RetroForge 0.8.2 beta: PS5 library, free games, sharper PS1 and N64

RetroForge 0.8.2 beta

PS5 games in your library, free games for a new library, sharper PS1 and N64, and a smaller, faster app.

HELP WANTED: TESTERS FOR THE GOOGLE PLAY VERSION

RetroForge is coming to Google Play, and Google needs at least 12 people to test it for 14 days before it can go public. If you have an Android phone or tablet and a Google account, you can help. The links to join will be added here very soon:

1. Join the testers group (link coming soon).
2. Then open the test link on your Android device and tap "Become a tester" (link coming soon).
3. Install RetroForge from Play, open it now and then, and keep it installed for the 14 days.

The Play version installs next to this GitHub one, so you can keep both. Your email stays private: only the developer sees the group's members, and RetroForge itself collects nothing (privacy policy: https://retroforgefrontend.github.io/RetroForge/privacy/).

UPDATING

• 0.8.2 updates over 0.8.1 as usual: your library, history and settings stay.
• From this version, RetroForge is signed with its own key instead of a development one. The update carries Android's record that the new key replaces the old one, so you don't need to uninstall. (If your phone ever says the app can't be updated, uninstall and install 0.8.2 once; that's the only fix, and it loses RetroForge's own settings.)
• RetroForge is now a proper release build: 40 MB to download instead of 75.

WHAT'S NEW

PlayStation 5

• PS5 games show up in your library: put your own dumped PS5 game folders in a ps5 folder, and each one shows by its title (from its param.json). Update, patch and mod folders next to a game are skipped.
• No PS5 emulator runs on phones and tablets yet, so the game page says so. Your PS5 games stay listed for when one does.

Free games

• No games yet? Home now offers 21 free games their makers let anyone share: homebrew such as Nova the Squirrel, Cave Story on Mega Drive and Celeste Classic, and shareware Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and Commander Keen. They're on the Retro tab too. Each one goes into your games folder and plays straight away.

Upscaling

• PS1 (PCSX ReARMed) gets a Resolution setting: native or double.
• PS1 and N64 restart the game to use a new resolution, since their emulators only read it at the start.
• Every system's resolution steps now go up from the console's own size.

Moves

• Golf swings from full power down to a 5% tap, each timed to land on the impact line: Mario Golf (Game Boy Color, Advance Tour, Nintendo 64 and Toadstool Tour on GameCube) and Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee (PSP). Aim and pick the club first; the move does the swing meter for you.
• Moves you've put on screen show filled orange with a tick in Moves and turbo.

Fixes

• Scrape all artwork no longer stalls for many minutes on a big system (a full NES set now takes seconds).
• The launch screen and round app icons show the whole RF sign instead of cutting off its sides.
• On a fresh install, the Retro tab's tiles start as game art + console.
• A game for a system RetroArch can't play no longer tells you to install RetroArch.
• Switch emulator and a new N64 resolution start the game again in a fresh emulator, so the restarted game no longer crashes.
• Netplay and the link cable say why a join or host didn't start, such as Android 17 asking for permission to reach devices on your Wi-Fi. Before, Join could look like it did nothing.
• Stream from Your PC can add and pair a PC again. In the smaller release build it failed with "no such algorithm: RSA". Steam sign-in, which uses the same kind of encryption, is fixed the same way.

You need your own games, BIOS, keys and firmware. Nothing of Sony's or Nintendo's is included.

Problems or ideas: https://github.com/RetroForgeFrontEnd/RetroForge/issues

RetroForge 0.8.1 beta: PS4 Player, moves and turbo, scrape all artwork, Ukrainian

RetroForge 0.8.1 beta

PS4 games through the new RetroForge PS4 Player, moves and turbo for fighting games, box art for your whole library in one tap, and Ukrainian.

HELP WANTED: TESTERS FOR THE GOOGLE PLAY VERSION

RetroForge is coming to Google Play, and Google needs at least 12 people to test it for 14 days before it can go public. If you have an Android phone or tablet and a Google account, you can help. The links to join will be added here very soon:

1. Join the testers group (link coming soon).
2. Then open the test link on your Android device and tap "Become a tester" (link coming soon).
3. Install RetroForge from Play, open it now and then, and keep it installed for the 14 days.

The Play version installs next to this GitHub one, so you can keep both. It has everything except Switch, self-updates and a few downloads Google doesn't allow. Your email stays private: only the developer sees the group's members, and RetroForge itself collects nothing (privacy policy: https://retroforgefrontend.github.io/RetroForge/privacy/).

WHAT'S NEW

PS4

• The RetroForge PS4 Player is out (an early preview, built on shadPS4): https://github.com/RetroForgeFrontEnd/RetroForge-PS4-Player/releases. Put your own dumped PS4 game folders in a ps4 folder, tap Play, and the game opens in the player. Back opens its pause menu, and Quit brings you back to RetroForge.
• The first time, Android asks you to let the PS4 Player access all files, so it can read your game folders.
• Get it, for the PS3 and PS4 Players, now opens each player's own download page.
• PS4 emulation on a phone is new: most games are slow or don't start yet. Sonic Mania runs at about 40% speed on a Galaxy Tab A9+.

Moves and turbo (built-in player)

• Pause menu → Moves and turbo. Turbo: any button presses itself again and again while you hold it.
• Move lists for more than 35 fighting games, among them Street Fighter II, Alpha and III, Mortal Kombat 1 to 4, The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury and Real Bout, Samurai Shodown, Darkstalkers, Killer Instinct, Tekken 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Primal Rage, with specials, supers and finishers.
• Each move shows its inputs as arrows. Tap a move to put it on screen (up to 4) and tap it to do it; ⇄ turns it round when your fighter faces the other way.
• With a controller: hold Select (View on an Xbox pad) and press the move's last button, e.g. Select + HP for a Hadouken.
• Each game button can be moved to any pad button, kept per system, and a game on another system uses that version's buttons.
• Cheat codes too, such as Contra's 30 lives.
• Your own lists: put a text file per game in the player's moves folder.
• Moves are off during netplay and link-cable play, so nobody uses them against another player.

