Nintendo’s first-party games are some of the absolute best titles ever created. Between your Marios and your Zeldas and your Kirbys and your Donkey Kongs… so many amazing franchises that only live on the Nintendo console.
So what if you can’t afford a Switch? What if you want to play just one game and can’t justify the investment in the console for it? Or what if you just don’t want to buy one? Whatever the reason, there are gonna be a lot of people out there who just wanna play the games however they can, and emulation is one possibility.
We could argue ethics of that all day, and we would contend that emulation is acceptable for any console or game that you cannot go buy in the store. But if we put moral discussion aside, there’s gonna be people doing it no matter what you believe about it.
(A few interesting reads about emulation: What Does Emulation Mean? / Are Emulators Legal?)
It is no surprise that the Nintendo Switch is a pretty desirable console when it comes to emulation. The main problem is that it requires a lot of power to emulate. Add to the fact that Yuzu has been taken down by Nintendo and a lot of programs have ceased production and ended development to avoid meeting the same fate, and there’s no surprise that the list of Nintendo Switch emulators has grown thin.
And the list of those emulators that work on Android is now even thinner, with the total standing at a resounding one. There are websites that say that other emulators will work on Android with a lot of tinkering or complicated coding, but I’m discounting those as many of said emulator’s creators state publically on their websites that they don’t have true Android compatibility yet.
So, a short list awaits you, one that we will update and edit as more programs become available (or meet the same fate as Yuzu!).
1. EGG NS
EGG NS Emulator is a Nintendo Switch emulator that has been created specifically for Android.
Meaning, there are no Windows, Mac or Linux ports, where Android could possibly have been an afterthought and come with much less support and less frequent updates.
Yes, the team behind EGG developed the application with Android emulation in mind from the start. This means that you should expect that they will be very on top of any bugs, figuring out fine-tuning, and keeping users as up-to-date as possible with the latest games for Switch and on the latest Android Devices.
To run this emulator on your phone or Android device, the team behind EGG NS say that you should have at least 6GB of RAM and a processor equivalent to the SnapDragon 855, running at least Android 11.
