I'm not too familiar with emulation handhelds, but I think finding one that is $200 and can run GameCube games is a pretty big ask... I think your best bet would be a used Steam Deck. Looks like the older models can go for around $300 on eBay and some of the ones I saw had a 1TB upgrade already unstalled
this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
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+1 for steam deck
Steam deck is insane for emulation. I ran wind walker at higher res and full screen and it was great. The best part is the instant sleep button to just pause things down at any point.
Op wants a steam deck.
OP desperately wants a Steam Deck. OP is also poor AF
Both sales put the lcd low mem model at $330
If you have specific games in mind you can check out this site emuready.com. That let's you filter by device or cpu to see how well games play, sorta like ProtonDB for Linux emulation.
I think the biggest issue is, are you looking sub $200 before shipping+tax or after. For example I think the Retroid Pocket 5 is supposed to handle gamcube pretty well, but thats $200 just for the device.
You can just use your phone and a Bluetooth controller. You might even already own both so it's basically free
You should be able to run wind waker and a lot of other GC titles one something like anbernic RG405V which is around $150.
You will want to avoid the cheaper H700 based handhelds, i have a cubexx and it geta about 5fps in wind waker, but i didnt really expect it to work at all.
Android based devices tend to be better for gc from what ive seen. I dont know what the best option for under $200 is at the moment but there should be several around that price that will handle GC well.
I'd also like to recommend the BetterWW hack that adds qol to the game
You might be able to find a used Android phone that can run it in an emulator. That is going to depend on your region and your definition of smooth. I know some GameCube games like Smash Bros emulate fine on midrange Android devicee but more graphically demanding games like Metroid Prime run poorly. I'm not sure where Wind Waker falls in that scope.
If you go just above the $200 price point, Retroid will release a new handheld in January that can handle everything an AYN Odin 2 can. Well worth the asking price of that. For less than $100, you have the Magmi Air which might work for you. A 3rd option would be, Magmi will release their second handheld, a Magmi Pocket. That will likely be under $200, and will likely handle NGC just fine.