After several hours of play, I can confidently say the Nintendo Switch 2 is an expected but welcome upgrade to Nintendo’s console capabilities, as the century-old entertainment company finally enters the 4K high-definition era.
The biggest surprise is the console’s newest feature: mouse functionality, enabled by turning its detachable controllers on their sides. While the slim build of the controllers will cause discomfort for extended play like this, they operate as smoothly as any computer mouse. Aiming lasers in “Metroid Prime 4,” the long-awaited entry in the firm’s sci-fi series, feel just as crisp and precise as a PC game.
Kouichi Kawamoto, producer of the new console, said because gaming with a mouse requires a desk, Nintendo tinkered with the optical features so players can use it on their pants.
Nintendo introduced “Drag x Drive,” a multiplayer basketball game where every player is in a wheelchair. To move, you drag the controllers across a mouse pad (or your pants) to get around as you would in a wheelchair. It reminds me of how players of Nintendo’s “Wii Sports” would perform realistic movements for playing tennis or bowling when the game only required a mere flick of the wrist. Same here with your pants. You don’t need to “push” the controllers far. But like the exaggerated movements of “Wii Sports,” it’s kind of more fun to do it anyway.
“Donkey Kong Bananza” and “Mario Kart World” are easily the best and most exciting games demonstrated at the live preview event for media and fans in New York City.
“Mario Kart World,” launching with the system June 5, lives up to its moniker, offering a fast, seamless open world to drive around and play out battles. The “free roam” mode may seem familiar to fans of the Xbox series “Forza Horizon,” which offers similar gameplay except with realistic cars and environments. But it’s breathtaking to see classic Mario levels like ghost houses and ice palaces shimmer off in the distance with full knowledge that you can drive there in minutes.
The game’s potential as a “platform” for Nintendo to build upon for years is obvious, just as its $80 price tag is eye-popping. It’s the first game from the publisher to broach that price, although other games like “Donkey Kong Bananza” stay at the standard retail price of $70.
“Bananza,” the other launch-season exclusive out July 17, is another showstopper with destructible environments that allow player freedom and expression on how to move through its open worlds. It’s a 3D platformer that harks back to the Nintendo 64 days of silly mascot games powered by impressive terrain deformation rarely seen in games.
Nintendo announced a gaggle of other games that weren’t available for preview, including the return of celebrated developer Masahiro Sakurai to his Kirby series with “Kirby Air Riders,” a long-dormant racing franchise. “The Duskbloods” is a multiplayer game by “Elden Ring” developer FromSoftware, probably the biggest non-Nintendo game announcement for the console. (Weary “Hollow Knight” fans might give that honor to the teased 2025 release for that game’s long-awaited sequel “Silksong.”)
The Switch 2 will finally host some of the biggest modern games in recent years, including “Elden Ring,” “Final Fantasy VII Remake” and “Cyberpunk 2077.” I got to try “Cyberpunk,” a game very dear to me, and it was delightful to see it performing well on a Nintendo console, even if the visuals don’t match what’s available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles, machines that are still more powerful.
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Another expected but welcome feature is increased performance and visuals for older games. “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” was an ambitious game that pushed the old Switch to its limits. On the Switch 2, it runs at a blazing-fast frame rate with much sharper visuals. We’ve finally been granted the long-held wish of Zelda fans to see this series in high fidelity.
At more than 150 million sold, the first Switch is the third most successful video game device of all time, after Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s DS handheld console. The Switch’s legacy will be that it only further cemented Nintendo at pole position in the video games industry when it came to popularity and critical acclaim.
The Switch also hardened the market for dedicated video game handhelds. Obituaries for handheld gaming started when smartphones became the dominant handheld electronic device. But the mobile phone gaming industry never successfully captured players who prefer dedicated gaming devices with controller or keyboard inputs. Instead, the Switch offered a welcome compromise between the portability of handhelds and the full functionality of a dedicated gaming device.
In that sense, the Switch 2 is a logical next step. As always for Nintendo, it’s the games that make the difference.
