Nintendo Switch 2 Fixes One of the Worst Switch 1 Ports

Nintendo Switch 2 appears to fix one of the worst games for the original Nintendo Switch. It’s no secret that the Nintendo Switch wasn’t a very powerful piece of hardware. It was purposely designed to be affordable and therefore, not a powerhouse. It was also very early in the era of portable gaming that can somewhat compete with regular consoles. Steam Deck and other PC portables have now shown what can be accomplished at various price points, likely giving Nintendo some direction on where it can take the Nintendo Switch 2 while still being a competitive console. However, it was clear there needed to be a leap forward in power.

It seems like that leap forward is pretty notable. Major games like Cyberpunk 2077 are on Nintendo Switch 2 and big recent releases like Star Wars Outlaws and even next year’s 007 First Light will also release on the console. It clearly shows that Nintendo has made something that can more competently handle the big AAA games that are released on Xbox and PlayStation. There are even rumors that Red Dead Redemption 2 will come to Nintendo Switch 2 later this year, which would be a huge win for Nintendo fans and those who want to take one of the best games on the go.

Nintendo Switch 2 Fixes Batman: Arkham Knight

With that said, what about the Nintendo Switch 1 games that ran like dog water? Well, there’s hope! Digital Foundry decided to see if the Nintendo Switch 2 automatically boosts the performance of backward compatible Nintendo Switch 1 games and turned to Batman: Arkham Knight for this test. Despite being a much loved superhero game, the Nintendo Switch 1 version of Batman: Arkham Knight was a train wreck with frame rates that sank below 20 FPS. It was a mess, but according to Digital Foundry, the Nintendo Switch 2 fixes the game. Batman: Arkham Knight runs smoothly at 30 FPS on Nintendo Switch 2 without any kind of update to the game. The outlet noted that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt also benefited from the Switch 2, though there are some downsides as the Switch 1’s handheld screen was 720p and Switch 2 now upscales those games somewhat poorly to 1080p.

As a result, graphically, they are still a bit rough around the edges, but they run smoothly if you are just trying to play them on Nintendo Switch 2 without it being a stuttery mess. It’s great to see that Nintendo Switch 1 games benefit from the Switch 2’s hardware, even without upgrades from the developer. However, it would be great if developers did eventually patch these games to better take advantage of the Nintendo Switch 2, ideally without forcing people to pay for it (especially for games that were pretty busted). Only time will tell what kind of other games make their way to Nintendo Switch 2 either natively or through Switch 1 upgrades, but the console’s first year is packed with great third-party games.

Are you going to revisit any old games on Nintendo Switch 2? Let me know in the comments!