Box art and guides

• Scrape all artwork (Retro tab, and Settings → Covers and bezels): box art for every game that has none, from libretro first and then ScreenScraper.
• Find a walkthrough, on a game's page under Guides and maps, searches GameFAQs for the game.

Looks, music and films

• Settings → Looks and sounds → Size: RetroForge's words, logos and pictures from 70 to 150%.
• Your music in the pause menu, under Resume: what's playing, with Previous, Play/Pause and Next.
• Films with DTS and Dolby TrueHD sound now play with sound.
• On a phone, the film player's buttons wrap onto a second line instead of squashing, and the EQ panel scrolls.

Languages

• Ukrainian, a seventh language: Settings → Language, or Android's own per-app language setting.
• Portuguese is now Brazilian Portuguese throughout.

Fixes

• Copying a game from a network drive keeps going when you leave RetroForge, with progress in a notification and a "ready, tap to play" when it's done.
• A network drive no longer drops the connection when the PC says a file isn't there.
• Console game lists have Scan for new games, which looks through every game folder, network drives too.
• An Xbox pad's View button is Select in a game instead of pausing.

You need your own games, BIOS, keys and firmware. Nothing of Sony's or Nintendo's is included.

Problems or ideas: https://github.com/RetroForgeFrontEnd/RetroForge/issues

RetroForge 0.8.0 beta: PS3 and PS4, online play, music and radio

RetroForge 0.8.0 beta

PS3 and PS4 games, online play, your own music and radio, and a lot more for your retro library.

WHAT'S NEW

PS3, PS4 and Switch

• PS3 games open in the RetroForge PS3 Player (built on RPCS3), with DLC added from a game's page.
• PS3 online: Settings → Online and friends signs you in to RPCN (a free, fan-run PS3 network), makes an account or signs you out. Games log in by themselves.
• PS4 games: point RetroForge at your own dumped game folders; titles come from the game's own data, and they open in the RetroForge PS4 Player (built on shadPS4). DLC folders can be added from the game's page. The guide explains how.
• The PS3 and PS4 players aren't on GitHub yet; their download pages follow in a later update. RetroForge is ready for them.
• Switch Play Online: host a room from the game's page, and other players on the same Wi-Fi see it and tap to join. Up to 4 players.
• You need your own games, keys and firmware from your own consoles. Nothing of Sony's or Nintendo's is included.

Music, radio and films

• A Music tab: songs on your phone, in a folder you choose, or on your PC over Wi-Fi (Find on my network, no typing addresses). Albums with their cover art, Play all, Shuffle.
• Now Playing: moving visuals, big round Play, Previous and Next, Shuffle, Repeat and an equaliser. Music keeps playing in the background, even while you play a game in the built-in player.
• Radio: popular stations where you are, search for any station worldwide, and keep favourites. No account needed.
• The film player has new controls in RetroForge's colours, with subtitles and an equaliser.
• Network drives for games, films and music are kept apart.

Play together

• Netplay for up to 4 players on the same Wi-Fi. On Android 17, RetroForge asks for the new local network permission.
• Virtual link cable: trade and battle in Game Boy and Game Boy Color games between two devices on the same Wi-Fi.
• Save swap: keep the built-in player's saves in step between your devices.
• Tournaments for game nights: knockouts, leagues, groups and double knockouts.

Your library

• RetroAchievements in the built-in player, with the list and badges in the pause menu and progress on the game page.
• Save states with pictures: make, load, rename and delete them in the pause menu or on the game page.
• Backlog and playtime: mark games as playing, finished or up next, with charts per game, system and week.
• Smart collections that keep themselves up to date (by genre, decade, developer, players and your play), and a Gaming passport with your play history and milestones.
• Game notes, guides and maps on the game page and in the pause menu.
• Files: a file browser on the Retro tab.
• Kiosk mode and child lock: a PIN for Settings, deleting and the ROM Manager.
• Input profiles: button layouts for a system, one controller or one game. A controller test in Settings.
• HD texture packs from a game's page (N64, PSP, Dreamcast, GameCube/Wii), and Free up memory in Settings.
• Retro news on the Links tab: emulator releases, retro gaming news and modding.

ROM Manager

• Identify games against No-Intro and Redump lists, and rename them (with undo).
• Fix ROM headers, with the originals kept.
• Compress GameCube games to RVZ, 3DS games to Z3DS, and Dreamcast GDI to CHD.
• ROM hacks: "(patched)", "(romhack)" and "(mod)" files count as hacks, and you can mark any game as a hack on its page. Soft patches beside a game are applied when it plays.
• Save importer: bring PS1, N64 and cartridge saves from other emulators into the built-in player.

Look and feel

• A condensed pause menu with Back working the same in every part.
• Settings headings stand out, and Playing is split into Saves, Online and Controls.
• Tabs run from orange on Home to cyan on the last tab, with a soft glow.
• Frame skip and a sound buffer setting in the pause menu, and Pass the controller to play as player 2.
• A >> fast-forward button on the touch controls for systems whose pads have no R2: tap it on, tap it off.
• 3DS games can open in CitraVR on Meta Quest, for full 3D.

Updating

• Installs over 0.7.1 without uninstalling; games, saves and settings are kept.

