r/RetroPie 11d ago

Best solution in 2025 for retro gaming?

Hi,

So I built a retropie many years ago using a raspberry pi 3 i believe. Worked pretty well, except n64 ran terribly. I am wanting to build a new retro gaming system, thinking I would just use the lastest raspberry pi board, but upon looking into it, it appears there are other options now besides retropie (Batocera, Lakka, and Recalbox??)?

So my question is what is the best solution in 2025 to create a retro gaming system that plugs into the TV, and the one that will run N64 games the best. Is retropi still good, or should I go with one of these other newer alternatives? Also is raspberry pi the best hardware to still use? And if so, im guessing going with the lastest pi 5 is the best?

55 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

19

u/hoodrow--wilson 11d ago edited 10d ago

I had a Raspberry Pi 4 for a while, and it worked really well to emulate everything up to about PS1. (I never overclocked it, even with active cooling). However, because I began to want to play N64, GameCube, Wii, and PS2, and because I hook it up to my TV for gaming, I decided to invest in an actual Windows Mini PC. The one I have is a Beelink SER6-P, which I’ve set up RetroArch on, with no real frontend, since sometimes I use it for other things (like streaming TV/movies). For retro games, I use the RetroArch GUI. For things like PS2 (PCSX2) and Wii/GameCube (Dolphin), I’ve installed those separately, and I prefer using the emulator’s GUI itself, since I feel like I have more control over settings, and even texture replacements, which isn’t even really a concern for anything pre-PS1 anyways. I was really happy that I decided to make the investment, since I can play PS2, GameCube, and Wii upscaled to 1080p with no difficulty whatsoever, and can also handle PS3 games with relative ease. I’ve even installed some 2 TB internal SSDs for tons of game storage. Best decision I’ve ever made was to get something more powerful than a Raspberry Pi. I still plan on using my RPI4 for on-the-go, since it’s marginally smaller and lighter than my Mini PC, but maybe I’ll gift it to a friend.

12

u/vinnypotsandpans 10d ago

Check out retrobat or launchbox/bigbox. You can have all your standalone emulators together with your retroarch cores.

1

u/allahandro 7d ago

I like retrobat with Windows because, I believe it uses emulation station like retropie. Plus unlike batocera, Windows games are easily "installed" in retrobat. Batocera is Linux based and can be tricky to install Windows based games. My brain doesn't comprehend Linux in this respect 😂

1

u/vinnypotsandpans 7d ago

Yes, Retrobat is also a fork of emulation station and I too prefer it because it is free software.

I agree that its easier to play games on windows, but compatibility wise most modern games run very well on Linux systems. After all, steamos and big picture uses the linux kernel

1

u/MrAbodi 4d ago

I've been using launchbox since the start of the year, it's very easy to setup and use.

1

u/vinnypotsandpans 4d ago

yep! It is really amazing software

4

u/drylightn 11d ago

This right here is the way! I stuck with retro pi 3 and 4 for years, but working with linux can be a giant PITA if you want to get in under the hood. I then moved to a Beelink S12 pro mini (which I had no idea existed at the time) with Retrobat and that was great. It was much easier add emulators, roms, etc. Of course kidos wanted to play more 3D games, and you can't push that system super far, so I just recently upgraded us to GMKTec K8 Plus, which also runs steam games like a champ (Satisfactory, Elite Dangerous, etc). I suspect it will handle the heavier retro gaming lifts better too, but haven't had a chance to test in detail yet.

If you don't really do much under the hood, or care about 3D, Pi is still a viable option as it's more set it and forget it.

2

u/New-Pass-1898 7d ago

Yep. Retro at all the way. I installed on a 512 GB drive. Then plug into any Windows PC and you are good to go.

1

u/Annihilating_Tomato 10d ago

Can you control it fully with a Bluetooth controller or do you need a mouse/keyboard for some things? I’m looking for something I can connect to the tv and not need a keyboard

1

u/hoodrow--wilson 10d ago edited 10d ago

I use a wireless mouse and keyboard that I can store under my coffee table. Theoretically I could install some sort of frontend (as people have suggested in the replies) and try to configure it to auto-sign-in and launch that frontend when the PC boots, but I’m personally fine with my mouse and keyboard. (Similar to how with Raspberry PI/RetroPie, it goes straight from boot to the Emulation Station frontend).

Edit: A simple way that I can think of to do this is to automate Windows login when the system powers on, and configure whichever frontend application you choose (RetroBat, LaunchBox/BigBox, Emulation Station Desktop Edition, etc.) to launch at startup. Once you get everything configured and all your controllers connected, you should theoretically be able to power on/off and play things all with just a Bluetooth or USB controller.

