Raspberry Pi Emulator: The Ultimate Retro Gaming Machine

by Gus Nov 4, 2014 Updated Aug 20, 2018 Beginner, Gaming

A Raspberry Pi emulator can provide you with hundreds of hours of fun and remember those good times playing those classic retro games. This article will take you through all the steps that you will need to do to have a fantastic all in one retro game emulator.

This game emulator is an excellent project if you’re an avid lover of retro games that you wish to replay. It’s important to remember that the Pi might not be able to play all the classics due to its limited processing power. With that said, it’s still an excellent way to play those classics.

If you’re not big on reading and you would like to see how this is done visually then check out the video I have prepared below. If you love the video, then you should subscribe as I will be adding a lot more videos on fantastic projects in the future. (PS. Sorry about the audio in this video, it’s quite old now)

Equipment

You can find all the bits and pieces that you will need for the tutorial.

Optional:

Retro USB Controllers or Joysticks

Ethernet Cord or Wifi dongle

Setting it all up

The steps below will take you through all the steps to getting the Raspberry Pi emulator setup and ready to go.

Download & Format the SD Card

1. Download the RetroPie Project SD Card Image from the RetroPie Website. (Use version 2.5 if you have a Raspberry Pi 2)

2. You will need a formatting tool. Visit the SD Association’s website and download the SD Formatter 4.0 for either Windows or Mac.

3. Follow the instructions to install the formatting software.

4. Insert your SD card into the computer or laptop’s SD card reader and check the drive letter allocated to it, e.g. G:/ (If you don’t have one then you can buy a USB SD Card reader here)

5. In the SD Formatter, select the drive letter for your SD card (eg. G:/) and then click format.

Install the RetroPie software onto the SD Card

1. Download the Win32DiskImager.

2. Select the RetroPie image file and the drive letter your SD card is assigned to (Eg. G:/)

3. Confirm you have the correct details and then click on Write.

Booting up the Emulator

1. Insert the SD Card into the Pi as well as connect the mouse, keyboard, ethernet cord and power supply.

2. The Pi will now boot up and launch into RetroPie.

3. Press f4 to go to command line.

4. Type ifconfig and write down the numbers and dots next to inet addr. (You may need it later)

5. Type the following into the terminal:

sudo raspi-config

6. Select Expand File system and accept until you’re back to the main screen.

7. Go to Advanced Options->SSH and enable it.

8. Next go to overclock, select Medium or Turbo if you’re feeling risky. (These options are different on newer Pi’s)

9. Afterwards, select finish and then select yes to reboot.

Adding ROMS to the Raspberry Pi Emulator

ROM is short for read-only memory and is the format in which you will find pretty much all the classic games in. ROMs can be found all over the internet, and since there are so many different sources, it’s best to simply google the game you wish to download followed by ROM. eg. (“Doom ROM”).

There are many sites around such as Emulationking, Abandonia that provide all sorts of ROMS, emulation help and much more. These are perfect if you want to take a look further into the emulator scene.

1. If the Pi is connected to the network then simply go to network in windows explorer.

2. In the list, you should find a device called RaspberryPi, double-click it.

3. You will find a folder in here called ROMS. Open this up, and this is where you will need to store your ROMS.

4. If the above doesn’t work, you can download an FTP software such as Cyberduck for Mac or FileZilla for Windows.

You must use the SSH File Transfer Protocol to be able to access the Pi. Once connected navigate to RetroPie/ROMS.

There you have it a Raspberry Pi Emulator that can play all your classic retro games and it will only cost you a fraction of what you would need to pay to get the original consoles.

If you’re feeling a little creative, you can always build the Raspberry Pi into a shell of a classic console for a much more authentic look.

Emulators included in RetroPie

Below are all the emulators installed with Retropie at the time of writing this tutorial.

Amiga (UAE4All)

The Amiga is a range of computers that were sold by Commodore throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. The Amiga featured lots of games but just to name a few, there is The Chaos Engine, Lemmings, Turrican and Shadow of the beast.

