We played the Switch 2, and it’s a worthy successor

The imminent launch of a new Nintendo console is always an exciting time, and in the weeks counting down to the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo’s gone on a worldwide Nintendo Switch 2 Experience tour to show off the capabilities of its newest hardware. We were invited to preview the Switch 2 in Melbourne, Australia, and our hands-on experience of both the hardware and the games we played has left us eager for more. There are obvious improvements and upgrades from the original Switch, along with several innovative new features. And the 4K graphics bring the various game worlds to life in stunning detail.

I attended the Experience alongside our editor-in-chief Dave, and we’ve both shared our thoughts in this article, including what we loved, what we’re not so sure about, and what we’re hoping might come during the Switch 2’s lifetime.

The Hardware

Like its predecessor, the Switch 2 functions as both a portable and home console, and Nintendo made sure we got to experience it in all its different modes. We played docked, handheld, and using the stand. We also experienced several different controller setups: the Joy-Cons (including the mouse mode), the Joy-Con Grip, the Pro Controller, and the GameCube Controller.

Shona: When I picked up the Switch 2 for the very first time, it felt good. It’s larger than the original Switch and a little heavier, but it’s completely comfortable to hold and play with. The Joy-Cons detach easily and reattach magnetically with a very satisfying click which feels a lot nicer than sliding them into place. And the stand is fantastic, it’s very sturdy.

Dave: The screen is amazing; while it’s not OLED, the size and resolution is a vast improvement over the Switch 1. The Switch 2’s stand is also one of the biggest upgrades as well; it’s so much less fiddly than the small plastic bit used to prop up the original. It’s a little bit heavier, but it feels sturdy without feeling like a burden to hold for a length of time.

The different controller options give you a lot of flexibility for how you play. Out of the box, you’ll likely use the Switch 2 Grip to play in docked mode, as the Pro Controller is sold separately. The Switch 2 Grip is perfectly fine if you don’t opt for the Pro Controller early on. But the Pro Controller is certainly nicer and feels like the most natural way to play, at least for both of us who have been using Pro Controllers on the original Switch for a very long time. Both the Grip and the Pro Controller have the new GL/GR buttons underneath, but none of the games we played used them.

Shona: I became very aware of the GL/GR buttons at one point while I was playing, I think it was during Mario Kart World Knockout Tour. I think I may have hit them accidentally during the chaos of trying to stay in the race, which didn’t matter because they weren’t mapped to anything, but it’s something that I’ll be mindful of when I get the console.

Dave: On both the Grip and the Pro Controller, the GL and GR buttons were directly where my middle fingers held the controller, making them quite accessible. Whether or not controlling games with those fingers in addition to all the other buttons will feel natural in the end will be interesting to find out.

One of the Switch 2’s big new features is the Joy-Con 2’s mouse functionality. As a mouse, it’s responsive and accurate, and in games that let you use multiple control methods, such as Metroid Prime 4, you simply place the Joy-Con on its side, and the mouse kicks in instantly. However, the vertical form factor of the controller, being so much slimmer and in a different shape to the computer mice we’re so used to, feels awkward in the beginning. How much of a learning curve or “getting used to it” period there will be is hard to know, as we only sampled its functionality for a short time. There’s definitely potential, which was on display in the Welcome Tour, Drag x Drive, and Metroid Prime 4. We can also see that a potential Mario Maker 3 would benefit hugely from a pointer interface. But, overall, it’s hard to know how gimmicky the mouse will be in the long run.

We didn’t have an opportunity to try out GameChat, another of the Switch 2’s new features, as it wasn’t included as part of the experience.

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom

Nintendo has upgraded some of their original Switch games with Switch 2 exclusive features and improved graphics, including Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Naturally, we were keen to check out both to see how they look on the new system and to see just how worth it it’ll be for ardent fans, who may have poured hundreds of hours into the Switch (or Wii U) versions, to revisit Hyrule once again.

Certainly, both games look great at 4K; that shouldn’t surprise anyone. But cel-shaded graphics probably aren’t the best example for showing this off, and unless you’re doing a side-by-side comparison you might not notice a huge difference. What really impressed us, especially in Breath of the Wild, was how much faster the loading times are; it’s seriously a night and day difference. We didn’t get a chance to try out the ZELDA NOTES service, which will be provided on the Nintendo Switch App, as it wasn’t part of the experience.

So is it worth the upgrade to Switch 2? Thankfully, Nintendo is being generous to players who already own it on Switch: you’ll get a free upgrade to the Switch 2 edition if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack account. If you haven’t finished all the sidequests or want to jump back into the game at some point, then you should absolutely take up this free offer. And if you haven’t played Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom before, the Switch 2 edition would be our pick. But if you don’t have an online account and must pay for the upgrades, you may want to think twice unless you really care about graphical fidelity. The original Switch still does an adequate job most of the time in both games.

