If you’re unfamiliar with Lakka, let me give you a brief overview. It is a Linux-based retro video game emulator that allows you to play classic Atari, Nintendo, Sega, PlayStation, and so on games. Built on top of RetroArch, Lakka is widely used on Raspberry Pi devices, turning these single-board computers into retro gaming consoles.
It is designed to operate out of the box and comes only with cores that work with whatever architecture you choose to download. But what are Lakka’s cores? You can think of them as plugins. They contain the code necessary to emulate a specific system, for example, Sega or PlayStation.
Lakka 4.3 was released recently, so let’s look at what’s new.
Lakka 4.3 Highlights
The heart of Lakka, RetroArch – a frontend for emulators and game engines, has been updated to its latest version, 1.14. This release contains a host of improvements and bug fixes, the complete list of which you can find here.
Another significant thing to note is that Lakka now supports the popular Orange Pi 4 LTS (Rockchip RK3399) single-board computer. So, if you own one, you can now enjoy the retro gaming experience offered by Lakka 4.3.
Moving on, this retro gaming console emulator expands its already extensive collection with three more cores: Pico-8, Z-Machine, and Amiga. Furthermore, more Nintendo Switch variants are now supported.
Under the hood, the Linux kernel versions have also been updated. The mainline kernel used by Lakka 4.3 has been bumped to v5.10.123. Raspberry Pi device owners receive Linux kernel 5.10.110, and those with Amlogic-based CPUs, v5.11.22. On top of that, Mesa has received an update to 22.1.7.
For more about all novelties, you can refer to the release notes. The known issues are listed on GitHub. If you want to give Lakka 4.3 a try on your hardware, including x86 PCs, you can grab the latest release from the project’s download page. Happy retro-gaming!