This Raspberry Pi Amiga emulator will let you play many of the classics games that you loved on this old school computer.

Apple II (LinApple)

The Apple II introduced in 1977 was one of the most successful personal computers of its time. The Apple II featured a lot of games throughout its lifespan such as Castle Wolfenstein, Lode Runner, Choplifter and the list goes on.

Make use of the Apple II emulator on the Raspberry Pi and relive some of those great classics.

Apple Macintosh (Basilisk II)

Play Apple Macintosh games that were built to run on the MAC OS 8.1.

Amstrad CPC (CPC4RPi)

The Amstrad CPC or short for Color Personal Computer is a series of computers released in 1984 through to 1990s. There were many great games released for this computer such as Roland in the caves, Harrier Attack, Gauntlet and much more.

Atari 800

The Atari 800 is part of the series of the 8 bit home computers that were released back in 1979. Again many games were released for the Atari 800 such as Montezuma Revenge, Jumpman, Star Raiders and much more.

The Raspberry Pi makes for a great Atari 800 emulator. Again there are just so many games that you can play.

Atari 2600 (RetroArch)

The Atari 2600 released back in September 1977 by Atari was more commonly known as the Atari VCS at the time of the release. Ikari Warriors, Pengo, Pigs in Space and Pac man just to name a few games released for the console.

If you’re looking for an Atari 2600 Emulator then this Raspberry Pi mod makes it possible.

C64 (VICE)

The C64 or the Commodore 64 released in 1982 by Commodore International. It is the highest selling computer model of all time and sales between 10-17 million units.

Using this guide, you can set up a Commodore 64 emulator using the Raspberry Pi.

Game Boy Advance (gpSP)

The Game Boy Advance is one of the highest selling handheld gaming consoles of all time. Boasting more than 81.5 million sales there we many great games for this great handheld. Some of these great games were Pokemon, Super Mario Advance, Super Mario Bros and much more.

The Raspberry Pi Game Boy Advance emulator lets you replay some of those great classics released for the handheld console.

Game Gear (Osmose)

The Sega Game Gear is a handheld console that was released back in 1990.

Intellivision (RetroArch)

Intellivision released to the public back in 1979 is a video game console that was developed by Mattel. The console sold over 3 million and a total of 125 games released for it. Games that released for the console included BurgerTime, Night Stalker, B-17 Bomber and much more.

Neo Geo (GnGeo, Genesis-GX & RetroArch)

The Neo Geo was found both in arcades and in homes and didn’t stop production up until 1997. Games that released for the system includes Rage of the Dragons, Twinkle Star Sprites and much more.

The Raspberry Pi makes for a great Neo Geo emulator making it possible for you to relive some of the great games released for this system.

Sega Master System (Osmose)

The SMS or Sega Master System was released back in 1985 in Japan. It was not until 1986, 1989 and 1989 it was brought in to North America, Europe, and Brazil. The system did alright but wasn’t able to overturn Nintendo’s dominance in the market only selling 10-13 million compared to the 62 million NES units sold.

The Sega Master System Emulator is a great way to relive some of the classics released for the system such as Alien Syndrome, Asterix, Cyborg Hunter, Wonder Boy and much more.

Sega Megadrive/Genesis (DGEN, Picodrive)

The Sega Megadrive or also known as the Sega Genesis is the third console and successor to the Sega Master System. This system boasted a library of over 900 games and was popular in North America and Europe, the console, however, struggled in Europe.

The Raspberry Pi does well at being a Sega Genesis emulator so if you have one you should definitely play some of these games.

Nintendo Entertainment System – NES (RetroArch)

The Nintendo Entertainment or also known as the NES was released back in North American in 1985. It was the console that helped revitalize the US video game industry after the crash back in 1985. The NES had classics such as Mario Bros, Mega Man, Duck Hunt and much more.

RetroArch could be the best NES emulator as you can not only have the NES games you love but also games from other great consoles.

Nintendo 64 – N64 (Mupen64Plus-RPi)

The Nintendo 64 or also known as the N64 is another hugely popular video game system released by Nintendo.