Mario Kart World

Our time with Mario Kart World, the Switch 2’s flagship title, covered two major segments: Grand Prix and Knockout Tour. We first dived into Grand Prix and had the chance to play a few races both individually and together in randomly selected tracks from the game. For multiplayer, we played docked on a television, whereas for single-player mode we played handheld.

Knockout Tour was played in groups of 16 human players and 8 CPUs, with live commentary and our booth helpers acting as personal cheerleaders and coaches to boot!

Shona: I was already incredibly excited about this game based on everything Nintendo has revealed so far. It lives up to all of my expectations! It’s going to be such a great follow-up to Mario Kart 8 and offers plenty of new features to excite worn-out players.

Dave: I’ve played every Mario Kart game in the franchise, so I’m eagerly awaiting the launch of Mario Kart World. I’m coming into the new title after recently getting back into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And knowing Mario Kart 8 is more than a decade old, I can already say that Mario Kart World is a huge quality of life improvement.

Mario Kart World has a lot of similarities to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, save that they’ve managed to turn up the dials a few extra notches. With 24 racers on the track, getting out in front and staying there has never been harder. New items beget new strategies on how to use them effectively. The segments between each of the game’s courses feel uniquely different with varying aesthetics, obstacles, and other twists and turns. And the game looks gorgeous! Each of the characters have cute and funny animations that add to their personality. And we’ll have a chance to stop and take in the beautifully detailed environments thanks to Free Roam mode, because who has time to admire the view when you’re busy vying for 1st place?

Knockout Mode, as one of the game’s new key modes, is a welcome addition to the franchise. Our experience of playing with 15 others (plus CPUs) was crazy intense. In regular Mario Kart, you race and place within a few minutes, giving yourself a chance to cool down and prep for the next race. But here, you’re on the hook for up to six back-to-back races to the finish. Coming back from behind to barely clear the next gate is no joke.

Dave: When I red-shelled first place to become the leader of the pack, I could feel myself losing my nerves and getting very jittery. When I’m not free roaming, I imagine I’ll be playing a lot of this.

Shona: You’ll need some different strategies to play Knockout Mode. It’s crazy how quickly things can change, and the timing of when you use certain items feels more critical than ever. My heart was pounding by the time I was in the second half of the race.

There’s been a few concerns over how long the novelty of driving between the courses of Mario Kart World is going to last and if it’s going to be as exciting as the tightly designed circuits. While it’s too soon to tell if it will stand the test of time, we were pleasantly surprised to find that those long stretches of road have a lot more character than just long straightaways. Perhaps if the game was still using the old 12-player format, it would get old. But with 24 racers all at once, the pace of everything is so frenetic that we were much more focused on avoiding green shells and power sliding around corners – it was definitely not a leisurely or boring experience!

Dave: This is a day-one purchase, and I can already tell I’m going to be having so much fun.

Donkey Kong: Bananza

Donkey Kong: Bananza was a surprise announcement at the unveiling of the Nintendo Switch 2, and we had the chance to play an approximately 15-minute-long demo of the game. This allowed us to get a feel for the controls, check out the basic mission structures of the game, do a bit of exploration, bash a few enemies, and do a heap of destruction.

Dave: While I now have a few more hints about what this game is having played it, I still have so many more questions than answers.

Donkey Kong: Bananza is a very different type of game to the Donkey Kong games that have come before. With DK himself sporting a redesigned appearance, it’s clear that Nintendo has given the franchise an overhaul. By and large, it feels a bit like Super Mario Odyssey with a very different coat of paint. Much like Odyssey, Bananza has you exploring a large sandbox-like space in search of large banana-shaped jewels (and gold, apparently, lots and lots of gold).

Unlike Super Mario Odyssey, you can destroy the entire world. Well, the terrain, that is. DK’s abilities to punch, slap, throw, and climb allow you to carve out your own path throughout each area. We both had a lot of fun just going nuts and testing out the limits of what we could destroy. It was incredibly fun and could double as a great game to play when you want to let off some steam!

There was a small bit of combat within the demo—a few enemies within the game that needed to be defeated. But what little we played doesn’t feel like the Donkey Kong Country franchise, which was about platforming and smashing Kremlins’ faces in. Outside of the bonus area challenge where there was a time limit to defeat three enemies, most of the combat seemed almost an afterthought, though this was but a small taste of the game so it may be that this was just something the demo chose not to focus on.

Shona: To be honest, Bananza wasn’t the game I was most excited about compared to some of the others on offer, but after playing the demo it’s moved up the list.

Dave: I’m now intrigued by this game, but I still don’t entirely know what to think of it. But if I end up getting it, I secretly want to see if I can tear the entire island apart straight down to the bedrock.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

It’s been eight years since Metroid Prime 4’s development was announced at E3, so this game is going to be met with a lot of excitement by fans of the franchise. Like many Metroid games before it, Prime 4 starts with an introductory area that might be disconnected from the rest of the game. Our journey starts with Samus jumping in to assist a space base under ambush, and it culminates with the game’s first boss and the ramifications that follow.

