RetroArch, free and open-source front-end for emulators, game engines, released version 1.8.5 one day ago as the latest stable version.

RetroArch 1.8.5 brings Cheevos improvements, including support for extended Sega CD memory, queue multiple popups, prevent buffer overflow when encountering an unknown macro, don’t block Sameboy core as it only exposes some memory, etc.

The new release also adds Menu Scroll Acceleration option, new timedate styles, DPI-based scaling, ‘Nord’ and ‘Gruvbox Dark’ Ozone themes, ‘Flux’ RGUI theme, and many other UI improvements.

Also it adds ‘Arcade DAT Filter’ option for scanner, supports for scanning Korea, Asia PS1 discs, and PSP Korean. And it adds disk control interface API extension, and brings stability improvements for 3DS, Linux, and video widgets etc. See CHANGELOG for details.

How to Install RetroArch in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, RetroArch snap package (runs in sandbox) can be simply installed from Ubuntu Software utility. Though it’s still v1.8.4 at the moment, the snap version will be updated automatically once installed.

Libretro Stable PPA maintains the most recent .deb packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10, and Ubuntu 20.04.

1. Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libretro/stable

Type your password (no asterisk feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. After that, you can install RetroArch by running commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install retroarch

The PPA also contains a list of games available to install via command: sudo apt install libretro-*

Uninstall:

To remove the software, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove retroarch libretro-*

And remove the PPA repository by launching “Software & Updates” utility and navigating to “Other Software” tab.