There was a total of 387 games released for the console with a fair few of them exclusively sold in Japan. Some of the great games that were released for this console include Donkey Kong 64, Super Mario 64, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye and many more.

If you’re looking for an excellent n64 emulator, then the Raspberry Pi will do a pretty decent job having a few games that can run on this amazing little computer.

PlayStation 1 (RetroArch)

The PlayStation 1 or most commonly known as PS or PS1 was released back in 1995 and was the main competitor the Nintendo 64. Many of the great games released include Driver, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 2, Crash Bandicoot and much more.

This mod for the Raspberry Pi is an excellent PlayStation 1 emulator and will allow you to play some of the great games you remember.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (RetroArch, PiSNES, SNES-Rpi)

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or also known as the SNES is a video game console developed and released by Nintendo back in 1990. The SNES was hugely successful and still has a great fan base for it today. The SNES had great games such as Sim City, Super Mario World, Casper, Civilization and much more.

This could be the best SNES emulator around as you can set it up to be purely a console for just your SNES collection.

Other Emulators I should mention

There are a ton of other emulators that you’re able to run, here is a list of the ones I feel need a mention.

Arcade (PiFBA, Mame4All-RPi)
Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon
CaveStory (NXEngine)
Doom (RetroArch)
Duke Nukem 3D
Final Burn Alpha (RetroArch)
Color (RetroArch)
MAME (RetroArch & AdvMAME)
Sega Mega-CD (Picodrive)
Sega 32X (Picodrive)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Fuse)
ScummVM
PC Engine / TurboGrafx 16 (RetroArch)
PC / x86 (rpix86)
Z Machine emulator (Frotz)

I hope that this guide has helped with setting up the Raspberry Pi emulator. If you come across any issues, have feedback or anything else then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

