Mame 0.130 Romset -
Keep your ROMs compressed inside their .zip folders. MAME is designed to read the data directly from zipped archives. Unzipping them will break the emulator's pathing.
Are you planning to build a , or play on a standard monitor?
Modern versions of MAME prioritize pixel-perfect accuracy over speed, requiring fast, modern CPUs. MAME 0.130 belongs to an era where the emulation code was highly optimized for speed. If you are building an arcade cabinet using an old desktop PC, a first-generation Raspberry Pi, or older handheld consoles, MAME 0.130 will run classic games (like Pac-Man , Street Fighter II , or Metal Slug ) at full speed where modern MAME would stutter. 2. Mobile and Handheld Emulators
To use this set effectively, you must match the ROM version to your emulator:
By 0.130, many of the "Golden Age" 80s and 90s drivers (think Capcom CPS1/CPS2, Neo Geo, and Konami classics) were already highly mature and near-perfectly emulated. Foundation for Mobile: Many popular mobile ports and RetroArch cores (like mame 0.130 romset
Here is a list of some of the games included in the MAME 0.130 ROM set:
You cannot run a clone game unless the parent ROM ZIP file is present in the exact same directory. 3. Merged ROMsets
Every single ZIP file is entirely self-contained. A clone ROM contains all the parent files it needs to run. While this uses the most disk space, it allows you to delete games you don’t want without accidentally breaking other games. How to Verify and Fix a 0.130 ROMset
A ROMset is the collection of files that MAME needs to emulate a specific machine. The 0.130 set is defined by two major technical components: the and the CHDs (Compressed Hunks of Data) . Keep your ROMs compressed inside their
Neo Geo games require neogeo.zip with specific ROMs:
The is a specific collection of arcade game data files released on March 9, 2009 . While much newer versions of MAME exist, this set remains highly sought after by retro gaming enthusiasts because it is the target version for many older or "balanced" mobile emulators. Why MAME 0.130?
If you take your 0.130 romset and try to use it in MAME 0.250, it will fail. The MAME team has re-dumped thousands of ROMs since 2009 to fix missing or incorrect chips. Your old ROMs will show as "missing" or "incorrect" files.
This is the most common format for MAME 0.130. The parent game contains the core data. Clone versions only contain the specific files that differ from the parent (like text translation or localized audio). Highly space-efficient. Are you planning to build a , or play on a standard monitor
Many early Android and iOS arcade emulators, as well as older versions of popular RetroArch cores (like mame2009 ), were built directly on the MAME 0.130 source code. If you are using a legacy mobile emulator app, it will specifically request the 0.130 ROMset to function. 3. Smaller Storage Footprint
, you want the 0.139 set. If you're on a legacy cabinet running 0.130, only a 0.130 set will guarantee that every game boots without "Missing Files" errors.
But in niche retro applications—DIY bartops, Softmodded Xbox Originals (CoinOPS 2), Raspberry Pi 2 builds, or RetroArch on PS Vita— is the final, functional frontier.
Clrmamepro is the industry-standard software for managing ROM sets. By downloading the MAME 0.130 (a database file containing the exact file names and sizes required for version 0.130), you can scan your current ROM folder. Clrmamepro will automatically rename, rebuild, and clean your files to match the 0.130 specifications perfectly, stripping away corrupt or irrelevant data. Best Practices for Optimal Emulation
Use the reconstruction tool to automatically rename and sort your files to perfectly match the 0.130 framework. Technical Specifications and Storage Footprint
Clones are "merged" into the parent ZIP file. Only one file exists for all versions of a game. This saves space, but front-ends can sometimes struggle to differentiate between versions.