The fact that Nintendo Switch 2 is an iterative upgrade over its predecessor doesn’t matter much when the foundation Nintendo is building on is the Nintendo Switch, the second best-selling console of all time, and they’re improving it in pretty much every way. Better graphics? Check. Bigger screen? Improved ergonomics? An actually useful kick-stand? Check, check, and check. Faster system interface? Check, thank god.
Nintendo Switch 2 does add some new features as well. GameChat allows you to chat, share your screen and have video calls while you play with friends, and the new Joy-Con 2 controllers can be used as mouse inputs in supported games. I’ll confess I haven’t tried either yet. In fact, the first thing I did when I got the Nintendo Switch 2 at launch was to go back to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom. Seeing it on my 65” TV in 4K resolution with upgraded graphics and 60 frames per seconds was a revelation. It made me happy I never finished it on the original Switch.
Tears of the Kingdom is one of many first-party Switch titles that have been updated with new features and upgraded graphics for the Switch 2, and I imagine it’s not the only one I’ll return to. Super Mario Bros. Wonder, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Animal Crossing: New Horizons… If we want to talk about killer features for the Switch 2, being backwards compatible with the thousands of titles released for the original Switch is a tough one to beat, even if only a handful of them take full advantage of the improved hardware.
The Switch 2 has seen plenty of new games released for it as well, of course. I’ll try to keep the list below updated with mini reviews of the ones I’ve played.
Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World doesn’t quite clear the very high bar set by its predecessor. The tracks themselves are great and look absolutely fantastic on the Switch 2, and it was fun to spend a few hours completing challenges and finding collectibles in the open world. My biggest gripe with the game is that driving from one track to another in the tournament mode becomes mundane when you’ve done it a few times. I wish there was a way to skip directly from track to track. Me and my girlfriend Rebecka have played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe almost weekly since we first met, and I don’t think Mario Kart World will dethrone it.
Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza might be the first Donkey Kong game I’ve really enjoyed. It doesn’t hurt that it belongs to the “dig for stuff to upgrade your equipment so you can dig better“ genre, also shared by SteamWorld Dig and Domekeeper, which never fails to hook me. In addition to the addictive gameplay and buckets of charm, Donkey Kong Bananza is a great visual showcase of what the Nintendo Switch 2 is capable of, from its beautiful animations to its fully destructible environments, all at a mostly solid 60 FPS.
Pokémon Pokopia
Imagine a mash-up of Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and Pokémon, and you have a pretty good idea of what Pokémon Pokopia is. Playing as a Ditto in the remnants of an abandoned Pokémon world, you’re tasked with constructing habitats for Pokémon and rebuilding towns in the hope that the humans will return. The more Pokémon you get to move back, the more you’ll be able to build, the more Pokémon will return, and so the addictive cycle continues. I haven’t been this obsessed with checking in daily with a game since Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Switch.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is almost everything I wanted out of a Switch successor, but as always, there is room for improvement. Nintendo lists the battery life as 2 to 6.5 hours depending on what you’re playing, and if it’s games like Donkey Kong Bananza or Pokémon Pokopia, you’re going to end up with a play time in the lower end of that span. It’s noticeably shorter than on my old Switch OLED, which lasted for 4.5 to 9 hours.
The other downgrade from the Switch OLED should be pretty obvious. While the screen on the Switch 2 is definitely impressive for an LCD, it’s a step down compared to the deep blacks of the Switch OLED. Knowing Nintendo, both the battery life and the screen will be improved in the inevitable Switch 2 Pro, or Switch 2 OLED, or whatever they’ll end up calling it when it’s released a few years down the road.
Despite those minor shortcomings, the Nintendo Switch 2 is very easy to recommend. It’s a delightful little machine with the biggest library of great Nintendo games ever.
