The state of every Nintendo franchise post-Switch

As we head into the sunset era of one of Nintendo’s most beloved consoles ever, it’s as good time as any to take a look at all that’s happened over the past eight years. We’ve gotten tons of great games on Switch, and plenty of representation for most of Nintendo’s key franchises. Today, we’re taking a look at every single Nintendo series and each of its individual games on Switch. We’ll be analyzing how each series grew and changed over the course of the system’s life cycle – if it peaked, if it struggled, or if it wound up about average. Given the sheer volume of first-party offerings on Switch, this will be an extensive (and very long) analysis.

Super Mario series

To no one’s surprise, the greater Super Mario series has done incredibly well on Nintendo Switch. It started off strong in 2017 with Super Mario Odyssey, which revitalized the 3D Mario formula with the Capture mechanic and boasted a cohesive set of satisfying moves and maneuvers for Mario to use. It’s also the most recent full-length 3D Mario game at the time of writing, but we estimate that the wait may soon come to a close with Nintendo’s new hardware. That said, it isn’t like there aren’t any other 3D Mario games on the system. You’ve got Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury and then Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy via Super Mario 3D All-Stars. And there were plenty of other Mario games to enjoy, too. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is Nintendo Switch’s headlining 2D Mario game, bringing to the table a fresh new art style, snappy, satisfying gameplay, and a few post-game challenges as well. Then you’ve got New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which was released earlier in the system’s life cycle. This one wasn’t as well-received, though; it’s garnered criticism for the changes to the spin controls and its relative lack of new content. If you count Nintendo Switch Online, there are tons more 2D Mario games available at your disposal.

Mario RPGs arguably peaked on Nintendo Switch as well, though they took their time in doing so. It all started with an unexpected remake of Super Mario RPG in 2023, which turned out wonderfully. It added tons of quality-of-life features to the game, as well as a colorful, vibrant art style that perfectly preserved the feel of the original game. It also brought Geno and Mallow back into the limelight, if only for a moment, which may or may not mean something when the next Smash Bros. comes around. This continued with the full-fledged remaster of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in 2024, which was completely remade from the ground up with a gorgeous presentation, new post-game content, and a slew of quality-of-life changes. Things culminated with the release of Mario & Luigi: Brothership in 2024, which is the first new Mario RPG since Paper Jam on Nintendo 3DS (we think Paper Mario is more of an adventure/exploration-type game these days – at least in Sticker Star and The Origami King’s cases). That said, Brothership itself received mixed to positive reviews – with many criticizing the length of the game plus its copious amounts of padding. You also had two Mario & Rabbids games, but these were developed by Ubisoft and not Nintendo. Regardless, there are plenty of options for Mario RPGs on Switch and we’re excited to see where Nintendo Switch 2 takes us.

Things aren’t as wholly positive when it comes to Mario spin-offs, however. Mario Party started off a tad rocky; Super Mario Party was considered better than Mario Party 9 and Mario Party 10 that had come before it, but it was still held back by a few notable flaws. Its exclusive requirement of Joy-Con controllers (and incompatibility with Pro Controllers) was one complaint; perhaps more significant were its stunning lack of boards and the dumbed-down simplicity of those stages. Mario Party Superstars released two years later, however, and was seen as a return to form for the series. It focused on giving a fresh coat of paint to old boards and mini-games, and for a time was comfortably the best Mario Party on the system. Then we got Super Mario Party Jamboree, which quickly took its place as the best Mario Party on Nintendo Switch. With tons of mini-games, more boards than the other Mario Party entries on the console, and plenty of game modes, Jamboree made a name for itself as one of the better entries in the franchise. Now, you can switch between Mario Party Superstars, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and then Mario Party, Mario Party 2, and Mario Party 3 on Nintendo Switch Online.

