Nintendo officially unveiled the Nintendo Switch 2 this week, and during a hands-on event for the system, ComingSoon got some time with some of the system’s biggest first-party titles.
These games include the highly anticipated Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Highlights from those include Mario Kart World’s the chaotic fun that its 24-player races spark, Donkey Kong’s destruction across every level, and Metroid Prime 4’s seamless JoyCon mouse control.
What did we think of Nintendo Switch 2’s first-party games?
Due to various time constraints and Nintendo not wanting to give away too much, my time with each game was limited to brief demo sessions. For ease of reading, I’ll break down each game first-party title I tried below from our larger preview of the Nintendo Switch 2:
Mario Kart World: Every Mario Kart is chaotic in its own way, but Mario Kart World might take the cake. The inclusion of 24 riders made every race I tried an absolute blast, and really makes you focus on not messing up in any given race. Controls feel just as great as they do in Mario Kart 8, and some of the new features (like wall riding and grinding on rails) are a little hard to accomplish, but once you get the hang of it, can really make or break a race. The game’s Knockout Tour mode — which essentially acts as a battle royale with the goal to be hitting a certain placement threshold — is a ton of fun, and might end up being the mode everyone flocks to when this one launches.
Donkey Kong Bananza: The star of the show in terms of demos we got to try. Donkey Kong Bananza is the first 3D Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong 64, and it may just be worth the wait. The game boils down to Donkey Kong searching for golden bananas, but gives the titular monkey the ability to destroy pretty much everything he sees in his path. Any wall, mountainside, rock, and even the ground can be pummeled through by Donkey Kong, which made exploration an incredible time. In fact, most of my time with the game was spent just having fun destroying as much as I could with Donkey Kong, which to me is the sign of any great game.
Nintendo Switch 2’s JoyCon mouse controls aim to change how we play
Drag x Drive: More of a tech demo of sorts for the Nintendo Switch 2’s JoyCon mouse functions than anything. The game does take some getting used to, but by the time our group of players were in a game, it was every bit as tense and competitive as any basketball game. The mouse controls for this one are extremely strenuous, though, and sometimes not the most responsive depending on how you’re moving. We got to play with the JoyCons on top of a giant mousepad, but they did also work on pants, and give a satisfying tactile feedback as you’re moving the JoyCon across the ground.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition: For fans of the Metroid Prime series, they’ll feel right at home here. Gameplay is smooth, shooting down aliens feels every bit as satisying as any Metroid game, and surprisingly, this might have the most intuitive use of the Switch 2’s mouse controls of any title we tried. If you’re playing with two JoyCons separately, using the mouse controls in game is as easy as literally putting the JoyCon down on a surface. The lack of menu changes to accomplish and just how seamless it is to stop and start in the game was legitimately impressive, and the mouse controls themselves felt right at home in an FPS like Metroid Prime. The game also runs incredibly well on its “performance mode,” which locks the game in 1080p and 120FPS. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the game’s 4K60FPS mode.
Nintendo GameCube Classics: The suite of Nintendo GameCube Classics were also on display, and it’s clear that they’re going to be a fan-favorite when they finally launch. All three of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Soul Calibur II, and F-Zero GX look really good on the Switch 2, and run incredibly compared to any previous version of them. With more games set to be added, revisiting titles like Super Mario Sunshine and Luigi’s Mansion is something I already can’t wait to do.
Our brief time with the Nintendo Switch 2 and its first-party games show that Nintendo is willing to stamp its place in the modern gaming era. An upgraded console capable of 120FPS support, DLSS, raytracing, and 4K output makes the system a much more premium product, and its game show that as well.
