Proton is a compatibility layer for Windows games to run on Linux. Running a Windows games is mostly just hitting the Play button within Steam. It’s that good that many games now run faster on Linux than on native Windows. That’s what makes the Steam Deck the best gaming handheld of the moment.

But a compatibility layer is still a layer, so you may encounter … incompatibilities. Ember Knights is a lovely game with fun co-op multiplayer support. It runs perfectly on the (Linux-based) Steam Deck, but on my Ubuntu laptop I encountered long loading times (startup was 5 minutes and loading between worlds was slow). But once the game was loaded it ran fine.

Debugging the game reveled that there were lost of EAGAIN errors while the game was trying to access the system clock. Changing the numer of allowed open files fixed the problem for me.

Add this to end end of the following files:

• in /etc/security/limits.conf:

* hard nofile 1048576

• in /etc/systemd/system.conf and /etc/systemd/user.conf:

DefaultLimitNOFILE=1048576 

Reboot.

“The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time. I certainly agree with that sentiment.

At its core, The Witcher 3 is a action-role playing game with a third-person perspective in a huge open world. You develop your character while the story advances. At the same time you can freely roam and explore as much as you like. The main story is captivating and the world is filled with with side quests and lots of interesting people. Fun for at least 200 hours, if you’re the exploring kind. If you’re not, the base game (without DLCs) will still take you 50 hours to finish.

While similar to other great games like Nintendo’s Zelda Breath of the Wild and Sony’s Horizon Zero Dawn, the strength of the game is a deep lore originating from the Witcher series novels written by the “Polish Tolkien” Andrzej Sapkowski. It’s not a game, but a universe (nowadays it even includes a Netflix tv-series).

A must play.

Played on the Steam Deck without any issues (“Steam Deck Verified”)

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a surprisingly fun game. At its core it’s a role-playing game. But you wouldn’t tell because of the amount of platforming, the quantity and quality of small puzzles and -most of all- the funny self-deprecating dialogue.

As the player you control Mario and Luigi simultaneously and that takes some time to master. As you learn techniques along the way, each character get special abilities allowing you to solve new puzzles and advance on your journey. It’s not a shot game for a handheld, taking around 20-30 hours to finish at the minimum.

The 3DS 2017 remake of 2017 (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions) did keep most of the game as it is, just updating the graphics and music for the more powerful handheld. That’s says a lot about the original whose 2D SNES/GBA graphics don’t feel outdated today, but hip and cute pixel-art.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

Like many games of that time, Snow Bros. is a simple game that can be mastered with practice (or rather, coins). It’s fun all the way, specially when playing with 2 players (in co-op). The gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of Bubble Bobble, but instead of bubbles you shoot snow to bury enemies in snowballs. Push the snowball to get rid of all the enemies on its path!

The arcade game was ported to a lot of game consoles and gaming computers. It and was even ported to the Nintendo Switch. Something to play with friends or your children.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

Time can be cruel for games. Some games don’t age well. The advance in computational and graphical power is painfully clear. But time can also be a filter to separate great from mediocre games. If a game survives for decades, there is a big chance it’s a great game.

Games are released to run on very specific hardware and operating systems. Older games do often not run out of the box on modern computers. However, this does not mean that running them is impossible, or even challenging. There are several options to play these games, depending on what you find important or achievable.

List of Contents:

• Original hardware
• “Rerealesed” mini consoles
• Specialised handhelds
  • The Steam Deck
  • Emulation handhelds
• Dedicated hardware
• Daily laptop, PC or phone

Original hardware

If you want to experience games how they were meant to be played, this is the way to go. Full stop. Maybe you kept your old devices, or found something in an attic or in a garage sale. Also, start looking for CRT TVs (tubes) and a soldering iron for when stuff breaks.

There have been many generations of gaming consoles, and each generation had many competing ones. Some brands still exist today, while many others disappeared with the years. For arcade machines is the situation even more complicated because most of them had dedicated hardware… per game. Many arcades, consoles and games will be hard to find and be prohibitively costly. This is a collector’s meta-game and not practical for most people.

“Rereleased” mini consoles

This is also part of the collector’s meta-game: got to catch them all!

In the last few years, there has been a boom of “mini consoles”. Many of the older game companies -or rather whoever ended with the name and the IP- jumped into the nostalgia powered “mini console” market. A cute mini device that looks like a mini version of the original console is bundled with controllers and a tiny selection of games for the platform (some collections are great, most are disappointing). Most, if not all, of these devices run a software emulator. From the top of my head I can think of mini Nintendo NES, Nintendo SNES, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear, Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Amiga 500, Neo Geo, TurboGrafix-16 and Playstation 1. Retrododo ranks them.

Sadly, by the time you read this, most of these systems will themselves be out of production and, if you find them, they will be overpriced.

Specialised handhelds

This is probably the easiest and most user-friendly way to get into retrogaming. No technical knowledge needed. These little machines are emulation devices: the hardware is simulated on software. While 100% accuracy is not guaranteed, most games will get very close and play perfectly. The older the target platform, the easier it will be emulated on current hardware, often orders of magnitude more powerful. More recent platforms are harder to emulate, but with good enough hardware even the Nintendo Switch can be emulated. Furthermore, you can experience games with better graphics than the originals, thanks to the power of modern hardware that can upscale the native resolutions.