Whereas Mario Party got better on Switch with time, the reverse is true for Mario sports. Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Golf: Super Rush both lacked content at launch, and it was added little by little via updates. Both games are much better now that they’ve received all of their updates, but they are sometimes considered a downgrade compared to previous entries in the series. Mario Strikers: Battle League came around in 2021 and had many of the same issues Tennis and Golf did at launch, except this time they were never fixed. The game has a shockingly low amount of content – Daisy, a character who has gained popularity specifically from Mario Strikers, was not even in the game on release day. It’s often regarded as one of the worst and most disappointing Mario sports games, but there’s still a bit of value there for those who like the gameplay loop. It’s just that every match feels very similar due to the minimal number of characters and stage parts.

Mario sub-series (Donkey Kong, Luigi’s Mansion, etc.)

For being one of Nintendo’s flagship characters, Donkey Kong has been given next to nothing on Nintendo Switch. All he’s got are ports of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Which are both great games (especially the latter), but it’s a shame because Donkey Kong has not been in any original titles of his own for over eight years – unless you count the Donkey Kong Adventure expansion of Mario and Rabbids, that is. We’re hoping that the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie makes Donkey Kong more of a priority in Nintendo’s eyes. Switch was the perfect chance to give DK and his pals a memorable new adventure, and it seems Nintendo has completely passed up on this opportunity.

Luigi’s Mansion, on the other hand, is in a decent spot. We received Luigi’s Mansion 3 in 2019, which was positively received and has some of the best graphics and animation of any Nintendo game. While the gameplay loop isn’t for everyone – it’s a bit slow-paced in terms of exploring and such – it’s beloved by those who enjoy it. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is home to tons of unique environments, areas, and enemies, and there’s plenty of content plus a multiplayer mode to keep players entertained. We also received Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, which was a fairly unexciting release, but it does provide a more modern way to play the 3DS original without having to track down a 3DS. At the time of writing, we just need the original Luigi’s Mansion and then the trilogy is complete!

WarioWare is also in a solid spot right now. We received WarioWare: Get It Together in 2021, which sported a completely different type of gameplay compared to previous entries in the series. This time around, you play as one of several characters who each have different abilities suited to different mini-games. Some longtime fans of the series didn’t like this change, which is understandable, but we thought it worked just fine. As with most WarioWare games, the amount of single-player content on offer is low. But Get It Together has solid multiplayer and some difficult (and sometimes tedious) in-game challenges that can keep you busy for a while. WarioWare: Move It released two years later in 2023, and was similarly well-received overall. We feel as though these games have somewhat slipped under the radar, unfortunately, but they were solid titles nonetheless.

The Yoshi series was only given one game: Yoshi’s Crafted World. Overall, it’s a decent game, but it’s a definite step down from Yoshi’s Woolly World thanks to somewhat blander level design and more repetitive music. The title has very visually appealing graphics, as per usual with its developer Good-Feel. This is another example of a game that quickly flew under the radar after its release, and is rarely discussed in the modern day – at least, not that we’ve seen.

Finally, we have Mario Kart. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Nintendo Switch quickly became the best-selling entry in the series, and went on to become not just the system’s most sold game, but one of the most sold titles of all time. That said, we have not seen a new Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch, and that’s led fans to speculate that we may see a hypothetical Mario Kart 9 on Switch 2, possibly as a launch title – which could  be happening given this week’s news about the new console. We did receive a huge number of new and returning courses via the Booster Course Pass DLC, which extended Mario Kart 8’s life by a bit. Graphically, the courses were noticeably of a lower quality than the ones from the base game. Regardless, they added a ton of extra content to the game. We’re looking forward to seeing what kind of Mario Kart we get on Switch 2.

Super Smash Bros. series

Do we even need to explain this one? Super Smash Bros. Ultimate somehow managed to bring back every single character in Smash history, all in one game for the first time ever. It also brought back tons of old stages, included a solid single-player campaign with gorgeously rendered cutscenes, and the smoothest gameplay the series has ever seen (save for Super Smash Bros. Melee, of course). Even with all of the old content Ultimate brought back, it still added plenty of new stuff. Its newcomers and DLC fighters added so many long-requested fan favorites; from King K. Rool to Banjo & Kazooie to Steve to Sephiroth to Sora and everyone in between. Its competitive nature gave it a ton of longevity on Switch, and to this day Ultimate remains one of the most popular and most played games on the Switch.

