Retro consoles and classic computers. One growing project.
Master System · Game Gear · Game Boy · NES · Mega Drive · Super Nintendo · Neo Geo · Capcom CPS-1 · Sharp X68000 · Capcom CPS-2 (experimental) · PC Engine (experimental)
Less emulation. No FPGA. As native as possible.
Download · Build from source · Compatibility · What's new · Credits and licensing · Website
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RetroRecomp-explainer.mp4
RetroRecomp in under two minutes: how your own game dumps become native Windows and Linux programs.
retrorecomp-architecture_LD.mp4
Under the hood, in under three minutes: how RetroRecomp is built and how it works.
Compiled Games, in French: favorites, scan-level stars, covers, summaries and New paths.
RetroRecomp brings several recompilers together in one application. It turns your own game dumps into standalone Windows or Linux executables, with as much native code as possible: no emulator to configure, no dedicated FPGA hardware.
- Download. Open the
latest release and take
the file for your computer:
Retro-Recomp-<version>-windows-x64-setup.exeon Windows,retro-recomp_<version>_amd64.debon Debian or Ubuntu (double-click it), orRetro-Recomp-<version>-linux-x86_64-install.runon another 64-bit Linux. Windows may say unknown publisher because the installer is not signed with a paid certificate: choose More info → Run anyway (it is not a virus alert, see Windows security warnings). - Add your ROMs. Start Retro-Recomp, drop your own ROM files, ZIPs, arcade romsets, disk images or whole folders on the window, and leave the console on Automatic. ROMs and box art are never included.
- Convert and play. Press Convert. The first time, Retro-Recomp offers to install the build tools it needs; accept. Your games appear in one folder per console under Games, beside the application, and in the Compiled Games window.
The full guide, with portable downloads, updates and uninstalling, is docs/INSTALLING.md; the keys of every game are in docs/CONTROLS.md.
| Console | Status | Qualification progress |
|---|---|---|
| Master System | supported | ██████████ 97 % |
| Game Gear | supported | █████████░ 93 % |
| Game Boy | supported | ██████████ 97 % |
| Nintendo NES | supported | █████████░ 91 % |
| Mega Drive | supported | ████████░░ 84 % |
| Super Nintendo | supported | █████████░ 94 % |
| Neo Geo | supported | █████████░ 94 % |
| Capcom CPS-1 | supported | █████████░ 90 % |
| Sharp X68000 | supported | █████████░ 91 % |
| Capcom CPS-2 | experimental | ███████░░░ 67 % |
| PC Engine | experimental | ████░░░░░░ 39 % |
Qualification progress, approximate: the share of the gates that apply to a machine that are met (half a point for a partial one), drawn from the matrix of QUALIFICATION.md. It is not a quality score, it mixes none of the five measures, and it never decides a status: leaving the experimental status is the owner's own decision.
The Capcom CPS-1 line includes its 18 QSound boards (CPS-1.5). Some machines need firmware you supply yourself: the Neo Geo (its BIOS), the Sharp X68000 (its IPL and font ROM) and the QSound boards (their DSP ROM). What each machine converts, its options and its limits are on its page.
Not available yet. Each one starts as an experimental profile; no date is promised.
| Machine | Stage |
|---|---|
| Game Boy Advance | in development |
| Commodore Amiga 500, then Amiga 1200 | study |
Planned after them: Atari ST, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. Per-machine plans are in the roadmap.
Compatibility depends on the game and the revision; there is no fixed game list. See the compatibility guide. Interpreter fallback is always reported: native code, CPU fidelity, hardware fidelity, gameplay validation and physical latency are separate measures, and native execution alone guarantees neither complete compatibility nor zero latency.
New in 1.6.9. The Sharp X68000 and the QSound boards (CPS-1.5) are supported, and the X68000 shares its paths like the CPS-1; Capcom CPS-2 and the PC Engine open as experimental machines (your own key file and QSound DSP ROM for the CPS-2); players 3 and 4 are no longer blocked and the keyboard of a computer is chosen per game from F2; an upload sends only the paths the local base lacks. Details in the release notes.
How it works, what each machine does and how the project is run: start from the documentation index. The windows of the converter are in the screenshots, each release's changes in the release notes, and the machines planned next in the roadmap.
- docs/BUILDING.md: build and run from source, and the dependencies.
- CONTRIBUTING.md: how to propose a change.
- docs/AGENTS_GUIDE.md: the repository map, the checks that need no ROM and the pitfalls, for coding agents and people alike.
- docs/STANDARDS.md: the rules every change follows.
Created and integrated by Arthur Reboul Salze. The app's Credits page links the independent projects behind each console.
Original RetroRecomp contributions use the MIT license. Imported components retain their own terms, including noncommercial restrictions; MIT does not override them. See third-party notices. Notices are embedded in the converter; the matching UPX source archive is available in this repository.