Setup Guides

Last updated: March 2026 PlayStation 1 emulation is solved. Like, actually solved. The PS1 was cracked wide open decades ago and the emulators available today …

Last updated: March 2026 Retro handhelds get all the attention, but sometimes you just want to sit on the couch, grab a controller, and play retro games on a …

The 3DS had one of the best game libraries Nintendo ever put together. Pokémon, Zelda, Fire Emblem, Monster Hunter, Metroid — absolute bangers that a lot of …

ROM sites come and go. One week your go-to source is working fine, the next it’s been DMCA’d into oblivion. If you’ve ever bookmarked a …

Last updated: March 2026 RetroArch NetPlay lets you play retro games online with anyone, on any platform, with rollback netcode that makes it feel like …

Last updated: March 2026 Your Android phone is the most powerful retro gaming device you already own. A midrange phone from 2024 can run everything from NES to …

Last updated: March 2026 GameCube emulation is a solved problem. Unlike PS2 or Saturn where you’re juggling multiple options and trade-offs, GameCube has …

Last updated: March 2026 A stock Game Boy in 2026 is hard to go back to. No backlight, scratched screen lens, faded buttons, mushy membranes. The hardware is …

Last updated: March 2026 Homebrew games are original, brand-new games built for retro hardware. Not ROM hacks. Not mods. Completely new games — new stories, new …

Last updated: March 2026 Hundreds of incredible games were never released in English. Japanese RPGs, action games, visual novels — locked behind a language …

Last updated: March 2026 You just got a new Anbernic or Miyoo handheld. You boot it up, scroll through the stock menu, and wonder why everything feels sluggish …

Switch emulation is the most complicated topic in the emulation space right now. Two major emulators got taken down by Nintendo, forks keep popping up and …

Last updated: March 2026 Setting up RetroArch and getting a black screen? Chances are you’re missing a BIOS file. Some cores flat-out refuse to run …

Last updated: March 2026 If you’ve searched for “retroarch cores” and landed on a list from 2021 with dead links and wrong picks — this …

RetroArch is the Swiss Army knife of emulation. One app, dozens of emulators, every retro system you care about — all with a single controller setup, universal …

Last updated: March 2026 The Steam Deck is the best handheld for emulation right now. Not close. And EmuDeck is the reason most people can set it up without …

Last updated: March 2026 ROM hacks are some of the most impressive things the gaming community has ever produced. Full new games built on top of classic …

Last updated: March 2026 The PlayStation 2 had one of the greatest game libraries ever made. Over 4,000 titles. And thanks to emulation, that library …

The Game Boy Advance has one of the best libraries in gaming history. Golden Sun, Metroid Fusion, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Pokemon Emerald, Castlevania: Aria …

Last updated: March 2026 If you want a dedicated emulation machine without fighting Linux configs for three hours, Batocera is the answer. Flash it to a USB …

The retro handheld market in 2026 is absurd — in the best way possible. Whether you’ve got $70 or $160 to spend, there’s a device that can emulate …