Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie

mitu

A few MSX games have been ~~made~~ freeware by one of the original author(s) (CAS Cremers) from Parallax Software.

See https://msx.org/news/en/parallax-games-freeware. The list of games is:

Vectron (1989)
Arc (1990)
Magnar (1992)
Black Cyclon (1993)
Blade Lords (1994)
Akin (1995)

lionel_Z80

Hello,
The "SNK 40th Anniversary Collection" (PC version) has some arcade games that may be converted into MAME compatible files thanks to the script STEAM-865940.sh [https://gitlab.com/vaiski/romextract/-/blob/master/scripts/STEAM-865940.sh](link url) available at https://gitlab.com/vaiski/romextract.

I created another script to extract games that the previous script did not extract, namely:

Marvin's Maze
Athena
Guerrilla War
Ikari Warriors
TNK III
Paddle Mania
Victory Road
Alpha Mission (ASO: Armored Scrum Object)

My script is available at https://github.com/lioneltrs/buildROM
Note: "SNK 40th Anniversary Collection" is included in Amazon Prime membership until March 31, 2021.
Regards,
Lionel

Clyde

@lionel_z80 said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

Note: "SNK 40th Anniversary Collection" is included in Amazon Prime membership until March 31, 2021.

Could you please elaborate on this? I'm in the 30-day trial Prime program right now which I plan to cancel before it expires.

Which region's Amazon does offer this, and what does one have to do to there to get it? I searched for "SNK 40th Anniversary Collection" on amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, and amazon.de (my region), but couldn't find anything about this offer.

lionel_Z80

@clyde
Hi, it is available (in Europe for me, in France) on https://gaming.amazon.com/home
Here is a screenshot: it is on the right on the picture.

Regards,
Lionel

themazingness

@clyde The free games require either installing Twitch or Amazon Games (on PC). You can claim them in those applications or on the website lionel linked. You can also go to Twitch's website and click on notifications which will say what games and loot are free, and it links to the same website lionel mentioned. I personally find the apps easier if you aren't bothering with the loot for f2p games.

Clyde

@lionel_z80 @themazingness Thanks! I'll look into that. I didn't know about that part of Amazon.

themazingness

I recognize the original post excludes DOSBox games, but I wanted to point this out since they're free. Aside from the Rock N Roll Racing SNES as the original post mentions, they also have The Lost Vikings and Blackthorne available which are DOSBox games. All are free, in addition to Diablo II (not verified for the latter, but I have verified the other three games).

Note that Rock N Roll Racing rom is named ROCK.bin and needs to be renamed to a .sfc file for use in most SNES emulators.

https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/download?show=classic

Auster

The developer of Micro Mages also released another NES homebrew, Böbl, on Itchio:
https://morphcatgames.itch.io/bobl
It's a free game, but you can pay for it if you want

Folly

@auster

Already played Böbl a bit.
Nice game 👍

Auster

A few more games with roms:

Steam games (all paths specified are in [Steam install folder]/steamapps/common/):

Bubsy Two-Fur: https://store.steampowered.com/app/426630/Bubsy_TwoFur/
Platform: SNES
Has 2 roms, the files "bubsy_1" and "bubsy_2" in the folder /Bubsy Two-Fur/, and neither have extensions (add the .sfc extension)

Impossamole: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1137660/Impossamole/
Platform: TurboGrafx-16
The rom is the file "game" (no extension) in the /Impossamole/res/ folder. Add the extension .pce (and rename the rom, if you wish)

Power Punch II: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1137670/Power_Punch_II/
Platform: NES
The rom is the file "game" (no extension) in the /Power Punch II/res/ folder. Add the extension .nes (and rename the rom, if you wish)

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap: https://store.steampowered.com/app/543260/Wonder_Boy_The_Dragons_Trap/
Platform: Sega Master System
The rom is "wb3.sms" in the folder /Wonder Boy The Dragon's Trap/bin_pc/rom/ and no renaming is needed

Itchio games:

Flea NES Game DEMO by LowtekGames: https://lowtekgames.itch.io/flea-nes-game-demo
Platform: NES
Download the .NES files from the store page, they're the roms (and some emulators don't support "mapper30" roms, so keep that in mind). Also has a full version, but I didn't purchase it yet, so I don't know if there's anything special for getting the roms

Wishing Sarah by Asteristic Game Studio: https://asteristic.itch.io/wishing-sarah
Platform: Nintendo GameBoy
Download the file "WishingSarah-GB-ROMS.zip". It comes with two roms for the same game, one in Portuguese and one in English. Also worth noting it's a sequel to a PC game, Dreaming Sarah

Nix: The Paradox Relic by Chronicler of Legends: https://chronicleroflegends.itch.io/nix-the-paradox-relic
Platform: NES
I don't own the game, but judging by the file names displayed in the store page, the roms are "NixParadoxRelic_V1_9.nes", "NixParadoxRelic_V1_9_Everdrive.nes" and "NixParadoxRelic_V1_91_noFlash.nes" (the difference of the 3 files is explained in the store page).

