The dust has settled after the release of Nintendo Switch 2, which sold more than 3.5 million units in the first week. But the best games on the powerful-yet-portable console aren’t necessarily “new”, which makes navigating the library interesting.
What are the standouts? Which games are best for Nintendo newcomers? And what games can owners of the original Switch newly enjoy on the upgraded Switch 2?
Start with Mario Kart World. Thanks to the franchise’s popularity, Mario Kart World is a no-brainer purchase for Switch 2 owners — and possibly reason enough to buy the console in the first place. Larger races, more characters and expanded tricks invigorate a familiar formula.
Nintendo’s hit franchises got upgrades. Two critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda adventures have received bespoke upgrades for the Switch 2. Even if you have played Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the jump in performance and fidelity makes the sensations of gazing upon a large open world and unleashing powerful attacks exhilarating.
Nintendo will release more paid upgrades, but in the meantime, a selection of its Switch games have received free patches. The biggest updates are for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, two 2022 games in the monster-catching series that run dreadfully on the original Switch and are finally proficient on the new console. Other upgraded games, like Super Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 3, look significantly crisper.
Your existing Switch library may contain some surprises. Newer hardware doesn’t typically change how an older game or app might run — think of how a brand-new iPhone runs your favourite older App Store purchases nearly identically. But if an original Switch game had its animation system coded a certain way, the more powerful Switch 2 can improve its frame rate, supercharging the sense of smoothness and offering quicker responses.
Games that receive such performance boosts include the wildly popular sandbox Minecraft, the action-filled sequel Bayonetta 3, the cooperative superhero brawler Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, the bombastic destroy-everything Red Faction Guerrilla and the rollerblading-parkour game Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.
Very few games for the original Switch have received formal announcements of specific upgrades for the Switch 2. The biggest exception is No Man’s Sky, a space-exploration game whose nine years of patches are finally paid forward by a Nintendo system powerful enough to render them.
Check out these new-to-Switch games. Nearly every major Switch 2 game is only new to Nintendo systems, with the biggest standouts having already been released for Xbox, PlayStation or PCs.
Of these games, Cyberpunk 2077 is the single-player standout: its dynamic interpretation of a futuristic Los Angeles is downgraded compared to a powerful PlayStation 5 but still quite capable. Cyberpunk also supports the Switch 2’s gimmick of placing the refreshed Joy-Con controller on a table and moving it around like a computer mouse, in order to more finely aim the game’s myriad guns.
The inventive adventure Split Fiction is the best new two-player game for Switch 2 owners who held out buying it elsewhere. Thanks to larger controllers, louder speakers and a bigger screen, the new system works well as a shared gaming experience on a tabletop.
Of the other third-party games that were ported to the Switch 2, most perform well enough to merit a recommendation if you don’t already own them.
Street Fighter 6 includes great accessibility options for novices and lapsed fighting-game fans. Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut is a deep, darkly funny introduction to Sega’s 20-year-old crime-saga series, and it runs impressively in Switch 2’s hand-held mode. And Sonic X Shadow Generations is a smoothed-out update to arguably the best modern Sonic the Hedgehog game, with a blend of classic 2D action and frenetic 3D exploration.
Switch 2 exclusives are limited for now. Survival Kids by Konami is arguably the best non-Nintendo exclusive on the Switch 2. This family-friendly island-exploration game cleverly distils the craft-and-survive basics from hits like Animal Crossing and Minecraft. A parent and child can pretend to be in Swiss Family Robinson but it looks and plays like an older budget title.
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