I Played The Nintendo Switch 2 For 3 Hours: Here’s What I Think So Far

This week, Nintendo announced a lot more information about the Nintendo Switch 2. The next-gen Nintendo console will hit stores on June 5 (surprisingly soon!) and will cost $450 (more than I expected!) During a Nintendo Direct livestream, along with a long press release and website launch, showcases some of the sequel device’s biggest improvements and a long list of games, including new and old games that will either launch or see an upgraded re-release on the NS2 in 2025 and 2026.

Directly after the livestream, I got to spend a few hours playing some of those games, including the Switch 2’s first heavy-hitters–Mario Kart World, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and Donkey Kong Bananza. It’s still a little early to get into the nitty gritty details–I didn’t get my scale and tape measure out–but I can tell you how it feels to play games on the Nintendo Switch 2 and explain its signature features. Beyond the simple hardware upgrade, the Switch 2 smooths out a lot of the original’s rough edges, like poor multiplayer infrastructure, and offers up neat design tweaks. Throw in a few potential bangers in the first few months, and I think there’s enough there for Switch fans to start prepping for pre-order season.

What’s New, Switch 2?

Compared to most Nintendo’s generational leaps, the Switch 2 is a fairly modest redesign. The “hybrid” handheld form factor returns–the base unit is a portable slate with two detachable Joy-Con controllers on the ends, but you can plug it into a dock, which plugs into your TV, for a conventional home console experience. The Joy-Cons and their “Joy-Con Grip” controller holster are very similar, too. There’s even a new (and very similar looking) Switch 2 Pro controller.

And yet, there are a lot of changes. Some big, some little. But all told, they all combine to make a console that seems more than capable of extending Nintendo’s Switch era for a second generation.

Looks Good, Feels Good

The Switch 2 handheld is a little larger than the original. More than anything It felt wider in my hands–not as wide as Steam Deck, but closer to it than the original Switch. It’s also a little taller, but that didn’t make a tangible difference in the console’s form factor.

The bigger body is mostly there to make room for a larger 7.9-inch, 1080p LCD display, which supports high-dynamic range (HDR), a display technology that allows the screen to show a wider range of lighting conditions. (For reference, the original Switch has a 6.2-inch screen.) It also runs at a faster 120-hertz refresh rate, with variable refresh rate support for smoother animation, even when a game might normally slow to a crawl.

Despite the Switch 2 ditching the OLED panel in the Switch OLED, games generally looked much sharper and ran more smoothly in handheld mode. (That held true for docked mode, too.) In the Switch 2 version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I could clearly see a lot more detail in the environment and noticeable shifts in the lighting.

Nintendo did not say much about what’s under the hood, beyond confirming that the Switch 2 features a new and improved custom processor made by Nvidia. I can tell you, though, that every game I tested–old, current, and upcoming–all ran very smoothly and looked better than anything I’ve ever seen running on the original Switch. Broadly speaking, HDR support translated to deeper colors and sharper lines, and the games all felt very responsive.

There are a couple new features on the body of the Switch, as well. There are now two USB-C ports–the one on the bottom, for video out, remains, but there’s also a secondary port for plugging in accessories on top. (There’s one very specific accessory so far, which I’ll talk about in a minute.) Also on the top of the hardware, the Switch 2 now has a built-in noise-cancelling microphone so you can chat in multiplayer without a headset, whether you’re playing handheld or docked in TV mode.

Speaking of docked mode, the dock is now far more capable. While the handheld display maxes out at 1080p, the Switch 2 can play in either 4K at 60 frames per second (fps) or 1080p at 120 fps in docked mode. The dock also has a fan to enable cooling, which theoretically means that resource-intensive games should run more smoothly with the console in the dock.

I’m Ready to Give the Joy-Cons a Second Chance

On the hardware side, the Joy-Cons probably get the biggest glow-up on the console. The analog sticks are larger, which made using the Joy-Cons far more comfortable. When separated from the console, the top Joy-Con buttons (SL and SR) are larger and easier to press. I, quite frankly, am not a Joy-Con person. (Even to my average-size hands, they are an ergonomic nightmare.) I’m not sure that these improvements are enough to get me to stop reaching for a Pro Controller most of the time, but I didn’t have any issues with control or hand fatigue after playing for about three hours. And that is undeniably a big improvement.

