It's hard to believe that the Nintendo Switch has been on the market for four years already, but if there was one thing we had no doubt about, it was its destiny as a system emulated on PC. That brings us to Yuzu, the Nintendo Switch emulator par excellence, which continues to receive updates at a formidable pace. It's still far from being a magic solution that runs Switch games with a couple of clicks, but its performance improvements are so significant that it's definitely worth the effort.
Retro emulation is going through one of its best eras thanks to a large number of tools and platforms that enable access to dozens of systems. Whether it's a console or an old computer, you'll likely be able to reproduce a suitable environment to run thousands of classic games.
Now, what about more modern consoles? The advances of the PlayStation 3 emulator RPCS3 have been notable, and PlayStation 4 emulators will need more time to leave their easy experimental phase... but the Nintendo Switch remains one of the hottest consoles of the moment, and that brings us to the doors of the Yuzu project.
Yuzu: The Best Nintendo Switch Emulator
The first time we talked about Yuzu was in May 2020, and since then its compatibility and performance improvements have been truly impressive. Its official website does an excellent job documenting each “evolutionary leap” so to speak, but most importantly, its compatibility list keeps adding entries in green and blue (colors that indicate perfect emulation, or the possibility of finishing the game with minimal adjustments).
What does that mean? Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Catherine: Full Body, Super Mario Odyssey, Luigi's Mansion 3, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Breath of the Wild, Link's Awakening, the Fire Emblem and Xenoblade series... to a greater or lesser extent, all these games and many more can already be played and finished from start to finish, without major graphics-related issues.
Obviously, before getting to that you'll have to get your hands a little dirty. Yuzu is not a “Plug & Play” Nintendo Switch emulator, and it requires several elements to work correctly, starting with keys, firmware, game dumps, and in some cases, shader packs. Beyond the official guide, the best online resource is Reddit, where you'll find precise instructions and all the necessary links.
Official site: Click here