We’re so sure that the Smash series has peaked here that it’s difficult to see how Smash on Nintendo Switch 2 could ever top it. Bringing back every single character again seems like something that’d be nearly impossible to pull of a second time. Fortunately, the next Smash game doesn’t need to do that to be worth playing. Character moveset overhauls and a focus on additional game modes and unique newcomers could potentially bring the next Smash game’s quality above Ultimate’s quantity.

The Legend of Zelda series

This one’s easy – the Nintendo Switch has been the absolute peak of the Legend of Zelda series. There’s really not much to say about Breath of the Wild that hasn’t already been said, but it completely revolutionized the Zelda series and gaming as a whole. It really cemented the notion of creating your own solutions to puzzles, which we’ve seen in every new Zelda game since Breath of the Wild’s release. Its fine-tuned and addictive open world gameplay has revolutionized the entire gaming sphere, and it’s often considered the greatest game of all time. That’s no small feat, considering the sheer number of great games it’s up against. Not everyone agrees that Breath of the Wild is the greatest game of all time, but that’s okay – Nintendo Switch offers plenty more for Zelda fans. Tears of the Kingdom released in 2023, and while it’s essentially just more Breath of the Wild, it has expanded dungeons, an incredible physics engine that utilizes the new Ultrahand rune, and an amazing final boss and ending sequence that’s best experienced spoiler-free. The open-ended gameplay still might not be for everyone, but both Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild were massive successes for the series. They also take a really long time to develop, so we don’t expect we’ll be seeing a new Zelda game on Nintendo Switch 2 anytime soon.

For those who maybe don’t like the Breath of the Wild formula too much, there are plenty of other options. In 2019, Grezzo released a beautifully-crafted remake of Link’s Awakening, which boasted an amazing soundtrack and visual presentation. Link’s Awakening is on a smaller scale than other Zelda games especially given its Game Boy origins, but it makes it feel cozy and familiar. If Breath of the Wild’s open world overwhelms you, Link’s Awakening’s world is just right. Better yet, we received an all-new game from Grezzo in 2024 – Echoes of Wisdom, which stars Zelda as a playable character. It’s incredibly creative and high-quality through and through, making it a must-play for fans of 2D Zelda. There’s also a remake of Skyward Sword from the Wii; while still not the best Zelda game by any means, it’s a massive improvement over the original by streamlining the dialogue, cutting down on needless chatter, and adding a button option for sword controls. Finally, there are two full-length Hyrule Warriors games available on Switch: Definitive Edition and Age of Calamity. The latter is a prequel of sorts to Breath of the Wild, and though its performance is shaky at best, it’s more mindless “shut your brain off” fun for those who enjoy hack-and-slash games.

None of this is even mentioning how many Zelda games are available on Nintendo Switch Online. You’ve got the original, Zelda II, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Link’s Awakening DX, The Minish Cap, and more. Zelda fans have hundreds of hours of fun to experience on Switch, and we’d venture to guess the same will be true on Nintendo Switch 2. In fact, we’re a little surprised the Switch didn’t have a full HD remake of Ocarina of Time – that seems like a relatively simple filler game that we could’ve seen for a Zelda anniversary or something similar.

Pokemon series

Mario reached the peak of his popularity on Nintendo Switch. Zelda reached the peak of its popularity on the system as well. Arguably, so has Pokemon – but it’s also received more criticism for its games than any other Nintendo franchise has, and it’s not even close. Things didn’t start all bad, though – the first Pokemon games on were Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee, which were remakes of Pokemon Yellow with some new content. They were often criticized for forced motion controls, but otherwise were decently well-received as above-average remakes of the originals. They also sold exceedingly well. Still, though, they weren’t considered “full length” Pokemon games because they only took place in Kanto and only featured the original 151 Pokemon (plus Meltan and Melmetal). We wouldn’t get an original Switch Pokemon title until 2019, and that’s where the criticism started.

