5 Things We Learned About Nintendo Switch 2

The first thing you’ll notice when picking up Switch 2 is that it looks and feels premium. With a sleek matte black veneer and sturdy frame, it’s slightly bigger than 2021’s Switch OLED model. With a 120Hz 7.9-inch LCD display, it’s capable of playing games natively at 1080p (something the previous version could do while docked to a TV). And with its own overhauled dock, it’s capable of running games at a lush 4K resolution — bringing Nintendo up to par with the likes of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X circa 2020.

This will come as a relief to many, as even with Nintendo’s artistic and technical wizardry, the original Switch was looking long in the tooth shortly after its 2017 arrival; Even first-party games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild chugged along at low framerates when the action got too heavy.

But Switch 2 is capable of not just surpassing its predecessors but running games that were previously bound to beefier platforms like Street Fighter 6 and Cyberpunk 2077. Both games were playable at the preview event and ran about as smoothly as they do on systems like PlayStation 4. Seeing a Nintendo console reproducing the heavy rain and neon hues of Night City — accompanied by a fully mo-capped Keanu Reeves — in Cyberpunk is downright mindboggling.

Of course, Nintendo’s own games will always look the best on their devices — they’re built from the ground up with the hardware in mind. Alongside its cartoony aesthetic, Mario Kart World manages to have some really impressive visual effects, from raging rivers and explosive particle effects, on top of packing in 24 players into a single race. Like the name implies, its “world” is completely open in free roam, allowing users to chart their own path across a huge expanse in ways that feels equal parts Diddy Kong Racing and Forza Horizon.

Donkey Kong Bananza is the first 3D game in the series since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64, and its rich visuals evoke the Pixar-like look of PlayStation’s Ratchet & Clank series, which is a compliment given that Insomniac’s shooter franchise has long been considered a high watermark for modern gaming graphics.

But the biggest and most obvious improvement comes with Switch 2 upgrades to original Switch games. The Zelda duology of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both hum along at a crispy 60 frames-per-second (or more, but Nintendo reps on-site couldn’t confirm). Combined with HDR contrast and upscaled resolution, they look like brand new releases — or at least how we’ve always wanted them to play.

Since the introduction of four-player split-screen play with the Nintendo 64, Nintendo has always been a leader in social gaming experiences. And while it’s fallen behind in its online offerings compared to its competitors, the company is ready to bring back friend-to-friend connectivity in a big way.

It all begins with a little button marked “C.” Whereas the “C” once meant “camera” when it adorned the four face buttons of the N64 controller and the “c-stick” on the GameCube’s, it now can stand for a few things: “connect,” “communicate,” and most literally, “chat.”

Clicking the new c-button on the Switch 2’s Joy-Con or pro controllers now opens a virtual live chat option with friends. Players can talk via voice chat, viewing each other’s gameplay, or utilize the new Switch 2 camera peripheral (sold separately) to go full Zoom meeting or TikTok influencer in the blink of an eye.

It sounds a little remedial well into the age of social media and Twitch livestreams, but connecting with friends via GameChat has its benefits. Not only can players connect all while running different games, they can even highlight a specific person’s screen to give them pointers (or watch them fail).

The camera also allows players to insert themselves into certain games like Super Mario Party Jamboree, which is upgraded for the Switch 2 to allow users to map their faces and full body movements into the game’s new modes. Stealing someone’s stars or crushing them in a Bullet Bill mini-game was always cruel, but now it’s downright diabolical as you can see their face of distress in real-time online.

But increased connectivity also applies to playing locally. With the new GameShare feature, anyone who owns a specific Switch 1 or 2 games can now share the game with anyone else in the room who owns a Switch with only a single copy required. This could be a lifesaver for parents with multiple kids all wanting to play the same game without needing to shell out for duplicate cartridges.

Outside of fancy new features and uprezzed graphics, the success of the Switch 2 will ultimately come down to its game library, and it’s off to an okay start. Although it showed off more than 50 games coming to the console during the Nintendo Direct livestream — including solid ports of blockbuster games like Elden Ring and Split Fiction — much of what we’ve seen thus far relies heavily on games people have already played.

The actual new games looked pretty great, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza leading the charge for first-party games, alongside Koei Tecmo’s Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment surprising fans with a return to the world of Zelda with an action-heavy musou flavor. FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods drew gasps, then cheers, from attendees in New York, as it was strategically designed to do.

But outside of a select few bangers, the overall lineup announcement was kind of a dud. A new look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond raised some hairs, but then there were things like Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour — a minigame and quiz-filled virtual instruction manual that teaches users all the functionality of the console in the vein of PlayStation 5’s Astro’s Playroom. Except that game has Astro, Sony’s lovable new mascot, and happened to be an incredible platformer in its own right. Also, it was free. Welcome Tour is a paid game (the exact cost hasn’t been announced), but having played the game, it’s painfully clear it should’ve been a freebie pack-in title.

