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Sonic on Steam Deck - A guide to compatibility of Sonic games on Deck


Ryannumber1gamer

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I wonder if Sonic 1 Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute and Sonic 3 AIR can solve the Classic Trilogy issues. Anyone has any experience with non-steam games to share? I also wonder if other games like Sonic R, Heroes and Riders also have many issues.

I'm also curious if Emulators runs well on Steam Deck, because being able to run PS2, GameCube and Wii games expands its library massively. Heck, even SEGA Genesis and SNES would already be a big deal.

I've been dreaming with a Nintendo Switch, as I mentioned in this Status Update, but the game prices here were a huge let-down. Steam Deck isn't as cheap as a Switch, but the availability is very scarce (I don't even know if it's purchasable in retail stores yet), however I think the Steam Deck price soon pays itself assuming I don't need to buy my game library twice, which is a huge pro for it.

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It's a shame how poorly Sonic Generations runs out of the box, but you can actually improve its performance quite a bit.

First thing to check out is Proton GE.  Proton GE is a custom compatibility layer that's unaffiliated with Valve's, but features an assortment of fixes that isn't currently on the main version. Some people kind of consider GE an unofficial beta version of Proton since many of the updates GE has kind of makes its way over to main version eventually. If you have trouble running a game on the Steam Deck, it doesn't hurt to check out GE.

The next thing to look at is Power Tools. Power Tools is a custom plugin that gives you a bit more control over your Steam Deck's performance by allowing you to mess with its CPU a bit. By disabling SMT (and thus dropping the amount of CPU cores being used from 8 to 4) you can get a much more stable framerate in Generations usually. Chemical Plant for instance still experiences some noticeable stutters and slowdown, but it doesn't drop nearly as harshly as it would normally for me.

Not perfect at all, but you do have some options to consider.

1 hour ago, Solister said:

I wonder if Sonic 1 Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute and Sonic 3 AIR can solve the Classic Trilogy issues. Anyone has any experience with non-steam games to share? I also wonder if other games like Sonic R, Heroes and Riders also have many issues.

I'm also curious if Emulators runs well on Steam Deck, because being able to run PS2, GameCube and Wii games expands its library massively. Heck, even SEGA Genesis and SNES would already be a big deal.

I've been dreaming with a Nintendo Switch, as I mentioned in this Status Update, but the game prices here were a huge let-down. Steam Deck isn't as cheap as a Switch, but the availability is very scarce (I don't even know if it's purchasable in retail stores yet), however I think the Steam Deck price soon pays itself assuming I don't need to buy my game library twice, which is a huge pro for it.

My experiences with emulation on Steam Deck has been wonderful so far. There's a program called Emudeck that'll download all the emulators you'll ever need and will help you get your games added to your Steam library. I have over 200 games from the SNES to the Nintendo Switch installed on it. The Gamecube version of Sonic Heroes runs perfectly outside of the usual shader compilation stutters that go away after a bit (though I've only played up to Grand Metropolis).

The Power Tools plugin I mentioned earlier is actually really helpful for emulation too. If any game has unusual stutters or uneven performance, chances are disabling SMT will help smooth it out. Emudeck actually offers to install it for you while it's installing all the other emulators.

The only issues I've really had is with PS3 emulation. Sonic Unleashed HD is a stupidly demanding game, and the Steam Deck simply can't keep up with it unfortunately. Sonic 06 also doesn't work, but that's normal for the RPCS3 emulator (the P-06 fangame works though, just play that instead lol). The Xbox 360 versions of those games might work better, but I don't have the means to check it out yet.

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3 minutes ago, Nix said:

It's a shame how poorly Sonic Generations runs out of the box, but you can actually improve its performance quite a bit.

First thing to check out is Proton GE.  Proton GE is a custom compatibility layer that's unaffiliated with Valve's, but features an assortment of fixes that isn't currently on the main version. Some people kind of consider GE an unofficial beta version of Proton since many of the updates GE has kind of makes its way over to main version eventually. If you have trouble running a game on the Steam Deck, it doesn't hurt to check out GE.

Strangely, I did try Proton GE as one of the compatibility layers during my Gens’ testing, since it’s usually good for any games that have issues in general, but if anything, it made the frame drops even harder in a few places (Classic Chemical Plant, notably). Wasn’t aware of Power Tools, though, so that hopefully is a way of fixing up the worst of Gens’ problems.