After the initial announcement of Pokemon Sword and Shield, it was revealed that any Pokemon not present within Galar’s 400-Pokemon Pokedex would be completely unavailable to use in the game – not even via transfer, which had never happened before. Popular Pokemon like Greninja, Typhlosion, Arceus, Snivy, and many more were absent with many others unavailable at launch. This meant that – for example – if a player had a beloved starter Greninja from Pokemon X and Y it could not enter Sword and Shield in any capacity because the code for Greninja was not present in the game at all. This understandably caused lots of frustration and disappointment among fans, which became worse when developers claimed the cuts were to “focus on high-quality animations”. Players began picking apart Sword and Shield’s trailers and identifying character and Pokemon animations that had been reused or copied from previous games, which only led to more disappointment. Unfortunately, this also led to harassment of the developers themselves – it’s completely okay to be disappointed, but it’s never okay to direct harmful anger to its developers. This particular situation eventually blew over, for the most part, but the removal of so many Pokemon left a bad impression on many players. Fortunately, Pokemon Sword and Shield greatly improved with the release of its DLC – specifically, The Crown Tundra – which added tons of new content, Legendary Pokemon, and a huge amount of replay value via Dynamax Adventure Shiny hunting. Though Sword and Shield are not considered top five Pokemon games, the general sentiment from players is that they’re anywhere from “average” to “pretty good”.

Pokemon really went into overdrive in late 2021. It started with the release of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. The Pokemon Company dropped numerous hints towards Sinnoh remakes, which got people really excited. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, released for Nintendo 3DS in 2014, were well-received and considered excellent remakes. This hype reached a peak during 2021’s Pokemon Day presentation – and then completely fell off after the trailer for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl aired. It wasn’t what people wanted – it was a 1 to 1 remake of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and what was immediately visible was its odd art style. Characters were chibi-style with stubby arms and legs in the overworld, but switched over to normal proportions during battles. This was supposedly done to mimic the original art style, but the developers must not have realized that the original games portray their overworld characters as chibi due to graphical limitations, not artistic choice. BDSP wound up shipping with incomplete music, no post-game content, and numerous glitches – most of this was fixed via a day one update, but it showed how quickly the project might have been put together. Overall, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are by far the worst-received main series Pokemon games in the series. What fans really wanted was a Pokemon Platinum remake, which added more Pokemon to the regional dex and made many key quality-of-life changes and adjustments that are simply not present in BDSP.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus released just two months after Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, however, and it completely turned the negativity surrounding the series on its head. It did receive a bit of criticism for its graphics on launch, but it quickly died down after people played the game. Pokemon Legends: Arceus was, in a way, what Breath of the Wild was to Zelda: a streamlining and freshening of the Pokemon formula. You could now sneak up on creatures and seamlessly throw Poke Balls to catch them by surprise, or opt to battle them instead. This game feels so much smoother to play and navigate than your typical main series Pokemon title – it was truly the evolution the series needed at the time. It introduced new Hisuian forms of Decidueye, Typhlosion, and Samurott, plus some new favorites like Hisuian Zorua. This is still regarded as one of the better Pokemon games, and things were looking bright for the series after Legends Arceus.

Unfortunately, that game never received any kind of notable DLC. Instead, just three months after Legends Arceus released, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet – the next generation of Pokemon on Nintendo Switch – were announced. And at launch, people were incredibly mixed. Not all of the quality-of-life changes from Pokemon Legends: Arceus carried over, and the graphics and performance of Scarlet and Violet were shockingly poor upon release. These problems were never fixed, either – which may make these games difficult to go back to a few years from now. Most of the complaints around Scarlet and Violet are about its appearance and performance; everything else in the game was received quite well. It’s a true open-world Pokemon game with no loading zones between areas and the ability to run, jump, climb, and fly around the Paldea region wherever you want to go. The new Pokemon introduced in these games were well-received, too. And while the story is mostly tame and about average, it’s dialed up to 100 during the final stretch of the game, which is regarded as one of the strongest story moments in the entire series. Overall, Scarlet and Violet are arguably the most polarizing Pokemon games on the system (and possibly ever). Some players will tell you Scarlet and Violet aren’t that bad once you get used to the graphics, but others can’t get past the pop-in and low frame rate.

