Which handheld runs GameCube?

Nintendo GameCube (Nintendo, 2001) tested on 11 devices, cheapest first.

10 of 11 tested handhelds run GameCube well enough to play, starting at $150.

4 of them hold full speed. Ratings come from 16 publishers who had the hardware; the comparison across all of them is ours.

Cheapest device in this data that handles GameCube

Impressive on most of the library, with known hard failures.

Every tested device

TrimUI Smart Pro

Allwinner A133P @ 1.8 GHz · ~$70
Doesn't run

Not viable on this hardware, regardless of settings or custom firmware.

Tested by: Retro Handhelds Online

Anbernic RG406H

Unisoc T820 (1x A76 @ 2.7 GHz, 3x A76 @ 2.3 GHz, 4x A55 @ 2.1 GHz) · ~$150
Playable

Impressive on most of the library, with known hard failures.

  • Mario Kart: Double Dash and Super Mario Sunshine run perfectly at 2x upscale.
  • F-Zero GX is practically unplayable even at native resolution.

Tested by: Joey's Retro Handhelds, RetroGameTalk

Anbernic RG556

Unisoc T820 (1x A76 @ 2.7 GHz, 3x A76 @ 2.3 GHz, 4x A55 @ 2.1 GHz) · ~$180
Playable

Runs well at 30 fps, including at 2x internal resolution on lighter titles.

  • Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi's Mansion and Metroid Prime run smoothly.
  • Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Zelda: Twilight Princess hold 30 fps at 2x resolution.

Tested by: GBAtemp, Retro Handhelds Online

Retroid Pocket 4 Pro

MediaTek Dimensity 1100 (4x Cortex-A78 @ 2.6 GHz, 4x A55) · ~$199
Playable

Broadly comparable to its PS2 performance, with the heaviest titles needing settings dropped.

  • Super Smash Bros. Melee runs excellently with minimal adjustment.
  • Resident Evil 4 exposes the hardware limits and needs reduced settings.

Tested by: Handheld Index, RetroResolve

Retroid Pocket Mini V2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 · ~$219
Playable

Solid 30 fps with minimal frame drops on the usual benchmark titles.

  • Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Metroid Prime run at a solid 30 fps.
  • The Simpsons Hit & Run holds a stable framerate through action sequences.
  • The 4:3 OLED suits the era better than a 16:9 panel.

Tested by: Retro Handhelds Online, RetroSpecGame

Retroid Pocket 5

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 · ~$219
Playable

Excellent through Dolphin, with a handful of known problem titles.

  • F-Zero GX and Rogue Squadron still struggle.

Tested by: DroiX, Joey's Retro Handhelds

Retroid Pocket Flip 2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 · ~$249
Playable

Near-perfect, frequently upscaled to 2x or 3x native resolution.

Tested by: Android Authority, Held Games

AYN Odin 2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (Cortex-X3 @ 3.2 GHz) · ~$299
Full speed

Near-flawless, with room to raise resolution above native and add filters.

Tested by: RetroResolve, AndroidAyuda

AYN Odin 2 Mini

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 · ~$299
Full speed

Handles the library upscaled to 1080p.

  • Reported to be exactly as capable as the full-size Odin 2 despite the smaller shell.

Tested by: overkill.wtf, Retro Handhelds

Retroid Pocket 6

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 · ~$299
Full speed

Runs at 3x native resolution, including the titles that defeat everything below it.

  • F-Zero GX runs at 2x without compromise.
  • Rogue Squadron II, a known Android killer, was pushed to 720p.
  • Upscaled play needs the high-performance modes, which bring fan noise.

Tested by: Retro Dodo, Stuff

Steam Deck OLED

AMD Van Gogh (Zen 2 + RDNA 2), x86-64 · ~$549
Full speed

Full speed with room for upscaling. Dolphin is well optimised for the hardware.

  • Expect 6-7 hours of battery in the sixth-generation era, against 9-10 for PS1 and N64.

Tested by: Retro Dodo, NerdBurglars

Reading this page

Devices are ordered by price, not by score, because the useful question is usually the cheapest thing that clears the bar rather than the best thing available. “Playable” is where most people should stop reading upward: past that you are paying for headroom and upscaling, not for the game running.

Devices absent from this list have no published GameCube testing found. That is a gap in the data, not a verdict on the hardware.

Sources (21)

Every rating on this page traces to one of these. The compilation is ours; the measurements are theirs.

Other systems