When I wrote about Nintendo’s 2024, I waxed lyrical about how many great Switch games there were, but the hybrid handheld was definitely showing its age.
The Nintendo Switch 2 finally launched in 2025, but it did so in June, which means it’s actually a strangely paced year for the company, which has done a great job in recent years of dripping compelling exclusives.
As a result, I’m going to split this year into Nintendo pre-Switch 2 and after the console arrived, but it’s worth pointing out that it’s been a pretty good year – and hardware sales look promising for the latest system too.
Before Switch 2
While Nintendo kicked off the year with a short teaser about the Switch 2 on January 16th, we didn’t get any further specs until a full Direct presentation on April 2nd before the console launched on June 5th.
That meant the heavy lifting in the company’s first six months of the year was all about the software, and to its credit, the hits kept coming across both first- and third-party titles. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Civilization 7, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionand more helped the Switch gallop off into the sunset with plenty of positivity.
And yet, it would be fair to say that we were all waiting for that June release. We got Cyberpunk 2077 on a Nintendo system, Hitman on the go, and big hitters like Mario Kart World. And while pricing and the prevalence of ‘Game Key Cards’ remain a contentious issue in the community, none of that has stopped the Switch 2 and its software from selling big.
The big arrival
The Switch 2 had, in some ways, arguably one of the best launch series of all time. That’s partly because we got a new one Mario Kart title i World (more on that soon), but also down to the fact that third parties flocked to the system the same way they did a few months into the original Switch’s life cycle.
Where last time we saw a ‘wait and see’ approach, we got a whole lot of games revealed and launched within the console’s first six months. Sure, some of them were older games that were repackaged for the Switch 2, but got that sort of thing Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition taking it on the go, with mouse controls, still feels new months later.
Then there’s Nintendo’s own output. Mario Kart World was probably not quite the slam dunk that its predecessor was, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, was, but it certainly looks like a system seller from here. And as it began to wane, Pokémon Legends: ZA was rolled into bundles to replace it, offering the best way to play the latest creeping adventure.
Perhaps best of all is how inviting the Switch 2 is if you didn’t play the original console. Not played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or The tears of the kingdom? They’re here, running better than they ever did on the last-gen console thanks to some great Switch 2 Edition upgrades.
There are still some significant caveats. First, backwards compatibility is great, but Nintendo’s paid upgrades have been inconsistent. Super Mario Party Jamboree‘s extra Switch 2 content barely feels worth the price of admission, but then you get to play a whole new set of remixed levels in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Some of the free upgrades are great too Super Mario Odyssey and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet runs much better.
That brings us nicely to what Nintendo has yet to show us. While Donkey Kong Banana is a great platform adventure, we have yet to get a new 3D Mario title, while the Metroid fanbase seems somewhat divided Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. We get Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave next year, which is exciting, but Nintendo’s vast array of IP is currently unknown.
On the one hand, it is very exciting, especially with things such as Super Smash Bros. or Animal Crossing yet to come, but on the other hand, it makes you wonder where the next big system vendor will come from. If you don’t care Mario Kart or Pokémonthere isn’t really a run-in for you at the moment.
Fortunately, third parties are working to pick up that mantle. I’d much rather play Madden NFL and EA Sports FC on my PS5, but the fact that both are here already, and not just watered down ports, is an example of how the Switch 2 is getting support that its predecessor just didn’t really have.
A storm brewing?
One of the main criticisms of the original Switch was its lack of graphical grunt compared to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the time. While this was certainly negated by the fact that you could take it anywhere, the Switch 2 comes when handheld PCs with much more power are seemingly launching every month.
Nintendo’s claim that the Switch 2 would support 4K visuals (in docked mode) and up to 120fps in both docked and handheld was a shock at the time, but we can already see some hardware limitations. Borderlands 4 and Elden Ring: Tarnished EditionSwitch 2 ports of games you can already play elsewhere have both been delayed to 2026, which certainly raises concerns about their quality.
Will we wonder if the Switch version of a game will run well enough again? The more I think about it ARK: Survival Evolved on the 2017 system, the more I really hope we can avoid that kind of mess again, especially since one of the console’s biggest launches in January is the 2020s Final fantasy 7 remake.
Still, 2026 looks promising – we’ll get a full preview in the coming days, but between third-party games like Resident Evil: Requiem, Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflectionand even 007: First Lightit’s clear that developers are ready to stand up and be counted on Switch 2. We just hope Switch 2 can stand up for them too.
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