The Pokemon series’ story on Switch isn’t even over yet. Pokemon Legends Z-A was announced for Nintendo Switch (and not Switch 2) last year, but at the time of writing we have not seen or heard anything about it other than that it exists at all. The team working on this game is presumably the same one that was working on Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which did receive positive reviews. Hopefully Legends Z-A will bring up Pokemon’s reputation once again with a fun, addictive adventure set in the Kalos region.

Kirby series

Generally speaking, the Kirby series has maintained a high standard of quality ever since Kirby’s Return to Dream Land on Wii – and before that, too. The first Kirby game on Nintendo Switch was Kirby Star Allies, which released in 2018. In the modern day, Kirby Star Allies isn’t a bad game at all. It’s certainly a step down from Kirby Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot that came before it – its levels are easier than ever to the point of being almost mindless, plus the main campaign feels a little shorter. Kirby Star Allies received more criticism at launch than it does now, and that’s mainly because it wasn’t the Kirby game people wanted at the time. Fans really wanted to see a big evolution for the franchise, but instead what they got was a decent game that is unfortunately overshadowed by its predecessors. The next two titles, Super Kirby Clash and Kirby Fighters 2, weren’t exactly what fans wanted either – and these quickly flew under the radar as well.

Thankfully, the Kirby series has since absolutely peaked on Nintendo Switch. Kirby and the Forgotten Land released in 2022, and this was in fact the game fans wanted. It’s the first full-length 3D Kirby game (unless you count Kirby’s Blowout Blast on Nintendo 3DS, which is more of a side game), and an excellent first shot at that. The levels, while linear, are all a joy to play and maneuver with Kirby’s updated moveset and Copy Abilities. It’s also got a stellar presentation and great music, plus an interesting story that really ramps up in the final part of the game. And things only got better for Kirby from there – Kirby’s Dream Buffet released later that same year, though its online servers did die out rather quickly. More significant, however, was the release of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe in early 2023. Aside from being an excellent refresh of the original Wii game, it added some new Copy Abilities plus a whole new side mode starring Magolor. That’s the last we’ve heard of Kirby on Switch so far, but with rumors arising that Kirby: Planet Robobot may be receiving a port as well, it’s definitely possible that Return to Dream Land Deluxe was not Kirby’s final outing on the platform.

The Kirby series started off just a little bit slow on Nintendo Switch, but it really found its footing in 2022. Kirby and the Forgotten Land went on to become the best-selling game in the series at seven million units shipped. We’ll absolutely be seeing lots more of Kirby on Nintendo Switch 2, given that Switch was his most successful platform yet.

Splatoon series

You’ve probably noticed a trend by now: in almost all cases, every Nintendo franchise peaked on Nintendo Switch in terms of quality, sales numbers, or both. Splatoon is one of them! Splatoon 2 released rather early in the system’s life cycle in summer 2017. It added the new Clam Blitz ranked mode to the game, plus plenty of new weapons, outfits, and of course Splatfests. It also introduced the new cooperative Salmon Run mode, and it had a decent albeit somewhat forgettable main story mode. Where Splatoon 2 really shined, however, was its DLC. Octo Expansion is widely considered the greatest single-player content in Splatoon history, even now. With plenty of different challenges and weapons to pick from (plus a very memorable storyline), Octo Expansion was a huge winner for Splatoon 2 and the Splatoon series in general.

Then, in late 2022, we got Splatoon 3. Having two Splatoon games on the same system was strange at first, but Splatoon 3 brought an absolutely huge number of quality-of-life changes to the game – so many, in fact, that it wouldn’t have worked as an update to Splatoon 2. One of the biggest changes to Splatoon 3 was Salmon Run, which was overhauled and refined from Splatoon 2 in many ways. It added a new exclusive currency, King Salmonid mega-bosses, and plenty of new stages, too. Then there are the Big Run events, which are Salmon Run rotations hosted on normal competitive stages. Splatoon 3 received plenty of support between its Splatfests and Big Run events, and for a time there was always something new to look forward to in Splatoon. The game’s Grand Festival event was also absolutely excellent, and even included a unique hub world that you can revisit to this day if you have an amiibo of one of the idols.

Given that Splatoon 3’s support has recently ended, it’s safe to say that Nintendo Switch 2 will get a Splatoon 4. Some say that the first three Splatoon games were meant to form a trilogy, which might mean that Splatoon 4 winds up looking much different than its predecessors. That’s a good thing, though, considering that Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 will both be playable on the new hardware in addition to whatever new Splatoon game the system winds up getting.

Animal Crossing series

Animal Crossing is challenging to quantify here. In terms of sales, it absolutely peaked – New Horizons is the de facto pandemic game, and it wound up selling well over 40 million units and becoming the best-selling game in the series. That said, New Horizons was noticeably lacking on launch, with only about two weeks of in-game content before there was nothing new left to do. This is in contrast to Animal Crossing: New Leaf on Nintendo 3DS, which had much more content available on its launch and even more available via the big update it received later on. Over time, Animal Crossing: New Horizons received tons of tiny updates with small new features. These would draw players back to the game for a moment, but they’d often lose interest soon afterward. This went on until late 2021, in which New Horizons received its final update: the new Happy Home Paradise DLC, which added a completely separate island focused on house decoration (plus some new content for the base game as well). Animal Crossing fans are kind of split over whether New Leaf or New Horizons is the better game, and it’s difficult to quantify if the series really peaked in terms of quality – whereas Splatoon received a sequel and two years of updates, Animal Crossing received a little less than two years’ worth of much smaller updates and was never touched by the developers again after 2021.

A new Animal Crossing game that builds on New Horizons with fresh and additional content is definitely at the top of our list for Nintendo Switch 2. These games take a long time to come out, however. Seven years passed between New Leaf and New Horizons, and if the series continues at that pace we won’t receive a new entry until 2027. Given the huge success of New Horizons, however, we think it’d be crazy to wait that long to make a new entry. That said, we think it’s a little strange that Nintendo kind of squandered its huge Animal Crossing player base, in a sense. Any other game with 30 million copies sold could be supported for many years. But that’s perhaps unrealistic thinking, and we’re nonetheless looking forward to what Switch 2 brings for the series.

Xenoblade Chronicles series

Xenoblade Chronicles is another franchise that has undoubtedly had its best moments on Nintendo Switch. It all started in 2017 with Xenoblade Chronicles 2. At the time, fans weren’t expecting a sequel to the original Xenoblade on Wii – and they certainly weren’t expecting it to eventually become a full trilogy. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a strong first hour, but then it slows to a crawl for a good time. Once you get past the 30-hour mark, though, its story ramps up and takes an incredible turn. Though Xenoblade 2 is tough to get into, it’s one of the best games out there. And in 2020 a few years later, Monolith Soft released a full remake of the original Xenoblade Chronicles with upscaled graphics, quality-of-life changes, and a new epilogue story called Future Connected.

That wasn’t the end, though – Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced in 2022 and released soon after – it even had its release date moved up, which is highly unusual for Nintendo games. Xenoblade 3 is home to some of the series’ most impactful and emotional moments, and was followed up by Future Redeemed, one of the greatest DLC campaigns ever released by Nintendo starring previous characters a prequel to the base game’s story. Xenoblade isn’t one of Nintendo’s top five franchises, per se, but it’s definitely gained a ton of reputation which was helped by Pyra and Mythra’s appearances in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as well. And it’s not over for Xenoblade – Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is coming in March, meaning the entire Xenoblade series will be playable on both Switch and Switch 2. Sublime.

Metroid series

It’s tough to say whether Metroid has truly peaked on NIntendo Switch just yet, but it’s definitely received a couple of great games. The first was Metroid Dread in 2021, which held the distinction of being the first 2D Metroid to release in a very long time. In classic Metroid fashion, it’s an incredibly high-quality experience. It’s on the short side, but highly replayable. Dread has some horror and survival elements as Samus escapes from the new E.M.M.I. foes. We also received Metroid Prime Remastered, an excellent remake of the GameCube original. While it doesn’t have much in terms of new content, it’s still one of the best games on Nintendo Switch even though it’s quite old. At the time of writing we haven’t received Metroid Prime 4: Beyond just yet, but it’s looking amazing from what we’ve seen of it so far. We think the game will turn out great – and if it truly does, then it’s safe to say that Metroid has indeed peaked on Nintendo Switch. We’re hoping to see even more of it on Nintendo Switch 2!

