Nintendo Switch enthusiasts who were left disappointed by the abandonment of the popular Skyline emulator for Android can now rejoice, as a new emulator called Yuzu has arrived to fill the void.
Developed by two dedicated individuals who worked on the Skyline project, Yuzu aims to provide Nintendo Switch emulation on the Android platform, offering a new way for gamers to enjoy their favourite Switch titles on their mobile devices.
The developer of Yuzu recently announced the release of the Android version of the emulator on their blog. The app is available for download both as a free version and as a paid early access version on the Play Store, catering to users with different preferences and needs.
However, it’s important to note that the Android version of Yuzu does not currently offer feature parity with its PC counterpart. Some features, such as multiplayer over LAN and input profiles, are not yet available in the mobile version. The developer has chosen to focus on the core functionalities initially, ensuring a stable and reliable experience for users.
The developer has also outlined the minimum requirements for running Yuzu on Android. The emulator currently requires Android 11 or higher and a Snapdragon processor with an Adreno GPU. Unfortunately, devices with SoCs like Exynos and MediaTek are not expected to work well with Yuzu in the near future, primarily due to their GPU drivers being deemed inferior to Adreno. It is recommended to have a device with ample RAM for optimal performance, with high-end devices like the Snapdragon 865 with 8GB RAM being the best-suited, while 6GB RAM is considered the minimum requirement.
According to the Yuzu team, compatibility is best achieved with Snapdragon chipsets featuring Adreno 600 series GPUs. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Gen 2, equipped with Adreno 700 series GPUs, deliver the highest graphics performance.
The Play Store page for Yuzu mentions that the emulator supports “thousands of games,” indicating a wide range of compatibility. Notable features of Yuzu include resolution scaling, texture filtering options, and mod support, allowing users to enhance their gaming experience. However, it is crucial to emphasize that users should legally own the games they wish to emulate.
As the Yuzu team continues to refine and improve the emulator, we can expect even better experiences for Android users in the future.
