost everything and supports a ton of emulators under the same frontend. Also goes up into recent console territory. But I've always found that frontend confusing.
Cheers guys but jeez I feel old. Had a quick look at your recommendations but I have not idea what they are or what I'd do with them.
I was hoping for more, amazon link, box arrives, plug and play in 2 min. The retrobox looks kinda like that but I want way less games, a smaller unit ideally and a much lower price. Was thinking it would be more like £50.
I was hoping for more, amazon link, box arrives, plug and play in 2 min. The retrobox looks kinda like that but I want way less games, a smaller unit ideally and a much lower price. Was thinking it would be more like £50.
Rick101 said:
Cheers guys but jeez I feel old. Had a quick look at your recommendations but I have not idea what they are or what I'd do with them.
I was hoping for more, amazon link, box arrives, plug and play in 2 min. The retrobox looks kinda like that but I want way less games, a smaller unit ideally and a much lower price. Was thinking it would be more like £50.
You could do that too, there is a ton of them for sale.I was hoping for more, amazon link, box arrives, plug and play in 2 min. The retrobox looks kinda like that but I want way less games, a smaller unit ideally and a much lower price. Was thinking it would be more like £50.
Here is what I had, it's a handheld with no HDMI out support though.....
https://uk.whatgeek.com/products/anbernic-rg35xx-p...
Or this, it's direct competitor.....
https://droix.co.uk/product/miyoo-mini-plus/
I just do it all on my laptop. Did think about buying one of these handhelds, and in fact I had an email earlier telling me one I was watching was back in stock. But to be honest, it's something I do occasionally and then get bored.
But there are emulators for just about every platform out there, and loads of games. Most are pretty easy to set up, and free!
But there are emulators for just about every platform out there, and loads of games. Most are pretty easy to set up, and free!
The OG Jester said:
You could do that too, there is a ton of them for sale.
Here is what I had, it's a handheld with no HDMI out support though.....
https://uk.whatgeek.com/products/anbernic-rg35xx-p...
Or this, it's direct competitor.....
https://droix.co.uk/product/miyoo-mini-plus/
Doesn't the RG35 plus now have HDMI out?Here is what I had, it's a handheld with no HDMI out support though.....
https://uk.whatgeek.com/products/anbernic-rg35xx-p...
Or this, it's direct competitor.....
https://droix.co.uk/product/miyoo-mini-plus/
simonwhite2000 said:
XBOX Series S from ebay? Still allows you to access gamepass if you want more recent stuff but also can have retroarch set up.
They have now pulled RetroArch from the store. And it wasn't that simple to upload ROMS to it in the first place. You can only do it through the DevMode now which is a faff in itself.You could by a cheap laptop then buy a ready-made Batocera hard-drive which is plug a play. Loads of companies sell Batocera drives, you might even have an old PC or Laptop kicking around that will easily run most of the system.s
The OG Jester said:
simonwhite2000 said:
XBOX Series S from ebay? Still allows you to access gamepass if you want more recent stuff but also can have retroarch set up.
They have now pulled RetroArch from the store. And it wasn't that simple to upload ROMS to it in the first place. You can only do it through the DevMode now which is a faff in itself.You could by a cheap laptop then buy a ready-made Batocera hard-drive which is plug a play. Loads of companies sell Batocera drives, you might even have an old PC or Laptop kicking around that will easily run most of the system.s
Retro games generally look terrible to me on big screens. I can’t play PS1 on even a 24” monitor, the games just look so dated, but on my little handheld they look good still. The only exception I’ve found is NES and SNES Mario games, they seem to retain their charm even on a big screen.
I bought a G11 Pro which does the job for me and, as its designed around upscaling old games to 1080p output, it looks "really good" (considering the age of the games) on my 32in PC monitor.
I mainly play PSOne games like Gran Turismo 1-2, Tekken, ACE Combat etc rather than thousands of C64/Speccy/Amiga etc games, which is what mostly fills out the 60K+ games list its got, but if you know anything about PC's - notepad editing, file structures etc - then you can add more ROM's (games in emulator form) to the G11's memory stick and play games it never came with as the built-in emulators do the work for you.
I've added about 20 "new" PSOne games that the G11 never came with and it's fairly easy if you've messed with modding games via notepad editing etc before.
I mainly play PSOne games like Gran Turismo 1-2, Tekken, ACE Combat etc rather than thousands of C64/Speccy/Amiga etc games, which is what mostly fills out the 60K+ games list its got, but if you know anything about PC's - notepad editing, file structures etc - then you can add more ROM's (games in emulator form) to the G11's memory stick and play games it never came with as the built-in emulators do the work for you.
I've added about 20 "new" PSOne games that the G11 never came with and it's fairly easy if you've messed with modding games via notepad editing etc before.
Lo-Fi said:
I've got a modded SNES mini. 172 games installed. All play perfectly on a 55" screen.
This looks like the closest I'm going to get as some of the stuff above is just gobbledygook to me!It has HDMI, has a few preinstalled games. Guess it works perfectly with the preinstalled. Does the modding, or if I did find a modded one to buy...cause any issues loading, selecting, playing??
The only neg I can see is the wired controllers as I was hoping to have the unit hidden approx 6 meters away. Will have to reposition the base.
Can you advise how long the controller leads are?
Thanks!
Ahh, see Mega Drive do one too. Will def look into this, seems the best option.
Rick101 said:
Lo-Fi said:
I've got a modded SNES mini. 172 games installed. All play perfectly on a 55" screen.
This looks like the closest I'm going to get as some of the stuff above is just gobbledygook to me!It has HDMI, has a few preinstalled games. Guess it works perfectly with the preinstalled. Does the modding, or if I did find a modded one to buy...cause any issues loading, selecting, playing??
The only neg I can see is the wired controllers as I was hoping to have the unit hidden approx 6 meters away. Will have to reposition the base.
Can you advise how long the controller leads are?
Thanks!
Ahh, see Mega Drive do one too. Will def look into this, seems the best option.
It is HDMI connection. The controller cables on the SNES are wired, but they're quite long... unlike the NES mini which has stupidly short ones.
I can't tell you anything about the Sega systems- I've always been a Nintendo man
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