Cookie's Bakery by leafthief: https://leafthief.itch.io/cookies-bakery
Platform: NIntendo GameBoy
The rom is the file with a download button in the store page. No need to unpack, rename or anything.

An Autumn With You by leafthief: https://leafthief.itch.io/autumn
Platform: GameBoy
The rom is in the zip file with a download button in the store page. It's the "game.gb" file inside ("game.map" and "game.sym" don't appear to be needed)

Tanglewood by Big Evil Corporation: https://bigevilcorporation.itch.io/tanglewood
Platform: Sega Genesis/Megadrive
Download the "TANGLEWOOD_PC_final_1_0_00.zip" file. The roms are the files "TANGLEWD_MD_1_0.BIN" and "TANGLEWD_MD_DEMO_0_9_37.BIN" inside

Wampus by John Vanderhoef: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/wampus/
Platform: NES
The rom is the file "Wampus_DX.nes".

Wart Worm Wingding! by John Vanderhoef: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/wart-worm-wingding
Platform: NES
The rom is the file "Wart_Worm_Wingding.nes"

Bat Lizard Bonanza by John Vanderhoef: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/bat-lizard-bonanza/
Platform: NES
The rom is the file "Bat_Lizard_Bonanza.nes"

Leggite Luta Livre Demo by John Vanderhoef: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/leggite-luta-livre-demo
Platform: NES
The rom is the file "Leggite_Luta_Livre_Demo2.nes"

Auster

SNK's NeoGeo titles are available as roms on Humble Bundle as well

I have the Complete Collection (https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neogeo-classic-complete-collection) and I found roms and bios in the Windows and Linux installers.

The bios are always named "neogeo.zip" there, and the roms are zip files named with a shortened version of their game's name.

I didn't check the mac installers yet and I couldn't find anything that ressembled a rom in the Android installers

There are also separated packs with some games each, but I don't have them so I can't check. If anyone's interested in checking, those are the packs:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neogeo-classics-pack-1
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neogeo-classics-pack-2
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neogeo-classics-pack-3
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neogeo-classics-pack-4

snipersnake004

deleted rom site

mitu

@snipersnake004 Please don't post links to ROM download sites - see the forum rules here. This topic is about how to legally acquire games/roms that work with Retropie.

Also, don't use upper case for your posts, it's not polite.

snipersnake004

@mitu Oh.... what? I thought this was about ROM sites.... sorry.

Auster

Piko Interactive released a prototype of Glover N64 in their site:
https://www.pikointeractive.com/uploads/WHACK1.N64

They shared the link in a Twitter post on Feb 9, 2021:
[edit because it seems the forum doesn't load Twitter links, but the post is still in their profile, @Pikointeractive, for those that want to check the source]

Auster

Two PS1 games now, both from the publisher Console Classics:

Mobile Light Force (aka Gunbird) (app/379370):
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/mobile-light-force-aka-gunbird

Sol Divide (app/379350):
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/sol-divide

Humble Bundle gives a Steam key for each game, and even though the games have been delisted from Steam, the keys from HB still work (I tested both earlier today). Also mind the stock HB has for keys of these games is very likely limited, so they could sell out at some point in the future.

