The Switch 2 is here, and I’m loving the upgraded hardware so far. It feels nice, looks wonderful, and runs like a dream. But while Mario Kart World is excellent, and I’ve enjoyed revisiting a bunch of other great games through their spiffy Switch 2 ports, I can’t help but feel like something is missing.
There’s no new epic journey to embark on in one of Nintendo’s meticulously crafted worlds, no big single-player spectacle to spend long nights getting lost in, no glimpse at how the company might once again redefine what a classic video game adventure could look like. There is, to put it plainly, no equivalent to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild or Super Mario Odyssey.
Both games pushed their respective franchises to the next level, setting fresh benchmarks not just for Nintendo but also for other games in those genres. They bookended the original Switch’s launch year lineup, Breath of the Wild arriving at release and Mario Odyssey in the fall, with games players could spend dozens of hours exploring. The Switch’s mashup of horsepower and portability was a refreshing novelty, but it wouldn’t have made any difference without top-shelf Nintendo blockbusters to showcase it.
Some games are best played in bite-sized chunks, daily rituals you tag in and out of in-between life’s overwhelming to-do lists. But I also want something that I can binge until I hit that point where I’m putting gas in my car or bagging groceries at the store and randomly thinking about the plight of fictional characters who only exist when I boot up my gaming console. Something with high emotional stakes, a big map to explore, or puzzles and boss fights that I get stuck on, forcing me to take a break until I purge my brain of all extraneous info and focus 100 percent of my energy on obsessing over the completely trivial yet infinitely compelling tasks laid before me in a big meaty game. Something the Switch 2 doesn’t quite have right now.
I’ve spent over 20 hours with Mario Kart World, and there’s no question it’s a dazzling showpiece for the new hardware. Its sprawling courses are bursting with visual flourishes and impressive set pieces. More so than any prior game in the series, each race feels like a theme park ride where the landscape and architecture are filled with as much drama as the fight for first-place. The sequel is easy to undersell at first glance, but the moment-to-moment experience has been richly revitalized with new mechanics that completely change how you play Mario Kart.
Yet, an under-baked open-world free roam mode aside, it’s very much still a Mario Kart game, and I’m increasingly hunting for that immersive single-player deep-dive to make me fall in love with the Switch 2 the way I did with Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey on Switch 1. Anyone coming to the platform for the first time has a wealth of riches to choose from, but for someone who’s been there from the start, and played heavy-hitters like Hitman and Cyberpunk 2077 on other platforms, there’s a big hole in the lineup. I’m not the only one to notice.
2025 is going to be a stacked year for Nintendo’s new platform. Donkey Kong Bananza arrives in July, Pokémon Legends: Z-A in October, and Metroid Prime 4 at some other point before the end of the year. Blockbusters like Star Wars Outlaws and Borderlands 4 are also on the way, Elden Ring and Final Fantasy VII Remake are waiting in the wings, and Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong are both GOTY-threats ready to spring into action at any moment. After Switch 2 just became the fastest-selling console in history, it’s no wonder why third-party support has showed up in a big way.
Even so, a Mario-sized hole in the Switch 2's launch year lineup remains. Nintendo might be crazy to try and sneak its next 3D Mario adventure into the November slot, but I’ll be disappointed if the company doesn’t have a big new single-player exclusive for the Switch 2 within its first 6 months. Metroid Prime 4 will be available on the old hardware and, while I’m happy to be proven wrong, I’m skeptical that Donkey Kong Bananza can shoulder that burden. The level destruction mechanics look very fun and also like something that might run out of gas in the third-act. We shall see.
I’m still waiting for the Switch 2 to show me something I’ve never seen before. Considering gaming’s long-history or mediocre console launch libraries, that’s grossly unfair. I blame Nintendo for delivering the best launch year lineup ever with the original Switch. The company is now a victim of its past success. Unless Super Mario Galaxy 3 is secretly waiting just around the corner. I’ll eat my Cappy if so.
.