RetroArch Tutorial Part III - Usage 101 / Best Practices

After two tutorials on a proper RetroArch setup (Part I and Part II), this might be the most difficult Part III on best practices in RetroArch. Frankly, it's an attempt and I will see where this heads to.

Hello RetroArch!
I do hope it's fine to use your great logo here :-).

RetroArch Menu Styles

While I stick to the pragmatic new menu layout of ozone, you can also check the different layouts which RetroArch offers. Look for: Settings/User Interface/Menu (change requires a save and restart)

RetroArch 1.17 release & RetroArch Setup Tutorial - Part II

Update June 2024: Besides minor tweaks all over the document, I included a dedicated RetroArch Cloud Sync section for FinalBurn Neo, as this cannot be put into the official documentation.

This February 2024, RetroArch reached another milestone with the release of the stable version 1.17. The significance of this frontend for the emulation community cannot be overestimated - it's the foundation/inspiration for many other projects and of course the home of an ever growing list of cores that run under this frontend. But it's also a steady inspiration for new concepts and ideas - with some of these ideas remaining in an experimental mode, while others becoming very successful and influential.

This is a follow-up to this post about configuring RetroArch from scratch - Part I.

So let's start Part II of the RetroArch tutorial with a focus on Arcade games - but most of this applies to other cores as well. As you may expect, this post is work in progress and will grow over time. If you are interested in some special RetroArch topics, just leave a comment below.

Even with 1.17 being out, let me suggest to use nightly builds.

1. Use nightly MacOS builds: 

The nightly MacOS builds of RetroArch have now been stable for several years. I can recommend using them instead of the stable builds. For example, new version 1.2.7 of MoltenVK (the Vulkan layer for MacOS) just landed two days after the stable 1.17 - apparently, this plugin is essential for RetroArch in MacOS, so you would not want to miss this update. But I do not mean that you should update RetroArch every day, but if you do, download a nightly build to benefit from the latest updates.

If things turn out strange for you, you can easily downgrade by installing the stable version over the nightly build. As shown in Part I, updating the app is simple, and you will not loose any of your settings.

Arcade Emulation on Macs - Status Report December 2023

Update 13 January 2024: Further great news for all Aracade fans.

1942 has RetroAchievements! One of my all-time arcade favorites finally received nice Achievements. Needless to tell that I won't master this set at any point in time, but for all you hardcore gamers, this is definitely something to head for.

OpenEmu 2.41! After some two years, the emulator with a MacOS feeling, OpenEmu, has been finally updated again. If you download the "Experimental" version, you also receive a MAME 250 core. One word of caution: It is still Intel only. However, some initial testing on my M2 Mac mini showed nice performance. In MacOS Sonoma, OpenEmu also activates the Gaming Mode in fullscreen. I certainly will always prefer RetroArch/FinalBurn Neo, but if you want to engage into all this configuration hassles, OpenEmu is worth a try.

Update 22 December 2023: Have a good festive season with a lot of good arcade gaming! These great news will help you so spend some quality gaming time. I also tweaked the main text a bit. Cheers!

Bubble Bobble has RetroAchievements! The wait is over, and these Achievements are pure joy. RetroArch and FinalBurn Neo (don‘t forget to turn the koko-aio shaders on, and my repository of course contains dedicated artwork). It’s a great experience and raises this brilliant game to a new level.

AttractMode Plus updated to 3.0.7, the signed app for Silicon Macs is online: https://github.com/oomek/attractplus/releases/tag/3.0.7

Arcadeflow layout for AttractMode Plus updated to 16.7, grab it here: https://github.com/zpaolo11x/Arcadeflow/releases/tag/16.7

Happy holidays! And again: All here strictly non-commercial, i.e. no ads, and any comments trying to benefit will be removed.

———————

Inspired some interesting reads out there (Dolphin Emu progress reports, PCSX2 progress reports, and last but not least https://www.readonlymemo.com/) I do this status report in December 2023 on Mac Arcade emulation (including iOS emulation).  Don't get me wrong: Those emu progress reports are much more into technical stuff than this blog - still the format inspires. And it's also a very good moment to do this, as there is a lot of good things to report. And before you ask: No tvOS experience here, sorry ;-).

In short: Arcade emulation on Macs/iOS was never better than now. Let's discuss why.

(1) MacOS Sonoma: Upgrading to the latest MacOS from Ventura was hassle-free. The new OS just works, and so do all emulators so fae (and Homebrew, most importantly). For sure, you will ask about this Game Mode that landed in MacOS for the first time. Happy to report that RetroArch properly launches in Game Mode when in fullscreen (MacOS tells you this with a notification each launch). 

