Emulating or Playing Natively

[Hawk of Light]

Title. When playing through Zelda do you tend to play the games on native hardware and cartridges/discs, or do you look to enhance the games with emulation?

I ask this since I'm playing Twilight Princess on dolphin with a 4K texture pack and honestly it feels like the definitive way to play the game. Playing it in widescreen, 1440p and with a different controller might not be faithful to the original experience but I definitely prefer it.

 

[ArchAngel217]

I'm forced to play natively because my emulator is crappy sometimes. Ofc, sometimes I emulate some things I've played the remake of, if possible.

 

[Chevywolf30]

I played OoT and MM on native emulators.

 

[twilitfalchion]

I’d always prefer to play in the way that’s most convenient for me, or what offers the best quality. Unfortunately, I don’t have the hardware to enhance the Zelda games that would benefit from it most, like WW, TP, SS, etc., so I end up playing them on native consoles (although WWHD might as well be the equivalent of what you can do with it in Dolphin).

 

[Link&Midna]

I don't have anything to emulate on so official way it is

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

link's awakening DX and four swords adventures are the only ones I primarily play a rom/iso of, and for LA's case it's b/c my cart of the original game is really finicky to play and needs a battery replacement

everything else I play through some official release (physical and digital), I just like using what I paid for

 

[Ten Thousand Needles]

Mostly emulation these days, either on my pc or my wii. It's just too inconvenient to have all the real hardware handy. Plus it's nice to have access to the features emulators have such as fast forward.

 

[MapelSerup]

Natively. I have the means to play many Zelda games and at this point getting an emulator would be an inconvenience.

 

[Quin]

Emulator. Sometimes I do wish I could go back to the authentic experience, but that requires me to search for my old consoles, and also get a new CRT, don't have one of those anymore.
if you aren't looking for the authentic experience, emulation is the best, and the easiest way to experience the older games

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

While I like how emulators offer the chance to play games you may not otherwise have access too, I think you should get the originals whenever possible. While original versions may have more difficult control schemes or less abilities, that's just a part of the original challenge. It's part of what distinguishes games and often you lose that original element with the use of emulation. It really depends on what means more to you, just being able to play the game (often with added benefits) or if you want to play it in it's true and original form despite the difficulty that may be involved in attaining it.