With the potential arrival of a Nintendo Switch 2 someday subsequent yr, the Nintendo Switch already has a tremendous lineup of video games out there. The hybrid moveable console has surpassed the PlayStation 4 and Game Boy to develop into the third best-selling console of all time with over 132.46 million items offered, Nintendo Switch Online has added Game Boy and Game Boy Advance video games, and Nintendo struck a 10-year take care of Microsoft to port Call of Duty to future Nintendo consoles. While Call of Duty followers look forward to the primary wave of ports, listed below are the 25 greatest Switch video games you possibly can play to carry you over.
But what will we imply by “greatest?” To be very clear, this isn’t an try at an “goal” rating that may indisputably line up with the tastes of avid gamers of every kind. That, sadly, can by no means exist; when one individual’s epic RPG masterpiece is one other’s boring and impenetrable slog, they’ll by no means see eye to eye on the place that recreation ought to rank towards others of various genres.
Instead, this can be a checklist of video games that IGN’s crew of Switch avid gamers suggest as a bunch, ranked utilizing our Face-Off device so that everyone – together with our NVC Podcast hosts – received to weigh in equally on which video games they thought must be positioned above others. It’s introduced within the spirit of recognizing video games we love, and inspiring others to attempt them in case you haven’t.
With solely 25 slots to fill, there are tons of wonderful current video games that didn’t float to the highest – however that doesn’t imply we don’t suppose they’re superior, too! Everybody who participated in voting has tons of non-public favorites that didn’t acquire fairly sufficient traction with the group to make the reduce, which is inevitable when there are this many video games and so many various views.
Most importantly, do not forget that this checklist is simply our group’s picks and isn’t any extra “proper” or “mistaken” than an inventory that you just create your self. Speaking of which: you probably have your individual rating you’d prefer to put out into the world, we’d like to ask you to make your individual prime 25 (or prime 100!) checklist of Switch video games utilizing our Playlist tool and share it within the feedback.
So with out additional ado, these are our picks for the 25 greatest Nintendo Switch video games. You may also try our checklist of the highest free Switch video games for added picks.
More on the Best of Nintendo:
25. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
While many hit Nintendo video games like Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Metroid Dread experience colourful bombast and motion, Captain Toad showcases the smaller, whimsical facet of Nintendo’s creativity. Weighed down by a backpack as huge as he’s, Captain Toad navigates diorama-like puzzle bins in quest of treasure. Each little stage bursts with element: secret corners, invisible secrets and techniques, intelligent mechanisms all look forward to anybody affected person sufficient to fiddle with the toy lengthy sufficient to search out them. And “a toy” is simply what Captain Toad looks like, hearkening again to Nintendo’s previous days as a taking part in card firm.
Its ranges tackle a tactile part, Rubix Cube-like, needing to be rotated, poked at, and scoured fully earlier than they provide up their final secrets and techniques. Captain Toad’s (and sure, his courageous buddy Toadette’s too!) adventures had been among the greatest the Wii U needed to provide, and are absolutely worthy of the port from the Wii U to Switch, which additionally added 18 new ranges and co-op multiplayer. Ten years from its first launch, Captain Toad: Treasure tracker stays the most effective video games on not one, however two Nintendo consoles.
24. Fire Emblem Engage
Fire Emblem Engage prioritizes and polishes the sequence’ iconic tactical fight with UI enhancements, the return of the tactical weapon triangle, and the introduction of the titular Engage mechanic, which permits your items to quickly fuse with heroes from Fire Emblem’s previous. From Marth and Roy to Ike and Byleth, these legendary heroes grant your items entry to flashy, highly effective expertise, weapons, and assaults, and play into Engage’s traditional story of fine versus evil. It’s a wonderful entry within the 30-year-old franchise that comes with Fire Emblem’s wealthy historical past with out being prohibitive to sequence newcomers.
