Nintendo Switch


The Switch in its two forms, portable (above) and docked (below).
Developer	Nintendo
Type	Hybrid video game console
Generation	Eighth generation
Release date	2017
Predecessor	Wii U
Emulated	✓

For software that emulates the Switch, see Nintendo Switch emulators.

Since the Nintendo Switch was hacked early in its launch, there has been a lot of interest for emulators due to the Switch's portability. These emulators will only work on Switches with CFW on them, i.e. Switch consoles susceptible to the Tegra hardware exploit. For more information and guides on how to homebrew your Switch, or if you even can, visit r/SwitchHacks.

Multi-Systems[edit]

RetroArch[edit]

Stable

Nightly

GitHub

Switch RetroArch Cores

RetroArch BIOS/ROMs

Available cores
Cores	Game/System list	Recommended Working?
PPSSPP	PlayStation Portable	✓
PCSX ReARMed	PlayStation 1	✓
DeSmuME	DS	~
MelonDS	DS	~
Gambatte	GameBoy/GameBoy Color	✓
Gearboy		✓
TGB Dual		✓
mGBA	GameBoy Advance	✓
VBA Next	GameBoy Advance	✓
FCEUmm	NES/FDS	✓
Nestopia		✓
QuickNES		✓
Mesen
Mupen64Plus	N64	✓
PokeMini	Pokemon Mini	✓
Snes9x 2010 & Current	SNES	✓
Bsnes
bsnes-hd
Mesen S
Beetle VB	Virtual Boy	✓
MAME	2000, 2003, 2003 Plus	✓
FBAlpha	Arcade	✓
Neko Project II Kai	PC9801	✓
Beetle PCE FAST	PCE/PCE CD	✓
Beetle PC-FX	PC-FX	✓
Beetle SGX	SuperGrafx	✓
Flycast	Dreamcast	✓
GearSystem	MasterSystem/GameGear	✓
Genesis Plus GX	MasterSystem/GameGear/MegaDrive/Genesis/CD	✓
PicoDrive	MasterSystem/GameGear/MegaDrive/Genesis/CD/32X	✓
Yabause	Saturn	✓
4DO	3DO	✓
P-UAE	Amiga Series	✓
Beetle WonderSwan [Cygne]	WonderSwan/Color	✓
DOSBox	MS-DOS	✓
Vecx	Vectrex	✓
O2EM	Odyssey2 / Phillips Videopac+	✓
FreeIntv	Intellivision	✓
fMSX	MSX	✓
NeoCD	Neo Geo CD	✓
Mu	Palm OS	✓
EasyRPG	RPG Maker 2000/2003	✓
PX68k	Sharp X68000	✓
ScummVM	point-and-click adventure game engine	✓
EightyOne	Sinclair - ZX 81	✓
Beetle Neo Geo Pocket [NGP]	Neo Geo Pocket / Color	✓
Theodore	TO8D	✓
FUSE	ZX Spectrum	✓
Caprice32	CPC/CPC464	✓
CrocoDS	CPC/CPC464	✓
Stella	Atari 2600	✓
ProSystem	Atari 7800	✓
Beetle Handy	Atari Lynx	✓
Virtual Jaguar	Atari Jaguar	✓
VICE	C64	✓
MrBoom	Bomberman	✓
NXEngine	Cave Story	✓
OpenBOR	Open BOR Game Engine	✓
PrBoom	Doom	✓
Reminiscence	Flashback Game Engine	✓
GW	Game & Watch	✓
Cannonball	OutRun	✓
TyrQuake	Quake	✓
XRick	Rick Dangerous	✓
OpenLara	Tomb Raider	✓

Streaming[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Moonlight-NX	git	✓	✓	Mid	~

Intel CPUs[edit]

Name	Latest Version	8086*¹	286	386*²	486*³	Pentium*⁴	Pentium II*⁵	Celeron*⁶	Pentium III*⁷	Pentium 4*⁸	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
UniPCemu	itch.io	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	?

*¹8086 emulation includes the 8088 CPU. *²386 emulation includes the SX and SL. *³486 emulation includes variants. *⁴Pentium emulation includes variants. *⁵Pentium II emulation includes variants. *⁶Celeron emulation includes variants. *⁷Pentium III emulation includes variants. *⁸Pentium 4 emulation includes variants.

