There are many alternatives to RetroArch for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best open source Mac alternative is PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to RetroArch and many of them are open source and available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Mac alternatives to RetroArch are Lakka, VisualBoyAdvance, OpenEmu and Ludo.
PlayOnLinux is a graphical frontend for the Wine software compatibility layer which allows Linux and Mac users to install Windows-based video games, Microsoft Office (2000 to 2010), Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as many other applications.
Lakka is the official Linux distribution of RetroArch and the libretro ecosystem. Each game system is implemented as a libretro core, while the frontend RetroArch takes care of inputs and display.
VisualBoyAdvance (VBA) is a free software (GNU GPL) emulator targeted for the Game Boy, Super Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance handheld game consoles sold by Nintendo.
VBA is specifically for the GBA console, whereas RetroArch can handle any console
Retroarch is for ios VBA is for windows
Open Emu is an open source project to bring game emulation to OS X as a first class citizen, leveraging modern OS X technologies such as Cocoa, Core Animation and Quartz, and 3rd party libraries like Sparkle for auto-updating.
Ludo is an Emulator Frontend able to run retro video games. Ludo does not emulate the consoles itself, but does it through emulator plugins called libretro cores. Libretro cores are well known emulators (like Snes9x or Genesis Plus GX or PCSX) stripped from their user interface.
Snes9x is a portable, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator. It allows you to play most games designed for the SNES and Super Famicom Nintendo game systems on your PC.
Retroarch is not an emulator. Retroarch is a frontend for Libretro, which is a backend in which "cores" can be implemented and then run through a frontend(RA in this case.) These cores are emulators, and are what do most of the work of emulating systems. The vast majority of Libretro cores are simply preexisting emulators (like Snes9x!) ported into the Libretro API.
ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files.
ScummVM is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.
Run PSP games across platforms in crisp HD, enjoy sharper textures, post-processing effects, anisotropic filtering, save or restore progress, customize input controls, transfer existing saves, play on low-spec devices with JIT-optimized performance, and more features.
PPSSPP is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.
MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with images of the original arcade game's ROM and disk data, MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose computer.
Mame is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.
ZSNES is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator. Aside from emulation accuracy, many interface features first introduced in ZSNES have been adopted by other emulators. ZSNES interface features include: Smoothing and dynamic image scaling; screenshot capture; state...
mGBA is an open source emulator of the Game Boy Advance. The goals are speed and accuracy.
mGBA is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.
An experimental open-source Nintendo 3DS emulator/debugger written in C++. At this time, it only emulates a very small subset of 3DS hardware, and therefore is only useful for booting/debugging very simple homebrew demos. Citra is licensed under the GPLv2. Refer to the license.
Citra is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.
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PlayOnLinux is a compatibility layer to play Windows games (or other software) on Linux. Retroarch is a multi-platform emulator frontend. They are not at all similar.