Step 1

First, we need to get the RetroArch files for the PSVITA, to do this go to https://www.retroarch.com/, scroll down to PSVita, select both the "Download" & "Download Data" links to get both the .vpk file, and the application data.

Step 2

To place the files on your PSVita, we'll need to open the VitaShell application on the PSVita & then connect it to a computer.

Now press the [select] button, this will bring up the PSVita's directory on your computer.

Now copy the RetroArch.vpk file into your PSVita's downloads folder.

important
If you don't have a downloads folder, just create one in your PSVita's root, or if you already have a VPKs folder, you can just use that instead

Now we need to go back to our computer and access the Downloads folder, then extract the RetroArch_data.zip, once extracted, open the folder & drag the retroarch folder into your PSVita's data folder.

Step 3

On your PSVita, navigate to the downloads folder, scroll down to the RetroArch.vpk & install.

Once thats installed you can safely exit out of VitaShell.

Now you just need to open the RetroArch application on your PSVita (this will automatically create the necessary folders in the Vita's directory), once the app is open you just need to scroll down & hit "Quit RetroArch".

Step 4

Now we need to download some bios files for some different game systems (i.e GB, GBA, NES, SNES, SEGA etc).

You can back them up from the actual consoles or find them online.

Now go back into VitaShell & connect to your computer again by pressing the [select] button.

Now go into data retroarch system this is where we will place our bios files.

Step 5

Now go back to the root of your PSVita & create a folder called roms, this is where we will put our game folders/files.

Step 6

Now lets do some configuration for RetroArch!

First, open RetroArch, you'll notice that the [X] & [O] buttons are reversed, if you'd like to change this, go to "Settings" "Input" "Menu Controls" select "Menu Swap OK and Cancel", switch this option to "ON".

Go back to Main Menu, scroll down to "Configuration File" & select "Save Current Configuration".

Step 7

First, load up your PC & go to https://github.com/libretro/retroarch-assets & press "Code" "Download ZIP".

Now on your Vita, open VitaShell, plug your Vita into your PC & press the [select] button. Now extract the zip folder in your downloads, open the folder & navigate to the xmb folder & copy it to your PSVita in location - data retroarch assets.

Step 8

Now go to Settings Drivers Menu & select "XMB", this is just personal preference of what the UI will look like when you load RetroArch, personally I prefer this one as it has more of an original feel to it.

Now go to Main Menu Configuration File Save Current Configuration.

Now you can go to the main menu, scroll down to "Quit RetroArch" & then re-open the app to see the changes!

important
If your xmb doesnt have a background color, you can go to Settings User Interface Appearance Background Image, then choose any of the folders we added in the xmb folder, then choose any bg.png file.

This image is free to download and use for your Vita's background!

Step 9

Now lets change the text size so that everything fits on the screen nicely!

In RetroArch, navigate to the Settings User Interface Apperance Menu Scale Factor, I'd recommend setting it to 1.25x or 1.30x, but its completely up to you.

Step 10

Now lets setup our games & clean-up the playlists!

Go to the plus (+) menu & select "Scan Directory", scroll down to the ux0 directory, then scroll down to the roms folder & then select one of your game folders (i.e GB, GBA, SNES, NES etc), then "Scan this directory".

Now go back to the main menu screen & you should see a new playlist of the game folder you selected.

Other Tips

Game BoxArt & Thumbnails

You can also add boxart and/or thumbnails to your games in the menu!

To do this, go to Settings User Interface Appearance Thumbnails Boxart

You can also set Settings User Interface Appearance Left Thumbnail > Screenshot, this will add a game screenshot image to the left of the game.

Go back to your games selection & as you scroll through each game you will notice the images being added, if some images don't load you can press [X] on the game & scroll down to "Download Thumbnails", If that still doesn't work it could be because the game file doesn't have the region in it's name i.e (USA, Europe etc) and there is also some games that just aren't in the database so they don't have images.

Cleaning up Game Titles

You will notice most of your game files will be displayed with information in the game title such as: "(USA)", "(Europe)" or "(Rev1)" etc.

To remove these, navigate to Settings Playlists Manage Playlists Select a playlist Label Display Mode Remove () Content

Quick-Menu Hotkey

If you want to be able to access the quick menu whilst in-game, so that you can easily restart game, return to RetroArch etc, you'll need to setup Hotkeys, to do this, go to:

Input Hotkeys Menu Toggle (Controller Combo)

Set it to whatever you like, I like to use "Hold Select (2 Seconds)".

Fast-Forward Hotkey

A Fast-Forward hotkey can be useful for games that have a lot of text boxes, or cutscenes that you may want to skip, to do this, you'll need to go to:

Input Hotkeys Fast-Forward (Toggle)

Set it to whatever you like, I like to use [RT].

Reset Content Hotkey

If you want to setup a hotkey to restart your game quickly (useful for Pokemon Shiny Starter Hunting for example), you'll need to set the "Rest Content" hotkey, to do this, go to:

Input Hotkeys Reset Content

Set it to whatever you like, I like to use [LT].

Transferring Game Saves From Other Emulators

When transferring saves from external sources, it's important they are added to the correct folder & that the name of the save file is identical to the name of the game file (Except for the file extension).

The saves folder is located: PSVita:/data/retroarch/savefiles/