23. Slay the Spire
There’s one thing about Slay the Spire’s steadiness of technique and randomness that makes it an endlessly replayable puzzle. Assembling that excellent combo of synergistic playing cards can really feel unbelievable, however there’s additionally a pleasure in scraping your strategy to victory regardless of the chances by no means fairly falling in your favor. With that potent bundle on the Switch’s cell platform — with some pretty respectable contact management choices, we’d add — it’s a miracle we’ve ever stopped taking part in it.
Slay the Spire made our up to date checklist of the ten greatest roguelikes.
22. Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a splendidly open-ended farming sim. You’ll forge your individual nation path with fishing, preventing, farming, and falling in love. Additionally, with the ability to reap the benefits of the Switch’s sleep mode helps take among the stress off of not with the ability to save in the midst of a day, even when just a few different bugs within the port are nonetheless ready to be squashed right here.
Stardew Valley is now out there on Apple Arcade as Stardew Valley+, and is without doubt one of the greatest iPhone video games round.
21. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is without doubt one of the largest and greatest JRPGs out there on Switch. Its fantastical world, endearing characters, and finally satisfying story make this 150-hour epic a journey properly value taking. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 additionally options the sequence’ greatest facet quests and most various fight so far, due to its new class-swapping mechanic.
20. Celeste
Celeste is a shock masterpiece. Its 2D platforming is among the greatest and hardest since Super Meat Boy, with ranges which can be as difficult to determine as they’re satisfying to finish. But the best triumph of Celeste is that its best-in-class leaping and dashing is mixed superbly with an essential and honest story and an unbelievable soundtrack that make it a genuinely emotional recreation, even when your toes are planted firmly on the bottom.
The developer’s subsequent recreation is named Earthblade, a “2D explor-action recreation in a seamless pixel artwork world.” It was initially scheduled to come back out in 2024, however developer Maddy Thorson stated in a current weblog publish that the sport will not be making its 2024 launch date, though growth is progressing.
19. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
With its charming, toyetic visible fashion and bizarrely darkish undertones, the huge island of Koholint in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has by no means seemed higher than it does on Nintendo Switch. Link’s shipwrecked journey on a mysterious island rife with eccentric characters and sprawling dungeons has all the time been one of many stranger Zelda tales, and this remake permits new audiences and getting old followers alike to understand it on a contemporary system. It modernizes the traditional beloved Zelda recreation with a shiny new coat of paint, some glorious high quality of life enhancements, and hundreds extra hidden collectibles however, finally, its biggest accomplishment is retaining the bizarre, haunting, stunning feeling of the unique Game Boy recreation.
See our information to the Legend of Zelda timeline to see the way it matches into the sequence.
18. Astral Chain
Platinum Games makes among the greatest motion video games round – that a lot is all however indeniable. It’s strategy is exclusive, and in consequence the Switch-exclusive Astral Chain is actually one in every of a sort in that you just’re concurrently controlling not simply your character, but in addition a residing weapon tethered to them often known as a Legion. This creates an exciting fashion of fight that appears spectacular and feels unbelievable to mess around with. Astral Chain is difficult, rewarding, is totally jam full of depth in its fight methods, and has an enticing story as properly, with clear inspiration from anime classics akin to Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost within the Shell, and Appleseed, amongst others.
17. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury provides two incredible Mario experiences that flatter one another brilliantly. 3D World landed on the Wii U and gave followers a novel mix of 2D and 3D platforming, all of which might (optionally) be performed with as much as 4 gamers in a setup that labored higher than the New Super Mario sequence completed. Inventive and simply plain enjoyable, it was too good of a recreation to maintain stranded on the Wii U endlessly, and its port to Switch got here with bonus on-line co-op capabilities, a photograph mode characteristic, and extra.
But the largest draw for followers who had already performed 3D World was Bowser’s Fury, a brand-new, open-world expertise that lasts roughly 3 to six hours. Though solely a small style by sequence requirements, this free-form experiment stands as a proof of idea that an open-world Mario recreation may be simply as artistic, exhilarating, and pleasing as what we’ve seen within the franchise to this point. If that is the course the following mainline Mario goes, it’s an thrilling future certainly.
