Switch 2 Review – Better, Stronger, Still a Switch

Nintendo has earned a reputation for thinking outside the box when it comes to its consoles, but with the Switch 2, the biggest surprise is that the company is being iterative in terms of its latest gaming hardware. The Switch 2 takes everything that you know and love about the original Switch, and it improves on it. The screen is bigger, the internal hardware has been beefed up, and smaller tweaks essentially make this a better Switch all around. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few surprises on a technical level either, and coupled with the sleeker design, it feels like the sequel to one of the best-selling hybrid consoles of all time has grown up a little. It’s not a revolution like the Switch was, but it’s definitely an evolution.

First impressions made by the Switch 2 are solid, as the device sports a slick black design that feels noticeably less toyetic than its predecessor. The new screen still pales in comparison to the OLED Switch’s superb display. However, it’s much better than the basic LCD screen used in the base Switch model. It’s a nice middle ground – one that offers a sharp window into games on the Switch and transmits an impressive amount of colour straight to your peepers. That said, there are some ghosting issues that eagle-eyed players might pick up on.

The other big features are reserved for the detachable Joy-Con 2 controllers, as these now “snap” into place on the Switch 2 with the power of magnets. They’re impressively strong as well, as I’ve dangled my Switch 2 (over my soft bed) while holding onto just one of the Joy-Cons 2, and they’ve refused to budge. They can be attached or detached in a flash, and unless you’re putting some serious effort into yanking them off, they’re not going to separate from the Switch 2 easily.

This magnetic power is combined with new mouse controls, and they work surprisingly well on the Joy-Cons 2. They’re no match for an obscenely expensive gamer mouse, but these are more than up to the task of adding some PC-like functionality to your Switch 2 gameplay sessions. You don’t need to have a sheet of neoprene handy either, as the mouse controls register a surprising number of surfaces accurately, ranging from my thighs to my ticked-off cat wondering why I’m stroking him with a Joy-Con 2 while I experiment with the controls in a game. Speaking of games, we already know that two Switch 2 titles are equipped for mouse controls: Civilization 7 and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It’s going to be a blast if more developers decide to port real-time strategy titles to Nintendo’s latest.

Internally, the Switch 2 is rocking 256GB of internal memory, but it must be noted that expanding on this will require a pricy MicroSD Express card to play Switch 2 games specifically. Meanwhile, the new kickstand is a marked improvement over the flimsy piece of plastic found on the original Switch. You’ve also got two USB-C slots on the console, a bulkier dock, and the aforementioned upgrade to the hardware. Even better, the Switch 2 isn’t selling itself with some vague AI feature shoehorned into its design, like seemingly every other hardware manufacturer these days, as they jockey for space on the current tech bandwagon. The Switch 2 knows what it wants to be, and it reinforces its identity as a gaming machine the second you take it out of the box.

What does this mean on the software side of things? If the original Switch was a dream machine for fans of indie games, then the Switch 2 looks like it’s going to be an incredible hub for ports of games from the last two generations of PlayStation and Xbox. While we saw some ambitious ports on the original Switch during its lifetime, these efforts were often hampered by the console struggling to meet the high technical demands of these titles. Batman: Arkham Knight, a game released in 2015, is an infamous example here as the superhero epic could barely run at a stable frame rate on that machine.

In comparison, the ports accompanying the Switch 2 have been far more impressive. Cyberpunk 2077, Yakuza 0, and Street Fighter 6 offer graphical consistency, while the Switch 2’s marquee title Mario Kart World is a blast of colour, speed, and Donkey Kong whacking me with a tortoise shell when I least expect it. This bodes well for the upcoming Switch 2 game release schedule, as alongside first-party titles like Donkey Kong Bananza (not a typo) and Pokemon Legends: Z-A, dozens of third-party games are also in the pipeline. Battery life isn’t too bad either, as I was regularly getting around three to four hours of play before I decided to recharge my Switch 2.

The other good news, kind of, is that the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with the Switch. Around 99% of games work just fine on the system, and in several instances, better. Multiple Switch games have got free upgrades for Switch 2, making adventures like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Super Mario Odyssey, and Splatoon 3 look and run better on the new console. Other Nintendo heavy-hitters have also received an upgrade, but these aren’t freebies. The superb Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom from The Legend of Zelda series look better than ever on Switch 2, and upgrading them isn’t too costly, fortunately.

Another nice touch here is GameChat, Nintendo’s take on in-game video chat. The app works smoothly –it’s activated by the touch of a button on your Joy-Con 2 controller – and while Nintendo does offer a camera that can be used to stream your face to your friends and family, I discovered that an old Logitech webcam worked just fine once I plugged it into the dock’s USB port. It’s worth noting that there is a hidden cost here, as a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online will be needed once the introductory period for GameChat expires, and if you’re looking to play the handful of GameCube games on the console, you’ll need to subscribe to the high-tiered (and high priced) Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack for that and several other retro game libraries.

The big question then, is do you need a Switch 2? If you missed out on the first machine and you’re looking to enter the new Nintendo era, it’s an easy recommendation. For veterans coming off of the Switch OLED Model, the Switch 2 might be a harder sell, especially with several upcoming Nintendo first-party games also arriving on the older system this year. But unlike the shift from PS4 to PS5 and Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S, I’ve got a feeling that we’re in for a much shorter cross-gen period on Nintendo platforms, and an upgrade will become a necessity soon.

The hard truth is that in an era where console giants are embracing other platforms, Nintendo games still remain playable only on Nintendo machines. That status quo doesn’t look like it’ll be changing soon, and, in fact, the Switch 2 will probably enforce Nintendo’s decision to be the last bastion of console exclusives. The Switch 2 isn’t as exciting as its predecessor, but it offers more than enough upgrades to be comfortably familiar in your hands.