Nintendo[edit]

Nintendo 3DS[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Citra	POC	?	✓	?	~

Nintendo 64[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
GlideN64	3.0	✗	✗	Mid	~
N64 - Nintendo Switch Online	N/A	✗	✓	Low	✓

NES[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
pNES (based on Nestopia)	git	✓	✓	Mid	✓
NES - Nintendo Switch Online	2.3.0	✗	✓	Mid	✓
LaiNES	git	✓	✗	Mid	✗
NoiES	git	✓	✗	Mid	✗
NESwitch	git	✓	✗	Mid	✗

SNES[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
pSNES	git	✓	✓	Mid	✓
SNES - Nintendo Switch Online	3.4.0	✗	✓	Mid	✓

GameBoy / Color[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
GameBoy/Color - Nintendo Switch Online	N/A	✗	✓	Low	✓
PlutoBoy	git	✓	✓	Mid	✓
khedgb	Update 7	✗	✗	Low	~

GameBoy Advance[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
GameBoy Advance - Nintendo Switch Online	N/A	✗	✓	Low	✓
mGBA	0.10.2 git	✓	✓	Mid	✓
VBA-Next	git	✓	✗	Mid	~
gdkGBA	git	✓	✗	Low	✗
Switch-gba	git	✓	✗	Low	?
VBA-M NX	git	✓	✗	Low	?

Nintendo DS[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	DSi	Accuracy	Recommended
melonDS (fork of melonDS)	git	✓	~	~	Mid	~
NooDS	git	✓	✓	✗	Mid	✗ (WIP)
DeSmuME-NX	git	✓	✗	✗	Low	✗

Game & Watch[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
MADrigal Switch	10-05-2020	✗	✓	Mid	✓

Atari[edit]

Atari 130 / 800 / 5200[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Atari800-switch	git	✓	✗	Mid	~

SEGA[edit]

Genesis/Mega Drive[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Genesis/Mega Drive - Nintendo Switch Online	N/A	✗	✓	Low	✓
pGEN	git	✓	✓	Mid	✓

Saturn[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Yaba Sanshiro	2.2.0	✗	✓	Mid	~

Dreamcast[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Flycast	CI Builds git	✓	✓	Mid	✓
reicast	Alpha	✗	✗	Mid	~

Sony[edit]

Playstation[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
PCSX-ReARMed	git	✓	✗	Low	✗

Playstation 2[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Play!	git	✓	✓	Low-Mid	✗

Playstation Portable[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
PPSSPP	1.9.3+	✓	✓	Mid-High	✓

PS Vita[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Vita2hos	git	✓	✓	Low-Mid	✗

Arcade[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
pFBN	git	✓	✓	Mid	✓
MAME-NX (based on MAME 0.72)	git	✓	✓	Mid	~

Commodore[edit]

Amiga[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
UAE4All2	git	✓	✓	Mid	✓

SNK Play more[edit]

Neo Geo Pocket / Color[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Neopop-SDL	git	✓	✗	Mid	~

Chip8[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
Chip8-NX	git	✓	✗	Mid	~

Microsoft[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Accuracy	Recommended
DOSBox-switch	git	✓	✗	Mid	~
Bochs	git	✓	✗	Low	✗

Alternate Operating Systems[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
Switchroot Android	17.1	✓	✓	✓
Switchroot Linux	Various	✓	✓	✓
Lakka	4.3	✓	✓	✓

Switchroot Android[edit]

A build of Android 10 "Q" for the Switch, based on Lineage OS 17.1. Since it shares the same Nvidia Tegra X1 system-on-chip, the build is based off the Nvidia Shield TV build of LineageOS. Its most notable feature is the ability to work both in handheld and docked mode and using the Joycons as a Bluetooth controller (though not all apps may detect them correctly). There is also another build that lets the Switch function as an Android TV box. Many emulators and Android software can run, including DraStic, Dolphin, and Citra.

Switchroot Linux[edit]

Many GNU/Linux distributions are available, including Ubuntu Bionic and Focal, Fedora, and Gentoo. With these, it is possible to run many emulators and software for GNU/Linux on these systems. Play! has had some success with playing PS2 games on Ubuntu, albeit at around 10 FPS.

