The verdict
Retrogaming distros
Batocera is quick to install and configure, and it’s a joy to get stuck into when it’s time to sit down B and explore and play a large game collection. The music and presentation are excellent, and the game navigation system is as smooth as the corners on a firstgen Commodore 64. It’s not a tweaker’s delight, but a few additions can be made to the system, and quite a lot of changes can be made to how it looks and works thanks to the extensive theme options.
RetroPie has all the advantages of being the closest of the bunch to a standard Debian Linux distribution under the hood. You can even add a standard desktop to it. For this and other reasons, RetroPie is the ideal setup if you want an optimised retrogaming experience but you would like to add your own customisations at a later point. On a desktop PC, it’s a little more complicated to get it going because it requires the installation and setup of some software. On the Raspberry Pi, it’s as easy to install as any of the other options.