The Steam Deck

The best emulation machine today is a regular gaming handheld, conceived to play modern Windows and Linux games: The Steam Deck. EmuDeck is a 1-click software addon that adds a user-friendly emulation solution for the Steam Deck. It bundles and configures all the emulators you’ll ever need, with support for the built-in controller (or external bluetooth controllers). At the time of writing, EmuDeck includes the following emulators:

• Cemu (Wii U)
• Citra (3DS)
• Dolphin (Gamecube and Wii)
• DuckStation (Playstation 1)
• MAME (Arcade games and more)
• melonDS (Nintendo DS) (Standalone)
• mGBA (Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance) (Standalone)
• PCSX2 (Playstation 2)
• PPSSP (Playstation Portable)
• PrimeHack (Metroid Prime Trilogy)
• RetroArch (Retro Systems incl. Atari, NES, SEGA, SNES)
• Rosalie’s Mupen GUI (Nintendo 64)
• RPCS3 (Playstation 3)
• Ryujinx (Nintendo Switch)
• ScummVM (Point and Click Adventures)
• Vita3K (Playstation Vita)
• Yuzu (Nintendo Switch)
• Xemu (OG Xbox)
• Xenia (Xbox 360)

Modern and retro-games in one device is the best of both worlds. Furthermore, the Steam Deck can be connected to a USB-C dock and use a TV or monitor through HDMI. This makes it a very versatile device.

RetroGameCorps has a useful guide for retrogaming on the Steam Deck.

Emulation handhelds

Nowadays, there is a big emulation ecosystem of companies creating cheaper and smaller devices, running on Android or Linux. Most of them will emulate everything from Atari to Sony PSP without any problem. The most powerful ones will also emulate Nintendo Game Cube/Wii and Sony PS2. The best well-known manufacturers are Retroid (I have the rp3+), Ambernic and Ayn Odin. Typically, Linux devices are pre-configured. Android ones need a one-time setup.

Evercade is a special case that may be interesting for people that don’t want to deal with emulation directly. They provide a console-like experience with cartridges that contain a selection of games. There will be huge gaps in the library —e.g. no Mario games—, but they have enough variety in the cartridges to keep you busy for a long time.

Dedicated hardware

If you’re more of a tinkerer, you can easily build your own emulation machine with off the shelf hardware. The more powerful the hardware, the more systems you’ll be able to emulate. But even the slowest hardware available today will easily emulate the classics like NES, SNES, SEGA Genesis, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Playstation 1 and PSP. The raspberry pi 5 single board computer is a popular computer for this kind of projects. You can also opt for a small mini-pc (NUC) that brings a lot of power in a small package. Even an old laptop will do the job. They all provide an HDMI output to connect to a TV or monitor, and USB ports/Bluetooth for controllers.

There are several software solutions to turn your hardware into an emulation machine, with the most popular being Batocera and RetroPie. They both use the Emulation Station frontend, so they are very similar in usage. Batocera, which I use myself and recommend, makes it easier to setup things like Bluetooth controllers and Wi-Fi.

Daily laptop, PC or phone

If you just want to casually play retro games, you can use your daily laptop/desktop/phone. You’ll need to install the emulators for each system your self, but this is not difficult. You can do it when you need a specific system instead of all at once. There are many frontends to choose from if you want to centralise all your games in one place. (For phones, have a look at my rp3+ guide).

Firewatch is a single person adventure that I enjoyed from the beginning to (almost the) end. Certainly recommended. My only point of criticism is the rather abrupt ending. The game is short (around 5 hours), but the story is by no means rushed.

Your life, as the protagonist, is in shambles. What better way to get your thoughts straight than wandering all day in nature while spotting wildfires? As a firewatcher in a very remote area, your only lifeline to the outside world is a warm and friendly voice through the walkie-talkie. You really look forward to those conversations. But when you’re alone with your thoughts, the majesty of the landscape shows there is a difference between solitude and loneliness.

The game is “Steam Deck Verified”.

A Short Hike is a small indie game. And by small, well, I mean small: you’ll finish the story in around 1 hour and half. You can spend a few additional hours to 100% the game, but there isn’t much incentive to do so once you finish it.

That said, the game is a great example of a cozy game. The artwork is beautiful, the mechanics are good and the quests are easy. There are no wrong choices: you can’t die. A Short Hike wonderfully keeps the sense of discovery alive, resulting in a Zelda-like game with no stress whatsoever.

The game is fun and is certainly worth a play if you find it at a good price.

The game is “Steam Deck Verified”.

