RetroAchievements 101 - Earn Achievements in Retro Games!

[@JasonALMS2010]

Just started RA a month ago and have been loving it, it’s making me replay old games I never would have otherwise

[@iTheBeep]

I love RetroAchievements, not just for the completion of games but for the automatic tracking & backlogging of them. Thanks for this guide, it should be very helpful for new users. A lot of people don't realize that if their phone has LTE, they can just use their phone as a hotspot for achievements while outside their home. Very handy for me personally. And if I'm at a place with no Internet and I'm on Softcore mode: I make savestates for a moment before hitting a potential achievement, then once I'm back home or the Internet's back, I loadstate and get the achievement.

[@FunkyHQYT]

I didn't know you needed specific versions of a game to have support for RA! Knowing that will probably save me a ton of time! Thanks!

[@insu_red]

Good video! I'm using RA as a fancy backlog tracker of sorts. Retroachievements has relit my love of retro gaming for many of the same reasons you listed, finding many new things to love about old things you love :D

[@petervladyevich8535]

Thank you Joey have a nice day

[@DanDoesGame]

For me, it's replayability 8n nostalgic games like super mario world and going back to achieve it. So I'm in a similar boat, it's because of enhancing memories

[@Peejaythedeejay]

Started doing Retro Achievements for two years already. Super fun going back to childhood.

[@mickkelley3776]

I've had an RA account for ages, but I barely had any games where I'd earned even one achievement. I started back up again the other day, and I managed to get a good number of achievements in Zelda 1 - though I am NOT doing the second quest, these achievements are more of a fun side bonus for me. And call me crazy, but I play with hardcore mode off... while still adhering to the restrictions of it. I find it a lot more fun to restrict myself than I do having the game restrict me; I like having the option if I get too frustrated, but I still want to feel the satisfaction of knowing I completed the achievement "legit". All the achievements I've earned on RA, despite not being marked as such, do adhere to the restrictions of hardcore mode - it's just that those restrictions were merely self-imposed.

[@Pridetoons]

Yay I was just about to setup Retro Achievements on my RG-CUBE.

[@basejason]

Very helpful guide, can't wait to check this out, thanks!

[@ben-tendo]

Just waiting for Dolphin to get RA on Android/SteamOS so I can enjoy those achievements portably.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

SteamOS aka Steam Deck/Linux? If so, already supported! But yeah, Android we're waiting.

[@ben-tendo]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds I checked and the latest version removes the option, so had to Konsole and depreciate to a previous version but now all is good!

[@CellPhish]

People don’t understand why I want WiFi on all my emulators and it’s specifically for RetroAchivments

[@MarioBalotelliZell57]

Çan you enable achievement on portmasters games ? For thé trimui smart pro

[@pandrews01]

Great clarification. I grew up in the era where the cost of a game exceed most peoples finances. (One or two games were all you had) I bought a retro game handheld to re live my childhood game console.

[@Bugside]

Retroachievements are amazing on short games like Sonic or Mario, but in long RPGs like Final Fantasy 7 it can spoil your fun, I found myself reading old gamefaqs, watching tutorials, not taking a single step before reading the achievement list to the point of paralysis. Also you need to do things like replaying the boring war mini game dozens of times, grind for hours to beat certain battles in very specific ways (only use magic, only use limit breaks) and worst of all a lot of achievements are missable, so after a while I just gave up, I wasn't enjoying the story or anything. So yeah, achievements are cool in some games, on others is masochistic and spoils the fun

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

It definitely depends on the person. I don't really do any of that and just like naturally getting achievements a lot of the time. Pokemon Blue is a great example of an achievement set that ruins the fun, but if you play it normally, it's great!

[@iTheBeep]

IMO you can just choose NOT to go for 100% on that playthrough, then do multiple playthroughs if you really REALLY care. Don't feel the NEED to complete EVERY game you play, JUST because the achievements are there. Achievement sets can ONLY be a good thing, as long as your mentality isn't so perfectionist. It's great that nowadays we now not only have "Completed", "Mastered", but now just "Beaten" for the games we play.

[@tim7392]

Love your vid’s Joey. Keep up the great work 🎉❤😊

[@VGFreak]

RA is amazing. I LOVE it! BTW, I follow you over there.

[@jamesh446]

I love Retroachievements, I play with hardcore mode on not because I'm competitive in fact I hate competing in things but because it makes no difference to me as I try to play games the same way I did on the original hardware so I don't use savestates often. I'm participating in and almost finished the Gamecube launch event right now, I have 29 out of 30 points so 1 point away from a gold badge.

[@cho-v4n]

Nice. Thanks Joey 🙂

[@ttimegaming740]

Hey this is a GREAT video!!!

[@easygreasy6]

I'm addicted!! I can't bring myself to turn off hardcore mode!! Retro games are hard again!!!😫

[@NatsumeKonno]

I am not into achievements but playing the classic games makes you want more then just beating it. So i like that i dont have to 100% as it shows up as Beaten. But i have the option to 100%.

[@eurosoe]

Love me some Cheevos! 🏆

[@CalinDeZwart]

Thanks Joey. Quick question... Can you toggle Hardcore Mode? For example, could I use this Mode for some games and not others, or could I get the 'softcore' achievements and then decide I'd like more of a challenge and then get a set of hardcore achievements? Have a good one 👍

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Great question! You can, via overrides. You'd want game override in RetroArch.

