I spent more time tweaking emulators than playing games until this one app changed everything

I recently wrote about setting up EmuDeck on my ROG Ally X, only to be met with a general reaction of, "You're an idiot, just use RetroBat." However, I had not yet tried or heard of RetroBat. After a few months, I realized my mistake for forcing the Steam Deck-focused EmuDeck on a Windows 11 handheld. While EmuDeck works well on Windows 11, RetroBat is clearly designed for Windows 11 handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally X20.

It has a user-friendly interface, good-looking settings, and support for various controllers. To set up RetroBat, I installed it from its GitHub repository, which required downloading a few files and took a while due to the ROM collection I transferred from my EmuDeck setup. The ROMs were transferred using LocalSend, a simple file transfer method between Windows 11 devices.

I encountered some challenges matching the folder structure, but I eventually got everything in the right place. After that, I customized RetroBat's settings to my preferences, such as turning off menu music and Frontend Music. Then, I used ScreenScraper to download box art for my ROMs, which took some time depending on the library size.

Overall, RetroBat streamlines the setup process and includes additional emulators like Citra and ScummVM, making it an excellent choice for turning a Windows 11 handheld into a retro gaming powerhouse.