This Xbox emulator makes Halo, Forza, and more actually playable on Android handhelds

Xbox emulation on Android hasn’t exactly been great. Emulators have struggled to consistently run original Xbox games well. However, the latest version of HakuX, an original Xbox emulator, just made the Xbox emulation scene a little more exciting.

Retro Dodo reports that HakuX has received a new update — version 1.2.0. This update reportedly brings significant performance improvements, particularly on Adreno-based Android handhelds. With those improvements, several titles now run as well as they would on original Xbox hardware.

It’s said that 80% of the supported games that were tested on a Retroid Pocket 5, which uses an Adreno 640 GPU, were able to hit their original frame rates at double the resolution. Games like Halo: Combat Evolved and Jet Set Radio Future ran well, hitting 30 frames per second or higher. Forza Motorsport, Crazy Taxi, and Call of Duty 3 were also shown off.

While HakuX shows promise, it isn’t a perfect solution, as certain games struggled a bit. Halo 2 and Fable reportedly suffered from graphical artifacts. However, the outlet says that installing custom Turnip graphics drivers helped boost performance.

You won’t find HakuX on the Google Play Store. Instead, you’ll need to head over to GitHub to download it. It’s a free APK so there’s no harm in giving it a try.