Is a game released on 2017 still retrogaming? It is if you played on a Wii-U, the abandoned last-generation console of Nintendo. Yes, it was also released on a Nintendo Switch, as exactly the same game with a very small bump in resolution (from 720p to 900p). Originally it was planned as a Wii-U exclusive, but it took Nintendo a few extra years to get it right. And they did.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took everything we loved about 2D-Zeldas (top down) without the graphical awkwardness of the early 3D Zelda days (hello, Nintendo64!). It’s one of the best games ever made, where you can spend easily 100+ hours to finish it (and 200-300 to complete it) and feel sad when you do. You’ll never get back that feeling of fragility and discovery you felt as when you started the game. This new world is your oyster as you systematically discover how to survive and thrive. And yes, fulfil the quests and master the shrines (dungeon-like temple where you need to solve a puzzle). Some of them are trivial, some of them complex or far-fetched, most of them fun.

The 2 DLCs, The Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad don’t add much to the story, but they bring quality of life improvements and also gameplay modes, items, and extra trials and shrines. If you play the game today, it’s worth it to get these expansions as well.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, a cute 8-year-old girl, loves to tell the world she is “a little Miss”. Little Misfortune is more than a wordplay on the story of the child. It’s a lovely, funny and sad little adventure game. All at the same time. It’s about a child’s sense of wonder and about the loss of innocence.

Although short (I finished it around 3 hours), it’s rewarding. No need to make it longer just for the sake of it. The Artwork is beautiful and strengthens the story. While the price is steep for an indie game, it’s certainly worth it (or just wish-list it and wait for the cyclical Steam sales).

While the game is not marked as “Steam Deck Verified” (just “Playable”), I played the game without any issues on the device.

A fun, kind of realistic tennis game. Best for playing in Quick Tournament mode (the history mode is silly). Not easy, but certainly worth it. Handhelds like the rp3+ can upscale it to about 3x the original resolution. My old 2016-Celeron NUC with Batocera can upscale it to 1080p without any issues.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

This is a beautiful game with interesting puzzles and… a story. Another perfect example of SNES-level graphics on a small handheld. The game takes a little investment in the beginning because it starts slowly, certainly if you’re not familiar with the action-adventure genre The quests will become clearer and the speed will pick up. You will be stuck more than once (actually, lots of time). You’ll want to finish it in one go, but this open world game will keep you occupied for way, way, longer than you expected. It’s the perfect introduction to rich library of 2D Zelda games.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

This game is probably my favorite in the Metroid Series. It’s a perfect example of SNES-level graphics on a small handheld. This is the most story-driven installment of all Metroid 2D games. Be ready to be lost for hours and experience a huge adrenaline boost once you finally figure out what you need to do or when you finish that impossible boss. Oh, and in this Metroid there are situations where there is no way you can win, and you have to run. Very hard.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

The 2D Metroid Series offer a perfect mix of platformer action, adventure and intelligent puzzles. While preceded by Metroid (1986) on the NES and Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991) on the GameBoy, this is the game that gave the series its distinct look and identity.

While Metrovania is a thing and inspired many great games for decades to come, it is Metroid and not Castlevania the game that immerses the played in an eerie, dreadful, inmense and most of all lonely universe. It’s close to the atmoshere created on Ridley Scotts’s Alien, a clear inspiration for the developers.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

This game returns to the top-down perspective of the first Zelda while making the game graphically stunning (the NES graphics ages less well compared to the SNES/GBA sequels). Even today, more than 30 years later, it’s pretty much the pattern to follow for pixel-art games. This game is long and hard, but at the same time extremely rewarding. It’s a must-play classic.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

Dr. Mario is often bundled with its more famous predecessor Tetris. The puzzle game is certainly a worthy successor. While there are versions of this game on more recent consoles, the straightforwardness of the Game Boy is something the more recent ports lack. The game is fast, the music fantastic. Simple and a lot of addictive fun.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

Tetris was bundled with the European and North-American release of the new Game Boy handheld. It’s until today in the top 10 of most sold Nintendo games of all time. There are many older versions of Tetris, including the original release on the Sovjet Electronika 60 and later versions on Western and Eastern arcade machines around the world (most of the time, arcade releases were far superior to home console ports).

While it had been ported to all the newer systems (and reimagined), the Game Boy one is the definitive edition for me. The old handheld version has a simplicity that matches the requirements of the game. It’s completely distraction-free and even in colour if you run it in a Game Boy Color handheld (or emulator)! Later releases killed the magic completely. The native Game Boy Color version was nearly identical except disturbing animated backgrounds (!). The worst offender was the Nintendo DS version that uses a second full screen (!!) to shows an animated but mocked Super Mario Bros. game. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

This game is the first Nintendo game for a handheld console. No pressure. It’s probably the most quirky Mario game, but in a good way. Mostly line art and 2 Gradius-like flying levels. It’s a short game and rather difficult at the end, but a lot of fun. A worthy adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. formula for the weaker handheld.

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.

This is the game that started the almost 40-years franchise that expanded to animated TV-series and movies. It’s fun, it’s challenging and the soundtrack is recognizable everywhere. The original version is still the best version. Later versions on other consoles often crop the image in order to adapt it to different screen geometries, e.g. the NES Classics release on the Game Boy Advanced. Still the king!

Have a look at “How to play retrogames?” if you don’t know how to play retrogames.