The Nintendo Direct that formally introduced the Switch 2 today also revealed a ton of games on the way for the new machine.
Nintendo fully unveiled the Switch 2 today, and if you haven’t read our coverage of the system’s announcement you should go ahead and do so, as this post assumes you already know about some of those things. If you’re in a hurry, the short version is that the Switch 2 launches on June 5th, is fully backward compatible, and will cost you $449 by itself or $499 with Mario Kart World.Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World (pictured, top and above) was the first exclusive game announced for the Switch 2, and it is looking pretty sweet. It’s a fully open-world racer that takes place in a contiguous world. The courses are simply placed in the game world, and you actually drive from course to course between races. There’s also a free roam mode to explore the game world, and you can do this in multiplayer. There’s even a photo mode to take pictures with your friends while out exploring the game world. Nintendo’s sharing more details about this one in a separate Direct on April 17th.
Here’s a list of all the first-party games coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 at or near launch. They’re divided into two types: Exclusive titles and Upgrades. Exclusive titles are those that will only be available on the Switch 2, period, while the titles marked as ‚Upgrade‘ are games that either have or will have a Switch 2 version alongside the Switch 1 version.
Arguably the most exciting thing shown in the Direct, at least for Nintendo fans, was Donkey Kong Bananza, the gluttonous gorilla’s first proper 3D platformer since Donkey Kong 64. The trailer shows off remarkable terrain deformation and physics-based gameplay. Donkey Kong has a new design that calls back to earlier, pre-Rare designs, and while his look might be divisive, the cartoony style of this game looks immediately charming.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour appears to be a tutorial of sorts for the system, designed to help players new to the machine understand its capabilities and how to use its functions. It’s a pretty cool idea, although we have to wonder if it isn’t also secretly targeted at developers who may need some help integrating the Switch 2’s many unique hardware capabilities into their games. Notably, it isn’t going to be free, unlike Sony’s similar title Astro’s Playroom which came pre-installed on PlayStation 4 systems.Crazy specs for a handheld.
The Switch 2 upgrades aren’t going to be free, either. Nintendo didn’t elaborate on how much they would cost, but presented it like this: if you already own a Switch game, you can get the Switch 2 version for a lower price than buying the full Switch 2 version of the game. These Upgrade titles will have physical and digital versions, although that may not necessarily be the case for all future Upgrade titles.Super Mario Party Jamboree TV
In some cases, these upgrades come along with significant gameplay additions. The Jamboree TV expansion for Super Mario Party Jamboree, besides being a technical upgrade, also adds new mini-games and gameplay features that take advantage of the Switch 2’s new hardware, like mouse mode on the Joy-Cons and the optional Switch 2 Camera. Zelda Notes in Tears of the Kingdom
The two Zelda titles on the Switch are getting a new feature called Zelda Notes where you can link the game with your phone and access various features like GPS navigation for secrets, or the ability to save and share your Ultrahand constructions in Tears of the Kingdom with your friends, who can import them directly into the game and use them.