Nintendo has ditched the sliding mechanism in favor of a much improved magnetic connection. There are two magnets on each side of the body of the console, and two metal pieces on the long edges of the Joy-Cons. Pulling the metal release switches on the back of the body causes the magnets to release with a small, but satisfying, pop as I opened them, and a very clear snap when I reattached them. Connecting and disconnecting the Joy-Cons used to feel pretty fumbly but is now quick and, frankly, kinda fun.

The next major new element is the addition of sensors in the long end of each joy-con, which allow you to use them like mice. Transitioning from holding two Joy-Cons to using one or both as mice is seamless–simply place the mouse on the ground, sensor-down, and it will start tracking. To replicate the full range of controls for a conventional game, you’ll need to hold your off-hand Joy-Con and use its stick and button for movement and conventional controls. (Think of it as the “WASD” to go with your mouse.)

My feelings about the mouse controls are… complicated. I played about 15 minutes of Civilization VII with them and had a tough time rewiring my brain to use all my fingers on both hands to manage the various clicks and camera controls. I made progress in that time, and I can see myself reaching a place where I prefer it over a controller, but it isn’t going to convince any PC players to jump ship and play on Switch 2.

I was generally more comfortable using them to play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Aside from a few clumsy moments where I needed to reach the X and Y buttons on the side of the Joy-Con-mouse, the shooting felt fairly precise, though not as snappy as a conventional mouse on a PC.

Last, but not least, the Joy-Cons have a new input–the “C” button on the right Joy-Con, under the “Home” button. On the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube, the “C” button and stick were camera controls. On the Switch 2, “C” stands for “chat.” The C button enables the interface for GameChat–a new multiplayer chat system that allows friends to connect and talk to each other, share their screen, and even show their faces using a USB-C webcam. (That’s why you need a second USB-C port, by the way.)

GameChat Could Be A Huge Upgrade for Online Multiplayer

It’s no secret that multiplayer infrastructure has never been Nintendo’s strong suit, but GameChat and its accompanying hardware features–a built-in microphone and the optional webcam–appear to be genuinely useful. You can quickly and easily enter a chat with people on your friends’ list, (which will port over from the original Switch), and having a built-in microphone makes it easy to casually communicate without the additional complexities that drive most Switch multiplayer groups to Discord. (It also looks a bit like Discord, which I don’t think is by accident.)

Like system-level chat on other consoles, it is not tied to a game, so you can chat with friends uninterrupted when switching between games. You also have the ability to screen share and keep small windows along the bottom of the screen and potentially watch a few people playing at once.

Lastly, there’s the webcam bit. If you plug in a USB-C webcam, you can overlay your image on top of your game, as you might see on Twitch stream. Nintendo says you can use any USB-C webcam, though it was only willing to guarantee full functionality with its own, first-party model.

Despite playing a 24-player game on Mario Kart World, I did not get the chance to try out GameChat during the event, so you’ll have to wait for my full review to get a more nuanced perspective on GameChat, but I’m as optimistic about this as I’ve ever been about anything related to online multiplayer from Nintendo.

The Best Switch 2 Games I Played

As any player will tell you, games are what make a console great. Nintendo announced a lot of games during the Nintendo Direct. (Shoutout to all Silksong heads.) There are lots of tech and gaming websites that you may or may not have already read where you can see the list, so I’m just going to give you the highlights of what I played.

Mario Kart World

Since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was far and away the best-selling game on the Switch, it’s no surprise that the next Nintendo racer is the Switch 2’s flagship launch game. A proper sequel, World is a major reinvention for the franchise: The whole game takes place in an open world, and “Grand Prix” races involve long road trips across the world, rather than a loop around a track. The gameplay’s also branching out with an exploration mode and large scale multiplayer races like “Knockout Mode,” where a group of 24 players start the race, but the group gets cut down after each leg. There are new power-ups too and lots of cool little design touches.

