This time around, the libretro guys have decided to give some love specifically to the trusty platform that they write their code on and previous second class citizen, the PC! With RetroArch 1.7.3, the PC port has been given a fitting UI as part of LibRetro’s Year of the Frontend!

What is RetroArch?

RetroArch is a front-end which combines various emulators, that it calls cores, into one so it makes loading and playing your retro games a pretty simplistic affair! Thanks to RetroArch, you can combine your emulation needs for the following consoles into one:

• Sega Genesis, Master System, Dreamcast and many other Sega consoles.
  

  RetroArch lets you play games from all sorts of gaming consoles, from the ever-popular SNES to more obscure consoles like the 3DO!

• NES, SNES, GBA, Virtual Boy and other Nintendo consoles.
• Game cores such as DOOM, 2048, Tomb Raider and more.
• Various computers, such as the Commodore 64, and arcade machines thanks to MAME!

Obviously, RetroArch is also available on a variety of platforms such as the PSVita, PS3, PC, Android/iOS devices, Xbox (both original and 360) so you can install it all around your house!

What got added in version 1.7.3?

RetroArch 1.7.3 brings along the following great features:

• A new GUI tailored for PCs that uses windows, icons, menus and pointers so it feels like a proper PC application! Mac users are out of luck for now but the improved GUI will eventually get to them! 🙂 It is also important to note that it doesn’t work on 32-bit versions of Windows as I tried it on both Windows 7 and 8.1 32-bit without success as it doesn’t even show up!
• RetroArch’s audio mixer, which lets you play your own tracks while playing games and using the application itself, got massive updates as now:
  • It supports MP3 and FLAC files for some platforms which are Windows, Linux, Android, iOS and MacOS.
  • You can insert 16 streams rather than the previous 8.
  • The selected music you select now also plays when you’re in the menu and not only when you’re playing the game.
  • You can edit the mixer’s settings from RetroArch’s menu itself so you can do real-time modifications.
  • Other additions such as the ability to set the volume for individual streams (music files) and more.
• Runahead’s performance with Genesis Plus GX has been improved so now you can nuke latency while still playing your favourite Genesis games at full-speed especially on lower-end systems.
  

  The amount of audio tracks you can put in the audio mixer has been doubled so you won’t get bored of the same tracks as easily!

• The CRT Switch Res feature, which makes using precise video timing data on CRTs for older Arcade games much simpler, is now supported on Linux.
• Other improvements such as translation updates and bug fixes.

Without a doubt, this is a pretty major update for all PC users out there so if you use RetroArch on PC, you should certainly check this update out! Even if you don’t use a PC, it still carries some worthwhile features for everybody so updating is recommended.

Conclusion

To get RetroArch 1.7.3 for your system, simply follow the download link below and get the appropriate version for your platform (and there are many!).

RetroArch download link (for all platforms): http://retroarch.com/?page=platforms

RetroArch 1.7.3 update post: https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-1-7-3-released/

The article’s front-page image is from LibRetro’s video in the link above as my RetroArch GUI looks nowhere as nice!