The real fun w/ pi is setting up a modern wireless controller. I use my wireless ps style controller for 16 bit and earlier games that love a d-pad. I use my wireless 360 controllers for stuff like mk64. It's such a tiny device you can hide easily behind the flat screen and just have some controllers about. I'm waiting on Pi4 but my Pi2 does more than 40 consoles pretty easily. It struggles on some N64 titles but plays others perfectly. Thousands of games all selectable from the controller alone.
You would be surprised at the state of N64 emulation in general. Obviously a pi might struggle just running some of the games, but there are issues that extend beyond that. The three main emulators are Mupen, parallei and Project64, I think Retropie has both the Mupen and Parallei cores available. There is still no default or even downloadable plugin for any N64 emulator that can properly emulate the N64 joystick, it just does not exist. Individual games have texture and sound issues that either need specific audio/video plugins or just do not work.
It's completely bizarre. Decades later and Wii emulation is in a better place than N64.
I do know actually. It's pretty crazy. I will say the xbox 360 controllers do a damn good job w/ the N64 joystick. It is weird I can't properly emulate OOT while other titles are easy as hell.
MK64 is one of my go-to games when I'm burnt out with speedrunning other stuff. I never record or submit times for it just to try and keep it as a sort of casual speed game I'm not too serious about. F Zero X is similar.
I've thought about putting a pi inside a controller as a sort of handheld console, but I haven't come across a suitable one yet. My main controller can be used for any console, but there would not be enough space inside it.