MAME as it was in 2003, using the libretro API. Suitable for lower-end devices that would struggle to run current versions of MAME (later versions of MAME are increasingly accurate, thus can perform worse).

View our live compatibility table. See an incorrect entry? Create a new issue to let us know!

The MAME 2003 core accepts MAME 0.78 ROMsets. Each version of an arcade emulator must be used with ROMs that have the same exact version number. For example, MAME 0.37b5 ROMsets are required by the MAME 2000 emulator, but MAME 0.37b5 sets will not work correctly with the MAME 2003 or MAME 2010 emulator cores. Those cores require MAME 0.78 and MAME 0.139 ROM sets, respectively.

File-not-found errors are the result of a ROMset that is wrong or incomplete, including if you're trying to run a "Split" clone .zip without the parent .zip present. "Non-Merged ROM" romset collections do not require parent .zips to be present. "Full Non-Merged" romset collections do not require the parent .zip or the BIOS .zip; Full Non-Merged romsets are fully standalone.

MAME 2003 has support for multiple mice or touch devices in games that support trackballs, etc.

MAME 2003 also supports one or two spinners/dials via the "Share 2 player dial controls across one X/Y device" core option.

• Some MAME games require data from an internal hard drive, CD-ROM, laserdisk, or other media in order to be emulated -- those forms of media are packaged as CHD files. CHD files should be copied to subfolders within the folder where the MAME ROM zips have been installed. e.g.:

/libretro content dir/blitz/blitz.chd

• Some games require an additional zip file with recorded sounds or music in order for audio to work correctly. Audio 'sample' files should be placed in subdirectories within /libretro system dir/mame2003/ e.g.:

/libretro system dir/mame2003/samples/

• cheat and history metadata files should be moved from github's /libretro/mame2003-libretro/tree/master/metadata and placed within /libretro system dir/mame2003/ e.g.:

/libretro system dir/mame2003/cheat.dat
/libretro system dir/mame2003/history.dat

• hiscore metadata is built into mame2003 and enabled by default, however external highscore data can also be used. Enabled the external hiscore metadata feature in the mame2003 core settings and place hiscore.dat at this location: /libretro system dir/mame2003/hiscore.dat

• User-generated content is placed in sub-directories within /libretro savefile dir/mame2003/ e.g.:

/libretro savefile dir/mame2003/diff/
/libretro savefile dir/mame2003/nvram/
/libretro savefile dir/mame2003/hi/
/libretro savefile dir/mame2003/cfg/
/libretro savefile dir/mame2003/inp/
/libretro savefile dir/mame2003/memcard/

• Frameskip (0-5)
• DCS Speedhack (enabled/disabled) Speedhack for the Midway sound hardware used in Mortal Kombat 2, 3 and others. Improves performance in these games.
• Skip Disclaimer (enabled/disabled) Skips the 'nag-screen'.
• Skip Warnings (disabled/enabled) Skips the warning screen shown before games with incomplete emulation.
• Sample Rate (KHz) (11025-48000)
• Share 2 player dial controls across one X/Y device (disabled/enabled) Some dial/spinner hardware are actually one device with one axis for each player. This supports that setup, by breaking down the normal mouse x/y into two seperate inputs.
• Mouse Device (mouse/pointer/disabled) Switch between mouse (e.g. hardware mouse, trackball, etc), pointer (touchpad, touchscreen, lightgun, etc), or disabled.
• TATE Mode (disabled/enabled) Enable if rotating display for vertically oriented games (Pac-Man, Galaga, etc). Requires video_allow_rotate = "false" cfg setting in RetroArch.

• Official RetroArch documentation for the mame2003-libretro core are published at buildbot.libretro.com/docs. They can be edited and improved by users via github.com.
• The RetroArch documentation owes much to RetroPie's detailed MAME 2003 configuration wiki which can be adapted for use in other environments.

• MAME: Benchmarks, Useful Code, Bug Fixes, Known Issues at anthrofox.org
• diff file which records efforts taken to address the unaligned memory issue
• Directory of xmame diffs - Offline as of March 2017