I played 11 Nintendo Switch 2 games. Here’s what I thought of each

It ’s been a whirlwind week for Nintendo fan . On Wednesday , the company fully raise the lid on theNintendo Switch 2with a perfectly executedDirect presentation . That present moment of elation gave fashion to anxiety as instrumentalist sorted through the console ’s controversial new pricing strategy . Then fall complete affright asPresident Donald Trump ’s fresh announce tariffson extraneous imports do Nintendo topostpone preorders for the systemin the United States . You ca n’t blame Nintendo fans for feeling a trivial punctuate out right now .

The preserve grace of all this is that the Switch 2 is still slate to establish on June 5 and it ’s play a ton of exciting game along with it . At a press event on Wednesday , I wenthands - on with nearly a dozen electric switch 2 games , from first - political party lumbering - hitters to Switch 2 Editions of old pet . I ’ve posted my impressions of several game throughout the hebdomad , but for the sake of ease , I ’m rounding them all up in one post . Curious about just how goodMetroid Prime 4 : Beyondis ? How does it feel to drive a wheelchair around with mouse controls ? IsNintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tourreally deserving a few bucks ? you’re able to find all those answers properly here .

Mario Kart World

More than any game I play on Wednesday , my opinion onMario Kart Worldhas bounced back and forth . In my trailer , I noted that it was a lot of fun but bewail its massive price tag . Now that I ’ve strike a footfall back from the initial toughie stupor , I ’m find my excitement again . I really relish the fade I played , which retains the core fun of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , but places it in on a marvelous scale . The elimination - style looker mode specially flummox with me , as it let me race through a tense gauntlet of interlinked cartroad . I ’m still thinking about my narrow loss to Bowser and eager to get back in to avenge it . I especially desire to see more of its open - worldly concern as I only got a taste of freeform geographic expedition that did n’t quite severalize me enough about what players can do in the existence . Mario Kart Worldfeels like its brimming with possibilities that I scantily discovered during my playtime . I ’m ready for another lap .

Donkey Kong Bananza

I ’ll be honest : I have no idea what kind of receptionDonkey Kong Bananzawill get when it launches , but I love it already . The ape ’s first 3D escapade in decades was a delight todiscover for the first time , as I was dropped into an unresolved - concluded and in full destructible world full of lustrous thing to pile up . It reminded me of playingSuper Mario Odysseyfor the first time and fluidly jumping from moon to moon in between experimenting with my cap . Replace the T - rex ownership with environmental shattering that demonstrate off the power of Nintendo ’s new system , and you ’ve got a recipe for a game that both feel uniquely Nintendo and like its own thing exclusively . It ’s vivacious and bubbly , but hefty and full of attitude — almost like something from the GameCube era .

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

After playing throughMetroid Prime 4 : Beyond‘s introduction , I do n’t need to see another irregular of footage . Thesnippet I playedwas so impressive that I ’m ready to go in unsighted and see what Retro Studios has been cooking up all this meter through fresh eyes . The long - look plot feels like a restitution to Metroid Prime , but with the worldbuilding scope ofMetroid Prime 3 : degeneracy , now better realized on more capable hardware . The battles were tense , the tease of its big badness was exciting , and the whole thing looks gorgeous . What impressed me most of all , though , was its great showcase of mouse ascendency for first - person aiming . The setup worked remarkably well , devote me the kind of pinpoint accuracy I ’ve only ever experienced on a PC . You really wo n’t believe what the new Joy - cons are adequate to of until you get hand on withMetroid Prime 4yourself , trust me .

Drag X Drive

Another with child demonstration of the shiner - cons , Drag X Drivewas one of the most delightful games I tried on Switch 2 . certain , it ’s a fairly bare game that feel like aNintendo Switch Sportsminigame spun off into its own thing , but it makes a great case for dual computer mouse controls combined with gyro . I played ( and advance ) a three - on - three game of ballock at the show , a feat that required me to learn how to use the mouse quickly . Though its tutorial obscure me ab initio , I took to the controls once the buzzer rang and come up myself sweating a fleck as I move my work force across a mesa to navigate my wheelchair around the royal court . It ’s fun and physical , adopting the same design philosophy plant in Arms , but in a more fitly scoped software package . It wo n’t be the next esports game , but it ’ll be a fun elbow room to teach your friend how to use the mouse .

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Touris for certain the unmated one out of the new first - party games I tried . That ’s because it ’s more of a digital instruction manual than anything , which has been gamified in a very Nintendo way . Over the course of 10 second , I ’d take some quizzes on the arrangement ’s newfangled feature film , aviate a spaceship stave with computer mouse ascendance , utilise the power of HD grumble to nail a frequency , and more . It ’s a cunning way to show off the system ’s features and it ’s even get a piece of forward motion that hook me , as I shoot for to set up high scores in each minigame to unlock more . I still just do n’t translate why it ’ll be money alternatively of come with the organisation at launch . I ca n’t image many hoi polloi buying it , which is a ignominy because it ’s a cute construct done well .

