I have the Genesis Plus GX core through OpenEmu (Mac exclusive emulator), and I was wondering if that emulator counts. Not that I can't use RetroArch, I have that too, I was just wondering if this emulator also counts. All the rules say is "standalone or through RetroArch (core)", so I just was curious.

Hello, can you post the version number of your Genesis Plus GX core here to see if it matches the Retroarch core version?

It says 1.7.4.15. Which version is allowed?

Generally, Retroarch provides the short commit hash at the end of the version number. e.g. like this:

Can you show a screenshot of OpenEmu showing the version?

Got it! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LzmEIlhdI94zv7Dh835LuJgOcUE0qX5A/view?usp=share_link

That's basically already what you posted. See in Ben's screenshot how it says 3ba8e40 after 1.7.4 in the bottom left? That's what we are looking for.

I couldn't find anything like that in OpenEmu. Sorry