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lmao, hit new post instead of edit whoops, I can fix this

5 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Strangely, I did try Proton GE as one of the compatibility layers during my Gens’ testing, since it’s usually good for any games that have issues in general, but if anything, it made the frame drops even harder in a few places (Classic Chemical Plant, notably). Wasn’t aware of Power Tools, though, so that hopefully is a way of fixing up the worst of Gens’ problems.

Yeah, Proton GE might not solve all your problems, but it's still worth checking out if you ever have issues. Power Tools definitely helps though.

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2 hours ago, Solister said:

I wonder if Sonic 1 Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute and Sonic 3 AIR can solve the Classic Trilogy issues. Anyone has any experience with non-steam games to share? I also wonder if other games like Sonic R, Heroes and Riders also have many issues.

I can’t give a personal answer as I haven’t tried the mods myself, but I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t work, as long as they’re on the Steam Workshop, and are available for the Mega Drive Collection. Partly the reason I didn’t include Spinball and 3D Blast, but the only real issue with the Mega Drive Collection generally is the main collection itself that’s used to boot the other games will black screen unless run via Proton Experimental Compatibility.

Otherwise, as long as the collection itself boots, I believe everything within it should work as expected, albeit with the regular issues expected with emulation.

2 hours ago, Solister said:

I've been dreaming with a Nintendo Switch, as I mentioned in this Status Update, but the game prices here were a huge let-down. Steam Deck isn't as cheap as a Switch, but the availability is very scarce (I don't even know if it's purchasable in retail stores yet), however I think the Steam Deck price soon pays itself assuming I don't need to buy my game library twice, which is a huge pro for it.

Unfortunately, much like the Valve Index, I imagine this won’t be something you see in stores unless it’s a second hand store with trade ins. Steam Deck is only available directly from Valve themselves, with a waiting list. The good side of that however is the waiting list guarantees you one as soon as one’s available for you, as opposed to how tedious and annoying it is trying to track the likes of a PS5, Series X, or Switch was for awhile. 

It's definitely not scarce, by any means, production is ramping up now, and even if anyone reserves right now, they've been guaranteed to be gotten before the end of the year, but it's a lot more structured compared to any other console right now.

In terms of what’s better between it and a Switch price wise, it’s hard to say, although it’s important to keep in mind the base model of a Deck isn’t that far off from a Switch OLED in terms of pricing, at least here. I do have to admit that as someone who loves having my games on the go and it being a big appeal of the Switch originally, it was nice just having all my games from Steam ready to go at a moments notice instead of Switch Tax that usually puts game prices up an extra £5.

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1 hour ago, Nix said:

My experiences with emulation on Steam Deck has been wonderful so far. There's a program called Emudeck that'll download all the emulators you'll ever need and will help you get your games added to your Steam library. I have over 200 games from the SNES to the Nintendo Switch installed on it. The Gamecube version of Sonic Heroes runs perfectly outside of the usual shader compilation stutters that go away after a bit (though I've only played up to Grand Metropolis).

The Power Tools plugin I mentioned earlier is actually really helpful for emulation too. If any game has unusual stutters or uneven performance, chances are disabling SMT will help smooth it out. Emudeck actually offers to install it for you while it's installing all the other emulators.

The only issues I've really had is with PS3 emulation. Sonic Unleashed HD is a stupidly demanding game, and the Steam Deck simply can't keep up with it unfortunately. Sonic 06 also doesn't work, but that's normal for the RPCS3 emulator (the P-06 fangame works though, just play that instead lol). The Xbox 360 versions of those games might work better, but I don't have the means to check it out yet.

Ooh, so that's wonderful news, then. Assuming PS2, GC and Wii emulators are pretty much reaching their stable levels, I think that's enough to keep me entertained. I do dream of possibly playing Wii U, PS3 and Xbox360, but even then, I think it might be just a matter of time before these become softly playable.

51 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I can’t give a personal answer as I haven’t tried the mods myself, but I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t work, as long as they’re on the Steam Workshop, and are available for the Mega Drive Collection. Partly the reason I didn’t include Spinball and 3D Blast, but the only real issue with the Mega Drive Collection generally is the main collection itself that’s used to boot the other games will black screen unless run via Proton Experimental Compatibility.

Otherwise, as long as the collection itself boots, I believe everything within it should work as expected, albeit with the regular issues expected with emulation.

