Nintendo hit a home run with the Nintendo Switch way back in 2017. The console was a literal game changer for Nintendo as well as the rest of the gaming landscape. Getting to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on day one was a magical experience. It’s surreal to look back on this, 8 years in the future and see the impact the Switch had – handheld gaming was back in the mainstream. Years later, we would get other handhelds from gaming giants. Steam released the Steam Deck, and Sony released the PlayStation Portal. At one point, Nintendo was in the lead when it came to handheld gaming, and then one moment later, it was surpassed by its competition. “No more!” says Nintendo! With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 – a sleeker, more powerful machine – Nintendo is once again taking a very large step to try and spearhead the handheld gaming market.
When comparing the old model to the Switch 2, there is a night-and-day difference. The Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch screen with 1080p resolution. This is significantly larger than the original Switch, which had a 6.2-inch screen and a higher pixel count than the OG model’s 720p. When you compare the two in person, it’s obvious how big of an upgrade you’re actually getting.
The Switch 2 screen reverts to LCD instead of the OLED screen from the newest Switch model. I can’t comment on the comparison, as I am somebody who has never actually experienced the Switch OLED screen firsthand. What I can say, though, is that the Switch 2 visuals bounce off the screen when at full brightness. This does mean the battery will drain faster if you decide to run it at max brightness, but realistically, I don’t see that as an issue because you’re likely going to be near a dock at any given time while playing.
If you’re one of those people who bring your Switch with you everywhere you go, then you might not be entirely satisfied with the battery life on the Switch 2. First of all, very brave of you to bring your Switch around, couldn’t be me. Secondly, the battery capacity in the Switch 2 is disappointing. This could have been a great place for Nintendo to up the ante with the new console, but if it’s improved at all over the Switch 1, it’s hardly noticeable. After just over two hours of gameplay on Mario Kart World, you will be prompted to get your Switch 2 hooked up to a charger. If you play some less demanding games, you can squeeze out a few more hours. I can definitely get 4-5 hours if I’m playing Lumines, for instance. I haven’t done extensive testing, but I’m sure, much like its predecessor, the battery life will vary depending on what you’re playing.
The new Joy-Cons are the star of the show, for me. When they were first introduced, they were revolutionary, yet needed some refinement. These new Joy-Con are larger and fit much more comfortably in my hands than the previous ones do. They’ve also got bigger shoulder buttons when flipped on their side, making local multiplayer much less cumbersome to play. You can also use the brand new mouse mode by turning a Joy-Con on its side with the shoulder R1/R2/L1/L2 facing forward. This actually works so well, and it feels way more intuitive to me than motion controls. I can’t wait to see how the mouse mode feels in Metroid Prime 4 later this year. The Joy-Cons also connect via magnets now, as opposed to the slide-in mechanism. With the push of a button, the magnets are extremely satisfying and easy to attach and dismantle. Why this wasn’t on the original system is beyond me.
The Switch 2’s major launch title is Mario Kart World. It’s a spectacularly good time! With more racers to pick from than ever before, dozens of incredible tracks, hundreds of incredible songs and remixes of old favourites, it’s really hard to imagine owning a Switch 2 without it. While Mario Kart World doesn’t show off every single thing the Switch 2 is capable of, it does a great job showcasing its graphical capabilities as well as its processing abilities. Racing with 24 people at a time, as opposed to 12, is a significant change, making racing both more chaotic and more enjoyable. The performance remains silky smooth, with no sign of frame drops. There’s even a highly detailed open world in the game! The only major issue with the open world is that there doesn’t seem to be a ton of reward for exploring. There is a ton to see, but the final result of going out of your way to find these places leaves a lot to be desired.
I think the best games that you can play at launch would actually be some of the OG Switch titles. Games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have Switch 2 versions, which dramatically increase framerate and performance. Both Zelda games feel like completely new experiences on the Switch 2. They run at framerates that were literally impossible on the console before it. It’s great to have the chance to replay these as the developers originally intended them to be. The same can be said for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Both games struggled to hit 20fps on Switch 1, and would crumble in performance the longer you played. You would have to reset the console every now and then just to get the games to start running semi-properly again. Now you have both games running at a stunning 60fps. What’s crazier is that the Switch 2 can output 4k on compatible setups. You can have both of these games running at 4k/60fps. Unlike the Zelda updates, the Pokémon ones are completely free, which makes revisiting these titles a no-brainer.
I did not get the chance to try out GameChat, Nintendo’s online communication tool. But there is a button on the right Joy-Con that allows you to talk to friends and share gameplay. If you’ve got a camera accessory for the console, you can use that as well. With the camera, you and your friends can play games together and watch each other’s faces while you play! Is Mario Kart World on GameChat with cameras on the new place to have work meetings? Probably not… but the fact that you could have a work meeting over some Mario Kart brings me joy.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is far too early to call. While it’s an upgrade in every single way (except for battery life), it’s not doing anything too remarkable yet. There aren’t a ton of Switch 2 exclusives available yet, and we don’t have any games that properly show off all the Switch 2’s capabilities. Once some time has passed and we get our hands on some of the console’s future heavy-hitters, then we will see the true value of the Switch 2. Personally, I can’t wait to see what surprises Nintendo has up its sleeves. I would love to see some more customization options available – maybe some new themes! At the moment, though, it’s an obvious step up from its predecessor where it counts. You can replay old games in a completely new way, and you can play one of the best Mario Kart games right out of the box. The hardware is more modern, comfortable, and stylish. Like I said previously, Nintendo has competition in this market, but with the launch of the Switch 2, it’s going to be hard for anybody else to stand out in handheld gaming quite like this new console does.