All that said, it still feels like Mario Kart. In my one “Knockout” round I bounced from last to first, then down to 16th, then back to first for multiple legs, then down to sixth for a bit, and ended in second. And yet, as an old, jaded player who’s generally more than tired of Mario Kart–I play it when friends suggest it, but that’s it–I found my time with it thrilling.

And, of course, this is far and away the best looking Mario Kart game yet. There’s a meaningful increase in visual fidelity. (Again, HDR support adds a ton of color depth that makes everything look better.) Also, not for nothing, but I can’t see an open-world game moving at this speed running on the Switch. In that way, it’s truly a next-gen (Nintendo) game.

Drag x Drive

Drag x Drive is a three-on-three basketball game, where all the players are wheelchair-users. It has a fairly generic look, which tracks because this is very clearly a proof-of-concept game for the optical sensors in the Joy-Cons (not unlike Wii Sports, Arms, etc.). Using both Joy-Cons as mice, you push them away from you move forward, or push one to turn. To shoot, you line up with the basket, then lift the Joy-Con vertically and make a free-throw-like motion.

From what I experienced, there is the potential for some Wii Sports-eque magic here: The controls are fairly complex and require more concentrated effort than any successful motion control game I’ve played outside of VR. However, the aiming is soft, which makes up for that, and I could see it becoming surprisingly compelling in multiplayer with the right group. If nothing else, this is a game that only Nintendo could make, and that has to count for something.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

I spoke a little bit about my experience with the mouse controls already, but it’s worth noting that Metroid Prime’s back and, based on this demo, it feels much more like a shooter than past Prime games. Scanning everything is back. Curling up into a ball is back. And shooting will be more precise on the Switch 2 than the Gamecube, whether you use a controller or the mouse controls.

It’s worth keeping in mind that this is an original Switch game with a Switch 2 upgrade. The game looked good but didn’t have the same depth of color or sharpness as Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza, which are both Switch 2 exclusives.

Donkey Kong Bananza

My favorite of the bunch, Bananza seems to be a Donkey Kong Country reboot, as adapted in the style of Super Mario Odyssey (my personal favorite Switch game). As DK, you can smash nearly everything in the environment. There are buttons for punching, punching up, and punching down. Punching down, I destroyed the floor, sending chunks of gold and rock flying. Crystal bananas are scattered around large open-world levels for you to find, and there seem to be a lot of them. Smashing everything I saw lacked the… finesse of Odyssey’s precision platforming, but I could tell that the game will use the mechanics creatively. And I could see it sparking joy in the same way.

Pricing and Availability

And now we get to the Elephant (Yoshi?) in the room. Word has gotten out that basically every aspect of Switch 2 is going to be more expensive than the Switch. The console is $450, up from $300 for a standard Switch. Mario Kart World, purchased a la carte, will cost $80 on Switch 2 eShop or $90 at retail: That’s an unexpected jump from the $70 standard that Nintendo rarely touched on the original Switch. (At launch, you can get around this by buying the $500 console bundle, which includes the game.) Other games, including Donkey Kong Bananza, will cost less–$70 digital or $80 physical–and at least some Switch games will require a paid upgrade pack if you want their Switch 2-specific features. The Switch 2 Pro Controller costs $80. A new pair of Joy-Cons costs $90. The Switch 2 camera costs 50 bucks. (That one’s honestly not bad.)

The point is, everything’s going to cost a bit more. (Or maybe a lot more. Who knows how the U.S.’ new international tariffs will impact retail prices?)

There’s always a cadre of players–myself included–who charge in and buy expensive gaming equipment for a love of the art form, but the original Switch was also the most affordable console for most of the last generation. That’s not really the case anymore. You should keep that in mind as you decide whether or not to pick one up.

All that said, I am definitely looking forward to spending even more time with the Nintendo Switch 2, and giving you a full report sometime right before or at launch on June 5, 2025. If you’re looking to pre-order, Nintendo says it will start offering them soon through its website. Additional pre-orders from other retailers like Amazon and Walmart are also sure to follow. (We will update this story when those options become available.)

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