Play retro games
Defend the universe, save the princess, win the race and all without spending a 10-pence piece!
In the ’80s, the only way to experience arcade-quality gaming was by going to an arcade. Over the passing decades, arcades have become mere memories and gaming is now a home pastime. For the more ‘mature’ gamer, the appeal of retro gaming is nostalgia, and the Raspberry Pi has been a capable retro gaming platform for most of its life. In this tutorial, we’re converting a Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming console using RetroPie.
Before we get too far, a word on legality. Retro games are still under their respective owners’ copyright. In some countries this isn’t an issue, in others it is. Please consult your local regulations.
RetroPie is a great way to play classic retro games via a Pi. We should know, as we have a Picade cabinet on our bookshelf that runs a customised version of
RetroPie. Installation is simple – download and install Raspberry Pi Imager from www.raspberrypi.com/ software/ and open the app. In the Operating System menu, select Emulation and Game OS, then select
RetroPie for your model of Pi. Insert an 8GB or larger microSD card and select it from the Storage menu. Click Write to download and write the image to the card. Remove the card and boot your Pi from it.
On the first boot, we need to set up a controller. This needs to be a controller physically connected to the Pi via USB. Bluetooth doesn’t work at this time. Follow the instructions and map all the relevant controls. Once done, we see the RetroPie interface, EmulationStation.
Games are collected by systems, and without any games, no systems show in the menu. Your legally owned ROMs can be transferred to RetroPie using a
FAT32-formatted USB drive. Create a folder, RetroPie, on the USB drive and insert it into the Raspberry Pi running RetroPie. Leave the drive for five minutes for
RetroPie to create a folder structure for the ROMs. Remove the USB drive, place it into another computer and copy your ROMs into the correct folder under /retropie/roms/. Note that the number of ROMs should not exceed the capacity of the RetroPie microSD card. Remove the USB drive and place it back into the Pi. The ROMs auto-copy to their respective folders on the Pi. If you’re copying gigabytes of ROMs, this takes a long time; if it’s only a few hundred MBs, it should be done within a few minutes. When done, remove the USB stick and reboot RetroPie (Start > Quit > Restart). Some systems, such as Arcade, MAME and PlayStation, require BIOS images.
Controllers
To use a Bluetooth controller, go to the RetroPie menu. Scroll down and select Bluetooth. Select Pair And Connect Bluetooth Device. The name and MAC address of the controller should appear (it is normally printed on the controller) – make sure they match. To validate the connection, try the first security mode; if that fails, try the next. Once done, your controller can be used from the comfort of your sofa.
On the Raspberry Pi 4, the best level of emulation we can achieve is Nintendo 64. Even then, some games, such as the seminal Goldeneye 007, may run a little choppy. PlayStation 1 and some 2D PS2 games should run rather well.
We’ve only just got you started with RetroPie. For more information, head over to https://retropie.org.uk and learn how to get even more retro gaming fun from your Raspberry Pi.