SkyEmu Core on iPhone & iPad | Retropa

Systems and formats Retropa can hand to SkyEmu

SkyEmu is the runtime behind several systems in Retropa, and its own project page sits at https://github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu. What follows is Retropa's catalog, a shorter list than the upstream project supports. An extension appearing here means the app will try the file, not that every game will run. Retropa ships without games and BIOS files, so bring your own copies.

• Game Boy: .gb
• Game Boy Color: .gbc
• Game Boy Advance: .gba
• Nintendo DS: .nds

Nintendo DS, one title at a time

Expect DS results to vary from title to title. Import a file you already downloaded, make sure the app reports Nintendo DS, and play past the opening screen before you trust it. Try a scene that uses the touch screen and one with sound, then write down the app version and the exact point where a game freezes. No skin can fix a core that does not support a title.

• The catalog lists only SkyEmu for Nintendo DS.
• Plus core switching does not create an alternative DS core.
• Keep independent save backups while testing DS titles.

Two screens and a finger

Pick a layout that keeps both displays in view. Portrait mode can stack them; in landscape it depends on the skin you chose. Test small touch targets at the size you really play at, and check which screen is taking the taps. A controller covers the buttons, but it cannot stand in for every touch action.

• Test both displays rather than only the main game view.
• Leave touch controls reachable with an external controller.
• A one-screen handheld skin is not a DS layout.

The older handhelds on SkyEmu

The Game Boy family stays on single-screen layouts. Confirm which system the app detected, then load a matching skin before you chase a color problem or a dead button. ZIP and RetroPack files are containers for import, not extra systems, so the game inside still has to match the catalog. A Game Boy Advance file does not turn into a DS game when you rename it.

Pointing one game at a different core

Retropa Plus is what unlocks core switching, and the handheld systems stay playable without it. On Nintendo DS the question is academic: SkyEmu is the only core in the catalog, so there is nothing else to pick. Where a choice does exist, limit yourself to cores that cover both the system and the format in front of you. The app remembers your pick per game, so back up the game's own save and the save states from the core you started on before you run the same scene twice.

• SkyEmu saves capture its own core state, so keep them separate from states made elsewhere.
• Back up the game's own save before testing SkyEmu; a core switch does not promise automatic migration.
• A SkyEmu switch leaves the original file and BIOS requirements untouched.