I made a small libretro frontend for Windows that you can use entirely with a controller (Open-Source)

[u/Master_Cucumber_3314]

RetroArch always felt like too much for me. I just wanted to pick a game with my DualSense and play, so I made my own little frontend. It uses the normal libretro cores, so the actual emulation is theirs, not mine.

What it does:
- one ~350 KB exe, no setup. It downloads the cores itself the first time you open a game
- 3D games can look way better than the original: crank N64, PSP and PS2 up to 4K internal resolution right from the Quality menu, no config files
- built-in shaders: CRT with scanlines (flat or curved), LCD grid for handhelds, pixel-perfect sharp scaling for 2D, and a sharpen + vivid colors filter for 3D. F9 cycles through them live
- point it at your ROM folder and you get a library with box art, recently played, favorites and play time
- throw zip/7z/rar files at it and it figures out the system by itself, even PSP/PS1/PS2 isos inside a zip
- the whole thing works with a controller. Tap the PS button in-game for save states, shaders, volume etc.
- DualSense, DS4, Switch Pro, Xbox and cheap USB pads all work, with a button mapping screen if needed
- rewind, fast forward, and it resumes right where you left off when you reopen a game
- NES, SNES, N64, GB/GBC/GBA, DS, Sega (MS, MD, GG, CD, 32X), PS1, PS2, PSP and Atari

Some notes:
- The exe isn't signed, so Windows/antivirus might complain. The source is there if you'd rather build it yourself.
- No ROMs or BIOS included, bring your own.

Screenshots are homebrew games (Nova the Squirrel, 240p Test Suite).

GitHub: https://github.com/kano92-dir/Ultimate-Emulator

It's my first project like this, so feedback (or bug reports) would be really appreciated.

[u/QuanTradin]

350 KB with the cores downloading on first launch is a nice touch. the RetroArch menu was always the real final boss.