What emulated games hold up in 2025? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey all, I'm interested in playing some emulated games on my steamdeck, but I'm not sure where to start.

I've been having fun with Super Mario World, but a good chunk of that is because I played it a lot as a kid, so much of my enjoyment is from nostalgia.

Problem is, I didn't play many too many games when I was a kid...

What older games out there would you say hold up in 2025? So that regardless of the nostalgia factor, they can be enjoyed by someone like me

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[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Honestly depends on what kind of games you like.

Many Metroid games are classics and still great to play. For the 3D Metroids, you can install Primehack and play Metroid Prime Trilogy for an amazing experience. For the classic style 2D metroids, I'd recommend a play order of Zero Mission (GBA), Samus Returns (3DS), Super Metroid (SNES), and Metroid Fusion (GBA).

Many older mario games are great, both 2D and 3D. Mario 64 has some great recompiled versions, and even stuff like sm64coopdx that lets you play online coop. Mario Sunshine (GCN) is fun too, and both Mario Galaxy (Wii) games are fantastic. Lots of good Zelda games too, such as Wind Waker (GCN/WiiU). Until recently I would have highly recommended Xenoblade X (WiiU), but it just got a remastered and expanded version on switch.

this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025

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