[@CalinDeZwart]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Sweet, thanks 🙂

[@akaShanks88]

Retroachievements, will not work when you're on the plane, or out traveling with no wifi I love them, Through them I discovered the Forest Fortress secret exit, when owning the game since '93.

[@TheUndertaker19]

Please make a video how to sync 2 dualsense controllers with RA in Odin 2 pro 😅 I’m living a nightmare trying to make them work, one there’s is no problem, but when trying the second all goes to crap

[@MsModestyBlaise]

I’ve been using Retro Achievements for a few years and recently making sure my PSP games match up for my Odin 2 which can be a bit fussy but all part of the fun. Is the PSP supported games list ongoing as it’s a bit small? With Dolphin now gaining support on PC, do you think Android will get it? I’m guessing NetherSX2 will never be supported. Thanks, Joey.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Always ongoing! Android will likely get it in a while, and Aethersx2 and Nethersx2 both already have achievement support, but it's unofficial and will be blocked soon.

[@MsModestyBlaise]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Poor PS2 on Android. Is Duckstation Android safe for now or do you think it’s better to move to the RA Swanstation Core ?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

@@MsModestyBlaise Duckstation seems to be fine and on their list.

[@ChenKen991]

I do hardcore mode on my retro devices because I've opted out of using save states anyway. Lost quite a bit of progress across games with corrupted stated or states overwriting VRAM and killing my progress.

[@Nuanceishard]

TY, The supported file issue is nope from me

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hm, my entire library was converted to the supported files, I don't recall ever experiencing any issues. What would be the concern? Or just having to change some?

[@Nuanceishard]

@JoeysRetroHandhelds Basically, I don't feel like going through the hassle and checking which rom file I'm using and changing them. Sounds like a pain just for a bonus thing, it's neat af but like if I don't have the correct rom file ugh what a hassle 😑

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

It's definitely less work than you'd expect, for the most part, I'd bet most of your library already is compatible, but yeah some would need to be swapped out.

[@Nuanceishard]

@JoeysRetroHandhelds Yeah, I'm sure it's worth like doing, if I don't feel like changing out their roms, eh, I don't really need it.

[@Lansolot]

oh its within the named emulators where you find support for it. The website really needs a description within the downloads page to makes things more clear. Why is it always these genius programmers that miss the simplest things? It's with everything. Anyways thanks lol.

[@jeremyfelton8953]

So if I'm on a road trip in the car achievements won't pop retroactively?

[@srgarathnor]

i wonder "IF" joey will ever earn an achievement :D

[@vasquez.i.4250]

Anyone know how to setup retroachievements for aethersx2 build 4248 ? i already have an account and logged in the app on my Odin 2 pro and i get this notification Achievements error: rc_api_fetch_game_data_resonse_t failed: empty response and/or status code-1

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Discord and Google say it's likely your connection - try logging out and logging back in.

[@vasquez.i.4250]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds thanks for the help! retroachivements work now but i can't see the achievement pop up on my screen and only can hear that pop up sound when i get an achievement.. i enabled notifications and other options like rich presence and have hardcore mode off 🤔 OSD scale at 170% size but no visual notification..

[@michaelletourneau9623]

I have an Acer Chromebook laptop, is this capable of using Retroachievements' emulators or do I need a desktop computer?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

If it runs retroarch and has wifi, yes.

[@michaelletourneau9623]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds I'm not tech savvy so what do you recommend I download? Nightly or Stable

[@ItsTangleFOOT]

i really think the always online requirement is a missed opportunity. i think many people, myself included, use their retro handhelds extensively when out and about, with no WiFi available. in fact, the only time i play my retro handhelds is away from home. with no WIFI. so forcing you to be always online to enable achievements is a real shame. and the only argument i have seen for not implementing offline data storage to be synced later was concerns over cheating... cheating in retro single player experiences... seems like a harsh solution to a niche problem. i would love to see an option to track single player achievements offline, even if competitive functions like leader boards aren't available. are there any other reasons this could not be implemented?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I don't know the backend part so I have no idea what they need on their end to do it. I do wish there was offline, but as my phone is always on me and has hotspot capabilities, I haven't had a concern of no internet personally.

[@ItsTangleFOOT]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds i totally get that there are many ways of ensuring that you always have internet access. However, don’t you feel like part of the appeal of retro gaming is the fact that it isn’t online? Ps. Thank you for your reply, andthis was a really high quality video. Thank you for making it 👍

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

@@ItsTangleFOOT Not for me! A major appeal to me for Retro gaming is going back to replay older games with achievements and experience them in a totally new way!

[@michaelbenny659]

Can I get retro achievements for Xbox 360 games?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hehehe

[@sTuPiDiScOoL_]

Finally got my odin 2 mini pro locked in bro local retailer for handhelds has them now 🏆didnt want to wait anymore as retroids new ones were big 👎 for me bro.

[@StephenHopkinsVaults]

Retro achievements was great till speed runners started hijacking it , it’s annoying when cheevos are record pace speedruns or beat game without dying it’s annoying

[@smmacktalk]

On god, 113 manhunt achievements and half of them include not saving through some of the hardest missions 😭