I switched from EmuDeck to RetroDeck for retro gaming, and the setup alone convinced me to stay

Gaming handhelds are great for playing modern games on the go, but arguably an even better use is retro gaming. A lot of older games can now be played perfectly fine on low-power hardware with next to no downsides compared to the original experience, and having integrated controllers makes the experience all the more natural.

When it comes to emulation, one of the most common solutions for modern gaming handhelds is EmuDeck, but there's actually a great alternative you might prefer. It's called RetroDeck, and I decided to take it for a spin to see how good the experience is. And I think it's great.

Setting up RetroDeck

It's very easy

Getting started with RetroDeck is fairly easy. This solution is designed for Linux gaming handhelds such as the Steam Deck (as the name implies), and you can download RetroDeck from Flathub, using a frontend such as Discover or Bazaar. From there, the initial setup is fairly simple. You're asked a few questions about where to store your data and whether you want to download firmware for a PlayStation 3 emulator and a Vita one. I didn't care for either of these platforms, so I skipped both.

You're given the choice to add RetroDeck itself to Steam, but you can also go ahead and enable Steam Synchronization, which adds games you mark as your favorites directly to the Steam UI so you can more quickly access them. I decided to skip this as well, since I don't mind going through the RetroDeck UI, but it's a touch of convenience that I appreciate. EmuDeck does something similar, but by limiting this to your favorites, RetroDeck does give you a clear separation between what gets added and what doesn't.

One small detail I appreciate (more than I probably should) is that once it's set up, RetroDeck appears in your chosen folder, and most of the primary folders have distinct icons, so you can easily tell what's what. For ROMs, every single platform has its own icon, which is both a nice visual flourish and an aide, so you can tell what's what at a glance.

This made it a bit easier to set up my ROMs as they should be. I tested a bunch of Nintendo platforms from the NES to the Nintendo DS, and finding each one wasn't too much of a problem. EmuDeck has its own benefit: it can automatically create system folders on a USB drive, so you can bring ROMs from a different PC if you want to, but I'd say this is probably more helpful if you're setting up your library for the first time.

ES-DE does the heavy lifting

With a dose of customization

Once it's set up, RetroDeck is a very familiar experience because it relies on something you're probably already familiar with: Emulation Station, or ES-DE. RetroDeck does come with a custom theme that has clear retro vibes and looks fantastic on a handheld screen. As you'd expect from ES-DE, the presentation is extremely slick, showing game logos and screenshots organized by platform, along with an easy-to-use UI that works perfectly with a controller. The only challenge I had was figuring out how to get back to ES-DE after launching a game, but you can do that through the Steam overlay UI relatively easily.

On the backend of the ES-DE experience is RetroArch and its many cores, which enable playing games from all kinds of platforms. The only thing I wish I could do more easily is open settings for specific emulator cores while I'm playing, specifically while using the controller inputs. It's possible I'm just missing something, but it would be nice to, for example, change the way Game Boy games are displayed on the fly.

The default presentation simulates the pea green color of the original Game Boy hardware, but I'd prefer something more akin to proper black and white, but there's no way to easily access that option as far as I can tell. Of course, that's no different in EmuDeck, and you might just need to access these settings in desktop mode if it's a one-and-done deal.

Performance is great

As you'd expect

Obviously, the platforms you can play reliably are going to depend on your hardware, but as far as RetroDeck goes, everything seems to be set up pretty perfectly here. As a Nintendo fan, I mostly focused on its platforms for my tests. I tested games for the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, different Game Boy iterations, and even the Nintendo DS. I also did this because these platforms require no additional downloads of firmware or anything of the kind, unlike some platforms.

Across the board, my One Xplayer X1 Mini — which has an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U, by the way — ran every game just fine. Of course, that's to be expected on most platforms, but I thought I might run into emulation issues here and there, especially with games that use 3D graphics.

Star Fox on the SNES was one I thought might give me some trouble, but it ran as smoothly as you'd expect, and it was a great experience aside from me being terrible at the game. Likewise, 3D games on the Nintendo 64 ran completely fine for the most part. I experienced strange slowdown in the starting screen for Super Mario 64 where you can twist Mario's face, but in the game itself, everything ran flawlessly. Pokémon Stadium 2 also ran without notable issues.

On the DS, I tried a ROM hack called Super Mario Run DS, and it worked fine too. The platforms you want to play may have different experiences or require a little more work, but RetroDeck, ES-DE, and RetroArch come together to offer a great experience.

EmuDeck isn't the only game in town

Retro gaming can be a ton of fun on modern hardware, and while EmuDeck seems to be everyone's go-to solution, it's not alone. RetroDeck delivers a great experience, and I'm more inclined to recommend it after trying it out. I felt the initial setup was faster, and the custom skin for ES-DE is more appealing than EmuDeck's. Both options are great, of course, but I have a new favorite, and I recommend you check it out too.