Apologies for Shots in German ;-).

However, MAME official does not seem to launch in Game Mode (at least no notification pops up). Don't ask me about any performance differences, which are anyways hard to measure in RetroArch. But according to the official documentation (link above), it should definitely be no disadvantage for the gaming experience. 

In short: Sonoma is good to head for.

(2) FinalBurn Neo (RetroArch Core for MacOS/iOS): This core continues to impress and remains a clear number one in Mac Arcade emulation. The RetroArch documentation provides a nice summary of the main differences between MAME and FinalBurn Neo: https://docs.libretro.com/library/fbneo/ - in short, FinalBurn Neo takes compromises on accuracy in favor of playability by accepting 'quality of life hacks' that MAME doesn't. Since my latest post on this core (actually a full setup guide on RetroArch for Arcade games), the developers took huge efforts to stay in sync with MAME official (as of this post, this is version 261). Highscore support further increased for my favorite games. And most importantly, it is the only reliable RetroArch arcade core for RetroAchievements. Remember: For playing in HC Mode (the real thing without save states and rewind), you need to disable the rom hack core option when running FBNeo and restart.

In short: FinalBurn Neo remains the best Arcade emulator on MacOS/iOS systems.

Christmas Retrogaming with koko-aio shaders

A brief note: This forum thread contains two Christmas add-ons for the koko-aio shader of RetroArch. As a regular reader, you will know that this is my absolute favorite shader, for which I complile an arcade artwork collection on GitHub.

Forum thread: https://forums.libretro.com/t/merry-christmas/43569
My arcade artwork compilation for koko-aio in RetroArch: https://github.com/estefan3112/koko-aio-slang

This Christmas artwork also makes heavy use of the ambilight effects, and the results are incredible. Just see how the background colors change with the color of the game.

Theme 1 by koko-aio:

Theme 2 by alexb3d:

Enjoy a festive gaming season!

Special Feature: Guitar Hero in PCSX2 (WIP)

This entry is about one of my all-time favs, Guitar Hero. It was the single reason for me to buy a PS2. So when I found out that recent versions of PCSX2 support the original Guitar Hero controller, all my focus was on this wonderful achievement of emulation. As of this writing, I have sufficiently confident emulation running on Apple Silicon, so let's summarize the experience. Work in progress.

For a long time, those were my only PS2 games - believe it or not.

 
On the software side, all you need is a nightly build of PCSX2: https://pcsx2.net/ - it is still Intel only, but works very nicely on Apple Silicon machines as well. The app comes with a nice updater, which in the case of nighly builds provides you with daily updates, and those are mostly smooth.

On the hardware side, the Guitar Hero Controller is a must. Of course there are nerds playing the games with regular joypads, but that's really not the point of these games.

Update: AttractMode Plus 3.0.6 for Apple Silicon and ArcadeFlow Theme

Update December 2023: Please be sure to head for version 3.0.7 on the official GitHub site (see my December 2023 post), as these here have codesigning issues. Thanks!

Update 17 September 2023: AttractMode Plus 3.0.6 for Apple Silicon is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YbPK_sQodnHLzIN6eY0WyXxkqNfp8ORa/view?usp=drive_link

Please report on any problems, many thanks.

Update 15 September 2023: HOTFIX of AttractMode Plus 3.0.5 for Apple Silicon is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qrJL4TlR-qJwq7hg8isoYVGnx1jiIP2Q/view?usp=drive_link

Recent changes in Homebrew again caused Attract Mode 3.0.5 to no longer work. Just to be clear: The image should be self-sufficient, i.e. it should not depend on Homebrew and any changes in there.

Thanks to the unknown user for the feedback in the comments, and happy to receive feedback.

Update 14 August 2023: AttractMode Plus 3.0.5 for Apple Silicon is updated, as the July version had a problem with Homebrew dependencies, this one should work now flawlessly.

Release notes: https://github.com/oomek/attractplus/releases/tag/3.0.5

And I forgot - if you want to compile this on your Mac, it's easy, provided that you can work in the Terminal: 

- download this file as a raw file: https://github.com/oomek/attractplus/blob/master/util/osx/self_build_macos.sh

- make the sh executable: chmod 755/Users/xxxxxxxxxxxxx/Downloads/self_build_macos.sh

- launch self_build_macos.sh (by dragging into the Terminal; the script should then build and also self-sign the app, which can the run on your Mac, but on no other Mac; by this you can avoid the above app signed with my dev certificate)

Enjoy!

