Core (libretro)

A core is a single emulator packaged to run inside a libretro front-end like RetroArch. One system often has several cores with different accuracy-versus-speed trade-offs: a highly accurate core reproduces hardware quirks faithfully but demands more power, while a performance core cuts corners to run on weaker chips. Picking the right core for your device’s chipset tier is half of getting good results, and it is why the same handheld can “struggle” or be “playable” on a system depending on the core.