It's a lot of fun to revisit classic games from your childhood, especially when they're incredibly fun to play. This is very easy to do via emulation using RetroArch. The emulation tool has received a lot of praise from those who love playing older games on their various devices, especially ones they have fond memories of. Luckily, RetroArch has occasionally received updates to the program and gained new features to help make revisiting classic games even better, often adding things that make games run or look better overall. However, one feature takes things a step further by allowing retro games to be played online.

The Netplay feature in RetroArch can allow users to play games with others online. Want to get together with a friend for some co-op in Streets of Rage 2, or host a set of matches in Mortal Kombat on Sega Genesis? You can do that and more in RetroArch with Netplay. Hosting or joining a lobby can bring back the joy that everyone had with multiplayer gaming on many of the old consoles they grew up with.

Netplay uses peer-to-peer

Getting the best connection

The way that Netplay works in RetroArch is through peer-to-peer (P2P) networking for multiplayer sessions with different games. The reason for the use of P2P networking, as opposed to using a centralized server, is twofold. Servers would cost money for RetroArch to deploy and maintain (and would add additional complexity), and P2P offers the best direct connection possible between all parties and allows for smooth gameplay. That way, you're on the lowest latency possible between you and your friends, and you can enjoy the game without much worry. Hosting a session or joining another one is pretty simple with RetroArch. Anyone can look through the Lobby Browser and search for games being hosted by others, or simply start up a new lobby with a game of their choice. The RetroArch website also has an invitation to their official Discord channel for those who want to find others to connect with through Netplay lobbies.

People who love going back to games with local multiplayer on older consoles, thanks to this feature, have the ability to experience them in a new way with RetroArch. While it doesn't modify the games in any significant way, it does make nearly every multiplayer title viable online with this specific feature. Even the most obscure 8-bit and 16-bit titles can be played with others online, as well as a variety of other games that can be played with RetroArch. What's old can essentially feel new again, and you can set up clever traps while playing Bomberman online, just like it was back in the 1990s.

Being prepared before playing

A few minor details

Netplay as a feature sounds great for anyone who uses RetroArch frequently to play games. It's definitely something that people will end up using frequently when connecting with friends who have similar tastes in games. After all, who wouldn't want to play a classic like NBA JAM online with a few buddies? However, there are a few things that are required from users for someone to take full advantage of Netplay. For most people, this won't be a huge deal breaker or enough to deter them from using the feature within RetroArch. But it's definitely still worth noting for everyone.

In order to host or join a session through Netplay, all players need to have the same ROM file for the game they want to play. That ROM file also needs to be scanned and added to their playlist on RetroArch. Not doing so will prevent you from going into or hosting any games that people can join while online. Most people who frequently use RetroArch to play games will most likely have the files mandatory already, but not always. At the same time, you can't download or find any ROM files from the RetroArch website; you only need the cores to run any games. In other words, you either need to have the right game files or you can't play at all.

Manual Netplay options

When you're advanced enough

Outside the lobby options that Netplay has available, you can also manually set up a Netplay session with some changes, at least if you are the one who is the server rather than a client. Most of the options that can be changed only affect the person acting as the server, but they are there for those who are curious to tinker with them. Most of the network settings can be found in the menus of RetroArch before starting up a game.

This stuff is mostly for those who want to explore more than just simply getting into a retro game to play on RetroArch. If anything, joining a lobby is the quicker way to start playing your favorite games online, as opposed to spending time changing all the right settings.

Retro gaming online

Anyone who loves playing classic games will enjoy doing so through RetroArch. It has plenty of features to improve upon many games that people grew up playing and enjoyed with others. With RetroArch adding the Netplay feature, this can be taken a step further. Being able to play beloved classics online with other people will help them feel like a modern release, even though they've been around for a long time. Despite taking a few steps to get things set up beforehand, Netplay is a great addition to something that retro gamers already enjoy engaging with.