Presenting: RetroArch Arcade Presets for the koko-aio shader

Update 6 April 2023: I released v 0.3 of my Arcade koko-aio shader

https://github.com/estefan3112/koko-aio-slang/releases/tag/0.3

Important change besides new presets: The backdrop presets (see the example here - Space Imvaders Deluxe) work in the same directory.

No need to repeat all of the Release Notes here. The shader gets better and better, and so do my presets, now 52. Tested under MacOS, iPadOS and Windows 11.

v 0.2 sees old-school games with Backdrops landing

Sneak Peek: Massive RetroArch/FinalBurn Neo Update (WIP)

Update 13 January 2023, several amendments and Preemptive Frames as third big thing

2023 starts with some big news for Mac Retrogaming: RetroArch received a Vulkan driver for MacOS via the MoltenVK layer and further big things. I try to explain why this will probably become a major game changer and even less reason for me to use MAME.

First: Vulkan and HDR

The MacOS Vulkan shader comes with HDR, nicely configurable in the UI. I had to heavily scale down the default settings to achieve decent colors on my HDR monitor, however. Contrast must go up tremendously here.

(wip: insert default settings vs my settings here)

Vulkan let's you use more of the latest and greatest shaders. One shader that can be easily overlooked is the koko-aio shader (bundled with RetroArch, but only github provides for the latest version 3.5 currently):

 https://github.com/kokoko3k/koko-aio-slang

This shader provides for screen bezel reflection and other goodies and is easily configurable and editable (after some initial work). Here is an example of my first work results (videos will follow, the main point are the reflections on the screen bezel, which incredibly add value) - the bezels are included in the shader configuration!

HDR and bezel reflections as you play are a significant upgrade. The background image needs further adjustment.

Second: Stable 60 fps on 60 Hz monitors

FinalBurn Neo is the best choice for everybody that has a 60Hz fixed rate LCD: In the Core Options of FinalBurn Neo, be sure that "Force 60 Hz" is activated (you need to close the Core and restart, if changed!). It truly makes a difference with difficult candidates, such as Moon Patrol:

Moon Patrol scrolling at 60 Hz is perfect (again, see the screen bezel reflections!), the vertical lines come from the screenshot.

The system's default refresh was at 56,97 Hz, and this must cause severe hickups with 60 Hz fixed rate monitors.

In essence, perfect scrolling in FinalBurn Neo can be achieved easily, while the workaround explained for MAME in an earlier post seems more of a hack. That‘s a huge thing.

Third: Preemptive Frames instead of Runahead

Very recent RetroArch Nighties deliver another new function called Preemptive Frames (under Latency Options). The RetroArch team claims that it is consuming less resources, so you should use it instead of Runahead, unless you experience audio issues - then again Runahead. 

Happy to report that during my initial testing, I encountered no issues whatsoever in FinalBurn Neo, for me it just works like Runahead. Another very nice thing is that the new function takes over the core-specific and game-specific settings. So I am running FinalBurn Neo default with one preemptive frame and 2 frames only in selected games (e.g. gyruss). 

Even better, many games now have functioning highscores even if you activate Runahead/Preemptive Frames! In the past, you had to decide between the two. While it is not universal like in MAME, it keeps getting better (for me, however, RetroAchievements have become much more important than personal highscores).

These three things alone, combined with RetroAchievements and a steady development of FinalBurn Neo, provide this emulator a clear edge over MAME on Mac systems. I know, that's heresy, but on the other hand, MAME development for Macs has not seen any improvement through the last two or so years.

More to come here soon.

Google Search Milestone 🥁🎉😎 - staying strictly non-commercial

So I learned these days that Google Search sees this Blog, and here‘s a milestone for clicks. It is very nice to see that this bears some relevance. And repeating my pledge: No monetization whatsoever happens here! Keep on retrogaming!

Off-Topic: Mupen64plus on Mac Silicon - finally here

Update Christmas 2022: I created a script for a fully fledged compile of mupen64plus. 

Please download the zip file under this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EG6fMN-NmQl5cPZ20SNFGdych-wGmxNa/view?usp=sharing

After extraction, please check whether it is executable; if not:

chmod 755 mupen64plusSilicon.sh

With this script, you get all built automatically as described below. Be sure to have all the dependencies installed as explained below.

Only one warning: Although the Rice plugin builds successfully, it fails in my testing with several errors. For the time being, it does not work.

