How do I get PSP games working on Retro Arch?

[Blueskunky Blueskunky]

Recently I've been trying to get Guilty Gear Core Plus working on Retro Arch, help pls?

 

[Boo Man]

you will prob have to d/l the PPSSPP core on retroarch

 

[Blueskunky Blueskunky]

you will prob have to d/l the PPSSPP core on retroarch

That's what I've been using, and when I try to load the rom, it just freezes for some odd reason.

 

[Boo Man]

That's what I've been using, and when I try to load the rom, it just freezes for some odd reason.

have you tried using ppsspp by itself without retroarch?
im not a fan of retroarch tbh but it has its uses
dont forget to grab the asset files for ppsspp if your gunna use the core on RA

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

PSP emulation in Retroarch was pretty laggy for me so i used the PPSSPP app

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

You don’t, the standalone is much better. Also can be hooked up to Retroachievements so there’s no real reason to try messing around with Retroarch for this console.

 

[Scotty Scotty]

Honestly, it's just better to use standalone emulators for anything PS1 and newer. They tend to perform a lot better than the RetroArch cores.. For PSP games, just use PPSSPP.

 

[diapered]

That's what I've been using, and when I try to load the rom, it just freezes for some odd reason.

Does it freeze immediately at boot, or does the game seem to try to run for a bit and then freeze?

Anyway, like @Boo Man said, there are a few asset files for certain games to work right. Do you have these in the system directory? Make sure there is a check mark, and I think only the zim file (lol, I don't know what it does) is actually required. I think the rest are just for text to display correctly. But I have not played many psp games, and that is one I have not tried.

 

[Sfjeov]

Why not standalone?

 

[NeonKnights]

I also had issues with PSP emulation in retroarch, eventually I switched to standalone PPSSPP and never went back. Now I have pretty much abandoned retroarch, I'm sure it's a good experience if you are not on PC, which I am.

 

[Zeo]

Even PPSSPP on Android is just as good and you dont need to go with retroarch mess of configuration

The last update did some nice stuff and some games now run faster even on mid phones

The PC standalone is better for the test builds you can download before the official release (that takes a lot)

 

[Blueskunky Blueskunky]

Ok, thanks for all the feedback everyone! I had no idea Retro Arch was hated this much until now.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

Ok, thanks for all the feedback everyone! I had no idea Retro Arch was hated this much until now.

Isn't hated but is a bad option for anything past the 8/16 bits platforms

 

[Rocket2049]

PPSSPP barely works for me on Retroarch on win11
and my current phone just hates retroarch (Galaxy S25, practically top of the line of android phones) no video or just closes when i run 3ds/psp/ps2

but yeah no issues on PPSSPP standalone on any game, on any platform, better UI, better settings and configuration especially the graphics, better save management, i can go on lol.

 

[HeroesOfTomorrow]

Greetings folks, recently played the first Valkyria Chronicles, loved the game, and wanted to try the second. Downloaded the Rom, got a bios, selcted the core to use on Retroarch, but the game won't start up. Like it's not even a deal of Retroarch saying it can't start the game for any reason, it crashes the emulator when I try!

Any idea why is that? And any advice to give a greenhorn on how to emulate psp games? It's my first time trying my hand with that console

 

[Boo Man]

have you tried it without retroarch? you could try just using ppsspp by itself?
also i think that game is also on vita so you could also try the vita version on a vita emulator?

 

[Kaze01]

have you tried it without retroarch? you could try just using ppsspp by itself?
also i think that game is also on vita so you could also try the vita version on a vita emulator?

Yeah, I'll second that. I'd also recommend using the standalone version of PPSSPP, which gives little to no problems.

 

[HeroesOfTomorrow]

Yeah, I'll second that. I'd also recommend using the standalone version of PPSSPP, which gives little to no problems.

I'll download it and give it a try, I'll update you guys when I get around to

 

[R_Zero]

have played the second one with ppsspp and had no issues. Standalone ppsspp works as is no need to worry about bios

 

[gtPacheko]

Works fine for me on standalone PPSSPP. Retroarch's core isn't bad but it's not as good as the standalone thing.

 

[DanCalibur]

Yes, the standalone PPSSPP is the way to go. If you want a centralized experience like retroarch, you can try Retrobat, it lets you chose between the regular retroarch cores or the standalone emulators.

 

[diapered]

Are you sure you have all the files the core needs? You say you have the bios, but there is also a .zim for that core and I think something else? I'm not sure if that would cause a runtime crash though, honestly I'm not sure what those supplemental files are for since some games work fine without them iirc

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

Retroarch PPSSPP sucks, i recommend you standalone PPSSPP.
Also i don't recommend Retroarch for systems like PS1, N64, Dreamcast ir NDS neither since the games wouldn't work or work with massive slowdowns, so just stick to Retroarch for 8 and 16-bits consoles + Game Boy Advance.

 

[Mahan_Native]

use standalone PPSSPP, it's way better than its libretro core.

 

[extermist]

Greetings folks, recently played the first Valkyria Chronicles, loved the game, and wanted to try the second. Downloaded the Rom, got a bios, selcted the core to use on Retroarch, but the game won't start up. Like it's not even a deal of Retroarch saying it can't start the game for any reason, it crashes the emulator when I try!

Any idea why is that? And any advice to give a greenhorn on how to emulate psp games? It's my first time trying my hand with that console

Try opening the file manager ui, go to your playlist and select the game you tried to run, it normally shows some kind of error message in red text on the right side.

Other than that, there's a good chance that the core's settings need to be changed before running the game.
If you can't access the core settings then delete the core manually from your folders and reinstall the core to get it's default settings.