16. Splatoon 3
The fine-tuning of Splatoon 3’s team-based multiplayer makes for the sequence’ greatest on-line modes so far, whereas the introduction of a extra fleshed-out single-player marketing campaign elevates it to the most effective general video games out there on Switch. The multiplayer is an enchancment on Splatoon’s established components due to new weapons, enemies, customization choices, and an improved foyer system. The Return of the Mammalians marketing campaign, in the meantime, presents 70 cleverly designed missions, 5 memorable boss fights, and a soundtrack oozing with fashion.
15. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition
Other video games on this checklist characterize big improvements and style shakeups, however Dragon Quest XI S earns its spot due to how traditional it feels. This RPG performs like an ode to the Nineties period, and it does an astonishingly good job at taking the traditional turn-based format and freshening it up for a contemporary viewers. All the weather you’d count on from a tribute like this are right here: Exciting and balanced fight, a nostalgic story of fine towards evil, a lovable band of heroes, and a vibrant world to discover.
Every part of Dragon Quest XI S feels meticulously designed and polished, and it is apparent that a lot love and care went into crafting this journey for Dragon Quest’s thirtieth anniversary. Plus, the Switch model is actually definitive, with extra story content material, absolutely orchestrated music, and the choice to swap forwards and backwards between trendy 3D graphics and SNES-inspired, top-down pixel artwork.
14. Luigi’s Mansion 3
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is basically a FrankenLuigistein’s monster of the primary two video games, a mashup of each that creates the proper Luigi’s Mansion expertise. Charming, intelligent, and completely attractive to take a look at, Luigi’s Mansion is 17 ranges of pure ghost-hunting pleasure. Working your approach by every of the haunted accommodations could by no means extraordinarily difficult, however the artistic boss fights and deviously hidden collectibles will maintain you busy for a dozen hours or extra. The pleasure of attending to a brand new stage simply to see its theme (TV Studio! Sewer Maze! Egypt!) is properly definitely worth the worth of admission, plus the sport opens with Toad driving a bus. Priceless.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD releases June 27, 2024.
13. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fire Emblem: Three Houses takes the sequence to new heights, deftly mixing grueling battles with an expansive social hub that permits for close to limitless customization as you recruit, practice, and bond with the memorable characters in your workforce. Its distinctive tackle a three-pronged story ensures that irrespective of which home you select, the engrossing plot that unfolds all the time leaves sufficient thriller to make a number of playthroughs extremely arduous to withstand.
The sequence’ subsequent mainline recreation, Fire Emblem Engage, is now out there on Switch. IGN awarded it a evaluate rating of 9 and stated Engage “proves itself worthy sufficient to be counted alongside the legacy it honors so properly.”
12. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Released on the doorstep of a world pandemic, Animal Crossing: New Horizons offered a a lot want escape to many, promoting practically 34 million copies so far. Routine and discovery play equally essential roles as you propose the proper format on your island, make mates (or enemies) with all of your villagers, and invite your folks to your individual little utopia to commerce gadgets and swap secrets and techniques.
It’s good in its simplicity and masterful in the best way it encourages gamers to maintain up with chores, redecorate and/or reshape complete plots of land, or burn dozens of hours making an attempt to catch uncommon fish or discover each final seasonal merchandise. It actually helps that each one the writing is supremely humorous and that, a whole lot of hours in, you’re nonetheless capable of chuckle at a random remark or discover real inspiration within the locations you’d least count on.
Taking a cue from a lot of Nintendo’s Switch editions of their long-running franchises, Animal Crossing New Horizons does little to fully reinvent the franchise, nevertheless it makes an amazing sequence much more accessible, extra thrilling, and extra great than it has ever been.
New Horizons is formally Japan’s best-selling recreation of all time. Animal Crossing gamers can get much more out of it with the Happy Home Paradise DLC. Our reviewer Taylor Lyles known as the enlargement “vital for base recreation homeowners.”
