The Nintendo Switch 2 is here—bigger, better, and still unmistakably a Switch.
It’s the first time that Nintendo has used the same name across generations without a playful twist like the “Wii U” or the “3DS”. In many ways, it earns that plain title: this is the same core idea taken a bit further. The hardware is a little heftier and the curves a bit sleeker, but the user interface and the general experience of playing on a Switch 2 aren’t that much different from the original. Even the unlock screen looks and sounds (barring a few Easter eggs!) the same.
That pesky blue shell
The power of the new hardware is welcome in the context of recent Nintendo releases. Choosing the Switch version of a multiplatform title was always a compromise: the Switch version had the portability and the seamless transition from big to small screen going for it until everybody else started doing it. There’s no longer much of a comparative advantage to go Switch for third-party releases nowadays, especially with inexplicably bad performance from relatively lower-demand games like Wildermyth, River City Girls 2, and Bloodstained.
It gets even worse, though: in the Switch’s later years, even first-party and exclusive titles like The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity were performing abysmally on the hardware that they were specifically developed to run on.
The Switch 2, then, is a blue shell launched from somewhere in the back half of the pack: a chance for Nintendo to play a little catch-up. The banner titles of this technical upgrade are, of course, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, which both received Nintendo Switch 2-branded versions that run flawlessly at 60 fps. The rereleases feel great, with more responsive controls and a frame rate that does justice to the game’s beautiful animation.
Because backwards compatibility with Switch games is one of the Switch 2’s feature highlights, Nintendo also released free updates for a handful of titles, improving their performance and resolution to take advantage of the new hardware. Echoes of Wisdom is playable now!
One can only hope that other developers follow—or are given the means to do so. Switch 2 owners have started compiling lists of games that noticeably perform better on the new console, although for many titles, this performance bump is simply in the form of faster loading times or the same capped 30 fps frame rate, only with no more dips into 20 fps territory.
It would be great to see older titles like Astral Chain or the Xenoblade games that ran at a 30 fps cap on the Switch get shiny 60 fps patches.
Ten times slower
Speaking of displays: there’s an elephant that’s being bounced off the walls of the proverbial room. Much has already been reported about the Switch 2’s slower screen response time—roughly ten times slower than a typical gaming monitor. This affects how quickly pixels change color, and it’s why some gamers have reported blurry visuals during busier scenes.
Not surprisingly, people are also collectively beginning to arrive at the same conclusion: ultimately, the diminishment of your enjoyment due to the screen’s shortcomings is a subjective thing. Let’s put it this way: the display remains pretty crisp even while all sorts of stuff is going on. Depending on the scale, some signs and text in the scenery can be hard to read while you’re zooming by on your 150cc kart. The blurriness comes from the slower response time. If you’re like most people, it’s something that will only ruin your day if you’re actively looking for it.
What really sells Nintendo consoles, though, aren’t the visuals or the frame rate. There’s also the promise of Nintendo magic itself.
Trust us, bro
For a lot of gamers, the draw of every new Nintendo console is the collection of first-party IPs that come with it. New hardware brings with it the promise of new entries from Nintendo’s stable of much-loved properties, delivered with its rarely-matched standard for polish.
It’s always been a gamble at launch, though. Brands like Star Fox and F-Zero have languished in recent years, having had no significant releases for entire console generations. We waited for years for a new Metroid. Fire Emblem got some love during the Switch generation, but how about Advance Wars? Nintendo’s response has always been a figurative pat on the shoulder and a straight-faced “Trust us.”
Time will tell. In the meantime, we’ll always be knee-deep in Mario titles. Our consolation is that whatever else trickles out of Nintendo’s magical workshop will almost be guaranteed to be great.
Don’t wait, but actually totally wait
It’s totally understandable for critics to tell gamers to wait and see. The Switch 2 hardware isn’t cutting edge. Screen compromises were made to keep the console’s price down. Third party games always come with a performance trade-off, and most importantly, we don’t know what Nintendo IPs are going to get some special attention this generation.
On the other hand, there’s nothing quite like the warm embrace of booting up a brand-new Nintendo game that has obviously been developed with copious amounts of love and care. That’s who the Switch 2 is for right now: people who have a history with the Nintendo brand. Get it if the prospect of a brand-new Mario Kart with a ridiculously good soundtrack excites you. Get it if you’re looking forward to playing Tears of the Kingdom or Echoes of Wisdom in glorious 60 fps. There’s also a new Donkey Kong that’s slated to release very soon.
If you’re waiting on some of the bigger titles on the horizon like Metroid Prime 4 or the Switch 2 edition of Elden Ring, though, it wouldn’t hurt to wait and see first. The console’s port game is off to a good start if Cyberpunk 2077 is any indication, but you wouldn’t be losing anything significant by waiting a little bit longer.
For people in the first group, though: just wait until you’re cruising along in Mario Kart World’s open world and a big band remix of a song from Mario Paint that you haven’t heard in 25 years suddenly starts playing.
For better or for worse, nobody does it quite like Nintendo does.
