This Raspberry Pi handheld emulator looks like a Nintendo Switch but it can play many more games

Retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi is cool enough on its own but it’s even more exciting to see the neat housing makers come up with for their retro gaming rigs. Today we’ve got an awesome build put together by a maker known as BBoHK. Using the latest Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5), he’s created a handheld retro console that resembles a Nintendo Switch.

The cool thing about this Switch build is that you’ve got the full emulation power of the CM5 backing it up. In example pictures, we see it running titles from consoles as recent as the Nintendo GameCube (or Wii U, the game is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) — so this is definitely made for more than just 8-bit titles and early 3D games. The Raspberry Pi 5 has the power to emulate the later “retro” consoles with ease. Gamecube, Wii, Dreamcast are all now easily emulated thanks to the powerful Raspberry Pi 5. The case has been customized so that you have access to everything you might need with plenty of ports made available around its perimeter.

We’re doubly excited about the Switch design as news has been circulating over the last few months of its upcoming sequel console, the Switch 2. Just last month, we covered a potential design leak that was unveiled by a case maker that showed a similar build but with a much larger screen and the usual Joycons.

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We get a really good look at the inside which is absolutely gorgeous. It’s built around a custom PCB that houses the CM5 along with all of the accessories that make the build possible including a screen, 2500 mAh battery, internal M.2 SSD and more. The hardware is kept in place using 3D printed mounting components.

As far as software goes, the sky is the limit. It’s running on a CM5 module so you can run Raspberry Pi OS and open individual emulation apps or choose something dedicated like RetroPie or Lakka. In the end, you’ve got a lot of flexibility and that’s part of the appeal in creating a handheld retro gaming rig like this.

We’re absolute suckers for this design and definitely recommend checking it out. If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread shared to X (formerly Twitter) by BBoHK.