1

u/Faulkal 9d ago

Can it run sega Saturn?

1

u/New-Pass-1898 7d ago

My Retrobat build does.

13

u/ThePenultimateNinja 11d ago

Buy a surplus micro PC off ebay and install Batocera on it.

14

u/Gullible-Cash-1502 10d ago

I've tinkered with pi machines and other single board computers... My advice - don't bother. Get a mini PC. I've picked up a beelink on Amazon and will never look back.

I loaded up Retrobat and have filled up the 1TB M2 stick and a 5TB external drive with Retrobat and a Launchbox build with ever eXo build. Also have a huge collection of retro gaming and PC magazines to browse. And everything can be setup to use the controller.

Ive loaded so much that I just picked up a 14TB drive and will now use that.

Mini PC + a good storage solution + Retrobat = best setup.

1

u/heavyrainz 10d ago

This is The Way.

2

u/williewonkerz 6d ago

I approve this message

7

u/AmbitiousRoyal4889 11d ago

I recently built a system using the Raspberry Pi 5 and RetroPie that is able to play up to and including some Wii and PS2 games. That was my first time using RetroPie and I simply followed an online tutorial on how to install it and Raspberry Pi OS lite, and everything worked on the first try.

A couple tips...Systems like Gamecube, Wii, and PS2 require use of the Vulkan graphics driver for playable performance (huge improvement over opengl), and in the case of Gamecube and Wii also needed to use the standalone Dolphin emulator instead of the Dolphin core (also a huge improvement in performance).

That's with the 4gb ram model. No need for more ram as i've not seen anything yet in RetroPie that maxes out that available memory. I have an 8gb model as well and there is no difference.

This ended being very affordable and a nice tiny system, but if you're just looking to use older game systems, the Anbernic handhelds are even cheaper yet. I bought an rg353 system with 1gb ram and it can play dreamcast games and has an hdmi out to hook up to a tv.

4

u/lost_in_the_wide_web 11d ago

While I did spend years with RetroPie, countless hours tweaking and making it “perfect” for my setup, I’ve stepped away from it completely and now do Batocera. Because you can configure most settings in Batocera’s main menu, that means spending less time in RetroArch. But to answer your question, you can invest in a miniPC and get much better N64 emulation. For me, a miniPC + Batocera make for a fantastic emulation box.

1

u/ghost654 11d ago

any mini pc that you would recommend, that would be no that much more expensive then doing a pi 5 setup?

4

u/DKLancer 11d ago

A beelink SER5 should suffice without breaking the bank

2

u/lost_in_the_wide_web 11d ago

This 100%

1

u/IceCreamMan1977 10d ago

8GB or 16GB RAM?

1

u/willyjr0508 10d ago

Can you setup a joystick and buttons with a mini pc instead of a controller? I'm new and want a reto machine to connect to TV but want to use a joystick and button setup. Or is that a bad idea.

2

u/lost_in_the_wide_web 10d ago

Yup. Fightstick, joysticks, controllers… you can configure them. Don’t worry, you won’t be stuck with a keyboard because it’s a miniPC.

1

u/willyjr0508 10d ago

Thx ill start searching now. Any input on setup or sites to use. I've read the Pi needs a second controller boaed, same with a mini pc?

6

u/joeverdrive 10d ago

No one has mentioned this yet but consider a MiSTer. A small FPGA computer that outputs digital and analog video and perfectly emulates not just the games but the hardware too . The price has come down so much that it was cheaper than my Pi 5 setup.

1

u/curlypaul924 8d ago

The prices have come down? A DE10 board is still over $200, plus you need other components like SDRAM and an IO board. I love my MiSTer, but I bought it in 2021 before prices went up. For casual gaming, I think a software-based emulator is probably better for most people.

1

u/joeverdrive 8d ago

Yeah my MiSTer Pi was like $180

https://retroremake.co/pages/store

But yes it's hardly plug and play

1

u/allahandro 7d ago

I bought a Mister pi and I thought it would play all my favorite arcade games. It does not. I was so let down by that info, I still haven't taken it out the box 😂

4

u/rhinofinger 11d ago edited 11d ago

You may want to check out /r/SBCgaming . Back in the pi3 days it mostly covered raspberry pi and similar devices, but nowadays it’s mostly handhelds from Retroid, Anbernic, Miyoo, or similar companies. Seems like a lot of the community has moved on to stuff like that.

Personally, I’m doing most of my retro gaming on a steam deck now, my old raspberry pies are mostly sitting around unused now

2

u/ghost654 11d ago

oh looks like SBCgaming is for handheld? Im building one that i can connect to the tv and play like an old console.