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The event had a fewNintendo Switch 2 Editionsof Hellenic Switch games on display , which gave me a great horse sense of just how muscular the new scheme is compared to its forerunner . The Legend of Zelda : bout of the Kingdomwas the perfect vitrine for that . Within seconds , I was impressed by how much smoother its visuals appear and how well it all runs with a better framerate . I noted that it almost reckon surreal , as if you ’re watching a video of someone who has jailbroken the Switch version and unlock its framerate on PC . I ’m not sure if that ’ll convince me to start my adventure over again ( I ’ve already put over 100 hours in ) , but I have it away I ’ll be trying it at least one sentence to see how it feel to hang all the way from the sky down to the deepness in a gloriously high framerate .

Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV

The Switch 2 Edition ofSuper Mario Party Jamboreeis a little more content - charge thanTears of the Kingdom . During the consequence , I got to try a handful of mouse - contain minigames to see how the new Joy - cons can reinvent a serial that ’s been done well over a twelve times . That control scheme might just be the kick the serial publication need , as all of the games I essay felt fresh . One tense game had me guiding Toad through an electrified maze , carefully creep him around electrified wall . Another had me pulling my handwriting across a table to allow a toy car escaped into a goal as my opponents on the other side adjudicate to blast into me . Each game was fun , creative , and reactive , making the double dip feel worthwhile . I did n’t get to seek it all either . The event also had some camera - controlled minigames on display . I did n’t have prison term to gouge them in , but judging by the constant shouting and laughter from attendees , they seem like a hit too .

Cyberpunk 2077

Tons of third - party developers were in attendance to show off their games running on Switch 2 with vary degrees of success . cyber-terrorist 2077was on the positive side of the spectrum , show how well itsPhantom LibertyDLC operate on Switch 2 . No , you ’re not getting PS5 - levels of quality here , but the Switch 2 is more in line with the Steam Deck than you ’d have a bun in the oven . It still retains the game ’s telling lighting and racy earth item , even if the line are a little crunchy and the framerate tops out at 30 or 40fps ( maybe 45fps in the last build ) depending on which art setting you pick out . The one matter I did n’t get to try was mouse controls , which feel like they ’ll be an idealistic elbow room to play judging byMetroid Prime 4 : Beyond‘s telling demo . Cyberpunk 2077has never been much of my thing and I doubt the Switch 2 will commute that , but I ’m happy to see a powerhouse holding its own on the tech . Also , I ’ll give a shout out to the new Pro Controller here too , which I used to demo the secret plan . It ’s still a comfortable fit in my hired hand and I ’m already liking its new back buttons , which do n’t find controls I ’ll accidentally set off thanks to their minor size and placement .

Split Fiction

I ’m a trivial more mangled onSplit Fiction . My demo was undoubtedly impressive , do n’t get me wrong . I was looking at a brand new , next - gen only carbon monoxide gas - op game run on a Nintendo twist and that ’s a feat . I really could notice the ocular downgrade here on a big television set , second joint , as the visually slick plot is fuzzy here . It ’s not so far off fromCyberpunk 2077 , but that secret plan is sure to wow in hand-held mode where its flaws will be less noticeable . Split Fictionis more of a big screen game build up for sofa co - op , so Switch 2 does n’t feel like the theme platform for it at the present moment . That state , this is the variety of secret plan that ’s perfect for those who be intimate Nintendo games but want something a little more adult , so it ’s a proportionate convulsion for the console otherwise , and it does run well on it all things considered .

Civilization 7

I only end to demoCivilization 7for a few abbreviated minutes , but that ’s all that I involve to quiz my theory on it . When ascertain the Direct , I conceive of that the mouse command would be an idealistic fit for the strategy game . That was indeed the case . As was the case withMetroid Prime 4 : Beyond , I had accession to pinpoint accurate control here that made it well-off to voyage my single-valued function . The residual of the control felt surprisingly natural too , with thing like zooming in and out of the map making total sensory faculty on the Joy - cons . Not only that , but it looks and work great too , which is impressive for a somewhat intensive PC plot . If Switch 2 is probably the last console you want to playSplit Fictionon , Nintendo ’s new system is the ripe one to get it on next to PC .

F-Zero GX

I ended my demo event by commit one ofNintendo Switch Online ’s upcoming GameCube gamesa spin : F - Zero GX . There ’s not too much to describe here other than the fact that the racing game is still fantastical all these tenner later . It ’s as fast and tense as ever and it benefits from widescreen support this clip around . This was also the one time I was capable to get my men on the Switch 2 ’s new GameCube controller , which experience precisely like the sure-enough one . I ’m particularly nostalgic of the GameCube because it was the first console I have rise up that truly feel like my own , so take my excitement here with some prejudice ( though well - deserve diagonal , in my menial opinion ) .

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5 .

Wario races opponents in Mario Kart World.