Switch Homebrew is Great Again in 2026

Recently Switch native homebrew scene is surely having a little bit of boom. First there was the native Bully port, which works in a similar way that PS Vita android ports do work. Honestly, this caught me little bit by surprise, I wasn't expecting it in the slightest. I thought this was the PS Vitas strength, its speciality, that is not easily achievable. I am very pleased I was proved wrong, because this opens doors for many other great old android games being ported. Switch is much more powerful than PS Vita thus many more games could be compatible. I am saying could be because this method is still in early stages and it is not exactly copy and paste, there are a lot of variables to work with.

Not long after the Native Switch Bully Port we have received Tico. Tico is a multiplatform frontend for all your retro Switch needs, that works natively in HOS (no need for Android/Linux) and the latest update brought a Gamecube and Wii support. I have tested myself more than 20 games, I even wrote one article already. I was very pleased by the performance and the ease-of-use. The design is minimalistic, the controls and usability feel natural, setup is very straightforward, which makes it perfect even for the complete Switch Homebrew beginners like myself. I own modded Switch for a long time but I never installed Android or Linux. It just didn't feel right or intuitive, at least for me. There are many benefits in doing so but none of them persuaded me to do so. Now there is one less reason to do so because with this great new frontend we can play much more than Gamecube or Wii games. We can also play Dreamcast, Saturn, PSP, PS1, N64, plus much more :)

Next amazing Switch homebrew that came to its unofficial library was a native port of Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. This was a long time coming, Nintendo never made it happen officially, therefore fans had to take it to their own hands and port it. Well only single fan did it, the rest of fans can simply enjoy it. And it is the same one that did Bully and Tico. He is called Dan and he is behind all of these projects (including the following one). Good to have him on board. I am a big fan of his work. Back to Twilight Princess. This Switch TP port is based on Dusk. Dusk or now Dusklight is a reverse-engineered port of TP for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, IOS and now even for Switch. It being native means it has several key benefits

• Native Resolution Support

• Higher FPS

• Gyro Controls

• Cheats

• Texture Pack Support

• Loads of other Enhancements + Quality of Life Improvements

This is simply the best way to play Twilight Princess in 2026, if you have a modded Switch I would absolutely recommend you to install it. It is super simple and the rewards are humongous. If you don't have modded Switch, I am sure you have android phone/IOS/PC, you can always install it in there and reap all the benefits. Depending on the specs of your device the experience might be even superior to the Switch port. I was playing it on my Odin 3 at super smooth 120FPS and my mind was surely blown away :-)

This all brings me to the here and now, with Dan releasing the brand new Sonic Unleashed Native Switch Port. This one is based on Unleashed Recomp - an unofficial PC port of Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed. I have seen some showcase videos and the results are encouraging. The game is quite demanding so it is recommended to fully overclock your switch for the best experience. Additionally, resolution should be lowered, FPS capped at 30 and MSAA turned off. I haven't installed this one yet but I am going to, very soon. I was checking installation instructions, there is one more extra step than usually so it shouldn't take long time

Dan is also still working on the ARMSX2 core for the Tico which is gonna allow for PS2 emulation without the need of android or linux, I am really looking forward to that one. All in all, Switch native homebrew is coming along very nicely, I am eager to see what the future holds, especially with the new talented developers like Dan.

Big UP to all the developers and to all the people reading this article, I will be posting more often in here. I am working on a video but that takes quite a bit time so in the meantime I will be updating you in this form.

Have a nice day Comrade and Companero, it is pleasure to have you here 🙏🤘

If you are into watching, I have made a videos with a lot of gameplay footage for Bully, Dusk, Tico. You can watch it here