11. Metroid Prime Remastered
A masterclass in recreation design, Metroid Prime is now playable on Switch with a recent coat of paint and much-needed enhancements to its 20-year-old management scheme. As Samus Aran, gamers observe a misery sign to a Space Pirate frigate the place Nintendo’s iconic bounty hunter units off on a solitary journey outfitted with a rising arsenal of fight and platforming skills. Metroid Prime Remastered is moody, shocking, ingenious, and as IGN’s reviewer Sam Claiborn wrote, “the most effective first-person shooters ever made, full cease.”
10. Pikmin 4
Pikmin 4 and its charming creatures – together with the brand new lovely new pup, Oatchi – stick the touchdown within the strategy-puzzle sequence’ Switch debut. It comes with loads of new options and upgrades that enhance the tried-and-true components of the primary three video games, together with the most important variety of enemies to battle, treasures to gather, and superior post-game content material. It does all of this with out its lovely gameplay changing into overcomplicated, making it a perfect start line to leap in in case you’ve by no means performed earlier than (nothing towards the Switch ports of Pikmin 1 and a couple of or Pikmin 3 Deluxe), nevertheless it’s additionally stuffed with callbacks to the sooner video games for longtime followers.
9. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder proves Nintendo can nonetheless dangle with the very best of them within the 2D platformer class. After practically 20 years of (comparatively) bland New Super Mario Bros. video games, Nintendo confidently returned to Mario’s roots in Wonder, which lives as much as its subtitle due to its gorgeously recent artwork fashion, big quantity of intelligent new enemy varieties, and ingenious Wonder Flower mechanics that continuously shock and delight by fully turning every part on its head in the midst of a stage.
Whether Mario’s marching alongside a military of singing Piranha Plants or desperately making an attempt to outlive as a lowly Goomba, Wonder’s creativity and creativeness is on full blast from begin to end, leading to a contemporary 2D traditional that looks like the primary worthy inheritor to Nintendo’s legendary Mario 3 and Mario World. Oh, and Elephant Mario is a pure murals, too.
8. Hades
Roguelikes don’t all the time enchantment to everybody, however Hades has in some way discovered a strategy to win over even these with a distaste for them. Fighting your approach out of the Greek underworld is a ruthless and difficult affair, however each failure is rewarded in a approach that in some way makes them thrilling in their very own proper.
Instead of simply notching up every loss and shifting onto the following, the moments between every run push Hades’ glorious storytelling to the forefront, providing you with alternatives to study extra about its charming characters and develop near them – in addition to enhance the prince of the underworld’s skills and weapons. It’s that significant mixture of development and infinitely repeatable escape makes an attempt (coupled with genuinely incredible writing, artwork, and motion) that make Hades as delectable as Ambrosia itself.
Hades 2 Early Access is now out there on Steam.
7. Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is without doubt one of the greatest trendy MetroidVania’s out there, utilizing all of the items that make the style so nice within the first place with out feeling spinoff of something that got here earlier than it.
The expertly crafted map that’s the kingdom of Hallownest has an absurd quantity of paths to discover, bosses to battle, and secrets and techniques to uncover. That’s all drawn in a somber however expressive artwork fashion that provides the lovely bug individuals who stay their lives, and tales, of their very own. It can undoubtedly be a difficult and demanding recreation, however what you get out of shall be a reward value way over you set in.
The sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, was purported to be launched within the first half of 2023, however Team Cherry delayed it additional as a result of ongoing growth.
6. Metroid Dread
Metroid Dread had develop into a near-mythic recreation, a fabled DS entry that by no means noticed the sunshine of day by the point it was introduced at E3 2021 as a Switch recreation. With practically 20 years having handed for the reason that final new 2D Metroid, expectations had been sky excessive. Fortunately for followers, Dread met (and in lots of instances surpassed) expectations for what a contemporary 2D Metroid recreation might accomplish.