And if you want a frontend: That one works well, even if only an Intel binary (take the latest development build):

https://github.com/dh4/mupen64plus-qt#development-builds

Original post from 3 October 2022:

This is major (at least for me), thus I post these non-MAME news as a change: It runs on Apple Silicon, and quite well!

 

As we all know, Nintendo 64 emulation is a challenge, and modern Macs have long time been virtually excluded from proper emulation. Though OpenEmu has a N64 core based on mupen64plus, the current limitations are too big (for me), and on Apple Silicon, there is no OpenEmu binary available. But finally, you can at least compile your own mupen64plus binary, and thanks to a user, even the crucial GlideN64 plugin can be compiled now!

What you get from this adventurous compile:

• a (nearly) fully functional mupen64plus core with GildeN64 GFX, SDL joypad support and two optional RSPs (HLE and CXD4)
• very decent performance at 1280x1024 (I did not yet test higher resolutions)
• fully functional hires texture packs (crucial for me)
• everything is still considered 'experimental', but very good for me to go so far
• run it out of a directory, so I do not mess around with an app image

Requirements: Besides XCode, you need a bunch of packages to be installed (via Homebrew or via Macports). These instructions for MacOSX seem outdated. With Homebrew, an installation of the requirements is rather straight-forward:

• Homebrew (initial install)
• sdl2 (with all associated dependencies)
• libpng
• freetype2
• zlib
• cmake
• nasm

If you have already Homebrew up and running, it's very likely that you already meet these requirements.

I keep it short for the time being, but will expand if necessary. Basic Terminal knowledge and MacPorts/Homebrew will be required.

Moving to MacOS Ventura

 After some waiting, I moved to MacOS Ventura 13.0.1 from Monterey without any issues so far.

Ventura seems to be a no-brainer for MAME

This is a rather short post because there is not much to report: MAME and all frontends seem to work flawlessly. Benchmarks show approximately identical results (OpenGL became slower through various releases, Metal benchmarks still don't work properly, but at least the purple flash is gone when starting MAME and games).

Further nice things to report:

All emulators mentioned in this post work.

Joypad configuration is massively improved, and Nintendo Joypads and Joycons can be connected. For Joycons and Dolphin, you only need to follow Andrew‘s instructions:

https://youtu.be/Y4FqRpFi5Fo (a brilliant channel, by the way)

I already tested my beloved Super Mario Galaxy 2, and it blows my mind :-).

The new Apple Silicon build of GIMP 2.10.32 runs extremely well.

If there is anything else to report, I will do an update here.

RetroAchievements is just brilliant and highly addictive! (November Update)

Brief update after s month in RetroAchievements: It continues to amaze me!

- New sets come in very frequently, and the recent Moon Patrol set is brilliant. With sets like these, you learn more about the games and what is achievable (at least by very good gamers). The community is enthusiastic and grateful.

- As an open system, you can switch between emulators/RetroArch cores or systems (Mac/iPad/Windows/Raspberry Pi) and always work on your achievements. This is amazing.

- For Arcades, I went back to the Arcade Stick, these challenges demonstrate that you need them for serious Arcade gaming. My beloved PS4 joypad is just too casual.

- Even if I will probably not master any set fully, I really like looking at my achievements and think of next steps (closing in to top 50%, at least).

- But where are you, fellow gamers? Let‘s connect!!! 😃

First: Whatever I write here, you need to experience it yourself to really appreciate it.

I never had a close look into RetroAchievements, though it has been around for some time. What a mistake, now I have to play all these console games from scratch again ;-), but now without save states, but just the original games!

Though arcade games don‘t play the lead role in here, they are still worth a try. Just to clarify, this is not MAME, but Finalburn Neo in RetroArch. So if you still need a reason to test RetroArch for arcade games - here it is.

Please see https://retroachievements.org/gameList.php?c=27 - there are currently 218 arcade games registered with a set. Arcade games that are worth a try in RetroAchievements are:

Galaga, Gyruss, Phoenix, Metal Slug Series, Shinobi

Attract Mode on Steroids: At-The-Arcade Flex is a must tryout

Update 6 October 2022: This GitHub repository provides very recent Apple Silicon builds of Attract Mode

https://github.com/djhan/attractplus-for-mac

See https://github.com/djhan/attractplus-for-mac/blob/master/attract-2.6.2-41.dmg

And Attract Mode builds very nicely on Silicon Macs, just use the create-pkg.sh Script from the /util/osx subdirectory. It only works with Homebrew but not MacPorts, though. And if you want to use the created dmg on another Mac (even identical AppleID), you need to codesign the binary, the dylibs and the app container manually, otherwise you get a "permission denied" error and other error messages.