I think you might have been confusing things. Sonic 1 Forever and Sonic 2 Absolute are two separate apps not relate with the SEGA Genesis  & Mega Drive Collection. They, in fact, use the Mobile ports data as source. It's just an "app" which improves the game to run in widescreen/add many other features, pretty much what Origins would have been later. Sonic 3 AIR is similar, a separate app from Steam, but using the Genesis ROM instead.

I think the point is, if Steam Deck runs every app Windows runs (Or at least game, which I think it still falls under the category), I think is very likely to work.

51 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Unfortunately, much like the Valve Index, I imagine this won’t be something you see in stores unless it’s a second hand store with trade ins. Steam Deck is only available directly from Valve themselves, with a waiting list. The good side of that however is the waiting list guarantees you one as soon as one’s available for you, as opposed to how tedious and annoying it is trying to track the likes of a PS5, Series X, or Switch was for awhile. 

It's definitely not scarce, by any means, production is ramping up now, and even if anyone reserves right now, they've been guaranteed to be gotten before the end of the year, but it's a lot more structured compared to any other console right now.

In terms of what’s better between it and a Switch price wise, it’s hard to say, although it’s important to keep in mind the base model of a Deck isn’t that far off from a Switch OLED in terms of pricing, at least here. I do have to admit that as someone who loves having my games on the go and it being a big appeal of the Switch originally, it was nice just having all my games from Steam ready to go at a moments notice instead of Switch Tax that usually puts game prices up an extra £5.

Oh, my bad, then. I just considered on getting a console this week, I still haven't read how Steam Deck works and how to get it. I saw one store selling on Google Shopping, so I thought it wasn't pre-order only.

For Switch, I was more leaning towards the Lite version, so the cheapest version. I think the decisive factor, then, will be if I can buy all Switch games I want without reaching the price of a Steam Deck.

Edit: Just checked, Steam Deck is not yet available on my country. As I suspected, I think it is just not the appropriate time to buy a console. Probably will wait towards the end of the year.

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3 minutes ago, Solister said:

I think you might have been confusing things. Sonic 1 Forever and Sonic 2 Absolute are two separate apps not relate with the SEGA Genesis  & Mega Drive Collection. They, in fact, use the Mobile ports data as source. It's just an "app" which improves the game to run in widescreen/add many other features, pretty much what Origins would have been later. Sonic 3 AIR is similar, a separate app from Steam, but using the Genesis ROM instead.

I think the point is, if Steam Deck runs every app Windows runs (Or at least game, which I think it still falls under the category), I think is very likely to work.

Ahh, my bad then. I thought AIR at least was on the Steam Workshop as a mod for Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I'm not certain then, as SteamOS uses Linux, which isn't 1:1 for Windows, it's why I made this compatibility guide in the first place. You can install Windows onto the Steam Deck if you prefer and use stuff like Epic and Game Pass, but it's generally not recommended since SteamOS was built specifically for the device in mind. That said, I know some Sonic fan games run on Deck just fine, so I'd imagine Forever, Absolute, and AIR wouldn't have many issues. There is a desktop mode on the Deck you can use to handle all that stuff.

You can even add non-Steam games into Steam and give it custom cover art and such.

5 minutes ago, Solister said:

Oh, my bad, then. I just considered on getting a console this week, I still haven't read how Steam Deck works and how to get it. I saw one store selling on Google Shopping, so I thought it wasn't pre-order only.

For Switch, I was more leaning towards the Lite version, so the cheapest version. I think the decisive factor, then, will be if I can buy all Switch games I want without reaching the price of a Steam Deck.

Well, in terms of getting one, it's simple enough - if it's available in your region, you just go onto Steam itself, and put down around £4/$5/your country's equivalent, and it'll put you down for a reservation. Then when it's your turn, you'll be alerted via email + Steam itself and you'll have three days to pay for it from there. The reservation price is also taken off the full price.

In terms of availability, production has ramped up in general that all orders are apparently being filled by the end of the year, even if you reserve now. That said, this is primarily for the 512gb model as that's the one that seems most popular, so I'm pretty sure the 64gb and 256gb models have even faster times for getting them. 

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25 minutes ago, Solister said:

Ooh, so that's wonderful news, then. Assuming PS2, GC and Wii emulators are pretty much reaching their stable levels, I think that's enough to keep me entertained. I do dream of possibly playing Wii U, PS3 and Xbox360, but even then, I think it might be just a matter of time before these become softly playable.