RetroForge 0.7.1 beta: six languages and our own Switch Player

RetroForge 0.7.1 beta

RetroForge in six languages, and our own Switch Player.

WHAT'S NEW

The RetroForge Switch Player (new, beta)

• RetroForge's own Switch player, built on Eden (open source, GPL-3.0) and tuned for phones:
  • shaders build in the background so new scenes don't freeze;
  • resolution is set to suit your phone's memory;
  • touch controls light up when pressed and catch quick taps;
  • a RetroForge pause menu (swipe in from the edge, Back, or Home on a controller), with the performance overlay off until you switch it on there.
• It's a separate download on its own page: https://github.com/RetroForgeFrontEnd/RetroForge-Switch-Player/releases. Once it's installed, Switch games open in it straight from RetroForge (Eden is still offered as a second choice). It has no app icon: RetroForge is the front end.
• Keys and firmware: Set up RetroForge has a new step, "Switch keys and firmware", and Settings → Playing has Switch settings. Both open the player's own screen and show whether keys and firmware are installed. The player opens it by itself if a game starts without them.
• Snapdragon phones: one tap downloads the recommended Turnip driver (open source) inside the player.
• You need your own keys and firmware from your own Switch. Nothing of Nintendo's is included.
• Frame rates on a Galaxy S22, with screenshots: docs/SWITCH_FPS.md. Blazing Chrome runs at full speed; Super Mario Odyssey and 3D World are playable at 41-57 FPS.

Six languages

• Every screen in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian, about 1,600 texts.
• RetroForge follows the phone's language, or choose one in Settings.
• Holding Start + Select + L1 + R1 + L2 + R2 for two seconds goes back to the phone's language.

Your games away from home

• Play the games on your home PC from anywhere (a friend's house, a hotel) with Tailscale, a free private network for your PC and phone.
• Settings → Games and library → Games on a network drive → Get Tailscale (free), with step-by-step help in How to use RetroForge.

Better graphics drivers

• Settings → GPU and drivers recommends the best driver for each emulator on your phone's chip.
• Turnip now really loads in RetroForge's built-in players on Snapdragon phones; it fell back to the phone's driver before.

Fixes and smaller changes

• "What will my device run?": a rough low-end to flagship guide in How to use RetroForge.
• Switch updates and DLC no longer show as games, and catalogue tags like [cr Elite] or [GoodMSX] no longer count as ROM hacks.
• Switch games on a network drive are copied to the phone before they start, with a percentage. Eden can't play them over the network.
• If the PC is off, network games say so within seconds instead of waiting forever.
• Find a system: type to jump to any system.
• On-screen controls: a remapped button keeps its place.
• The built-in player's pause menu uses RetroForge cyan, with the orange focus outline.
• Mega Drive and Atari 2600 games named .bin get the built-in player again.
• 32 more systems get their logo, console picture and year (GameCube, Lynx, Jaguar, SG-1000, WonderSwan …).
• Arcade games show full titles and say which files are missing; Doom cheat codes; ST-V plays with MAME 2016.

Made by Darren Glancy, built with a lot of help from AI (Claude). Feedback and bug reports are very welcome on GitHub.

RetroForge 0.7.0 beta: PC games

RetroForge 0.7.0 beta

The biggest update yet: PC games.

WHAT'S NEW

PC games, played by RetroForge itself (new and early)

• RetroForge's own PC player runs Windows games on your phone: no other app needed. It's built on
  Wine (Proton for ARM), the FEX translator and DXVK graphics, downloaded the first time you use it, with
  a percentage.
• Sign in to Steam (approve in the Steam app, password and Steam Guard, or a QR code), see your Steam
  library with artwork in the PC tab, and download your games in RetroForge. Downloads wait for Wi-Fi
  unless you allow mobile data.
• Steam Cloud saves: your saves come down when a game starts and go back up when you quit.
• Add any Windows game folder you own; RetroForge picks the right .exe (and you can choose another).
• On-screen Xbox-style controller with a pause menu; a real controller works too, and the phone's
  keyboard types into games.
• Play together: LAN games over Wi-Fi, or a virtual LAN over the internet.
• Games fill the screen, with blurred or black sides beside 4:3 games.
• On graphics chips that can't run DXVK, games switch to Wine's own Direct3D by themselves.
• Tested on a Galaxy S22 (Exynos) and a Galaxy Tab A9+ (Snapdragon). This is early: plenty of games
  won't run yet. PC games are kept in RetroForge's own storage (or an SD card), which fixes games
  closing on some Android 16 devices.

More PC gaming

• Stream from your own PC: Moonlight's streaming is built in. RetroForge finds your Sunshine PC, pairs
  with a PIN and streams its games (tested at 60 FPS with hardware decoding).
• Xbox Cloud Gaming in the PC tab (with Better xCloud), plus GeForce NOW, Boosteroid and Amazon Luna.
• Your PC games list also starts Steam, Epic, GOG and Amazon games in GameNative, and Winlator shortcuts,
  found by themselves in a "windows" or "steam" game folder (ES-DE's layout).
• Free games: 21 shareware, freeware and homebrew games to download in one tap (Doom, Wolfenstein 3D,
  Commander Keen, and new games for the NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy, GBA and TIC-80).

Everything else

• Bezels from The Bezel Project round the game in landscape: download them for every system at once,
  and each game gets its own bezel where the pack has one.
• Save syncing: your saves and save states kept the same on every device, through your PC's shared
  folder or a folder a cloud app keeps in step. Newer wins; the other copy is kept.
• Game lists as a list, a grid or a bookshelf: game boxes as 3D cases on shelves.
• Netplay: Play together only shows on games it suits; quick taps always count; the joiner's game no
  longer waits behind the menu.
• On-screen controls: systems without their own pad show the buttons their emulator really uses.
• RetroForge checks for updates once a day and offers them on Home.
• Percentages on downloads and scans; Settings → Thanks and licences credits everyone RetroForge
  builds on or features.