——-

During my testing, I could not identify any flaws, except for the non-functional history.dat plugin. So kudos to DJHan for these builds. For Intel builds, revert to the discussion below and try his Intel builds, or just stick with the official old builds that still work fine.

Minor update 10 July 2022: As explained in the comments below, if you  want to compile your own .app bundle (which works nicely), it seems to me that you must sign it with your own Developer Certificate. Otherwise the compiled app would even not work on your own Mac (at least I think so).

Attract Mode still impresses, as its layout capabilities are further evolving in the community. This release of a layout called "At-The-Arcade-Flex" is so outstanding that I had to produce this small video.

How to get there:

1. Setup, part 1 - is a mandatory read, in particular how to toggle new layouts
2. Download and install the theme from here: http://forum.attractmode.org/index.php?topic=3979.0 - read instructions carefully, but note: On Macs, the gtc-common folder goes into the .attract root directory of your user.
3. Download the updated cabs from the same forum post and put them all in a directory of your choice (must match with the directory below!)
4. And these are the important parts of your Arcade.cfg file - cabinets folder definition in red:

executable           $HOME/Games/mame/mame

args                 [name]

workdir              $HOME/Games/mame/

rompath              $HOME/Games/mame/roms/

romext               .zip;.7z

system               Arcade

info_source          listxml

nb_mode_wait         2

exit_hotkey          Joy0 Button12  

artwork    cabinets        $HOME/Games/mame/cabinets_am 

artwork    flyer           $HOME/Games/mame/flyers

artwork    marquee         $HOME/Games/mame/marquees

artwork    snap            $HOME/Games/mame/videosnaps;$HOME/mame/snap

artwork    video           $HOME/Games/mame/videosnaps

artwork    wheel           $HOME/.attract/scraper/mame/wheel

It's very snappy and extremely noisy - you get the cacaphony of an arcade hall, and your own video sound prevails over it. What a joy! Try out and be amazed.

New Lightweight GLSL Shader around - some testing comparison

If you browse this blog, you'll see how important I deem shaders for MAME. Proper shader configuration was a bit of the start of this blog. So no wonder if I report about a promising new lightweight GLSL shader.

MAME-PSGS in action, good looking and performant

You find the new shader here: https://github.com/TheCodeTherapy/MAME-PSGS. According to the ReadMe, this shader is designed for rather low-key non-Windows devices running MAME. Clearly modern Macs run every BGFX MAME shader with ease, but let's see which performance gains a truly lightweight shader can achieve.

MAME on Apple M1 - as good as expected!

Update 6 February 2024: Breaking news - MAME 0.274 provides a brand new ARM64 dynarec. The wait is over, native Silicon Macs are capable of running all MAME games. Let's celebrate!

Update 6 January 2025: I need to mention my new blog post regarding running an Intel Build on Silicon/ARM Macs, as they can really complete a good emulation experience on this platform. Needless to tell that I am now on MacOS Sequoia without any hassle in MAME.

Update 3 December 2022: moving to Ventura was smoothless - see this short post.

Update 16 July 2022: I did some prelimimary MAME testing on a 14“ MacBookPro M1Pro (it’s not mine). While this is no in-depth review, there are some insights from a MAME gamer‘s perspective I would like to share with you.

• SUPERB The Liquid Retina XDR-display with 3024x1964 is a real highlight. Above all the ProMotion refresh rate of 120 Hz provides you with butter-smooth scrolling out of the box. Just activate waitvsync on top, and you get perfect scrolling. But don’t use nothrottle as your games would run double speed.
• GOOD: This laptop produces surprisingly good sound quality. Retrogames sound very nice!
• GOOD: It did not produce any heat during my testing, and no fan noise. Always such a good thing compared to most Windows and MacIntel laptops.
• BAD: In some games, e.g. 1942, the display notch is quite a nuisance (see photo below). But it’s not terribly bad, if it makes you crazy, use a bezel and shrink your screen, or just turn to window mode.
• SURPRISE: Initial benchmarks (as I used to do them) provide for worse results than on my Mac mini M1, even on the same external display. The M1 Pro should provide better results, so something is wrong. In practice, this is totally irrelevant, as the games run just nicely so far.