Source ports[edit]

Multi game engine[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Libretro	Active	Recommended	Supported game(s)
ScummVM	2.5.1	✓	✓	✓	✓	Adventure games and RPGs (LucasArts, Sierra, Activision, Humongous & more. Over 250 games.)
OpenBOR	git	✓	✗	✓	✓	Pak mods
EasyRPG	0.8.0	✓	✓	✓	✓	RPG Maker 2000/2003 games
Commander Genius	2.6.3.1	✗	✗	✓	✓	Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, Commander Keen in Keen Dreams, Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy, Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter

Single game engine[edit]

Name	Version	FLOSS	Libretro	Active	Recommended	Supported game(s)
Action-adventure
Ship of Harkinian	7.0.2 Nighty build git	✓	✗	✓	✓	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (PAL GameCube version)^{[N 1]}
Zelda3	git	✓	✗	✓	✓	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Pinball
SpaceCadetPinball	git	✓	✗	?	✓	3D Pinball for Windows – Space Cadet
Platformer
Cave Story Engine 2	Website ~~git~~^{[N 2]}	✗	✗	✗^{[N 2]}	?	Cave Story
NXEngine-evo	git	?	✗	✗	?	Cave Story
RVM Sonic CD	git	✓	✗	?	?	Sonic the Hedgehog CD (2011)^{[N 3]}
Sonic 1 and 2 (2013)	git	✓	✗	?	?	Sonic the Hedgehog 1 (2013)^{[N 3]}, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2013)^{[N 3]}
Sonic 3 A.I.R. (Angel Island Revisited)	Website	✗	✗	?	?	Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Sonic CD (2011)	git	✓	✗	?	?	Sonic the Hedgehog CD (2011)^{[N 3]}
SRB2 Switch	git	?	✗	?	?	Sonic Robo Blast 2
Racing
SRB2Kart	git	?	✗	?	?	Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart
RPG
DevilutionX	git	✓	✗	✓	✓	Diablo
OpenMW (unofficial)	git	✓	✗	✓	~	The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
TBS
Fheroes2	git	✓	✗	✓	~	Heroes of Might and Magic II
Sim - City-building
Julius Augustus (gameplay changes)	git git	✓	✗	✓	✓	Caesar III
Visual Novel
ONScripter-jh	git	✓	✗	✓	✓	Visual Novel

↑ Ship of Harkinian requires either the GameCube's PAL Debug ROM (recommended), PAL Master Quest Debug ROM (for Master Quest mode's dungeons; supported as of v5.0.0), or the regular PAL GameCube ROM (not recommended) of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to generate an oot.otr file from OTRGui (from the PC download) to play it.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 There is also an official Nintendo Switch remake called Cave Story+ with 3D graphics and the most features out of any other existing version (making it the "definitive version") that may be more recommendable depending on the user's preference. Cave Story Engine 2, or CSE2 for short, is a source port of the classic Cave Story by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya. CSE2 came with a portable version and an enhanced version of the original freeware but in November 2020, the CSE2 source port has received a DMCA cease and desist notice from Nicalis, the current IP owner of Cave Story, and the unofficial Switch port received a DMCA cease and desist as well.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Sega Forever classics version on Android or iOS can also be used.

[1] Ship of Harkinian requires either the GameCube's PAL Debug ROM (recommended), PAL Master Quest Debug ROM (for Master Quest mode's dungeons; supported as of v5.0.0), or the regular PAL GameCube ROM (not recommended) of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to generate an oot.otr file from OTRGui (from the PC download) to play it.

[cse2-2] 2.0 ^2.1 There is also an official Nintendo Switch remake called Cave Story+ with 3D graphics and the most features out of any other existing version (making it the "definitive version") that may be more recommendable depending on the user's preference. Cave Story Engine 2, or CSE2 for short, is a source port of the classic Cave Story by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya. CSE2 came with a portable version and an enhanced version of the original freeware but in November 2020, the CSE2 source port has received a DMCA cease and desist notice from Nicalis, the current IP owner of Cave Story, and the unofficial Switch port received a DMCA cease and desist as well.

[sonic-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Sega Forever classics version on Android or iOS can also be used.

[N 1]

[N 2]

[N 3]

Emulators on Switch

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