Shona: It’s always fun to step into Samus’ suit, and the introductory area was a blast. The cutscenes gave me a chance to appreciate how great the game looks, and I can’t wait to see all the new environments there are to explore.

Dave: I have been looking forward to Prime 4 for a while now. For what it’s worth, the game looks amazing and really showcases what the Switch 2 can do. And the demo certainly has whetted my appetite for its future launch.

Metroid Prime 4 utilizes the Joy-Con’s mouse feature, and the demo encouraged you to try it out this way: one Joy-Con held normally in your left hand for moving Samus around, and a Joy-Con-as-mouse in your right hand for aiming, shooting and scanning. The game also supports traditional controls, and you could even pick up the right Joy-Con and use the stick to aim. Switching between stick and mouse modes was seamless.

While the mouse controls do the job just fine, we both came away from the demo unconvinced that the mouse would be a superior way to play over a Pro Controller or at least playing with the Grip. While in mouse mode, you still need to utilize the face and shoulder buttons, and doing this, while sliding the controller vertically, felt awkward. Our booth helper assured us that it just takes a little getting used to, so maybe we’ll give it another go. Or maybe we’ll just jump straight in with a Pro Controller.

Apart from testing out the new controls, the demo was a return to generally familiar mechanics if you’ve played the Metroid Prime franchise before. It looks brilliant in 4K, so getting the Switch 2 version is probably the easy choice if you have the option.

Shona: Despite struggling a little with the mouse controls, the Metroid Prime 4 demo was my favourite game at the experience outside of Mario Kart World. Definitely keen to pick this one up at release.

Dave: Overall, the game was very fun if a bit cheesy. The opening sequence was full of action and intensity. But despite that, I’m eager to dive in and navigate an interesting world and finally tinker with all of Samus’ new psychic abilities. It will be a blast. Now all we need is a release date!

Everything Else

There were several other games available for demo at the Experience; some of which we played but others we did not. We opted to spend our remaining time on the games that we thought necessary to flesh out the full Switch 2 experience outside of the Switch 2’s blockbuster titles. First, we chose Drag x Drive so we could get an alternate take on using the Joy-Con as a mouse. We also tried a bit of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour to see whether it’s worth the cost. And we also played a few of the GameCube classics to see if the “ports” to Switch 2 held up to our nostalgia.

When we approached Drag x Drive, we were told that using the Joy-Cons as mice takes a bit of time to get used to. The demo began with a tutorial to ease us in before we launched into a game of 3-on-3 basketball. Unsurprisingly, one demo session wasn’t enough to have us feeling confident with the controls, and it was only towards the end of the match that our team began scoring points.

A lot of the time you’ll be using long, sweeping motions to move quickly, so it’s quite an active experience. We were told that we could either perform these motions on the table or on our legs, but either way the game requires a reasonable amount of free space to play. Passing the ball can be done with simple button presses, but shooting requires a motion-control operated throwing gesture, not unlike playing Wii Sports.

Shona: I was definitely not the most elegant player on court, and even during the tutorial I found myself veering off course inadvertently. But once we got into the match, I still found myself having fun.

Dave: I struggled for the first few minutes but eventually got okay at it. But there was someone on the opposing team that was smoking us from the beginning; either that person took to the controls like a fish to water or they’d played the game before! I’m not sure if Drag x Drive is going to be the killer app that makes “mouse gaming” on the Switch 2 a thing or not; time will tell.

Nintendo has been saying that the Switch 2 Welcome Tour has a lot more to offer than at first glance. This is possibly true. We didn’t get very far through the whole “museum”; in fact, we never left the first few exhibits of the experience! Based on a couple of the minigames we played, they were fun, but in the same vein of game you might play on your smartphone to kill a little time. But we both still cannot fathom why this isn’t a pack-in with the game a la Wii Sports or, going way back, Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Welcome Tour feels like an experience that will pique your imagination as to what the Switch 2 could be capable of, but it’s not going to be something you return to after the first month. Even though it’s pretty cheap, we imagine it will probably collect dust like 1-2-Switch!

Lastly, the GameCube library is a welcome addition to the Switch 2, and we can’t wait to see some forgotten classics return to life. It’s also always so much more convenient to play old games on Switch as opposed to dragging out the old hardware and plugging it in. One such title was Soul Calibur 2, which we both picked up back in the day purely because Link was in it.

Shona: I forgot just how much fun I had with Soul Calibur 2!

Dave: I’m personally just excited to play F-Zero GX again.

The GameCube library also includes The Wind Waker, and it looks great on the Switch 2. However, it’s kind of interesting to sidestep and think about The Wind Waker HD, which has quality of life improvements in addition to enhanced graphics. But then you’d have to drag out your Wii U to play it.

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5, and we’ll both be picking it up and playing Mario Kart World at launch. Thank you to Nintendo for inviting us to the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience.