Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 launches compared, and choosing which is better
Switch 2 is Nintendo’s first major console that simply adds a “2” to the name of its predecessor. So naturally, it makes sense to compare the two – and today, we’re looking at the launch of the original Nintendo Switch in 2017 and the Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year in June.
The Nintendo Switch’s launch
The original Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, which was somehow eight years ago already. It also released during a time when Nintendo was stagnating somewhat. The Wii U, while beloved by some, was a massive commercial failure – it sold fewer than 14 million units during its entire lifetime, and 2015 and 2016 were home to some of Nintendo’s worst-received games in recent memory. Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival were all met with significant backlash at the time, and fans were pretty frustrated with Nintendo’s output. Indeed, Nintendo quickly caught on that the Wii U wasn’t doing so well – and that put a lot of pressure on them to develop their next new console. Needless to say, there was a lot riding on this new hardware. Two flops in a row wasn’t going to cut it for Nintendo, and they finally revealed the long-awaited NX in October 2016.
The Nintendo Switch’s signature hybrid nature is what ultimately ensured its success, but there was another big part of it: its launch titles. Skipping over the elephant in the room for the moment, Nintendo Switch launched with 1-2 Switch, Just Dance 2017, Snipperclips, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Super Bomberman R, I Am Setsuna, and Fast RMX. You don’t hear much about any of those games nowadays, but you do hear a lot about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Fans are somewhat divided now – some love Breath of the Wild’s formula, while others wish the series would once again take on a more linear approach. But that wasn’t the mindset in 2017 – Breath of the Wild had been revealed years prior for Wii U, and players were more than ready to play this new approach on the beloved franchise. Truly, it may be impossible for Nintendo to ever produce a launch title that gathered more hype than Breath of the Wild. It’s a vast open world game packed with tons of details, and perhaps more importantly, its wonderfully deep physics engines creates the potential for a lot of funny clips. Shortly after Breath of the Wild launched, clips of the game were everywhere. You really had to be there – many players called it the greatest game of all time, and it even went on to win Game of the Year later in the year at The Game Awards.
Nintendo Switch maintained its momentum with plenty more high-quality titles in 2017. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launched around a month after Breath of the Wild did, and though it didn’t add much to the game at the time, it did provide fans with a way to play Mario Kart 8 on the go plus a few additional characters. Splatoon 2 then arrived in July, which means Nintendo immediately had three of its top-tier franchises available on their new hardware. Splatoon is, of course, very much focused on online play, and that gave players a reason to keep coming back to their system. It didn’t end there, though: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 released in late 2017, and though it had some technical issues, it proved a great success and actually revived the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise as a whole. Now it’s a full trilogy with plenty of DLC and remakes. We also got Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle in 2017, which was sort of a sleeper hit for some. It was of surprisingly high quality, and it sold enough units to warrant a sequel in 2022.
Nintendo Switch’s big holiday title was Super Mario Odyssey, which itself generated tons of hype. As good of a game as Super Mario 3D World was on Wii U, it wasn’t really what fans were looking for at the time. They wanted more of a sandbox game where you could explore big levels, and that’s exactly what Odyssey delivered on. To this day, it remains one of the greatest 3D platformers of all time. Honestly, you really can’t beat Nintendo Switch’s first year. At least, it would be almost impossible to – it had a huge new 3D Zelda, a huge new 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Splatoon, a strategy game in Mario + Rabbids, and a new original JRPG in Xenoblade. Nintendo really covered all their bases here – they needed the Switch to be a hit, and between its winning hybrid nature and first-year titles, it’s easy to see why it’s become Nintendo’s best-selling console.
The Nintendo Switch 2’s launch
So far, the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch is going very well. At the moment, it’s sitting at over six million units sold. The difference here, though, is that it’s backwards compatible with original Nintendo Switch games, and that the Switch had a gigantic install base whereas the Wii U did not. All things considered, we do think Nintendo Switch 2’s launch was a little bit weaker than the original Switch’s debut back in 2017. Let’s put it this way: by the end of its launch year, Nintendo Switch had Zelda, Mario Kart, 3D Mario, and Splatoon. By the end of its launch year, Nintendo Switch 2 will have Mario Kart, 3D Donkey Kong, and Kirby Air Riders as its own fully-exclusive titles. It also has enhanced ports of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, plus it’s getting Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Z-A alongside the original Nintendo Switch system.
Mario Kart World is sitting in a strange spot right now. If you compare the base version of Mario Kart World to the base version of Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, Mario Kart World is definitely the better game. If you compare the complete version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to Mario Kart World, though, it’s clear that Mario Kart World is behind. Online issues aside, it doesn’t have anywhere near as many courses, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s number is going to be tough to beat. The game will definitely receive new content at some point, but it’s not clear how new courses would be added to the existing world map. Regardless, Mario Kart World has sold extremely well, and it was certainly a driving force behind Nintendo Switch 2’s early success. It wasn’t as impactful a launch title as something like Breath of the Wild for the original Nintendo Switch, though.
I’m not sure if Nintendo Switch 2 Editions are selling points for the Switch 2 – I’d imagine most players bought the console to play Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza – but they definitely help. Nintendo Switch 2 received big, notable upgrades for Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and Super Mario Party Jamboree. Super Mario Odyssey, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Link’s Awakening, and Echoes of Wisdom all received resolution and performance boosts as well. We do need more of these, however – in our opinion, Nintendo Switch 2’s biggest problem is that original Switch games don’t look good in handheld mode at all. They’ve all been stretched to fit on the 1080p screen, which makes them look blurry. This, in turn, means Nintendo Switch 2 is often the ugliest way to play unpatched Switch games – especially if you have a Switch OLED, which has a much more colorful (and responsive) screen.
Donkey Kong Bananza has received near-universal praise, and honestly it kind of feels like Nintendo Switch 2’s true launch title even though it released in July instead of June. It’s an excellent return to form for the 3D Donkey Kong series, and by “series”, I mean “Donkey Kong 64”, which is decades old. Playing this game, it feels like DK has always had 3D platformers. His moveset interacts seamlessly with the environment, which is well-designed and engaging at every turn. Outside of a few performance issues, this is already up there with the greatest 3D platformers ever – and fans are pretty split as to whether it’s better than Super Mario Odyssey. That’s actually a good thing, because it means both games are fun.
At the time of writing, we have a few more games confirmed for 2025: Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Kirby Air Riders, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. All three of these titles have been cooking for a long time, but Kirby Air Riders is the only true Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive confirmed for this year. It’s a little bit strange that Nintendo is doubling up on racing games during the same year, but it sounds like it wound up being just a coincidence. Kirby Air Ride hasn’t received a single sequel up until now, and the original title was released all the way back in 2003. As for Pokemon and Metroid, they both started development as standard Nintendo Switch games, but both have upgrades on Switch 2 that improve performance and resolution. These definitely work in Nintendo Switch 2’s favor even though they’re also available on Switch, and if we count Breath of the Wild as a Switch launch title even though it launched on Wii U the same day, then it’s fair to include Pokemon and Metroid here.
Overall, we think both Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 have had great launches. Mario Kart World has a ton of potential, and it’s first all-new Mario Kart in over ten years. Donkey Kong Bananza is a delightful, expressive, and colorful adventure and one of the greatest 3D platformers ever, the Switch 2 upgrades for Zelda and Kirby further improve already-great games, and Drag x Drive is Drag x Drive. We do feel that the original Nintendo Switch had a slightly better launch lineup – fans caught on to a few particular issues in Mario Kart World rather quickly, and Breath of the Wild felt like it was a stronger and more popular launch titles among core fans. But it makes sense as to why Nintendo chose to launch Switch 2 with Mario Kart – it’s targeting families who want the new game more so than core gamers this time. Nintendo Switch also had Splatoon, 3D Mario, and Xenoblade during its launch year. Nintendo Switch 2 has some great games coming and already available, but it’s really difficult to beat the Switch’s first year.
Do you personally think the Switch’s launch lineup was stronger, or do you think the Switch 2’s lineup was better? Let us know in the comments down below.