Made by Darren Glancy, built with a lot of help from AI (Claude). Feedback and bug reports are very
welcome on GitHub, and there's a "Suggest a feature" form too.

RetroForge 0.6.0 beta

WHAT'S NEW IN 0.6.0

• Netplay: play the same game with a friend on another device, same Wi-Fi or over the internet.
  Open a game and choose Play together → Host; your friend chooses Join. RetroForge asks your
  router to let them in and shows your internet address.
• GameCube, Wii and PS2 play in the built-in player (Vulkan), as in 0.5.1.
• 3D films listed on the VR tab, and an All films / 3D films switch in Media.
• BIOS check: a Scan for BIOS files button, a percentage while it scans, and a summary of what's
  missing (or that you have everything). Game scans show a percentage too.
• Naomi, Naomi 2 and Atomiswave BIOS are found and copied; BBC Micro disks boot.
• Bigger cover on each game's page; Settings is shorter and clearer; buttons no longer squash.
• New links: Joey's Retro Handhelds, Taki Udon, Retro Handhelds.
• On-screen controls: systems without a pad of their own (Lynx, Jaguar, C64, Amstrad and more) now show
  the buttons their emulator really uses, named as it names them. Channel F gets its push/pull/twist pad.
• Quick taps always count, even when a game runs slowly.
• Settings -> Thanks and licences: shout-outs to GameNative, Winlator, DroidDeck and everyone RetroForge
  uses or features.

RETROFORGE - FULL FEATURE LIST
Version 0.6.0 beta, 29 October 2026
Made by Darren Glancy, built with AI (Claude).

PLAYS GAMES ITSELF (built-in player, nothing to set up)

• Emulators download in the background during setup. No RetroArch, no cores to install.
• Systems: Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GBA, NES, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear,
  SG-1000, 32X, Mega CD, PC Engine and PC Engine CD, Neo Geo Pocket, WonderSwan, Atari 2600, Lynx,
  Virtual Boy, DS, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PSP, arcade (FinalBurn Neo, MAME 2003-Plus, CPS1-3, Neo Geo),
  Saturn (experimental), Dreamcast and 3DS. Naomi and Atomiswave are in but not tested yet.
• GPU rendering in the player (N64, PSP, Dreamcast, 3DS), with Resolution from 1x up to each emulator's
  most (PSP and Dreamcast 10x, 3DS 9x, GameCube and PS2 8x, N64 4x) per system.
• Graphics: OpenGL or Vulkan for GameCube, PS2 and PSP, per system (Vulkan by default for GameCube and PS2).
• Games play straight from their folder or network drive (streamed), so even big disc games start at once;
  or copy them to the phone first for slow Wi-Fi.
• Texture packs: one-tap downloads of free N64 HD packs (Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Smash Bros.,
  Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time), or add your own N64 or PSP pack folder. Switched on by themselves.
• Swipe in from the left or right edge for the menu: save and load states, fast-forward, change disc,
  take a screenshot, restart, quit; then Picture (screen shape, filters, console look, widescreen,
  resolution, graphics, Cardboard VR, FPS counter), Sound and controls (volume, touch controls, remap
  buttons) and Emulator (its own settings, cheats, switch emulator mid-game).
• Screen filters: sharp pixels, smooth, CRT scanlines, curved CRT, LCD grid, LCD with ghosting, Scale2x.
• Screenshots saved to Pictures/RetroForge. FPS counter you can switch on.
• Widescreen switch for N64 (restarts the game by itself) and Dreamcast.
• Touch controls drawn per console: PlayStation pad with both sticks, N64 pad, six-button Saturn pad,
  Mega Drive A/B/C and more. Console look on by default. Portrait and landscape; bigger buttons for
  two- and three-button systems in landscape. DS screens side by side when turned.
• Touch controls hide as soon as a controller connects, and come back when it disconnects.
• Remap buttons: controller buttons and on-screen buttons, per system.
• Controllers, TV remotes, hotkeys, hold R2 to fast-forward, carry on where you left off.
• Cheats from libretro's database or your own codes.
• Multi-disc games: change disc from the menu.
• Dual-screen handhelds (AYN Thor, AYANEO Pocket DS and similar): DS touch screen on the second display,
  and (optional) a game box on the second screen while browsing: key art, or the open game's cover,
  name and description. Both switched in Settings -> Dual screen.
• VR tab: Cardboard / phone-in-headset play, the picture once per eye; Virtual Boy in real 3D; 3D films.
  Can be on by default for every game.
• Time played per game.
• Netplay: play a game together on two devices (host and join), on the same Wi-Fi or over the internet.
  RetroForge asks your router to let your friend in and shows your internet address. Play together on
  the page of every game it suits (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Master System, PC Engine, PlayStation, Atari,
  arcade and two-player Game Boy), in the game's menu, and on the Retro tab; name and input delay in Settings.
• Home computers and more: C64, Amiga, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/800, PC-88/98, X68000, DOS,
  ScummVM, 3DO, Jaguar, Neo Geo CD, Vectrex, Intellivision and dozens more (77 more systems in all).
• Keyboard (real, or Android's on-screen one) and touchscreen trackpad mouse for computers.
• GameCube/Wii (Dolphin) and PS2 (LRPS2) in the built-in player, drawn with Vulkan. New in 0.5.1 and
  less tested than the rest; the Dolphin and NetherSX2/ARMSX2 apps are offered too.
• DOS games kept as folders (RetroBat's "Game.pc") play as they are.

