This year has been an inspiring year for emulation. It’s not easy to name the best Android emulator of 2022, as all the hardworking devs have beavered away throughout the year on their projects. However, our personal pick for this year is Skyline, the open-source Switch emulator.
What Is Skyline?
Skyline is a Nintendo Switch Emulator for Android ARMv8 devices. Its name is a reference to the Switch’s system software, codenamed Horizon. A small team of around ten people maintain the development and community of this open-source software, according to the official website.
As an emulator Skyline can be used to run Nintendo Switch games on Android devices, and from what we’ve seen, it does that extremely well.
Why is Skyline Our Pick?
We picked the emulator as the best Android emulator in 2022 for one big reason: current-gen emulation feels wild. We can’t deny the excitement of seeing nearly-new games running extremely well on different devices feels like we’re living in the future.
We’ve seen Pokémon Shield, OMORI, Super Meat Boy, and so many others running at blistering framerates. The community has shown a lot of dedication to not only testing games, but also spreading the news of their trial and error to others to help other out. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Normally, you need an interest in retro games to want to get involved in emulation. Skyline’s focus on the Nintendo Switch has brought current-gen titles to phones, tablets, and occasionally even smart whiteboards.
What Next?
The project is ongoing, and from what we’re seeing of the prototype build, Skyline Edge, there is a lot to look forward to from Team Skyline in the future..
That’s not all we’ve got to be excited about next year, either. The Vita3K looks set for release sooner rather than later, and we can’t wait to see what 2023 has to offer in the emulation world.
