Emulators
RetroArch core manifest
Which libretro core each RomM platform maps to, and whether it needs a BIOS, firmware, or key file before it will boot.
retroarch_platforms.json maps every RomM platform slug this repo supports to a
libretro core. Most cores just work once downloaded, but a number of them need
a BIOS, firmware, or key file dropped into RetroArch's system directory before
they will actually boot a game rather than sit on a black screen.
This page is a repo-specific summary, not a replacement for libretro's own
documentation. For anything not covered here, or for exact file names and
sourcing per core, defer to libretro's
core-specific BIOS documentation,
which is the authoritative source this table was cross-referenced against.
Setup tiers used below:
- Required: the core will not boot a real game without this file in place.
- Optional: the core runs on a built-in HLE implementation; a real file
only improves accuracy or fixes specific titles.
- None: nothing to source for this platform.
A few rows are flagged as not confirmed against libretro's hub under the exact
core name this repo uses (a newer or differently-named core than what the hub
lists). Treat those as "needs an empirical check the first time you hit them,"
not as settled.
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| NES / Famicom | mesen | None | Cart dumps boot with nothing extra. |
| Famicom Disk System | mesen | Required | disksys.rom in the system dir. Only this platform needs it; plain NES/Famicom carts don't. |
| SNES / Super Famicom | snes9x | None | No BIOS concept for this core. |
| Nintendo 64 | mupen64plus_next | None | |
| Game Boy / Color | gambatte | Optional | A real boot ROM only changes splash timing; every game plays identically without one. |
| Game Boy Advance | mgba | Optional | gba_bios.bin fixes a handful of titles that rely on exact BIOS timing; HLE covers the rest. |
| Virtual Boy | mednafen_vb | None | |
| Nintendo DS | melonds | Optional | Real firmware plus bios7.bin/bios9.bin is recommended; the core falls back to a built-in HLE BIOS. |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| GameCube / Wii | dolphin | Optional | HLE boot by default; a real IPL.bin improves accuracy. Thumbnails are disabled for this core (a GPU framebuffer grab after save can deadlock the stdin command channel), and it uses a custom save-subtree layout. |
| 3DS | azahar | Optional | Most dumps boot with nothing; encrypted .3ds/.cci files need decryption keys (boot9.bin/boot11.bin) in the system dir. Sourced from a GitHub release instead of the buildbot, and uses a custom save-subtree layout. This is the only integration point for 3DS; standalone Azahar has no IPC for the broker to reach it (see Azahar setup). |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| Genesis/MD, Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000 | genesis_plus_gx | None | All four cart platforms on this core boot with nothing extra. |
| Sega CD | genesis_plus_gx | Required | Region CD BIOS (e.g. bios_CD_U.bin). Same core as the row above; only this platform needs it. |
| 32X | picodrive | None | Boot code lives on the cartridge itself. |
| Dreamcast | flycast | Required | dc_boot.bin and dc_flash.bin, matching the standalone Flycast module's requirement (see Flycast setup). |
| Saturn | yabasanshiro | Required | Region Saturn BIOS. |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| PlayStation | swanstation | Required | Region BIOS (e.g. scph5501.bin). Not listed on libretro's hub under this exact core name (a newer, DuckStation-derived core), but every PS1 core needs a real BIOS. |
| PSP | ppsspp | None | The recommended path for PSP over the standalone PPSSPP module. PPSSPP fully HLEs PSP firmware, no BIOS file to source. The broker auto-symlinks the container's standalone PPSSPP asset tree (/usr/share/ppsspp/assets) into RetroArch's system dir, since the core refuses to boot without it; this only works if that package ships in the image. |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 | mednafen_pce | None | Cart dumps boot with nothing extra. |
| TurboGrafx-CD / PCE-CD | mednafen_pce | Required | System Card BIOS (e.g. syscard3.pce). Same core as the row above; only the CD add-on needs it. |
| SuperGrafx | mednafen_supergrafx | Optional | Most cart dumps run without it; a real SuperGrafx BIOS exists but is not a hard requirement. |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| Neo Geo AES / MVS | fbneo | Required | neogeo.zip in the system dir, on top of a correct romset. |
| Arcade, CPS1, CPS2, CPS3 | fbneo | Required | Correctly-built, MAME-compatible non-merged romsets, with BIOS regions bundled inside each game's own zip. The fiddliest tier to test: a "working" romset is tied to the exact MAME revision FBNeo targets, not just having the right files present. |
| Neo Geo CD | neocd | Required | Neo Geo CD BIOS plus font ROM. Not on libretro's flat BIOS hub table; worth confirming empirically before assuming a filename. |
| Neo Geo Pocket / Color | mednafen_ngp | None | Fully HLE'd. |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| Atari 2600 | stella | None | |
| Atari 5200 | a5200 | Required | 5200.rom. Not confirmed by this exact core name on libretro's hub (only the generic Atari800 core is listed there); well-documented elsewhere. |
| Atari 7800 | prosystem | Optional | Enables cart-encryption and high-score-save support a few games expect; most run fine without it. |
| Lynx | handy | Optional | lynxboot.img, only a handful of titles need it. |
| Jaguar | virtualjaguar | None | The only platform in this table with savestates disabled entirely (savestate: false in the platform config). |
| Atari ST | hatari | Required | TOS ROM (e.g. tos.img). |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| WonderSwan / Color | mednafen_wswan | None | Fully HLE'd. |
| 3DO | opera | Required | System boot ROM (e.g. panafz10.bin); no HLE path exists for this system. |
| ColecoVision | gearcoleco | Required | coleco.rom. |
| Intellivision | freeintv | Required | exec.bin plus grom.bin. |
| Vectrex | vecx | Optional | The built-in minimal BIOS works; a real bios.bin improves a few titles. |
| Odyssey2 / Videopac | o2em | Required | o2rom.bin, or c52.bin for Videopac+ titles. |
| Platform | Core | Setup | Details |
|---|
| DOS | dosbox_pure | None | DOSBox provides its own virtual BIOS. |
| Amiga | puae | Required | Kickstart ROM matching the emulated model (e.g. kick13.rom/kick31.rom). |
| Commodore 64 | vice_x64 | None | VICE ships open-licensed replacement ROMs by default; real Kernal/Basic ROMs are optional. |
| MSX / MSX2 | bluemsx | Required | Machine-specific system ROMs (e.g. MSX.ROM, MSX2.ROM, MSX2EXT.ROM, DISK.ROM), varying by region. |
| ZX Spectrum | fuse | None | ROM ships bundled with the core. |
Generated from webstation_broker/emulators/retroarch_platforms.json and
webstation_broker/emulators/retroarch.py, cross-referenced against
libretro's BIOS Information Hub. Update this table if platform mappings,
core_source overrides, assets, save_subtrees, savestate, or
thumbnail fields change in retroarch_platforms.json.