YOUR LIBRARY

• Reads a RetroBat or ES-DE roms folder as it is (including gamelist.xml titles, descriptions and
  artwork). Never writes into it.
• Finds games outside system folders by file type (.gba, .nds, .sfc, .z64 ...).
• Rescan by hand, or switch on looking for new games each time the app starts (device folders only).
• Retro tab in the canvas-es style: console pictures and logos downloaded by itself, in RetroForge's
  colours, with the faded key art behind. Only systems you have games for (or all, in Settings).
• Favourites, playlists, recently played, search (exact titles first), edit game details, covers from SteamGridDB.
• Game pages play RetroBat's gameplay video and open the game's manual (built-in page viewer).
• Home: Surprise me opens a random game.
• Network drives built in (shared folders on a PC or NAS): found on the network, no sign-in, keep working
  when the PC's address changes. BIOS found by itself next to a RetroBat folder.
• PlayStation memory cards: see saves, copy between games, delete, import/export card files.
• BIOS check that finds your BIOS files and copies them where they're needed.
• ROM Manager: duplicates, compress to CHD or zip, multi-disc playlists. Every change previewed and undoable.
• Rename game folders as RetroForge shows them.
• Short, familiar system names (Master System, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, FB Neo, CPS1 ...).
• Check my setup: every system's emulator, BIOS and games on one page.
• Import ES-DE custom collections as playlists.

ROM HACKS

• Patcher for IPS, BPS and UPS, including patch chains and readmes.
• The patched copy saves next to the original and appears in the library by itself, with the hack's
  name shown.
• Hack catalogue for NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy Color and GBA, with your own catalogue sources.
• Download and patch: hacks hosted on GitHub download, patch your ROM and land in the library in one go.

OTHER EMULATORS

• RetroArch with the right core per system, for people who know what they're doing.
• 21 standalone emulators (DuckStation, PPSSPP, Dolphin, NetherSX2, Azahar, Eden, Flycast and more),
  default per system.
• Get button opens Obtainium already set up for the app (Emulation Pack setups).
• GPU and drivers: GPU check, plus Turnip driver downloads with search, for Snapdragon phones.

PC TAB

• Ports: games rebuilt to run natively, matched to the games you own.
  • Android ports tab (Ship of Harkinian, Ghostship, SpaghettiKart, Zelda 3, Perfect Dark and more):
    download and install from the official release, open once installed, update.
  • Windows ports tab (Majora's Mask recomp, Jak and Daxter / OpenGOAL, Sonic Unleashed): download
    the Windows version unpacked and ready for GameNative.
  • Prepare files: copies your ROM where the port can find it. Your original stays.
• Windows games: GPU check for DroidDeck, hand-off to GameNative and Winlator, PC tutorial.

MEDIA TAB

• Your films as a poster grid with tidied titles and years.
• Posters, stories, ratings and runtimes from the poster and .nfo files saved next to each film (the
  Kodi/Plex/Jellyfin layout that Media Companion and tinyMediaManager make), or a frame from the film.
  No TMDB key is built in; users can add their own for personal use.
• Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and NAS media servers found on the home network with no sign-in (DLNA, like
  Bigscreen): folders, the server's posters, films stream in the built-in player, 3D libraries play in 3D.
• Films from network drives (shared folders on a PC or NAS), built in.
• Built-in film player with Cardboard modes: 2D cinema, 3D side by side, 3D top and bottom.
• If a film can't play here, it offers another video app.

ANDROID TAB

• Every app on the device, with search, and shortcuts to Android settings, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, display
  and sound.
• Launcher mode: make RetroForge the home screen (handhelds and TV boxes).

LOOKS AND THE REST

• Themes with their own layouts, swipeable previews, and colours plus system art from ES-DE/RetroBat
  themes you own.
• Interface sounds (move tick, select and back chimes), can be switched off.
• Back button (red X) on every page but Home, including Settings groups and main tabs; B on a
  controller goes back.
• Backup and restore: saves, states, cheats and settings in one zip.
• Storage page, with a button to clear copied games.
• Tutorials (with a nod to Retro Game Corps), Links tab with YouTube channels (Modern Vintage Gamer,
  Digital Foundry, My Life in Gaming, The Gaming Historian and more), About page with a nod to
  Mr Sujano (like and subscribe!), Report a problem.
• ScreenScraper and SteamGridDB logins with a show/hide button for the passwo...

RetroForge 0.5.1 beta

WHAT'S NEW IN 0.5.1

• GameCube, Wii and PS2 now play in the built-in player (Dolphin and LRPS2 on Vulkan).
• Fixed: RetroForge sometimes wouldn't open again (until the phone restarted) after being closed while a
  game video or game was loading from a network drive.
• Fixed: the back gesture now opens the in-game menu on Android 16.
• Fixed: film thumbnails crashed on Android 8 and 9.
• New Retro tab tile style: game art with the console in front.

RETROFORGE - FULL FEATURE LIST
Version 0.5.1 beta, 29 October 2026
Made by Darren Glancy, built with AI (Claude).

