It really is simpler than people assume it to be. Half of the reason emulation looks complicated these days is because Retroarch is a glossy but overcomplicated mess of UI.
Just use Bizhawk for most stuff. It looks like a tiny unassuming Windows stock app with a couple basic options menus.
Dominic Tarason
I am once again begging yall to learn how to emulate
people have put in literal decades of work dumping, preserving and improving emulation for old games
all it takes is downloading a few files and learning a menu on your part to start enjoying them