It’s simply the smoothest recreation within the sequence, working at a silky 60fps, and incorporates a number of new weapons and skills the sequence now can’t stay with out — the Flash Shift alone makes Dread really feel totally recent. With high-production values, unbelievable recreation design that lightly guides the participant by ZDR’s labyrinthine corridors, and probably the most unflinching model of Samus we’ve seen but, Mercury Steam hit Metroid Dread out of the stratosphere and introduced the franchise again into Nintendo’s orbit.
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kart 8’s encore on Nintendo Switch didn’t simply maintain the net neighborhood alive and added returning favorites like Balloon Battle and Bob-omb Blast, we additionally received a brand-new “cops and robbers” workforce mode with Renegade Roundup, the entire nice DLC phases, and even some company from the Splatoon universe. It’s not a brand new recreation, however one so good, it deserved to achieve an even bigger viewers on Switch straight away.
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is strictly what its title implies: it’s the final word incarnation of Nintendo’s now 20-year-old brawler sequence. It’s a celebration of Smash Bros. as a complete, stuffed with extra fighters and ranges than ever earlier than, and packed to the gills with over 1000 extra characters from all throughout gaming. “Everyone is right here!” could have began out as simply one other tagline, nevertheless it’s one which Nintendo has impressively backed up, and it’s made Ultimate the definitive Smash Bros. recreation for a very long time to come back. Add a 20+ hour single-player mode with full-on boss fights and big world maps and it’s simple to get misplaced in Ultimate. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had lots to stay as much as with that title, nevertheless it has undoubtedly executed simply that.
3. Super Mario Odyssey
A masterclass in 3D platforming, Super Mario Odyssey seamlessly blends the very best components from practically each Mario recreation with a whole portfolio of recent gameplay mechanics to create one thing each nostalgic and brave. New gamers will adore stomping by the vivid and huge new worlds, whereas seasoned veterans will stick round after the credit to unlock the a whole lot of challenges that await their talent and dexterity. To put it succinctly, Super Mario Odyssey is pure, chic pleasure and the most effective Super Mario video games ever made.
You can try our checklist of each Mario recreation on the Switch for extra like this.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Formerly the primary Switch recreation on the checklist for years, and for good purpose, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been de-throned by Tears of the Kingdom. When Nintendo launched Breath of the Wild in 2017, it revolutionized not simply Zelda video games, however open-world motion video games at massive. The variety of Breath of the Wild imitators from every kind of various builders post-2017 had been quite a few. While Breath of the Wild continues to be a vital Switch recreation, and essential to play to completely recognize Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo’s sequel improves on virtually each facet of Breath of the Wild that it does make going again to the predecessor troublesome.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is, arms down, the very best recreation out there on Nintendo Switch. Tears of the Kingdom is so good that it arguably made our earlier number-one Switch recreation, Breath of the Wild, out of date: As IGN’s reviewer Tom Marks wrote, “Breath of the Wild felt removed from unfinished however, inconceivably, Tears of the Kingdom has in some way made it really feel like a primary draft.”
Tears of the Kingdom expands Breath of the Wild’s Hyrule with a bigger scale, higher depth, and a extra fascinating story. It builds on Breath of the Wild’s gameplay with higher dungeons, extra artistic weapon crafting, and unfathomably sturdy constructing mechanics. It’s in some way a significant enchancment on what got here earlier than — and what got here earlier than was IGN’s choose for the very best recreation of all time.
You can see our checklist of each Legend of Zelda recreation on the Switch for extra like this.
Upcoming Switch Games
There are just a few upcoming Nintendo Switch video games you possibly can nonetheless sit up for in June 2024. Next up is Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, which is arriving on June 25. This is adopted by the Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD remake releasing on June 27.
Under Consideration – Recent Games
These extremely rated 2024 video games are too new for us to rank but – we have now to let the mud settle – however they and others shall be included within the subsequent spherical of voting the following time we replace the checklist.
Also see: The Best Switch Deals
April 12, 2024 updates:
Added: Super Mario Wonder, Pikmin 4, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition, Astral Chain, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Did we miss something? Is your favourite recreation too low? Let us know within the feedback, and be sure you examine again once we reconfigure this checklist once more!