PLAYS GAMES ITSELF (built-in player, nothing to set up)

• Emulators download in the background during setup. No RetroArch, no cores to install.
• Systems: Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GBA, NES, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear,
  SG-1000, 32X, Mega CD, PC Engine and PC Engine CD, Neo Geo Pocket, WonderSwan, Atari 2600, Lynx,
  Virtual Boy, DS, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PSP, arcade (FinalBurn Neo, MAME 2003-Plus, CPS1-3, Neo Geo),
  Saturn (experimental), Dreamcast and 3DS. Naomi and Atomiswave are in but not tested yet.
• GPU rendering in the player (N64, PSP, Dreamcast, 3DS), with Resolution from 1x up to each emulator's
  most (PSP and Dreamcast 10x, 3DS 9x, GameCube and PS2 8x, N64 4x) per system.
• Graphics: OpenGL or Vulkan for GameCube, PS2 and PSP, per system (Vulkan by default for GameCube and PS2).
• Games play straight from their folder or network drive (streamed), so even big disc games start at once;
  or copy them to the phone first for slow Wi-Fi.
• Texture packs: one-tap downloads of free N64 HD packs (Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Smash Bros.,
  Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time), or add your own N64 or PSP pack folder. Switched on by themselves.
• Swipe in from the left or right edge for the menu: save and load states, fast-forward, change disc,
  take a screenshot, restart, quit; then Picture (screen shape, filters, console look, widescreen,
  resolution, graphics, Cardboard VR, FPS counter), Sound and controls (volume, touch controls, remap
  buttons) and Emulator (its own settings, cheats, switch emulator mid-game).
• Screen filters: sharp pixels, smooth, CRT scanlines, curved CRT, LCD grid, LCD with ghosting, Scale2x.
• Screenshots saved to Pictures/RetroForge. FPS counter you can switch on.
• Widescreen switch for N64 (restarts the game by itself) and Dreamcast.
• Touch controls drawn per console: PlayStation pad with both sticks, N64 pad, six-button Saturn pad,
  Mega Drive A/B/C and more. Console look on by default. Portrait and landscape; bigger buttons for
  two- and three-button systems in landscape. DS screens side by side when turned.
• Touch controls hide as soon as a controller connects, and come back when it disconnects.
• Remap buttons: controller buttons and on-screen buttons, per system.
• Controllers, TV remotes, hotkeys, hold R2 to fast-forward, carry on where you left off.
• Cheats from libretro's database or your own codes.
• Multi-disc games: change disc from the menu.
• Dual-screen handhelds (AYN Thor, AYANEO Pocket DS and similar): DS touch screen on the second display,
  and (optional) a game box on the second screen while browsing: key art, or the open game's cover,
  name and description. Both switched in Settings -> Dual screen.
• VR tab: Cardboard / phone-in-headset play, the picture once per eye; Virtual Boy in real 3D; 3D films.
  Can be on by default for every game.
• Time played per game.
• Home computers and more: C64, Amiga, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/800, PC-88/98, X68000, DOS,
  ScummVM, 3DO, Jaguar, Neo Geo CD, Vectrex, Intellivision and dozens more (77 more systems in all).
• Keyboard (real, or Android's on-screen one) and touchscreen trackpad mouse for computers.
• GameCube/Wii (Dolphin) and PS2 (LRPS2) in the built-in player, drawn with Vulkan. New in 0.5.1 and
  less tested than the rest; the Dolphin and NetherSX2/ARMSX2 apps are offered too.
• DOS games kept as folders (RetroBat's "Game.pc") play as they are.

YOUR LIBRARY

• Reads a RetroBat or ES-DE roms folder as it is (including gamelist.xml titles, descriptions and
  artwork). Never writes into it.
• Finds games outside system folders by file type (.gba, .nds, .sfc, .z64 ...).
• Rescan by hand, or switch on looking for new games each time the app starts (device folders only).
• Retro tab in the canvas-es style: console pictures and logos downloaded by itself, in RetroForge's
  colours, with the faded key art behind. Only systems you have games for (or all, in Settings).
• Favourites, playlists, recently played, search (exact titles first), edit game details, covers from SteamGridDB.
• Game pages play RetroBat's gameplay video and open the game's manual (built-in page viewer).
• Home: Surprise me opens a random game.
• Network drives built in (shared folders on a PC or NAS): found on the network, no sign-in, keep working
  when the PC's address changes. BIOS found by itself next to a RetroBat folder.
• PlayStation memory cards: see saves, copy between games, delete, import/export card files.
• BIOS check that finds your BIOS files and copies them where they're needed.
• ROM Manager: duplicates, compress to CHD or zip, multi-disc playlists. Every change previewed and undoable.
• Rename game folders as RetroForge shows them.
• Short, familiar system names (Master System, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, FB Neo, CPS1 ...).
• Check my setup: every system's emulator, BIOS and games on one page.
• Import ES-DE custom collections as playlists.

ROM HACKS

• Patcher for IPS, BPS and UPS, including patch chains and readmes.
• The patched copy saves next to the original and appears in the library by itself, with the hack's
  name shown.
• Hack catalogue for NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy Color and GBA, with your own catalogue sources.
• Download and patch: hacks hosted on GitHub download, patch your ROM and land in the library in one go.

OTHER EMULATORS

• RetroArch with the right core per system, for people who know what they're doing.
• 21 standalone emulators (DuckStation, PPSSPP, Dolphin, NetherSX2, Azahar, Eden, Flycast and more),
  default per system.
• Get button opens Obtainium already set up for the app (Emulation Pack setups).
• GPU and drivers: GPU check, plus Turnip driver downloads with search, for Snapdragon phones.

PC TAB

• Ports: games rebuilt to run natively, matched to the games you own.
  • Android ports tab (Ship of Harkinian, Ghostship, SpaghettiKart, Zelda 3, Perfect Dark and more):
    download and install from the official release, open once installed, update.
  • Windows ports tab (Majora's Mask recomp, Jak and Daxter / OpenGOAL, Sonic Unleashed): download
    the Windows version unpacked and ready for GameNative.
  • Prepare files: copies your ROM where the port can find it. Your original stays.
• Windows games: GPU check for DroidDeck, hand-off to GameNative and Winlator, PC tutorial.

