Stable-Retro provides a comprehensive suite of classic video games as Gymnasium environments for reinforcement learning research. It's a fork of gym-retro, actively maintained and expanded with new games, emulators, and platforms, making it ideal for RL practitioners seeking to train agents on a wide variety of retro gaming experiences.

How It Works

Stable-Retro leverages a modular architecture, integrating various emulator cores (e.g., FCEUmm for NES, Snes9x for SNES, Genesis Plus GX for Genesis) to render game states and process inputs. It extends the gym-retro framework by adding support for more systems and games, including arcade machines via fbneo, and provides tools for integrating custom ROMs and game states.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Install via pip: pip3 install stable-retro or pip3 install git+https://github.com/Farama-Foundation/stable-retro.git
• Dependencies: Python 3.7-3.12, CMake, wheel, pkg-config, lua@5.3, libzip, qt@5, capnp (for macOS builds).
• ROMs are not included and must be obtained separately; a script python3 -m retro.import . is provided for importing them.
• See official documentation: https://stable-retro.farama.org/

Highlighted Details

• Supports a wide array of emulated systems including Atari, NES, SNES, Game Boy, Genesis, Saturn, and experimental arcade support (Neo Geo, CPS1/2/3).
• Includes numerous game integrations beyond the original gym-retro, such as Super Mario Bros 2 Japan, Tetris (GameBoy), Virtua Fighter series, and Mortal Kombat series.
• Offers PvP game support for training agents to compete against each other.
• Provides tutorials for Windows WSL2 setup, game integration, and custom RetroArch integration.

Maintenance & Community

• Actively developed and part of the Farama Foundation ecosystem.
• Discord channel available for community support and development coordination: https://discord.gg/dXuBSg3B4D

Licensing & Compatibility

• Licenses vary per emulator core; refer to LICENSES.md.
• Generally compatible with commercial use, but ROM usage is subject to their respective licenses.

Limitations & Caveats

• Game Boy (gambatte) emulator is not supported on Apple Silicon.
• ROMs are not distributed with the package and must be sourced by the user.