35 Comments

Tom B on January 15, 2015 at 3:16 pm
Does the SD card *have* to be 4gb (for the image)? Can I use an 8gb card for more space?
Great tutorial!
- Gus on January 15, 2015 at 6:05 pm
  Hey Tom,
  The 4gb SD Card is just the minimum requirement! 8gb would be a much better size!
  - Tom B on January 18, 2015 at 10:45 am
    Thanks!
  - Flipbug on March 8, 2015 at 2:16 pm
    If you get the Pi2, 32GB is an even better size, because you’ll be able to emulate PSX games at 100% speed 😉
    I just upgraded to a 64GB card!
Tom B on January 18, 2015 at 10:44 am
Seems the es_systems.cfg file is missing or is there another way to add systems?
Thanks!
- rudi on January 18, 2015 at 9:58 pm
  Tom B, you have to copy the one from another folder like I did:
  Q. EmulationStation works even though there’s no ~/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg file! What’s up with that?
  A. There is probably a pre-configured es_systems.cfg file in /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
Tom B on January 20, 2015 at 1:05 am
You should probably ammend your blog for the extreme Linux noob. Yes your tutorial will get the rpi up and running Emulation Station. However, here are the hints, tips and answers for the extreme n00b:
In order to play games on any other emulator, the ROMS must be in the rom folder prior to booting emulationstation.
In order to play NES, SNES and N64 roms, the “.zip” file extension must be added to the respective sections in the “es_systems.cfg” file that doesnt exist in the /.emulationstation directory. All of my rom files have a zip extension. As pointed out by rudi above, simply copy the generic one from the “/etc/emulationstation/” directory into the “/.emulationstation/” directory.
I have enough Linux knowledge to get me in trouble. I managed to use the command line and a text editor to make this happen.
For the extreme n00b, here is an easier way:
a. Press “F4” to drop to a command line.
b. Type “startx” without the quotes
C. use the Windows like interface to copy the file and edit it
D. Click where the Windows Start Menu would be and open Acessories>File Manager
E. You are in the “pi” home directory. Click on “View” and tell the program to “show hidden”
F. Either type in the path or click the green up arrow two times to get to “\”
G. Open etc then emulationstation (its there, keep looking)
H. Right click on “es_systems.cfg” and copy the file
I. Click the back green arrow 4 times to end up back in the pi home directory (or click the house icon)
J. Since “Show Hidden” was enabled, you will see a whole bunch of hidden directories. Open “.emulationstation” and paste
K. Right Click on the newly created “es_systems.cfg” and choose “Leafpad”
L. Scroll to the section that needs to be changed. In my case, I needed to add the “.zip” file extension to the NES, SNES and N64 sections. This file is a simple to understand XML file for the different game systems. The section for the NES reads “” All of my NES roms are .zip so I added “.zip” to this line.
M. Save the file and exit the GUI like you would exit a Windows gui.
N. type “emu”, press tab then enter and ES will start
I am still having some issue with my N64 emulation as it crashes when I run a game. I hope this helps others out there.
Also, I am using an iBuffalo game pad that looks like an SNES controller. In order for this to work in the NES, SNES, N64 and I would imagine others, open the file manager, press the green “up folder” twice or until you are in the /root folder. Then go into the “opt” folder, Then “retropie” folder, “configs” folder, “all” folder, open “retroarch.cfg”. There’s a whole bunch of text commented out. Scroll to the very bottom and copy and paste this:
```
input_player1_joypad_index = "0" 
input_player1_b_btn = "1" 
input_player1_y_btn = "3" 
input_player1_select_btn = "6" 
input_player1_start_btn = "7" 
input_player1_up_axis = "-1" 
input_player1_down_axis = "+1" 
input_player1_left_axis = "-0" 
input_player1_right_axis = "+0" 
input_player1_a_btn = "0" 
input_player1_x_btn = "2" 
input_player1_l_btn = "4" 
input_player1_r_btn = "5" 
input_player2_joypad_index = "1" 
input_player2_b_btn = "1" 
input_player2_y_btn = "3" 
input_player2_select_btn = "6" 
input_player2_start_btn = "7" 
input_player2_up_axis = "-1" 
input_player2_down_axis = "+1" 
input_player2_left_axis = "-0" 
input_player2_right_axis = "+0" 
input_player2_a_btn = "0" 
input_player2_x_btn = "2" 
input_player2_l_btn = "4" 
input_player2_r_btn = "5" 
input_enable_hotkey_btn = "6" 
input_exit_emulator_btn = "7"
```
Game Boy Advance and MAME both require controller configuration within the emulator. The above should cover all of the other emulators.
- alan on February 11, 2015 at 3:33 pm
  thanks dude, your explication was very useful to me, but i need your help. I did everything you write and i can play snes and averything else, but i cant configure my gamepad. I went to “opt/retropie/configs/all” and changed the “retroarch.cfg” like you said, but its always the keyboard and not the gamepad active in the games. Any help or advice? thanks dude
- alan on February 11, 2015 at 3:54 pm
  Thanks Tom B, with your help i could setup my raspberry pi, but i need a little help. I followed all tour steps, but when im in the emulator (snes for example) I cannot make my gamepad to function, just the keyboard. I copied your configuration anda everything, but is just the keyboard all the time. Please help, or any advice. Thanks again