The rest of the launch window titles range from stellar to somewhat confusing. Mario Kart World will be a killer app that surgically removes 80 bucks from your bankroll one day one, but it’s worth it. Metroid Prime 4 plays wonderfully, but given that only a micro-slice was made available to preview, it’s too soon to tell. The biggest question mark is Donkey Kong Bananza which, despite looking and controlling amazing in the moment, plays like a mash-up of Dig Dug and PowerWash Simulator for dirt, where an overalls-clad Donkey Kong punches his way through mud and rubble in search of golden bananas. From the brief demo, it’s charming but it’s no Super Mario Odyssey.

While any or all of these games could be hits, there’s no big-ticket item like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that makes Switch 2’s day one lineup have curbside appeal. Yes, Mario Kart is a beast, but the original Switch launched with arguably the greatest video game of all time. In comparison, Switch 2 is playing second fiddle.

It wouldn’t be a true Nintendo console launch without some new gimmick involved, and while the Switch 2 borrows its core hybrid handheld design from its predecessor, it’s still got a few tricks up its sleeve.

While the camera schtick has been done before by the likes of Xbox and PlayStation (and Nintendo itself with the Game Boy Camera), the big new twist that had the internet abuzz since the device’s announcement was the potential to use the detachable Joy-Con controllers like a PC mouse. It’s a rumor that turned out to be true, and while most people’s minds (ours included) immediately jumped to prospect of a Mario Paint sequel, the actual implementation is both more clever and obvious.

Starting with the obvious, the Joy-Con-as-a-mouse feature means first-person shooter games can be played with the razor-sharp precision that they have on PC (as God intended).

The only demo at the preview event that utilized the mouse this way was Metroid Prime 4 — and it’s a game changer. The Metroid Prime games have never been about pinpoint accuracy despite being a shooter, mainly because they utilize a lock-on feature that takes all the heavy lifting out of aiming. Even the Wii’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which utilizes the Wiimote’s motion controlled never really felt like a sweaty shooter. But using the Joy-Con as a mouse to aim in Metroid Prime 4 feels like the truest way to play the game.

Using the left controller as normal, players can move, strafe, and jump with one hand, while aiming and firing with the other. One big surprise is that “switching” to the mouse from standard controls doesn’t require any in-game menus or setting. It’s as simple as slapping the Joy-Con on the table and getting to it. During a particularly rousing boss battle, we found ourselves frustrated with the standard lock-on controls as we failed time and again to hit specific weak points in the enemy. But in a lightbulb moment, swapping to the mouse in real-time allowed for increased precision right when it was needed most.

A more creative use of the Joy-Con mouse came in the form of a game called Drag x Drive, a 3v3 wheelchair basketball competition that feels like the Switch 2’s version of ARMS, the spaghetti-armed boxing game that pushed the OG Switch’s gyroscopic and motion controls early in it its lifecycle. Dual-wielding two Joy-Con as mice, Drag x Drive lets players control the left and right wheel of the chair for locomotion, with the right controller used to shoot the ball with the flick of the wrist. It sounds a little bizarre, but after a small learning curve, it becomes fairly intuitive and a pretty physically and mentally taxing competition that plays out like a slower-paced take on Rocket League (but with basketball).

Overall, the Switch 2 feels like Nintendo’s attempt to have it all. The console itself feels like a technological leap forward for the company that’s always one step behind the competition in terms of horsepower. Since the success of the Wii, Nintendo has been content to march to their own beat, focusing on innovative (if toylike) designs that cater to their best-in-class games.

And while some would say it feels like a half-measure or a stopgap — it’s literally the first time Nintendo’s ever been content to just drop a “2” in the name and call it a day — the results are impressive. Switch 2’s special blend of new ideas and features people already loved, all turned up a notch, feels like it might be the right choice for Nintendo at this point in time. With good versions of old games and some fresh ones on the horizon, it’s got all the makings of the next great console.

Except, the majority of what they’re asking people to pay for can already be found elsewhere. After the Switch made home console-quality gaming on-the-go a whole thing, everyone from PlayStation to PC manufacturers have worked up their own handheld devices capable of playing next-gen games in the palm of your hands. With a $500 price tag (at the cheapest) to get the full Nintendo experience, on top of nickel-and-diming with paid upgrades to existing Switch games, what the company is really doing is asking consumers to pay the “Nintendo Tax.”

For the exact same price of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X — both of which have Netflix-like subscriptions with hundreds of games — you can now play Nintendo better. For a certain type of gamer, that’s easily worth it. Anyone who knows Nintendo can be confident that whatever games they eventually put out will be among the best of the generation (maybe even ever). But looking at what’s on the table right now, it could be a hard sell. Is the perfected edition of Breath of the Wild or an open-world Mario Kart enough to warrant the sunken cost?

Time will tell. But Nintendo? Well, they’ve got time. The mustachioed allure of Mario has never been sexier than with the Switch 2, and by Christmas it’ll likely be his world once again.