Mame version and romsets confusion?

[Soundwave]

Since my last arcade build a few years back, i've been out of the loop for a while so sorry for the noob question. I'm confused by Mame and romset versions. I have a romset for version .139 and a few other roms for .134u9 I think....anyway, do I really have to use mame version .139 and .134 to play those or will the latest MAME play them just fine?

I'm working on building a new arcade cab and trying to get all my files together and straightened out. I just remember that I had to use a rom manager to go through all my roms and make them playable on the newest MAME at that time. I really don't want to re-learn how to do all that stuff again but I wanted to use the latest MAME.

[Slippyblade]

Totally depends on the ROM.  Each version of MAME brings about changes.  If those changes affect the particular game you want to play, then you would need an updated ROM.  If the game in question hasn't had any changes within MAME since your version, then you'd be fine.

[Yenome]

What he said. Best way to know is to get a new copy of mame and try to run the games. if it works great if not time to make some changes. for me i updated because one of the features that came later i wanted to use. and the games i played all didnt work with the new version