After four hours with Switch 2, and time with all of its new first-party games, I can see it - though the console’s more experimental side is also its weaker. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating a better version of a hugely-successful console, keeping the main Switch concept of hybrid play intact while improving the elements that needed an upgrade: the Switch 1’s aged processing power, its fussy Joy-Con attachments, its basic online social capabilities. With Switch 2 in your hands, you hold a console that can tick off a string of current-gen console standards: 4K, HDR, VRR and 120fps, at least on some titles. And while I’ll leave the pixel analysis to Digital Foundry, it is evident just from a quick play with Switch 2’s first-party software that Nintendo is now able to feed off of significantly more power under the hood.
Mario Kart World’s open landscape is a dramatic revolution for the series - a gamble that I believe pays off, and a new landmark entry that seems likely to rival the huge popularity of Mario Kart 8 Deluxeover Nintendo’s last generation. I’ve written my detailed thoughts on Mario Kart World’s brilliance elsewhere. And then there’s Donkey Kong Bananza, which ended the Switch 2 Direct in a slot many had expected to be reserved for a long-awaited new 3D Mario, but after some hands-on time actually feels just as exciting.
It‘s especially evident shortly after these announcements. I was looking for a resource to summarize and comment on the Direct but most things I found were posts by what I can only describe as ecstatic fanboys. Honestly I was surprised how little the Switch 2 is actually talked about outside this bubble.