Nintendo Switch 2’s faster chip can dramatically improve original Switch games

The Nintendo Switch 2 is launching with a handful of new games, but for many of the people getting one this week, the main thing to play on it is software made for the original Switch.

We’ve known for months that the Switch 2 would maintain backward compatibility with the vast majority of Switch games, but one major question was whether the Switch 2’s improved hardware would benefit older Switch games in some way. Especially in recent years, first- and third-party Switch games have struggled with the original system’s aging Nvidia chipset, which was already a bit dated when the system came out in 2017.

After a day or so of testing various Switch games on the Switch 2, we can report firsthand that Switch games can look dramatically better on the new system. For games that Nintendo has taken the trouble to update—those with Switch 2 upgrade packs and those with free updates—players can expect higher resolutions, better frame rates, less texture and character pop-in, and smoother animations all around. Even games that haven’t been updated for the Switch 2 can run a bit more consistently on the new systems, though games without Switch 2-specific updates don’t improve as much as games with updates.

What follows is far from a comprehensive list of how every Switch game will perform on the Switch 2. But if you were someone frustrated by the Switch’s performance who hoped a new console could help some of these older games, the news for you is almost universally good.

The types of Switch 2 game updates

Based on what we've played so far, I would separate Nintendo Switch games running on the Switch 2 into four broad categories:

• Games with paid updates, aka "Switch 2 Editions." The most obvious kind of game update, these $10 or $20 packs explicitly promise to improve resolutions and frame rates of old Switch 1 games running on the Switch 2, and occasionally add other DLC-style content besides. This list includes The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and a few others. Once the update has been applied, the system sees these as full-fledged Switch 2 games.
• Games with free updates that Nintendo has highlighted. Nintendo has published a page of around a dozen specific, named Switch titles that have already gotten free updates to improve their compatibility with the Switch 2 in some way. The size of the changes varies a lot from game to game, and the console still lists them as original Switch games. But the games run significantly differently on the Switch 2. This list includes Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and others.
• Games with quiet updates. On June 3, Nintendo released a slew of updates to a few first-party games that all list "adjustments... made to improve gameplay on Nintendo Switch 2." Occasionally, as with Pikmin 3 Deluxe, these updates fix a specific compatibility problem. But they're mostly pretty vague, and they don't make the same performance promises as the games Nintendo highlighted. Games include Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Kirby Star Allies, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and others.
• Games with zero updates. These games have no awareness that they're running on the Switch 2 and have received no specific update mentioning the Switch 2.