Compatibility
About these figures: steady-state gameplay observations on a Steam Deck (1280×800); ranges shown where measured (avg over play, not peak). The first launch of any title is noticeably slower while the JIT (PPTC) and shader caches build — performance settles after that. Numbers tighten as more telemetry is gathered.
Tested on a Steam Deck (1280×800); fps figures are on-device with the performance overlay enabled. Compatibility is improving rapidly. Expand a title for a representative capture and a technical summary.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Playable (runs great, ~50–62 fps)
Runs great. Races hold roughly 50–62 fps with clean rendering across tracks.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe — Playable (perfect, ~60 fps, res-scale ×4)
Perfect. Locked ~60 fps at resolution-scale ×4.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom — Playable (runs well uncapped)
Version 1.0.1. Runs well uncapped (frequently 60+ fps in dungeons). Good at resolution-scale ×4; ×3 is the safer choice for steadier frame pacing.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Playable (best at a 30 fps cap)
Runs great and handles resolution-scale ×4. Note: game speed is tied to frame rate — at high fps the game runs too fast (around 80 fps it is noticeably sped up) and high fps also breaks the audio. Best played with a 30 fps cap, which keeps timing and sound correct.
Pokémon Sword — Playable (works now, fps-tied; ×4 runs well)
Works now. Game logic is tied to frame rate, so an appropriate cap is recommended; resolution-scale ×4 runs well.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A — Playable (runs well, ~60–67 fps)
Version 2.0.2. Runs well (approximately 67 fps). Overworld exploration, dialogue, and battles render correctly.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership — Playable (~27 fps avg, 11–30)
Version 1.0.0. Runs well — averages approximately 27 fps (11–30 range). Overworld, cutscenes, and battles render correctly.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity — Playable but rough (~25 fps avg, 12–30; CPU/JIT-bound)
CPU/JIT-bound. Averages approximately 25 fps (12–30 range) and feels rough in the heavy crowd-combat scenes, which is the expected behavior for this engine on a handheld CPU. Renders correctly throughout.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 — Playable, rough (likely first-run shader compile)
Version 2.2.0. Decent but rough this session, which may be first-run shader compilation rather than steady-state performance — it should be re-measured after the shader cache settles. Battles and the crowded town hub render correctly.
Tow Truck Police Simulator — Playable (runs cleanly)
Runs cleanly. Loading briefly locks at 100% before proceeding into gameplay.
Pokémon Violet — Playable (~30 fps avg, 25–36 range)
Runs at approximately 25–36 fps and is GPU-bound. A DEVICE_LOST crash observed during testing was traced to an excessive manual resolution-scale setting carried over globally, not to the title itself.
Pokémon Scarlet — Playable (~30 fps, overworld)
Runs at approximately 30 fps and is GPU-bound. Minor visual issues are known in some cutscenes and transitions and are under investigation; standard overworld play renders correctly.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus — Playable (~30 fps steady, ~4% under 25)
Runs at a steady approximately 30 fps and is GPU-bound (roughly 4% of frames below 25 fps). Plays past the introduction and into open-world gameplay.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream — Playable (~25 fps avg, 7–32 range)
Runs at approximately 30 fps (24–37) and is GPU-bound. Renders correctly, with occasional dips during shader compilation.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze — Playable (with a known artifact)
Known issue: at a high resolution-scale setting, scattered colored pixel-block artifacts appear over the scene (shown above) and the game-clock-tied logic runs slow when the GPU is overloaded. Playable at default settings. Some configurations require the title update to boot (see the Needs Game Update section).
Salamander County Public Television — Playable
A light title; runs cleanly.
The base version 1.0.0 boot of these titles is blocked by a kernel/ASLR interaction. Installing the title update resolves it.
Luigi's Mansion 3 — Needs title update (crashes at boot without it)
The base 1.0.0 boot crashes at boot due to a kernel/ASLR interaction; installing the title update resolves it.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land — Playable with a known artifact (~30 fps)
Runs at approximately 30 fps. Known issue: square-box artifacts and patches where the ground vanishes appear during play, most visibly in cinematics (shown above — note the missing squares in the sand). Under investigation.
Miitopia — Crashes on Mii creation (~28 fps before)
Reaches the opening at approximately 28 fps, then crashes on the Mii creation screen (known issue, under investigation).
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Crashes (async-shader related)
Known issue: crashes during boot/early play. The cause is async-shader related and is actively being fixed.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — Crashes on loading
Known issue: crashes during loading before reaching the menu. Under investigation.
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! — Soft-lock on control-select (needs touch support)
Known issue: the in-game control-select screen soft-locks (shown above). It requires touchscreen support to advance, which is not yet wired up.
Bayonetta 3 — Excluded
Excluded from testing due to a corrupt dump.