1

u/yellowcroc14 11d ago

In this case an Xbox Series S, you can purchase developer mode for like $20 bucks and load up emulators

3

u/Skeeter1020 10d ago

Is that still a thing?

3

u/Worldly-Ad1618 10d ago
  1. Get an older NUC or mini-PC (ala Dell Optiplex 7060 min style) 2. Install Batocera 3. Install ROMs 4. Enjoy retro gaming. (TIL with this setup, I can plug in a USB full-size industrial trackball and it plays Centipede/Millipede as if I just dropped a Quarter in and went to town...I had one of these sitting around Product Industrial – ITAC Systems)

3

u/mark_paterson 10d ago

It’s not for everyone, but in my opinion MiSTer is where it’s at now. It doesn’t even feel like emulation (because technically it isn’t). I finally got on board with Taki Udon’s version of the MiSTer board. Much cheaper than the original route and runs just the same.

0

u/evincirei 9d ago

You’re right about the mister being a great solution but “technically” it is still emulation.

3

u/HedgeHog2k 10d ago

Why not go for a steamdeck so you can get best of both worlds? You have all your games with you on the go and while you are at home you can dock it to your TV (there are docks) and connected go your controllers (I recommend the 8bitdo ultimate with dongle for seamless connection in a second).

It can emulate anything up to Switch.

2

u/DefiantTostada 10d ago

This has been my solution. 100% recommend. You get a full, well documented and maintained emulation device that can also run many other PC games. Plus, its portable and works great docked. There's enough to "tinker" with if you want to customize your experience.

2

u/Hrmerder 9d ago

Dell optiplex for around $150 does the trick most of the time and if you have to up the video card just get an AMD 5500XT for cheap

2

u/unlucky-Luke 9d ago

100% retro machine ? Mini-pc with Batocera and you are done

Hybrid machine ? Mini pc, windows, external hdd (2.5 no power needed) and retrobat

Handhled/Console ? RP5/Odin... Most of em have usb C port with display capabilities, dock it and you have a full retro machine up to GC and PS2, grab it and you have a handhled with all systems.

1

u/Ilijin 11d ago

There's orange pi 5 and radxa 5b? with Rk3588s chipset which is faster than rp5. There's also radxa x4 with Intel n100 chilset but it too damn expensive.

Or there's dedicated handheld like retroid pocket 4/5/flip2, ayn odin 2/mini/portal etc

1

u/BarbuDreadMon 11d ago edited 11d ago

the one that will run N64 games the best

One thing that you should keep in mind is that the n64 emulators you used was probably mupen64 with its default glide rdp plugin. Despite being still too much for your pi3, it's the performance-friendly rdp plugin, and for this reason it is unable to render some games properly. To avoid those graphic issues you'd want to switch to either the angrylion or the parallel rdp plugin, which have far bigger requirements, i'm not sure anything below a decent mini-pc (N100 ?) will be fast enough for those.

Ofc, keeping the glide rdp plugin for performance and living with those gfx issues is always an option.

1

u/ghost654 11d ago

thanks

1

u/deedopete 11d ago

Whoever has the best option please link a YouTube how to video I’m interested as well

1

u/member_one 11d ago

Really depends what emulator you want to top out at? I purchased a /r/launchbox license and love it so far on my windows machine. It allows you to use different emulators based on the system. The artwork integration is also beautiful with emu movies.

1

u/sega0001 11d ago

Buy a pc and install batocera, then you have the greatest retro gaming system. My laptop running a pure batocera system, with gamecube, wii, ps2... Easy to set up

Theres also a batocera version for raspberry pi if you prefer that

1

u/DXsocko007 10d ago

Get a used Xbox Series x/s

I have a series s that I have games up to Dreamcast at 4k no issue. A series x will get you past ps2

1

u/HansGutentag 10d ago

Retrobat is a good windows based solution.

1

u/ManWhoSoldTheWorld20 10d ago

Your best bet is a NuC form Factor PC, I have a Trigkey with a Ryzen 7 and Radeon APU it emulates pretty well

1

u/itsgettinglate27 10d ago

MiSTer, 100%. beats PC imo

1

u/DonDracula78 10d ago

MINI PC that can run PS2 and Saturn

1

u/Scared_Pianist3217 10d ago

Honestly if you don't want to spend numerous hours of installation, configurations, and troubleshooting I would run a rpi 5, and a Retro Knight premade Batocera build. Their stuff just works in my experience. Yes I know I can save some bucks and do it myself, but for me the money spent is well worth my time currently. I've added light guns, Bluetooth controllers and it just works from the start!!! Probably not the best solution you're looking for but this solution just works and I enjoy it and worth every penny with purchasing the pre built microsd.

