What is Playback?

Playback is desktop software that lets you play your original game cartridges on your computer. It’s the companion app for Epilogue’s Operator devices — small USB accessories that connect your classic cartridges to your PC or Mac.

What can you do with Playback?

• Play your original cartridges on your computer with a keyboard or controller
• Back up your games and saves to your hard drive
• Protect your save data with automatic backups to the Vault
• Verify if your cartridges are authentic or counterfeit
• Write homebrew games to rewritable cartridges

Supported devices

Playback works with two Epilogue hardware devices:

You can connect multiple devices at once and switch between them.

Playing games

Getting started

1. Plug your Operator into your computer
2. Insert your cartridge
3. Playback automatically recognizes your game (showing cover art, title, and description)
4. Click Start

While playing

Controls:

• Use your keyboard or any USB/Bluetooth controller (see Keyboard Shortcuts)
• Fully customizable button mappings (see Gamepad Settings)
• SN Operator supports 2 players for local co-op

Quality-of-life features:

• Fast-forward through slow sections (up to 10x speed)
• Rewind gameplay to undo mistakes
• Pause anytime
• Fullscreen or Picture-in-Picture mode
• Visual filters that simulate CRT TVs, LCD screens, and more

Visual filters

• Stock (clean, unfiltered)
• CRT TV simulation
• Black & white TV
• VHS tape effect
• Game Boy LCD effect
• Game Boy Advance LCD effect
• Smoothing filters
• And more

Protecting your saves

The Vault

Playback automatically backs up your in-game saves every time you play. The Save Vault keeps up to 250 backup copies per game.

Why does this matter?

• Cartridge batteries eventually die, erasing your saves
• Accidental overwrites happen
• The Vault lets you recover from any disaster

Saves are stored on your computer in timestamped folders. You can restore any previous save to your cartridge at any time.

Manual backup and restore

You can also:

• Export saves to share with friends or use in other emulators
• Import saves from emulators back to your real cartridge
• Replace a dead battery in your cartridge, then restore your save

See Transferring Saves for detailed instructions.

Cartridge management

Backup your games

Create digital copies of your cartridges stored safely on your computer. These backups are compatible with popular emulators if you ever want to play without the hardware.

Write homebrew

Got a rewritable flashcart? Playback lets you load homebrew games or fan translations onto compatible cartridges so you can play them on original hardware.

Counterfeit detection

When you insert a cartridge, Playback checks for counterfeit markers:

See Spotting Fake Games for more on identifying counterfeits.

RetroAchievements

Playback connects to RetroAchievements.org, a community that adds achievement systems to classic games.

• Earn achievements as you play (like Xbox or PlayStation trophies)
• Track your progress and completion percentage
• Compete on leaderboards
• Hardcore Mode disables rewind/fast-forward for legitimate achievement hunting

Configure RetroAchievements in Settings > Integrations. You can also link your Discord® account to show friends what you’re playing.

Customization

What you can customize

• Language (11 languages supported)
• Controls for keyboard and any controller
• Visual filters and display options
• Audio settings
• Emulation cores
• Device LED colors and effects

Emulation cores

For each system, you can choose which emulation core runs your games:

• GB Operator: mGBA
• SN Operator: bsnes

These cores offer excellent accuracy and are the recommended choice for all users. See Emulator Integration for more details.

The interface

Playback has a clean, modern interface organized around two main modes:

Play mode

• See your cartridge’s cover art and information
• Launch your game
• Access RetroAchievements

Data mode

• Backup Game — Create a personal backup of your cartridge for archival purposes
• Upload Homebrew — Write games to flashcarts
• Backup Save — Export your save file
• Upload Save — Restore a save to your cartridge
• Photos — View and export Game Boy Camera photos

Device switcher

If you have multiple Operators connected, click the device name to switch between them instantly.

System requirements

See the Downloads page for current system requirements.

Also compatible with Steam Deck®, ASUS ROG Ally, and Raspberry Pi — see our platform-specific setup guides for details.

Getting Playback

Download Playback for free from the Downloads page. It’s available for Windows®, macOS®, and Linux.