MEDIA TAB

• Your films as a poster grid with tidied titles and years.
• Posters, stories, ratings and runtimes from the poster and .nfo files saved next to each film (the
  Kodi/Plex/Jellyfin layout that Media Companion and tinyMediaManager make), or a frame from the film.
  No TMDB key is built in; users can add their own for personal use.
• Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and NAS media servers found on the home network with no sign-in (DLNA, like
  Bigscreen): folders, the server's posters, films stream in the built-in player, 3D libraries play in 3D.
• Films from network drives (shared folders on a PC or NAS), built in.
• Built-in film player with Cardboard modes: 2D cinema, 3D side by side, 3D top and bottom.
• If a film can't play here, it offers another video app.

ANDROID TAB

• Every app on the device, with search, and shortcuts to Android settings, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, display
  and sound.
• Launcher mode: make RetroForge the home screen (handhelds and TV boxes).

LOOKS AND THE REST

• Themes with their own layouts, swipeable previews, and colours plus system art from ES-DE/RetroBat
  themes you own.
• Interface sounds (move tick, select and back chimes), can be switched off.
• Back button (red X) on every page but Home, including Settings groups and main tabs; B on a
  controller goes back.
• Backup and restore: saves, states, cheats and settings in one zip.
• Storage page, with a button to clear copied games.
• Tutorials (with a nod to Retro Game Corps), Links tab with YouTube channels (Modern Vintage Gamer,
  Digital Foundry, My Life in Gaming, The Gaming Historian and more), About page with a nod to
  Mr Sujano (like and subscribe!), Report a problem.
• ScreenScraper and SteamGridDB logins with a show/hide button for the password and key.
• Report a problem: opens a ready-filled bug report on GitHub (github.com/RetroForgeFrontEnd/RetroForge).
• Free, with every feature included. If you want to support it: buymeacoffee.com/darrenglant
• No games or BIOS included. No accounts, no tracking.

KNOWN LIMITS AND COMING NEXT

• GameCube, Wii and PS2 in the built-in player are new (tested on a Galaxy S22 only so far).
• Vulkan is the default for GameCube, Wii and PS2; other systems use OpenGL, with Vulkan as an option.
• Tested on a Galaxy S22 (Exynos). Snapdragon phones, handhelds, TV boxes and real controllers still
  need more testing, so feedback from those is especially welcome.
• Coming next: netplay, save syncing with network and cloud drives, RetroBat controller setup import,
  more console-style themes.

RetroForge 0.5.0 beta

RETROFORGE - FULL FEATURE LIST
Version 0.5.0 beta, 29 October 2026
Made by Darren Glancy, built with AI (Claude).

PLAYS GAMES ITSELF (built-in player, nothing to set up)

• Emulators download in the background during setup. No RetroArch, no cores to install.
• Systems: Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GBA, NES, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear,
  SG-1000, 32X, Mega CD, PC Engine and PC Engine CD, Neo Geo Pocket, WonderSwan, Atari 2600, Lynx,
  Virtual Boy, DS, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PSP, arcade (FinalBurn Neo, MAME 2003-Plus, CPS1-3, Neo Geo),
  Saturn (experimental), Dreamcast and 3DS. Naomi and Atomiswave are in but not tested yet.
• GPU rendering in the player (N64, PSP, Dreamcast, 3DS), with Resolution from 1x up to each emulator's
  most (PSP and Dreamcast 10x, 3DS 9x, GameCube and PS2 8x, N64 4x) per system.
• Graphics: OpenGL, or Vulkan (experimental) for GameCube, PS2 and PSP, per system.
• Games play straight from their folder or network drive (streamed), so even big disc games start at once;
  or copy them to the phone first for slow Wi-Fi.
• Texture packs: one-tap downloads of free N64 HD packs (Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Smash Bros.,
  Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time), or add your own N64 or PSP pack folder. Switched on by themselves.
• Swipe in from the left or right edge for the menu: save and load states, fast-forward, change disc,
  take a screenshot, restart, quit; then Picture (screen shape, filters, console look, widescreen,
  resolution, graphics, Cardboard VR, FPS counter), Sound and controls (volume, touch controls, remap
  buttons) and Emulator (its own settings, cheats, switch emulator mid-game).
• Screen filters: sharp pixels, smooth, CRT scanlines, curved CRT, LCD grid, LCD with ghosting, Scale2x.
• Screenshots saved to Pictures/RetroForge. FPS counter you can switch on.
• Widescreen switch for N64 (restarts the game by itself) and Dreamcast.
• Touch controls drawn per console: PlayStation pad with both sticks, N64 pad, six-button Saturn pad,
  Mega Drive A/B/C and more. Console look on by default. Portrait and landscape; bigger buttons for
  two- and three-button systems in landscape. DS screens side by side when turned.
• Touch controls hide as soon as a controller connects, and come back when it disconnects.
• Remap buttons: controller buttons and on-screen buttons, per system.
• Controllers, TV remotes, hotkeys, hold R2 to fast-forward, carry on where you left off.
• Cheats from libretro's database or your own codes.
• Multi-disc games: change disc from the menu.
• Dual-screen handhelds (AYN Thor, AYANEO Pocket DS and similar): DS touch screen on the second display,
  and (optional) a game box on the second screen while browsing: key art, or the open game's cover,
  name and description. Both switched in Settings -> Dual screen.
• VR tab: Cardboard / phone-in-headset play, the picture once per eye; Virtual Boy in real 3D; 3D films.
  Can be on by default for every game.
• Time played per game.
• Home computers and more: C64, Amiga, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/800, PC-88/98, X68000, DOS,
  ScummVM, 3DO, Jaguar, Neo Geo CD, Vectrex, Intellivision and dozens more (77 more systems in all).
• Keyboard (real, or Android's on-screen one) and touchscreen trackpad mouse for computers.
• GameCube/Wii (Dolphin) and PS2 (LRPS2) in the built-in player are experimental (they boot, but don't
  play yet on Samsung phones); the Dolphin and NetherSX2/ARMSX2 apps are offered to play them meanwhile.
• DOS games kept as folders (RetroBat's "Game.pc") play as they are.

