Emulation Guides — All Major Arcade Emulators

G&G Arcade provides the most comprehensive emulation guides available for arcade cabinet builders. Every guide is written from hands-on cabinet-building experience — not generic PC gaming tutorials. Each guide covers three progressive tiers: Beginning (stable infrastructure), Intermediate (advanced configuration), and Advanced (professional deployment).

Arcade Emulators

  • RetroArch — Universal emulation frontend. Libretro architecture, BIOS setup, CHD compression, RetroPad mapping, CRT shaders, paraLLEl-GS PS2 emulation, UDP automation.
  • MAME — The dedicated arcade cabinet standard. Directory governance, ROM set architecture, 9-layer INI configuration, BGFX shaders, GroovyMAME CRT output, LEDBlinky, ServoStik.
  • FinalBurn Neo — The go-to emulator for fighting game cabinets. CPS1/2/3, Neo Geo, Capcom, SNK. ROM set management, BIOS setup, video blitter engines, TATE rotation, latency optimization.
  • Dolphin — GameCube and Wii emulation. Vulkan/D3D12 rendering, Netplay, Wii Remote passthrough, performance tuning.
  • Cemu — Wii U emulation. Vulkan rendering, shader cache management, FPS++ graphics packs, SDL2 controller mapping, Pretendo Network, CLI deployment for frontends.

PlayStation Emulators

  • DuckStation — PS1 emulation with PGXP geometry correction and upscaling.
  • PCSX2 — PS2 emulation. BIOS setup, Double Input bug fix, kiosk automation.
  • PPSSPP — PSP emulation with Vulkan support and per-game overrides.
  • RPCS3 — PS3 emulation. Cell architecture tuning, shader cache, 70%+ library compatibility.

Nintendo Emulators

  • Project64 / Gopher64 — Nintendo 64. GLideN64 plugin, arcade stick mapping.
  • Citra / Lime3DS — Nintendo 3DS. Vulkan support, HD textures, dual-screen layout.
  • Cemu — Wii U emulation. Breath of the Wild at 60fps, FPS++ graphic packs.

Sega Emulators

  • Flycast — Dreamcast, NAOMI, NAOMI 2, Atomiswave. Vulkan rendering, widescreen cheats.
  • Supermodel — Sega Model 3. Virtua Fighter 3, Daytona USA 2, force feedback.
  • Sega Model 2 Emulator — Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, Sega Rally Championship.
  • Redream — Standalone Dreamcast emulator. Monolithic design, 4K upscaling.

Modern Arcade Hardware

  • TeknoParrot — PC-based arcade hardware. Sega Lindbergh, RingEdge, Taito Type X. 150+ titles.

Multi-System

  • Xenia — Xbox 360 emulation. D3D12 configuration, 2,000+ titles.
  • ScummVM — Classic PC adventure games. LucasArts, Sierra, 400+ titles.
  • OpenBOR — Beat-em-up game engine. TMNT: Rescue-Palooza!, Streets of Rage remakes.

How to Choose an Emulator

For fighting game cabinets (Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Metal Slug), choose FinalBurn Neo. For the broadest ROM set coverage across all arcade hardware, choose MAME. For multi-system cabinets running PS1, PS2, GameCube, and arcade titles from a single frontend, choose RetroArch. For dedicated GameCube/Wii cabinets, choose Dolphin.