So why mess with success?
Is there really enough new here to justify an upgrade?
There are a few new bells and whistles, but Nintendo hasnt strayed far from that vision here.
Once again, the company is using old hardware.
Perhaps the best improvements, though, are to the Joy-Cons.
Plus, they have a couple of new secrets, which Ill discuss a little bit later.
Its a tradeoff for cost and the increased size and frame rate, but its worth keeping in mind.
Honestly, as much as I loveOLED, I dont actually mind this too much.
The company will almost certainly release an OLED version down the line, anyway.
That means that, more than ever, its up to the games to sell the Switch 2.
But first, mouse controls!
But before I talk about those games, I do have to address the one big new feature here.
In theory, I love these.
There are a few tradeoffs.
I simply cant go back.
The potential here has me excited, perhaps more than anything about this system.
Competitive shooter players could potentially play out of their living room here.
Heck, you could easily use this to enable more accurate DS or Wii U backwards compatibility.
How many games actually used Wii MotionPlus, anyway?
(I liked the first game well enough, but generally prefer the 2D titles.)
The game, however, was gorgeous, and played like a dream.
Sitting down with it was one of the few moments where I thought this wasnt possible on Switch 1.
And thats without getting to the controls, which are certainly not possible on any other console.
Put simply,Mario Kart WorldandDonkey Kong Bananzafeel like games that could have released for the Switch 1.
Of these two games,Mario Kart Worldsuffers more from this.
Playing it was just like playingMario Kart 8, for better and worse.
The good:Mario Kart 8is a good game!
The bad:Mario Kart 8is a good game.
This, I could have seen struggling on the original Switch.
But Im also skeptical how necessary it is.
Again, a lot of what I said aboutMario Kart Worldholds true here.
It looks good, but doesnt exactly stand out from a good looking Switch 1 game.
Instead my pre-release experience with the Switch 2 was rounded out by third-party developers.
The games I tried were, sadly, the biggest reason I remain skeptical of the Switch 2.
FromCyberpunk 2077toStreet Fighter 6, it was a grab bag of quality.
Case in point:Cyberpunkis just flat out ugly on the Switch 2.
Its pixelated, the frame rate dips constantly, and I found myself frequently disoriented in combat.
Civilization VIIalso chugged a little bit, although this was less of an issue given its turn-based nature.
But on the plus side,Street Fighter 6andYakuza 0 Directors Cutran without hiccups and at high-enough resolutions.
It’s just the best way to play it if you dont own any other modern gaming machines.
That’s an improvement on the Switch 1, and might be enough for now.
The games I enjoyed playing most on Nintendos new console are all games for the Switch 1.
Breath of the Wild.Kirby and the Forgotten Land.Metroid Prime 4.
All of these run flawlessly on the Switch 2, at high resolutions and even higher frame rates.
In a vacuum, this is eye-opening.
One of Nintendos strongest game libraries, now with no technical chains around its ankles.
But it also comes with three of the Switch 2s strongest downsides.
The second, and most obnoxious, is that you have topayto get these improvements.
Third, it’s not guaranteed that the Switch 2 will play your existing Switch games at all.
Dont throw away your old Switch quite yet.
There is one bright spot to Switch 2 emulation, though: GameCube support.
Well, truthfully, its not as grim as Ive made it sound.
Wait for a sale (or at least until theexclusive FromSoft gamecomes out).
Thats what Ill probably say for the PS6, and it was probably the right move for Nintendo.
But it is still a slight disappointment.
For something like the original Switch, I actually would have been fine recommending buying it at launch.
