Need Emulation Advice

ArcadeRu

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So I have a few arcade machines with original PCBS and have back up emulation software for them. For example my Street Fighter 2 has a Pi3, my Street Fighter Alpha has a Pandora Box in case the CPS2 system fails (still has the suicide battery)

So my 3 other machines need something, hoping for something simple plug and play. I have a Mortal Kombat 2, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and a 4 player NBA Jam

I remember trying to use Pandora for my MK2 and MK3, but I don't think it emulated correctly. I did try the 10th anniversary and was happy with the emulation, but it didn't have the feature to boot directly into the game (this is important, I don't want menus, I want it to be just like there is the real PCB in there)

NBA Jam, not even sure how to approach a 4 player game and using emulation.

So what do you think is the best emulation solution for MK2, MK3, and NBA Jam. Looking for plug and play jamma or as close as possible, and ability to just boot right into game when I hit the cabinet switch.

Let me know. Thanks
 
MAME runs all of those games perfectly fine you would just need a front end that boots directly to game. I know HyperSpin can do that pretty easily with configurations, however HyperSpin is not for the feint of heart even just trying to get it to that point. So unless you want to mess with stuff a bit I don't know if that is worth it.
 
So I have a few arcade machines with original PCBS and have back up emulation software for them. For example my Street Fighter 2 has a Pi3, my Street Fighter Alpha has a Pandora Box in case the CPS2 system fails (still has the suicide battery)

So my 3 other machines need something, hoping for something simple plug and play. I have a Mortal Kombat 2, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and a 4 player NBA Jam

I remember trying to use Pandora for my MK2 and MK3, but I don't think it emulated correctly. I did try the 10th anniversary and was happy with the emulation, but it didn't have the feature to boot directly into the game (this is important, I don't want menus, I want it to be just like there is the real PCB in there)

NBA Jam, not even sure how to approach a 4 player game and using emulation.

So what do you think is the best emulation solution for MK2, MK3, and NBA Jam. Looking for plug and play jamma or as close as possible, and ability to just boot right into game when I hit the cabinet switch.

Let me know. Thanks
Look into the RaspberryJAMMA and the ArPiCade software. There is a 4-player option, and it works for MK games as well.
 
RaspberryJAMMA + 4 player add-on board would plug directly into your NBA-Jam, including player 3 and 4. You could use your existing Pi3 with it if you wanted to, but you would likely have better results with a Pi4 or Pi5 for Midway games (Pi3 is good for CPS1/CPS2 using MAME0.172 though). Pi5 would run all the games you mentioned fine in GroovyMAME0.275.

With a few SD cards set up and ready to go a RaspberryJAMMA would actually make a great backup for all your setups. If you make some kick harness adaptors it would be plug and play into any of those games. Easy to make it boot direct to games too.

*disclaimer, I make RaspberryJAMMA hardware and the ARpiCADE software.
 
RaspberryJAMMA + 4 player add-on board would plug directly into your NBA-Jam, including player 3 and 4. You could use your existing Pi3 with it if you wanted to, but you would likely have better results with a Pi4 or Pi5 for Midway games (Pi3 is good for CPS1/CPS2 using MAME0.172 though). Pi5 would run all the games you mentioned fine in GroovyMAME0.275.

With a few SD cards set up and ready to go a RaspberryJAMMA would actually make a great backup for all your setups. If you make some kick harness adaptors it would be plug and play into any of those games. Easy to make it boot direct to games too.

*disclaimer, I make RaspberryJAMMA hardware and the ARpiCADE software.
That sounds promising, I'm very green to all this, so I do have a RasberryJamma will probably get a few more if this works. So I need a Pi5 now.

Once I have the Pi5 what do I do? (I image it's make an SD card with some sort of OS that plays emulators, but is there a tutorial on this. I googled GroovyMAME and didn't find anything)

And finally what do I need to do to the SD to make it boot directly to one game? I don't want to have certain buttons pressed that bring up any kind of menu. Just want my machine to feel as a dedicated cab as much as possible. I know sometimes if you hold start and down on the joystick or some sort of combination it will bring up a menu. I don't mind if it's the service button because that can't be accessed from the control panel though.

Thanks
 
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You can find the latest version of ARpiCADE_5 here: https://www.arpicade.net/index.php/topic,38.0.html

The only other thing you'l need to upgrade to Pi5 is a HDMI to micro HDMI adaptor to adapt your exisiting DAC for the micro HDMI output of current Pis (I recommend one with a short cord to avoid fitment issues that the solid type adaptor can have). If your RaspberryJAMMA is very old you may also need to upgrade the fuse but I've been fitting 2.5A fuses for years now and they work fine with Pi5.

Burn the image to SD card. Copy whatever game you want to run onto it, most games on Pi5 you'l want a rom for MAME0.275. Edit the file run.sh to autolaunch the game, there's an example in file. You can also edit the splash and loading screens into whatever suits your application, if you like.

I'll be happy to help further if you need.
 
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