The original Switch version of open-world superhero game Batman: Arkham Knight is a giant technical mess, featuring massive performance problems that make it borderline unplayable in many sections. But on Switch 2, things are much better, with some caveats.
In 2023, the Batman Arkham trilogy was ported to Switch. This package includes 2015's Arkham Knight, a game that was developed exclusively for PS4 and Xbox One consoles. It was a large, hyper-realistic open world with vehicle sections and a ton of detail. That’s the sort of game the Switch always struggles with and Arkham Knight was no exception, infamously running like garbage on Nintendo’s console.
Arkham Knight was supposed to run at 30 FPS, but most of the time it hovered around 20 FPS or less. This problem became much worse when driving the Batmobile through Gotham, where the game could dip as low as 15 FPS and turn into a slideshow. It was bad. But now, on Switch 2, Arkham Knight is much more playable.
As reported by Digital Foundry, Arkham Knight on Switch 2 runs mostly at a locked 30FPS on the new device. That’s great, as it means the game is now much more playable. Even during Batmobile sections, the game holds mostly steady and is much more enjoyable thanthe OG port. However, the site did mention that during these driving sections there are still some wonky animation issues that make it look a bit off.
DF also reported a crash, something the YouTube channel SwitchUp reported too. It should also be noted that the game is still running at a low resolution with muddy textures, so it might look a bit ugly upscaled on a big TV.
Still, it’s great to see that an old and crappy Switch port infamous for running poorly is now doing much better on Switch 2 without any performance patch from the developers. The more powerful Switch 2 hardware and the way the console handles backward compatibility have made it possible for the device to brute force some better performance out of older games, even if the devs don’t officially patch the game.
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