Wii U actually plays really well on the deck. There isn't a native Linux version of the Cemu emulator yet, but Proton works with the Windows version. I played a good chunk of Breath of the Wild with the 60fps patch on it; a couple of framerate drops here and there, but smooth sailing otherwise.

edit: Sonic Boom also works pretty well... uh, in case anyone was wondering.

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58 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Ahh, my bad then. I thought AIR at least was on the Steam Workshop as a mod for Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I'm not certain then, as SteamOS uses Linux, which isn't 1:1 for Windows, it's why I made this compatibility guide in the first place. You can install Windows onto the Steam Deck if you prefer and use stuff like Epic and Game Pass, but it's generally not recommended since SteamOS was built specifically for the device in mind. That said, I know some Sonic fan games run on Deck just fine, so I'd imagine Forever, Absolute, and AIR wouldn't have many issues. There is a desktop mode on the Deck you can use to handle all that stuff.

You can even add non-Steam games into Steam and give it custom cover art and such.

Well, in terms of getting one, it's simple enough - if it's available in your region, you just go onto Steam itself, and put down around £4/$5/your country's equivalent, and it'll put you down for a reservation. Then when it's your turn, you'll be alerted via email + Steam itself and you'll have three days to pay for it from there. The reservation price is also taken off the full price.

In terms of availability, production has ramped up in general that all orders are apparently being filled by the end of the year, even if you reserve now. That said, this is primarily for the 512gb model as that's the one that seems most popular, so I'm pretty sure the 64gb and 256gb models have even faster times for getting them. 

No worries! 😄

Oh, I wasn't aware Steam Deck uses Linux, I must consider this factor (although I don't think this could be much of an issue).

It definitely looks like Steam Deck is full of Endless Possibilities then (accidental pun, hehe). By far, it seems it's just a matter of a bit of tweaking here and there. With so many game options, these would become the least of my worries.

I later mentioned on an edit, I think you might have not seen since you didn't include on your quote, Steam Deck pre-order is still unavailable on my country. At least, I think this will give me some time to cool down and think better, and see if I really want it, or isn't just some seasonal buy crazy.

48 minutes ago, Nix said:

Wii U actually plays really well on the deck. There isn't a native Linux version of the Cemu emulator yet, but Proton works with the Windows version. I played a good chunk of Breath of the Wild with the 60fps patch on it; a couple of framerate drops here and there, but smooth sailing otherwise.

edit: Sonic Boom also works pretty well... uh, in case anyone was wondering.

I remember I once tried running WiiU on my PC a few years back (2018?) just to see how it worked, and I recall being impressed. It wasn't any kind of 60 FPS, but it was playable. I didn't play much, I think by far, half an hour.

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  • 2 months later...

There's a mod on the thread that also works but following the OP gives some great results.

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  • 2 months later...

Interestingly, the entire Sonic series seems to got completely reevaluated by Steam’s verification system. New ratings: 

  • Sonic CD - Unknown to Unsupported
  • Mega Drive Collection (Sonic 1-3) - Unknown to Verified 
  • Generations - Verified to Unsupported
  • Frontiers - Verified to Playable

What’s bizarre however is despite these supposed changes, nothings actually changed with these games. A quick test shows CD running as perfectly as ever.

Generations bizarrely does seem to have been broken further, despite no updates to the game itself, giving a error as soon as the game starting stating your chosen config doesn’t work with the game, and forces you to screw around with the launcher. That said, with fiddling, you can get it playing, and since my initial tests, stuff like Decky and Power Tools have helped fix the fps issues. Definitely didn’t deserve to be a verified status, but hard to say if being dropped to straight unsupported was wise.

Frontiers is the most strangest of the whole lot, and I can speak personally as I picked it up from the Winter Sale and am currently playing it on my Deck. While initially there was reports of poor performance, people soon managed to find the right settings to hit a very solid and consistent 40fps, dropping the resolution to around 520p, and then using Deck’s built in FSR to upscale the resolution back up, something that’s hard to notice on a 720p handheld, and leads to a very clean nice looking result with solid FPS. So I’d personally say it’s still closer to verified than just playable.

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Updated the OP of the topic to include three new games that I was able to test to full completion since I launched this guide. If you check now, you'll find the guide cleaned up with SSMB's new formatting options + Frontiers, Origins Plus, and Colours Ultimate added/updated.

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