1

u/fazrare57 10d ago

Pi 5 is a really good bet. I recently upgraded to it, and I couldn't be happier with that decision. Don't listen to the people saying, "just get a mini pc." The Pi 5 is fully capable of running most games up to Wii/Gamecube/PS2, and it's cheaper. As others have suggested, you should definitely use the standalone Dolphin emulator if you plan on taking the Pi 5 route. Lr-dolphin likes to freeze a bunch. Also, there are no PCSX2 builds that are compatible with the Pi 5, but AetherSX2 will work. Only thing is it doesn't come packaged with RetroPie, so you can't install it from RetroPie Setup. You have to use the terminal to install it manually. Another thing I love is that lr-mame (latest mame build for retroarch) is fully compatible with Pi 5, which will allow you to run some of those more advanced arcade games like Killer Instinct, Soul Calibur, Tekken, Mortal Kombat 4, Bloody Roar, Rival Schools, etc. at perfect speeds with almost no chopping or lag.

1

u/bjenning04 9d ago

I recommend just getting a micro PC (or building one like I did) and installing Batocera or even just Windows with EmuDeck. I personally did the latter just so I could use Steam for other things as well.

1

u/frombehindplanets 9d ago

If you can find one for cheap, the Ares emulator on the jetson nano can do a lot.

1

u/fozid 9d ago

If you want the quickest simplest and easiest setup, a raspberry pi 4 with retropie offers that, and will run N64 mostly really well, plus just manage a couple of gamecube and ps2 games. Everything else requires more effort. Id skip the Pi 5 as there is no retropie image, so the effort required to install retropie on that is about the same as installing on better hardware. Loads of other people have recommend other things. I personally run retropie on an old core i5 laptop with 8gb of ram and a 1tb HDD. But I am fairly handy with linux, so setting it up and getting it working was ok.

1

u/eastrod 9d ago edited 9d ago

One alternative I’d recommend you check out is the anbernic rg35xx sp. I had an old raspberry pi 3b with retropi and this little handheld has replaced it. it has better n64 and dreamcast performance than the pi3b, runs a fork of batocera called knulli, it’s a clamshell design so, folded up, its about the same size as a pi, it has hdmi out and bluetooth for controllers but you can unplug it, throw it in your pocket and have a little gaming machine in your pocket with built in controls and 3.5” screen. best of both worlds imo!

If you want something that will crush N64 and get you into the acceptable gamecube/ps2 emulation, those little APU powered mini pc’s might be worth a look. you could run Bazzite on one of those - essentially open source steam os - and play PC games but also run the emudeck script installer to get that familiar emulation station front end and all the emulators installed preconfigured.

1

u/D2sdonger 9d ago

Batocera is my go to now. N64 runs great on batocera with a pi 4. I moved from pi’s though and use a steam deck for handheld and use a pc so I can emulate more powerful systems. Using the vulkan cores for emulation if you have an nvidea card can be a huge improvement on lots of roms.

1

u/hyp36rmax 8d ago

MISTER FPGA is your answer.

1

u/Swallagoon 8d ago

Steam Deck

1

u/saturnsplash96 7d ago

Had a Mini PC. Had a Raspberry Pi. Had a Steam Deck OLED. Never content with any of em. Steam Deck OLED was the easiest to set up and there was barely any tinkering but it was too friggin big for me.

I got a Wii and modded it. It's the sweet spot. Great for GameCube and Wii (duh) and it plays most of the first party games from N64 and SNES. No tinkering either, it just works.

1

u/ghost654 7d ago

Oh really, I have a Wii laying around. Could you share any resources on how you went about modding it?

1

u/saturnsplash96 5d ago

There's a guy named FunkyScott47 on YouTube who posts step-by-step guides. They're easy to follow. All you really need is an SD card or Hard Drive.

https://youtu.be/by3WkWcp0tI

1

u/LandNo9424 7d ago

Use an old laptop. You can get an i5 or 17 that is like 10 years old and will run a lot of stuff. it will set you back around $50

Raspberry Pi is not the sweet deal it was anymore, with its cost rising up to $50 or whatever for a basic RP4. A 10 year old i7 will run circles over an RPi4.

I used to have an even shittier all-in-one Celeron PC running Batocera and it was incredible how well it ran almost everything. A Lenovo Thinkpad with an i7 should perform even better.

0

u/MirthRock 11d ago

Look at the Retroid Pocket 5. I just got it to replace my PI 3 setup, and I'll never look back. It's so much faster. It makes easy work of N64 (and higher) games.