- Justinn on March 4, 2015 at 2:45 pm
  @Tomb i’m using a tommee snes controller for my pi emulation and it works in game for the snes, however how do i set it up to work for gngeo? Also do you prefer the emulator gngeo or PiFba?
- sam on June 28, 2015 at 9:36 pm
  when I typed the starx in it goes to a small box and has temp and stuff, you cant do anything after that. what have I messed up?
Ako on January 25, 2015 at 1:48 pm
Would this work with Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, and Nintendo DS?
- Gus on February 5, 2015 at 1:18 am
  Not currently but with the Raspberry Pi 2 announcement developers working on emulators will have a bit more power to work with so we may see these eventually come to the Pi.
Steve on February 27, 2015 at 2:18 pm
I’m lost. I just got the Pi b+ to play emulators and I got the program to boot up. But now it’s just showing a command screen with pi@retropie ~ $
Any idea on what to do from here?
- Brian on March 11, 2015 at 1:57 am
  Try startx at the command line.
Brian on March 11, 2015 at 3:30 am
So when this boots, I don’t see many of the emulators that are advertised here on this site (any of the Atari, and MAME specifically) is this because I don’t have the bios’ and rom in place, and when actually put them in place the entries will automatically appear?
Thanks !
- Gus on March 11, 2015 at 2:22 pm
  Hi Brian,
  I found that I needed to place the ROMs onto the Pi and then do a restart before they appeared.
Marvin on March 25, 2015 at 4:13 pm
Does the raspberry have to be connected to my laptop for as long as I play using the TV?
- Eatos on September 20, 2015 at 12:14 am
  No, it doesn’t.
Andre on May 1, 2015 at 8:01 am
Hi,
There’s any way of shutting the Pi down using the usb controller?
I mean, I want to connect 2 snes controllers to my raspberry pi B usb ports, but I don’t want to always have to take one of the controllers off to put the mouse/keyboard.
Also, taking the power cord physically off can still cause problems with the SD card?
Thanks
- Eatos on September 20, 2015 at 12:14 am
  Yes, there is in RetroPie 3.0.
  Press the “Start” button on your controller and then click Shutdown Pi and Emulation Station.
tray262 on May 30, 2015 at 10:02 pm
Would is support bluetooth controllers? If so how could I add them?
Thanks!
- Eatos on September 20, 2015 at 12:12 am
  Yes, it does support USB controllers.
  If you have a PS3 or XBOX360 controller there is an option at the menu of RetroPie 3.0 in order to add it and configure it.
Guilherme on June 28, 2015 at 6:32 am
Testing your tutorial and going a bit further, I’ve messed up my Retropie… All Images are gone and now my menus are text only… Is it possible to restore SD card image and restart all this process? how?
- Eatos on September 20, 2015 at 12:10 am
  Your SD card may be corrupted. In that case there is nothing you can do, except for buying a new SD card.
  If it’s not damaged, you can try formatting it and reinstalling RetroPie all over again. You need a software like SDFormatter in order to do this.
  Good luck!
sam on June 28, 2015 at 9:15 pm
ive gotten to where you add the roms, beyond noob when it comes to computers, I don’t understand where you get them from? Should they already be on my computer? Is their somewhere else I have to dl them? Or are they already on the raspberry I just have to access it somehow?
- Eatos on September 20, 2015 at 12:08 am
  You can download ROMs for free from websites like Emuparadise, Loveroms etc. Just google the rom’s name and you will have it.
Chris on August 25, 2015 at 3:10 am
Can you save game play
- Eatos on September 20, 2015 at 12:07 am
  Yes, you can.
Michael on September 19, 2015 at 10:05 am
This keeps popping up /usr/bin/emulationstation: line 20: 2417 Illegal instruction $es_bin “$@” Emulation station will restart in 5 seconds.
What do i do?
- Mike on September 23, 2015 at 9:37 am
  I’m having the exact same problem. Emulation Station will not boot up. It goes through the booting process, the retropie “splash” screen comes up, and then it goes back out to the command prompt with that line returning over and over, except the number “2417” is always different and keeps counting up with each successive return of the line.
  Anybody know what this is?
  - luis on October 20, 2015 at 7:23 am
    This happened to me, it was because I installed the version for pi 2, I have the B+ model, but it only works with the pi 1 version.
Christopher on November 3, 2015 at 3:33 am
Is it possible to use “Wireless” xbox 360 controllers? Yes, plural. To play “versus” games without having wires extended throughout my living room.
If so, what additional hardware would I need to buy and is there any additional configurations I would need to do?
If not, do I just buy standard Xbox 360 controllers and they will just work?
Heinz on December 15, 2015 at 5:11 am
Hello, can i use also a banana pi ?
- Gus on December 18, 2015 at 12:12 am
  Unfortunately no retropie won’t run/boot on a Banana Pi. I believe this is likely because of the difference in GPU’s between the two units.
  There are some threads you can check out over at the lemaker forums -> Banana Pi can’t run RetroPie emulation