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Best RetroArch core list


Rincewind

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I've been trying to find a list of which cores are best for each platform. I know the Wiki page covers which cores there are, but I thought a thread dedicated to which ones we were all currently using would be a good reference.

 

  1.  Genesis Plus GX
  • Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
  • Sega Master System
  • Sega CD / Mega CD
  • Sg-1000

 

 

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Atari 2600 - Stella

Atari 5200 - Standalone kat 5200 (don't use RA)

Atari 7800 - Prosystem

Atari Jaguar - VirtualJaguar 

Atari Lynx - Handy 

Sega SG 1000 - Gens

Sega MS - Gens

Sega MD - Gens

Sega CD - Gens

Sega GG - Gens

Sega 32 - Pico

Sega Saturn - Mednafen (standalone still recommended)

Dreamcast - Demul Standalone

NES - Nestopia/FCEUmme

SNES - BSNES accuracy/balanced or Snes9X

Virtual Boy - Mednafen  VB

N64 - Mupen64, Dolphin standalone for some games, PJ64 standalone for others (its a patchwork)

Game Cube - Dolphin standalone

PC Engine/Turbo 16/turbo CD - Mednafen PCE Fast

Gameboy/Gameboy Color - Gambette

Gameboy Advanced - mgba

Nintendo DS - Desume/Desume standalone

Playstation - beetle PSX hardware, with the software render (default vulkan, still experimental)

PS2 - PCSX2 standalone

PSP - PPSSPP standalone 

3DO - 4DO core is good, 4DO standalone is supposedly a bit better (your choice)

Wonderswan/Color - Mednafen wonderswan

GCE Vectrex - Vectrex

NeoGeo Pocket - Mednafen NGP

NeoGeo AES - MAME

NeoGeo CD - MESS (Haven't tried it myself)

There are cores for the Oddessey 2 and coleco vision, but I haven't tried them yet. Fairchild Channel F, Amiga CD, CDI, and a few more obscure consoles can be made to run in MESS I have read, although I have not tried that either. 

These are the consoles and handhelds. Let me know if you are also interested in the 8 bit computers. 

 

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Just now, lordmonkus said:

Actually there is a new Atari800 core which supports the 5200 and is quite nice, though it does require some extra setup outside of the normal Retroarch.

Neat, I'll check that out. I know that MESS had problems with analog centering, but I don't remember reading about it one way or another with atari800 core. 

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It is also worth noting that Mednafen Wonderswan will be choppy in RA if you have a 60hz monitor, because the wonderswan runs at 75 frame per second, and RA disabled vsync automatically if the emulator runs faster than your native refresh rate. To get it to run smoother, use the highest frame delay value your system can handle. 

(The more you know). 

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Yeah Mess is very hit and miss with 5200 emulation, biggest issue is certain games didn't have 2 button functionality.

Kat5200 is a decent enough emulator but I didn't like the way it handled resolution changes on a 2 monitor setup. I was using Altirra which as an emulator is quite good but required a bit more work than normal to get it setup. I have a small guide for it here on the forums and you search for Atari 5200.

The Atari800 core isn't available yet using the downloader that I can see but there is a thread over on the Retroarch forums with a download link. But like I said there is some setup because it is mainly an Atari800 computer so you have to deal with setting up some bios paths for it and generating a .atari800.cfg file. Once setup though I really like it for the game H.E.R.O. The controls are so responsive with a digital d-pad and the shaders look great.

2 minutes ago, mothergoose729 said:

wonderswan runs at 75 frame per second

I have never bothered with this emulator so it seems like a perfect case scenario where V-Sync off and a G-Sync display would shine :)

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Just now, lordmonkus said:

Yeah Mess is very hit and miss with 5200 emulation, biggest issue is certain games didn't have 2 button functionality.

Kat5200 is a decent enough emulator but I didn't like the way it handled resolution changes on a 2 monitor setup. I was using Altirra which as an emulator is quite good but required a bit more work than normal to get it setup. I have a small guide for it here on the forums and you search for Atari 5200.

The Atari800 core isn't available yet using the downloader that I can see but there is a thread over on the Retroarch forums with a download link. But like I said there is some setup because it is mainly an Atari800 computer so you have to deal with setting up some bios paths for it and generating a .atari800.cfg file. Once setup though I really like it for the game H.E.R.O. The controls are so responsive with a digital d-pad and the shaders look great.

I have never bothered with this emulator so it seems like a perfect case scenario where V-Sync off and a G-Sync display would shine :)

RA uses a framelimiter in addition to vysnc. The issue with vsync off is getting the frame timing right, not just for tearing, but because if it is off you get choppy visuals as well. For 2d games which only have a couple frames of animation per action, it is super noticeable. On a 60hz display, I don't think setting any kind of vsync in the drivers would help, but it might work fine if you have a monitor with a greater than 75zh refresh rate. I don't really know why setting a frame delay helps, I only know that for me it does, and very noticeably so. 

Frame delay also helps a lot if you prefer to play with vysnc disabled in RA, although the smoothest animations will always be with RA vsync turned on. Again, I think it has something to do with the frame timing. 

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Judgement silver sword is a decent shmup. Klanoa is a pretty good platformer, although it switches rotation throughout the game making it a pain to play. Flash Koibito-Kun is amusing, and Battle Swan Collosseum isn't bad for what is essentially a two button fighter. If you don't read Japanese though, there really isn't a lot for you. Even if you do, it wasn't exactly the most amazing handheld. Still plenty of fun to be had though. 

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  • 7 months later...
15 minutes ago, meaning_ said:

super noob question, are the default cores picked by Launchbox based on a vote or something  ? Or is it Jason who made the default core choice based on his own experience? 

I believe it was Jason who picked them as he has them hardcoded into the program, or possible that Brad picked them and passed the list onto Jason. The list does need updating though, some of the cores specified no longer exist of have better alternatives these days.

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would be good to get the updated list. and tu upload it in this format : 

"cores\mess_libretro.dll"

Then, in order to quickly edit all the cores per platform, I assume we just have to edit the emulators.xml file and voilà! 

someone can share his up-to-date best cores emulators.xml file ? or the list of cores ? 

 

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  • 10 months later...

For Sega Dreamcast I like the ReDream emulator free version using the OEM bios, (e.g., epr-21576g.bin renamed to boot.bin).  

This restores the default Dreamcast intro (versus the ReDream bios included), corrects glitches with menus in the games, and enables saving the games, etc.

I found the upgrade ($5) upgraded resolutions looked great but the higher resolutions and pixel processes required a lot more computing power.  Great simple emulator!

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  • 6 months later...

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I have a similar question.

I was wondering if there is a way to find out which Retroarch cores are best for compatibility.  I was installing the cores listed in Launchbox and realized one of the recommended cores was software emulation vs another version which used hardware emulation (which is what I would want).

I am running it on an i7 7700 with a 1050Ti so hardware isn't an issue for the games I want to play (No PS3/XBox 360 or Wii U games).

Any idea if there is a list of cores recommended for compatibility?

 

Thanks.

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