{"id":71821,"date":"2026-07-26T16:47:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T08:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=71821"},"modified":"2026-07-26T16:47:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T08:47:01","slug":"the-nintendo-switch-2s-power-boost-is-finally-starting-to-pay-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=71821","title":{"rendered":"The Nintendo Switch 2’s power boost is finally starting to pay off"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Back when the Nintendo Switch 2 was just a likely rumor, I wasn\u2019t exactly convinced that a superpowered console would benefit Nintendo much. Sure, a modern tech boost would open the door for better third-party support and more stable performance, but realistically, I didn\u2019t expect it to change much about how Nintendo makes its games. Kirby is always going to look like Kirby.<\/p>\n

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Now, more than a year into the Switch 2\u2019s life, I have a much better idea of how Nintendo is playing with power. We got a tease of that last year with Donkey Kong Bananza<\/em> and Kirby Air Riders<\/em>, but Splatoon Raiders <\/em>is the latest game to clarify what a first-party Nintendo game looks like with more capable hardware. It\u2019s not a matter of more realistic graphics; it\u2019s about filling up the screen with colorful chaos.<\/p>\n

You can see that philosophy on display in several Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives. The most obvious example is Donkey Kong Bananza<\/em>, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary. It\u2019s still the Switch 2\u2019s show pony for good reason: it lets you tear through entire levels as terrain explodes in a shower of gold particles. The fact that it maintains a smooth framerate even during co-op is a miracle, considering that the old Switch struggled to make a top-down Zelda game run well.<\/p>\n

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\"23\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo EPD\/Nintendo via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

We\u2019ve seen a few similarly impressive tech feats since then. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment <\/em>lets you enjoy an action game where hundreds of enemies are on screen at once, without the slowdowns that plagued its predecessor, the Switch\u2019s Age of Calamity<\/em>. Kirby Air Riders <\/em>tosses the kitchen sink at you while you zoom through City Trial mode at 10,000 miles per hour, without missing a beat. Even this year\u2019s Mario Tennis Fever<\/em> makes good use of the hardware to have multiple Fever Racket effects active on a court at one time. There\u2019s a good reason that all of these games are Switch 2 exclusives.<\/p>\n

Splatoon Raiders<\/em> is the best example of tech elevating design yet. In the looter shooter\u2019s high-level endgame challenges, you\u2019re often surrounded by waves of Salmonids who shoot off ink in every direction. The screen floods with color as you pop your foes with shots of your own. It\u2019s almost Musou-like at times, with the visual chaos piling up, making it all the more impressive that the framerate stays stable throughout. Does it look that much better than Splatoon 3<\/em>? No, but it\u2019s hard to imagine that Raiders <\/em>would be able to run on the original Switch without exploding.<\/p>\n

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\"A\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo EPD\/Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Nintendo\u2019s hardware has a long history of influencing the games that run on it. Consider how the GameCube\u2019s four-controller support made it a multiplayer haven, how the Wii led to a golden age of casual party games, and how the Wii U tried to experiment with multiscreen play. When I think back on the Switch\u2019s library, it\u2019s easy to see how the console itself impacted Nintendo\u2019s approach to game design, too. The best Switch games are made to fit both console and handheld experiences. They tend to be huge in scope, but still playable in short chunks on the go. That\u2019s the genius of Breath of the Wild<\/em>\u2019s shrines, or Super Mario Odyssey<\/em>\u2019s glut of collectible Moons. Switch 2\u2019s early games are, instead, defined by a kind of cartoon sensory overload that Nintendo has never had the tech to pull off until now.<\/p>\n

There are still plenty of untapped franchises that could continue that philosophy this generation. The next Super Smash Bros. game could no doubt give Masahiro Sakurai a chance to create an even faster-paced fighting game, with more explosive items and busier stage gimmicks. Mario games have always aimed to get the most out of Nintendo\u2019s hardware, so the plumber\u2019s next 3D outing could very well give us something as technically dazzling as Super Mario Galaxy<\/em> was in 2007. I\u2019m still putting my money on F-Zero<\/em> finally getting a revival this generation now that Nintendo has a platform that can handle the speed and precision that series requires. (A man can dream!)<\/p>\n

No matter what we have coming on the horizon, I\u2019m already happy to eat crow as I look back at my low expectations for the Switch 2. Yes, Kirby still looks like Kirby, but I didn\u2019t anticipate that I\u2019d get to see him racing through a living planet\u2019s face at an impossibly high speed as rainbow colors rained around him. Games like Splatoon Raiders<\/em> are showing that generational boosts are no longer about leaps in fidelity, but about removing more barriers that block developers\u2019 imaginations. Nintendo seems to get that right now, and it’s not taking that for granted.<\/p>\n