Run Your Favorite Retro Games and Apps on Raspberry Pi 3 with Emulation

Learn how to install emulators on Raspberry Pi 3, allowing you to play classic games and run retro applications. …


Updated August 8, 2023

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Learn how to install emulators on Raspberry Pi 3, allowing you to play classic games and run retro applications.

Nintendo Emulator: RetroPie

RetroPie is an open-source emulator that allows you to play classic games from various consoles like Sega, SNES, N64, and more on your Raspberry Pi 3. To install RetroPie, follow these steps:

  1. Update your system:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
  1. Install the dependencies for RetroPie:
sudo apt-get install git libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev \
  libsdl2-gfx-dev libsdl2-dev libportmidi-dev libswscale-dev libavformat-dev \
  libavcodec-dev libSDL2-mixer-2.0-0 libSDL2-2.0-0
  1. Clone the RetroPie repository:
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git
  1. Run the setup script:
cd RetroPie-Setup && sudo ./retropie_setup.sh
  1. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation.

Sega Dreamcast Emulator: PiDCEmu

PiDCEmu is an emulator for Sega Dreamcast games on Raspberry Pi 3. To install it, follow these steps:

  1. Update your system:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
  1. Install the dependencies for PiDCEmu:
sudo apt-get install build-essential libasound2-dev libsdl2-dev \
  libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libfreetype6-dev \
  libpng12-dev libxml2-dev mercurial
  1. Clone the PiDCEmu repository:
hg clone https://bitbucket.org/dreki/pidcemu
  1. Compile and install PiDCEmu:
cd pidcemu && make && sudo make install
  1. Copy the BIOS files to the appropriate location:
sudo mkdir /recalbox/share_init/system/dc && \
  sudo cp bios/dc_* /recalbox/share_init/system/dc/

Now you can run PiDCEmu by typing pidcemu in the terminal.

Apple II Emulator: OpenEmu

OpenEmu is an open-source emulator for various Apple platforms, including the Apple II. To install it on your Raspberry Pi 3, follow these steps:

  1. Update your system:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
  1. Install the dependencies for OpenEmu:
sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev libgtkmm-3.0-dev libzip-dev cmake
  1. Clone the OpenEmu repository:
git clone https://github.com/openemu/openemu.git && cd openemu
  1. Compile and install OpenEmu:
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo . && make && sudo make install
  1. Download the Raspberry Pi optimized cores from https://github.com/openemu/openemu/releases and extract them to /usr/local/share/openemu/cores.
  2. Run OpenEmu by typing openemu in the terminal.

These emulators allow you to play a wide variety of games and applications on your Raspberry Pi 3, giving you access to a world of retro entertainment. With just a few commands, you can have these emulators up and running on your device!