YOUR LIBRARY

• Reads a RetroBat or ES-DE roms folder as it is (including gamelist.xml titles, descriptions and
  artwork). Never writes into it.
• Finds games outside system folders by file type (.gba, .nds, .sfc, .z64 ...).
• Rescan by hand, or switch on looking for new games each time the app starts (device folders only).
• Retro tab in the canvas-es style: console pictures and logos downloaded by itself, in RetroForge's
  colours, with the faded key art behind. Only systems you have games for (or all, in Settings).
• Favourites, playlists, recently played, search (exact titles first), edit game details, covers from SteamGridDB.
• Game pages play RetroBat's gameplay video and open the game's manual (built-in page viewer).
• Home: Surprise me opens a random game.
• Network drives built in (shared folders on a PC or NAS): found on the network, no sign-in, keep working
  when the PC's address changes. BIOS found by itself next to a RetroBat folder.
• PlayStation memory cards: see saves, copy between games, delete, import/export card files.
• BIOS check that finds your BIOS files and copies them where they're needed.
• ROM Manager: duplicates, compress to CHD or zip, multi-disc playlists. Every change previewed and undoable.
• Rename game folders as RetroForge shows them.
• Short, familiar system names (Master System, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, FB Neo, CPS1 ...).
• Check my setup: every system's emulator, BIOS and games on one page.
• Import ES-DE custom collections as playlists.

ROM HACKS

• Patcher for IPS, BPS and UPS, including patch chains and readmes.
• The patched copy saves next to the original and appears in the library by itself, with the hack's
  name shown.
• Hack catalogue for NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy Color and GBA, with your own catalogue sources.
• Download and patch: hacks hosted on GitHub download, patch your ROM and land in the library in one go.

OTHER EMULATORS

• RetroArch with the right core per system, for people who know what they're doing.
• 21 standalone emulators (DuckStation, PPSSPP, Dolphin, NetherSX2, Azahar, Eden, Flycast and more),
  default per system.
• Get button opens Obtainium already set up for the app (Emulation Pack setups).
• GPU and drivers: GPU check, plus Turnip driver downloads with search, for Snapdragon phones.

PC TAB

• Ports: games rebuilt to run natively, matched to the games you own.
  • Android ports tab (Ship of Harkinian, Ghostship, SpaghettiKart, Zelda 3, Perfect Dark and more):
    download and install from the official release, open once installed, update.
  • Windows ports tab (Majora's Mask recomp, Jak and Daxter / OpenGOAL, Sonic Unleashed): download
    the Windows version unpacked and ready for GameNative.
  • Prepare files: copies your ROM where the port can find it. Your original stays.
• Windows games: GPU check for DroidDeck, hand-off to GameNative and Winlator, PC tutorial.

MEDIA TAB

• Your films as a poster grid with tidied titles and years.
• Posters, stories, ratings and runtimes from the poster and .nfo files saved next to each film (the
  Kodi/Plex/Jellyfin layout that Media Companion and tinyMediaManager make), or a frame from the film.
  No TMDB key is built in; users can add their own for personal use.
• Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and NAS media servers found on the home network with no sign-in (DLNA, like
  Bigscreen): folders, the server's posters, films stream in the built-in player, 3D libraries play in 3D.
• Films from network drives (shared folders on a PC or NAS), built in.
• Built-in film player with Cardboard modes: 2D cinema, 3D side by side, 3D top and bottom.
• If a film can't play here, it offers another video app.

ANDROID TAB

• Every app on the device, with search, and shortcuts to Android settings, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, display
  and sound.
• Launcher mode: make RetroForge the home screen (handhelds and TV boxes).

LOOKS AND THE REST

• Themes with their own layouts, swipeable previews, and colours plus system art from ES-DE/RetroBat
  themes you own.
• Interface sounds (move tick, select and back chimes), can be switched off.
• Back button (red X) on every page but Home, including Settings groups and main tabs; B on a
  controller goes back.
• Backup and restore: saves, states, cheats and settings in one zip.
• Storage page, with a button to clear copied games.
• Tutorials (with a nod to Retro Game Corps), Links tab with YouTube channels (Modern Vintage Gamer,
  Digital Foundry, My Life in Gaming, The Gaming Historian and more), About page with a nod to
  Mr Sujano (like and subscribe!), Report a problem.
• ScreenScraper and SteamGridDB logins with a show/hide button for the password and key.
• Report a problem: opens a ready-filled bug report on GitHub (github.com/RetroForgeFrontEnd/RetroForge).
• Free, with every feature included. If you want to support it: buymeacoffee.com/darrenglant
• No games or BIOS included. No accounts, no tracking.

KNOWN LIMITS AND COMING NEXT

• GameCube, Wii and PS2 in the built-in player are experimental: they boot but don't play yet on
  Samsung (Exynos) phones. The Dolphin and NetherSX2/ARMSX2 apps play them meanwhile.
• Vulkan in the built-in player is experimental; OpenGL is the default.
• Tested on a Galaxy S22 (Exynos). Snapdragon phones, handhelds, TV boxes and real controllers still
  need more testing, so feedback from those is especially welcome.
• Coming next: netplay, save syncing with network and cloud drives, RetroBat controller setup import,
  more console-style themes.