The best Nintendo Switch emulator is called the Yuzu. Yuzu is an open-source emulator that is written in C++ by the same team that created CITRA. There are two build types today, namely Windows and Linux.
The start of work on Yuzu happened about 10 months after the Switch was launched worldwide. Many of you may be skeptical because the Switch is still relatively new in the market and emulators are more traditionally known to mimic older consoles from over two decades ago. Rest assured, that the Yuzu Nintendo Switch Emulator can run a decent sized library of Switch games pretty well.
The list of compatible Switch titles that work really well today are the following:
| 1917 – The Alien Invasion DX | Blaster Master Zero 2 | Energy Cycle |
| 198X | BlobCat | Enter the Gungeon |
| 2048 Battles | Bloodroots | EXTREME POKER |
| 2064: Read Only Memories INTEGRAL | Bloody Zombies | Fairune Collection |
| 3000th Duel | Bloons TD 5 | FANTASY HERO ～unsigned legacy～ |
| 36 Fragments of Midnight | Bomb Chicken | Fill-a-Pix: Phil’s Epic Adventure |
| 6180 the moon | Broforce | Frederic 2: Evil Strikes Back |
| A Magical High School Girl | Carcassonne | Freedom Planet |
| Aegis Defenders | Castlevania Anniversary Collection | FunBox Party |
| Air Hockey | Cave Story+ | Game Dev Story |
| Alternate Jake Hunter: DAEDALUS The Awakening of Golden Jazz | Celeste | GODS Remastered |
| Another World | Chameleon Run Deluxe Edition | Gorogoa |
| Antiquia Lost | Chiki-Chiki Boxy Racers | Graceful Explosion Machine |
| Apocalipsis Wormwood Edition | Child of Light Ultimate Edition | Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX |
| ARMS | Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! | HEROINE ANTHEM ZERO episode 1 |
| Asdivine Dios | Conga Master Party! | I Am Setsuna |
| Asdivine Hearts | Cosmic Star Heroine | Ice Cream Surfer |
| Asdivine Hearts II | Crawl | Jet Kave Adventure |
| Asdivine Kamura | Cuphead | Just Dance 2019 |
| Asdivine Menace | Death Squared | KAMIKO |
| Aviary Attorney: Definitive Edition | Devious Dungeon | Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition |
| BAFL – Brakes Are For Losers | Disco Dodgeball – REMIX | Kona |
| Baseball Riot | Disgaea 1 Complete | LEGO Jurassic World |
| Batman – The Telltale Series | Double Dragon 4 | Light Tracer |
| Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe | Dragon Sinker | Little Dragons Café |
| Beach Buggy Racing | Duck Game | Little Town Hero |
| Behind The Screen | EARTH WARS | LOST SPHEAR |
| BINGO for Nintendo Switch | Enchanting Mahjong Match | Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime |
| LUMINES REMASTERED | Shikhondo – Soul Eater |
| Mainlining | Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment |
| Manual Samuel | Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove |
| MEMBRANE | SKYHILL |
| Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom | Slice, Dice & Rice |
| My Friend Pedro | Snipperclips – Cut it out, together! |
| Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath | Sonic Mania |
| Old Man’s Journey | Splasher |
| Omega Labyrinth Life | STAR OCEAN First Departure R |
| ONE PIECE: Unlimited World Red Deluxe Edition | Stardew Valley |
| PAN-PAN A tiny big adventure | STARSHIP AVENGER Operation: Take Back Earth |
| Panty Party | SteamWorld Dig 2 |
| PC Building Simulator | Storm Boy |
| PICROSS S | Sundered: Eldritch Edition |
| Pinball FX3 | Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido |
| Please Teach Me Onedari Shogi | Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan |
| Poi: Explorer Edition | The Big Journey |
| Pokkén Tournament DX | The Escapists: Complete Edition |
| Prison Princess | The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince |
| Psyvariar Delta | Them Bombs! |
| Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns | This Is the Police |
| Rayman Legends Definitive Edition | Tiny Barbarian DX |
| RemiLore | TouchBattleTankSP |
| Rolling Sky 2 | Trine 2: Complete Story |
| Romancing SaGa 2 | Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers |
| Romancing SaGa 3 | Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] |
| Sea King Hunter | VOEZ |
| SEGA AGES Phantasy Star | Woodle Tree Adventures |
| SENRAN KAGURA Reflexions | WorldNeverland – Elnea Kingdom |
| Shakedown: Hawaii | Youtubers Life OMG Edition |
| Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse | Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX |
| Shantae: Half- Genie Hero Ultimate Edition | |
| She and the Light Bearer |
Yuzu uses a dynamic content delivery network called Boxcat which is analogous to Nintendo’s Background Content Asymmetric synchronized delivery and Transmission (also known as BCAT) content delivery network.
Yuzu is not just any emulator. It is so versatile that it can simulate the various resolutions that the Switch would display depending on whether the console was docked or in portable mode. The list of games above that work quite well will continue to grow as open source development continues.
If you want to learn more about this development effort then checkout the Yuzu website here.
If you like the topic of emulation when it comes to being able to play the roms of your favorite video games, where you would own the original game cartridges, on your smartphone or an android power handheld device then you may be interested in checking out my review of the GPD XD handheld emulation console.