Fire Emblem series

You could argue that the climax of Fire Emblem was Awakening on Nintendo 3DS, and you’d probably be correct. But in that case, Nintendo Switch’s peak is a close second! Fire Emblem: Three Houses from 2019 remains one of the most popular entries in the series, both critically and commercially. Fans enjoyed its focus on characters as well as its many different story choices, and the game provides a huge amount of content if you complete every story route. Then we got Fire Emblem Engage a few years later, which players are a bit more divided on. The gameplay is considered better than ever, but the story and characters are often thought to be weaker in terms of narrative than those in Three Houses. Still, that’s two solid Fire Emblem titles on one console, which many of Nintendo’s other franchises would do anything for. A while afterward, we received Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, a warriors hack-and-slash type game that ties into Three Houses. Don’t forget that there’s the original Fire Emblem Warriors, too. At any rate, we’re sure to see much more Fire Emblem on Switch 2.

Pikmin series

The Pikmin series has enjoyed a huge resurgence on Nintendo Switch – in fact, if we had to name a niche Nintendo franchise that really found its footing on this platform, it’d be Pikmin. Pikmin 3 Deluxe in 2020 wasn’t responsible for this resurgence, but it definitely helped. In 2023, we got Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2, and Pikmin 4 all released on the same console, meaning that you can play the entire series on Switch except for Hey! Pikmin from Nintendo 3DS. Pikmin 4 was a beautifully-crafted adventure that introduced the beloved companion Oatchi for the first time, plus several new types of Pikmin to collect. It’s one of the best games on Nintendo Switch for sure, and one that makes us excited for the future of the series on Switch 2. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another ten years for Pikmin 5! Especially considering that Pikmin 4 went on to sell a little under 4 million units, which is a huge milestone for a franchise that was considered niche prior to the Switch. Good job, Pikmin!

Bayonetta series

In terms of sales, the Bayonetta series has absolutely found its footing on Nintendo Switch. Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 ports quickly made their way to the system where they ran at a smooth 60 frames per second with their addictive gameplay left intact. The Bayonetta series really started gaining popularity in 2022, however – after an excruciating five-year wait, Bayonetta 3 finally hit the system. Though generally considered a great game casually, fans of the series are quite mixed on it. Some think the new demon-summoning mechanic slows down the pace of the game and takes away from the combat, and others are (understandably) highly dissatisfied at the ending of the game and therefore the future of the series. We also received Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, a picture-book styled prequel that also flew directly under the radar. With tons of restructuring at PlatinumGames and the exact future of the Bayonetta series left uncertain (you’ll know what we mean if you beat Bayonetta 3), we’re not sure where Nintendo Switch 2 will take this franchise. Nothing left to do but wait and find out!

Nintendo franchises with little to no representation on Switch

Unfortunately, a fair few Nintendo franchises saw next to no content on Nintendo Switch – do note that we’re not including Nintendo Switch Online classic games for this section, only new titles. The biggest exclusion is probably Star Fox, which did not receive an original title at any point during the system’s lifespan. It did receive a side campaign in the Starlink: Battle for Atlas game, but absolutely nothing otherwise. We also didn’t see any new games from Kid Icarus, Golden Sun, Wario Land, Rhythm Heaven, Chibi-Robo, or EarthBound (though that one’s understandable). It’s a shame, too, because Nintendo Switch would’ve been the perfect time to bring these lost franchises into the limelight once more. We also didn’t receive much for F-Zero besides F-Zero 99, a new battle royale game. It’s not the brand-new F-Zero title fans were wanting, but it’s at least some sort of acknowledgment of the series in general.

With that, we’ve gone over every major Nintendo series on Switch. Which franchises do you think peaked on this platform, and which do you think maybe didn’t do so well? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below, and thanks for sticking with us to the end. We’re looking forward to the next few years of Nintendo Switch 2 and seeing how all of these beloved franchises grow and change in the future.