To get the bin/cue files from the games, you need to do some steps:

1- Get Luigi Auriemma's xor tool (http://aluigi.altervista.org/mytoolz/xor.zip) and unpack it anywhere in your PC

2- Download the games through Steam

3- For Sol Divide:

3.1- Go to Sol Divide's data folder ([Steam install folder]/steamapps/common/Sol Divide/data) and copy the file GameData.dat to where the xor tool was extracted

3.2- If you're in Windows, open the command prompt, navigate to the folder where you extracted the xor tool and run the following command:

xor.exe GameData.dat SolDivide.bin 0x42

And if you're on Ubuntu, open the command terminal in the folder where you extracted the tool and run:

wine xor.exe GameData.dat SolDivide.bin 0x42

This will generate a working bin file to use in your emulator (and you can rename the resulting file too, if you want)

4- For Mobile Light Force (aka Gunbird):

4.1- Go to Mobile Light Force's data folder ([Steam install folder]/steamapps/common/Mobile Light Force/data) and copy the file GameData.dat to where the xor tool was extracted

4.2- If you're in Windows, open the command prompt, navigate to the folder where you extracted the xor tool and run the following command:

xor.exe GameData.dat MobileLightForceGunbird.bin 0x42

And if you're on Ubuntu, open the command terminal in the folder where you extracted the tool and run:

wine xor.exe GameData.dat MobileLightForceGunbird.bin 0x42

4.3- The previous step will generate a working bin file, but you still need the .cue file for this game since it has multiple tracks (merged by the dev into the single bin file, that's why there's just one file), and most musics won't load without the .cue file.
To create the this file, first, create a .txt file, open it and paste the following code:

FILE "MobileLightForceGunbird.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE2/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 11:42:00
    INDEX 01 11:44:00
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 12:51:35
    INDEX 01 12:53:35
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 14:06:07
    INDEX 01 14:08:07
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 15:16:08
    INDEX 01 15:18:08
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 16:20:53
    INDEX 01 16:22:53
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 17:56:39
    INDEX 01 17:58:39
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 19:10:11
    INDEX 01 19:12:11
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 21:24:74
    INDEX 01 21:26:74
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 22:35:46
    INDEX 01 22:37:46
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 25:07:60
    INDEX 01 25:09:60
  TRACK 12 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 28:25:61
    INDEX 01 28:27:61
  TRACK 13 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 30:37:01
    INDEX 01 30:39:01
  TRACK 14 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 32:38:06
    INDEX 01 32:40:06

Then save the .txt file as a .cue file, or save it normally and rename the extension to .cue afterwards.
After that, you need to use the .cue file to open the game (and the .cue and .bin files need to be in the same folder)
You can also rename Mobile Light Force's files to whatever you want, but if I'm not mistaken, you'd also need to change the file name specified in the first line of the .cue file to match the bin's name.

The method of the xor tool should work for other games from the same publisher, like N2O, but I don't have them yet so I can't test

Auster

@crush said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

Found some more and you'll get roms for multiple systems.

I haven't bought these yet so i cant comment much on it, but it looks pretty nice.

Escape 2042 - The Truth Defenders
Atari STe / Gameboy / PC / Sega Megadrive Genesis / Jaguar
$12,00 at https://orionsoft.itch.io/escape2042

Zia and the goddesses of magic
PS1 / Dreamcast / PC Windows
$12 at https://orionsoft.itch.io/zia-and-the-goddesses-of-magic

And they got a few more but they look less intresting to me and i don't wanna type anymore so you can see them over @ https://orionsoft.itch.io/

The dev added a Dreamcast version to Escape 2042 this past week.

Other homebrew games from the same dev:

Alice's Mom's Rescue - https://orionsoft.itch.io/alicemomrescue
Platforms: Atari Falcon / Atari Jaguar / Dreamcast

Yopaz IceStar - https://orionsoft.itch.io/yopaz-icestar
Platforms: Atari Jaguar / Playstation 1 / Atari ST

Elansar - https://orionsoft.itch.io/elansar
Platforms: Atari Falcon / Atari Jaguar / Firebee

Philia : the Sequel to Elansar - https://orionsoft.itch.io/philia
Platforms: Atari Falcon / Atari Jaguar

themazingness

The classic Black Dawn series and it's revival, Black Dawn Rebirth (Amiga games) are available on itch.io:

https://timeslip1974.itch.io/the-black-dawn-collection
https://timeslip1974.itch.io/black-dawn-rebirth

I have not tested these on my Pi or emulator yet.

Crush

SEGA GENESIS / MEGADRIVE
I just found another game, i quite like it.
And it has some good music tracks in there as well.
Title: Gluf
Price: Pay what you want
https://retrosouls.itch.io/gluf-16bit
[Edit] You can find more games from this dev by clicking this link

And this is a odd but funny one.
Title: ASAP PLZ!
Price: FREE
https://asapthegame.com/

Clyde

@crush I really like the music and the design of the first one. I probably wouldn't play the second, but I like its ironic concept. 😉

edit: I just bought GLUF on impulse for $5. 😁