I would like to go with the most up to date version of Raspbian: Operating system images (https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/operating-systems/)
Raspberry Pi OS Lite
and manually install RetroPie using this: Manually Install RetroPie on Raspbian/Raspberry Pi OS (https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Manual-Installation/)
Then plan to customize using this: Manual Instructions - How To Add Freeplay Functionality To Raspbian
Raspberry Pi OS Lite
- Release date: July 4th 2024
- System: 64-bit
- Kernel version: 6.6
- Debian version: 12 (bookworm)
and manually install RetroPie using this: Manually Install RetroPie on Raspbian/Raspberry Pi OS (https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Manual-Installation/)
Then plan to customize using this: Manual Instructions - How To Add Freeplay Functionality To Raspbian