A single frontend that runs dozens of console emulator cores across nearly every platform.
RetroArch isn't a single-console emulator — it's a frontend that runs many different emulator 'cores,' each one handling a specific console, all inside one consistent interface. Instead of installing a separate app per system, you install RetroArch once and then download the cores you need for NES, SNES, Genesis, PSP, N64 and dozens of others.
It runs on an unusually wide range of platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and even official app store listings on some of those. Because every core shares RetroArch's settings, save-state, and controller-mapping systems, configuration you do once tends to carry over between systems rather than starting from scratch for each console.
RetroArch shares the same core across Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS builds.
Save your progress at almost any point and pick up exactly where you left off.
Use touch controls, keyboard, or a connected gamepad depending on platform.
Configuration carries over the same way no matter which platform you're on.
Download the official RetroArch build for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android or iOS.
Use your platform's standard install method — installer, package manager, or app store.
Open RetroArch for the first time and step through any first-run setup.
Set up keyboard, touch, or controller input before you start playing.
Browse to your game file and open it from the file menu.
A core is the emulator engine for one specific console — you install RetroArch once, then add cores for whichever systems you want to play.
Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS all have RetroArch builds, with official app store availability on some platforms.
Yes, RetroArch and its cores are free and open source.
Yes. RetroArch cores are emulators only — you'll need your own legally owned or backed-up game files for each system.