Switch emulation has always been the ultimate benchmark—and curiosity—for handheld gaming enthusiasts. This article curates a selection of Nintendo blockbusters that have been exceptionally well-optimized for mobile hardware.
If you are looking for the absolute must-haves, look no further than The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (or Tears of the Kingdom if testing on the Pro/Max variants), Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Below, you’ll find real-world FPS performance metrics and the exact graphics drivers (Mesa Turnip) required to achieve a true plug-and-play experience, completely free of aliasing, flickering, or texture tearing.
1. The Four “Must-Play” Masterpieces
Super Mario Odyssey
This legendary 3D platformer is perfectly optimized for the Adreno 740 graphics architecture inside the Thor.
Real-World Performance: 55 – 60 FPS (Silky smooth throughout).
Optimal Driver: Mesa Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 or Turnip v26.1.0-git.
The Experience: The vibrant colors pop gorgeously on the AMOLED screen. Massive open worlds load incredibly fast, and you will rarely encounter missing asset details or popping, even in dense environments like the Metro Kingdom.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW)
Link’s journey across the vast world of Hyrule serves as a true stress test for the Thor’s active cooling system.
Real-World Performance: 30 – 45 FPS on the Base variant; a stable 45 – 60 FPS on Pro/Max models (with Performance Mode enabled).
Optimal Driver: Mr Purple Turnip T26 or Turnip v24.1.0 R17.
The Experience: Micro-stutters from shader compilation only appear during the first few minutes of entering a brand-new region. After that, the frame rate locks in and remains remarkably stable.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TotK)
Note: We highly recommend experiencing this title exclusively on the Thor Pro or Max variants equipped with 12GB or 16GB of RAM.
Real-World Performance: 25 – 30 FPS (Dropping down to around 22 FPS in high-density areas like Lookout Landing).
Optimal Driver: Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 (It is best to run the base game version 1.0.0 to minimize application crashes).
The Experience: This game is a notorious RAM hog. The larger memory pools on the Pro and Max versions prevent the emulator from crashing due to memory leaks during long play sessions. The Lite variant (Snapdragon 865) cannot handle this title.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This relaxing life simulator runs almost flawlessly right out of the box without needing deep configuration tweaks.
Real-World Performance: 50 – 60 FPS indoors; 40 – 55 FPS when roaming around highly decorated islands.
Optimal Driver: Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2.
The Experience: Visuals are clean and crisp. Dynamic shadow mappings and water transparency render perfectly without any graphical tearing or asset artifacts.
2. Six Other Perfectly Optimized Titles
Pokémon Scarlet / Violet
Despite being notorious for poor optimization on native Switch hardware, the raw brute-force power of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 does wonders for this title.
Real-World Performance: Locked at 30 FPS (Smoother than the original console in many open-world segments).
Optimal Driver: Mesa Turnip v26.1.0-git.
The Experience: Completely eliminates ground texture flickering and character model aliasing.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Real-World Performance: Rock-solid 60 FPS.
Optimal Driver: Turnip v24.1.0 R18 or the latest R26 driver line.
The Experience: Flawless execution even during split-screen multiplayer or high-speed drift sequences packed with heavy particle effects.
Metroid Dread
Real-World Performance: Absolute locked 60 FPS.
Optimal Driver: Any Turnip v24+ build.
The Experience: This side-scrolling masterpiece takes perfect advantage of the AMOLED display’s deep blacks on the Thor. Input latency is virtually imperceptible, making frame-perfect parries incredibly satisfying.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Real-World Performance: Locked 60 FPS.
Optimal Driver: Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2.
The Experience: The vibrant, reality-bending “Wonder” environmental effects don’t break a sweat on the Adreno 740 GPU.
Persona 5 Royal
Real-World Performance: 30 FPS (Can be bumped up to 60 FPS using a community-made mod/patch).
Optimal Driver: Turnip v25.1.0 R2 or Mr Purple T25.
The Experience: Text fonts render crisply, and the stylized turn-based combat transitions run exceptionally smooth.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Real-World Performance: 55 – 60 FPS.
Optimal Driver: Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2.
The Experience: Perfect performance in 1v1 or 2v2 bouts. You might notice minor frame drops during chaotic 8-player free-for-alls cluttered with dozens of special attacks simultaneously.
Performance Settings Summary for AYN Thor
| Game | Target FPS | Recommended Graphics Driver | Recommended Emulator |
| Super Mario Odyssey | 55 – 60 | Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 | Sudachi / Yuzu |
| Zelda: BotW | 40 – 55 | Mr Purple Turnip T26 | Eden / Sudachi |
| Zelda: TotK (Pro/Max) | 25 – 30 | Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 | Sudachi (Optimized) |
| Animal Crossing: NH | 50 – 60 | Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 | Yuzu / Sudachi |
| Pokémon Scarlet/Violet | 30 | Mesa Turnip v26.1.0-git | Eden / Yuzu |
| Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | 60 | Turnip v24.1.0 R18 | Sudachi / Yuzu |
| Metroid Dread | 60 | Any Turnip v24+ build | Yuzu / Sudachi |
| Super Mario Bros. Wonder | 60 | Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 | Sudachi |
| Persona 5 Royal | 30 / 60 | Turnip v25.1.0 R2 | Yuzu |
| Super Smash Bros. Ult. | 55 – 60 | Turnip v24.3.0 R9v2 | Yuzu / Sudachi |
Global Optimization Tips for Switch Emulation on AYN Thor
To achieve the absolute highest performance and eliminate visual bugs, head into the Advanced Settings of your chosen emulator and set the following parameters:
- NCE (Native Code Execution): On (Mandatory to allow the ARM64 CPU to execute game code natively without translation overhead).
- CPU Accuracy: Change to Unsafe (Provides a 5% to 15% FPS boost depending on the game).
- Disk Shader Cache: On (Drastically minimizes micro-stutters when loading new combat moves or map details).
- Asynchronous Shaders: On.
- Resolution Scale: Keep at 1x (720p/1080p). Up-scaling to 2x on hardware-heavy titles is not advised, as it leads to thermal throttling and sudden frame-rate drops.
