Long time lurker, first time poster!
I've just read through this entire thread hoping for a bit of insperation or guidance on what i should go with. I'm jaded with every front end i have seen as they are either a nightmare to set up, or just look rubbish, even with custom skins!
I have always used Hyperspin, and after MANY hours configuring and several hundred GB of videos, images and god knows what else i have had it working for a while. I've spent time making my own skins and got it looking ok, but it now looks very dated due to the very low resolution it runs at. It looks terrible on a 1080P display, and as far as i can tell it can't be changed.
I was holding out for HS 2.0 for a while, but it now seems as though Hyperspin has been abandoned.
Then i was aboard the Gameex Evolution hype train, only to find it wasn't actually released at the end of the count down, and that everything seems to have gone quiet again now! It looked promising, but doesn't seem to be coming out any time soon.
I've tried Mala, Gameex, Maximus, HS and another i can't remember. Hyperspin is the only one i have really spent any time with, but it just looks a bit old and dated now due to it using a low resolution.
I think Mala is possibly the way to go for me (providing it still supports all emulators and works withe what i have) as i like the idea of having game information on screen, but the time i have spent trying to get my head round it hasn't been very fruitful so far. Despite everyone saying how easy it is to configure and make skins for, i am yet to make any progress with it. Even getting game info to display correctly seems a chore!