Conclusion: Of course this machine is too much for Retrogaming, but if you happen to own such machine, it provides an impeccable MAME gaming experience, with this display being the highlight. Would I need a Mac laptop, I would always opt for a ProMotion display.

In many games, you will have to adjust the screen below the Display Notch.

Original post: I finally decided to move to a Mac mini M1 - and MAME just shines on it. No war stories here, but just the benchmarks!

R0ni compiles M1 MAME, so get it here: https://sdlmame.lngn.net/ or on Github: https://github.com/mac-a-r0ni/mame 

This table shows you a performance comparison between:

- Mac mini M1 (native)

- Mac mini M1 (Rosetta2): no real need for this, but just to demonstrate Rosetta2 performance 

- Mac mini Intel (latest version)

- iMac (late 2013): best results under Mojave (Catalina became slower, and no Big Sur here)

./mame -video bgfx -str 60 -noafs -bgfx_screen_chains crt-geom -bgfx_backend opengl -noreadconfig -nosleep -nothrottle -lowlatency

FINALLY: perfect scrolling in MacMAME by configuration!

👾👾👾👾👾👾 Time to celebrate. After so many attempts, I finally stumbled across the perfect configuration for flawless scrolling in MacMAME. 👾👾👾👾👾👾

Update 16 July 2022: It seems to me that with displays higher than 60 Hz, the nothrottle option would not work, as it results in speeds far above 100%. At least that was the result of my testing with a MacBook Pro M1. With such monitors, you would not need this hack anyway as waitvsync alone already provides for perfect results.

Showcase Moon Patrol - watch on your system how it scrolls sideways 

Until now, the usage of waitvsync, which is rather important for avoiding bleeding, caused stuttering in MacOS. As the MAME documentation explains:

On macOS, -waitvsync does not block; instead the most recent completely drawn frame will be displayed at vblank. This means that if an emulated system has a higher framerate than your host display, emulated frames will be dropped periodically resulting in motion judder.

That's why waitvsync is disabled by default. Now, very surprisingly, nothrottle combined with waitvsync comes to the rescue! With this MacMAME emulation is close to perfect for me! No 144 Hz monitor or Adaptive Sync required.

MAME and RetroArch in macOS 12.1 Monterey

Just a fast post on Monterey: Both MAME and RetroArch/FinalBurn Neo work flawlessly, both on Intel and Silicon machines available for me.

After the read of Ars Technica's review of macOS Monterey and the release of version 12.1, I found it safe enough to to the upgrade. 

January 2016 - September 2021: 100.000 Views - Thank You

Without realizing it, this September saw my blog passing the 100.000 views mark. Even in rather silent times, this documentation seems to help Mac users.

Thank you for your interest, this is my contribution to MAME. Please let me repeat that this blog will always remain strictly non-commercial.

Cheers.

Final Burn Neo 1.0.0.2 is the better MAME on Macs

Fast update 29 August 2021: After quick tests of MAME 0.235 and FBNeo 1.0.0.3/RetroArch Metal 1.9.8, the situation is still the same. Important note, however: After updating FBNeo (as well as any other Core), restart your Mac! Weirdly any updated Core crashes RetroArch immediately, while after a restart, everything works fine.

These are quite heretic news: On my Macs (both M1 and Intel), many arcade classics play better on the brand new combo Final Burn Neo 1.0.0.2/RetroArch Metal 1.9.2 than current MAME. If you are curious and ready to dive into RetroArch, this is definitely worth a try.

Moon Patrol (FBNeo with crt-guest-dr-venom2 shader)

I tested the newest incarnations of Final Burn Neo (via RetroArch frontend) and MAME official on my Macs, and to my surprise, Final Burn Neo currently has a clear edge over MAME in some classic arcade games. If you want to do your own testing, I recommend that you try out these three games, where results are quite obvious:

MAME Arcade Bezel Update!

Just to let you know that my Github repository containing realistic bezel artwork for MAME is significantly updated. No need to repeat the ReadMe file in Github, just move there:

https://github.com/estefan3112/MAME-Realistic-Bezel-Artwork/blob/master/README.md

Shinobi contains all updates, including the Screen Mask (very much smoothing the screen borders) and
adding a dedicated Screen Bezel (thereby adding a lot of depth to the bezel).

I was looking for a long time for a screen bezel for Oddyssey2/Videopac - so many thanks to SuSGoART for that one (I found it in the libretro forum, conversion to MAME layout format by myself).

While this project will probably never end, I believe that it is a very nice moment to grab the repo and enjoy the new stuff. Comments as always much appreciated.