RetroArch For Mac

RetroArch is a frontend for the Libretro development interface that provides support for creating game emulators or other types of multimedia applications. The Libretro cores can be run in any compatible frontend.

The Libretro projects can work with OpenGL functions, and integrate camera and location support. The platform can be used to watch video files, to play games, or to experiment with augmented reality.

RetroArch comes with a minimalist user interface, but the lack of usage instructions might lead to a rather frustrating situation. Note that you cannot work with RetroArch using the mouse: all commands are associated with keyboard shortcuts.

This way, to navigate the menu you need to use the arrow keys while going back and forth can be achieved by pressing the Z and X keys respectively. Moreover, the F key toggles the full-screen mode, while an  S or tap activates the app’s search tool.

Worth mentioning is that pressing the Escape key will quit the app altogether. Some of these tasks and additional functions can also be run or toggled via the RetroArch status bar Commands menu.

The RetroArch software archive does not include any modular cores right out-of-the-box, so you must use the RetroArch Online Updater function to start downloading the resources. The utility will automatically place them in the appropriate app resources folders.

The next step is to navigate the RetroArch menus and browse the games collection made available by default. Just load the games you want to play and RetroArch takes care of the rest. Keep in mind that you can also manually download and load files as long as you place them in the correct folders afterwards.

To conclude, RetroArch provides a user-friendly frontend for downloading and loading Libretro cores. The app navigation is a bit problematic at first, but once you discover the hotkeys for the common functions, everything goes smoothly.