Best Nintendo Switch games: essential titles on the handheld
The best Nintendo Switch games showcase why people love Nintendo’s different characters and series. These games, which you can only get on the platform, show why Nintendo has not only been a popular developer and publisher, they are also proof that the company knows how to make excellent handheld games.
Whether the Nintendo Switch is your first Nintendo console or you’ve been a of Nintendo’s previous games and consoles, the Nintendo Switch offers games for every taste. If you only want to take your games on the go and don’t plan to connect the handheld to a TV, the Nintendo Switch Lite is a cheaper option. If you want a crisp OLED display and a slightly better battery life, the Nintendo Switch OLED could be the model for you.
Whatever model you decide on, in this list you will see that Nintendo has a game for any genre, from fighting to strategy to action-adventures.
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Best Nintendo Switch games
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons
(Image credit: Nintendo)
The first Animal Crossing console game in eight years, Animal Crossing: New Horizons whisks you off to a deserted island through an exclusive Nook Inc package. This island is yours to fill with villagers, but also to change in whatever way you can imagine, thanks to the game’s new island building tools. Make friends with your fellow islanders, fish, collect fruit and decorate your island – thanks to a plethora of cute tools and decorative items, there’s a lot of ways to make your island your own.
New Horizons feels familiar and fresh, combining the old enjoyable parts of the series with some much-needed improvements and far greater depth than we’ve seen before. Thanks to the game’s great online features, you can visit friend’s islands, swap items and even design and try custom clothing, making the social game more social than ever before. Read our Animal Crossing: New Horizons review to learn what else the game has in store for you. Nintendo knows how to make all of these elements come together to make a game that’s difficult to put down, and even if you don’t end up playing Animal Crossing for years and years, we dare you to not be charmed by its tone and presentation.
Bayonetta 3
(Image credit: Nintendo)
PlatinumGame’s beloved witch is back to fight angels across dimensions. You once again take control of Bayonetta, a proficient melee fighter and gunslinger, who fights her way across the multiverse to stop a deadly singularity.
Bayonetta is a cult hit for how utterly stylish it is – the witch effortlessly fights enemies the size of skyscrapers, flipping and cartwheeling all the while. The combat is incredible to look at, easily rivaling the likes of Devil May Cry 5, and is incredibly smooth to play. A new addition to Bayonetta’s already great combat are the summons, which all have distinct abilities that come with their own risks when using them. Bayonetta 3 is a big, bold action game, as well as a game that brings the Switch hardware to its limit, according to our Bayonetta 3 review. If you want something to get your blood pumping, you’ve found your game.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
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Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a joyful family platformer that is equally as ambitious as it is adorable. This is the boldest Kirby game yet, pushing the pink puffball into all manner of new dimensions and contorted shapes. It also sees Kirby doing what he does best: inhaling enemies to absorb their abilities, jumping and gliding through tight platforming segments, and tackling big bosses at the end of each stage. Read our Kirby and the Forgotten Land review for more details.
Forgotten Land will feel familiar to those who have played a Kirby game before, but its 3D levels and Kirby’s new abilities make the series feel fresh. Its visuals are perfect to illustrate the graphical jump from the 3DS to the Switch, and the gameplay shows the blob in top form. Whether you haven’t played a Kirby game before or are a longtime fan, you’re in for a treat.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
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This racer offers several new additions to this version of the arcade racer that was already available on Wii U. You’ve got the return of battle mode, new characters, all the previously released DLC tracks, and the ability to hold two special items simultaneously to add an extra layer of strategy to your racing. The new game is also a great way of playing the game in multiplayer. You can play online, in split-screen with up to four players, or link up to eight consoles together to play multiplayer wirelessly (where you can also play with up to two players per console).
Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U was already one of the best entries in the franchise, and the Nintendo Switch version is no different. In fact, it’s one of the best Switch games full stop – as well as one of the best online multiplayer Switch games. It’s a versatile release and well worth picking up for anyone who missed out on Mario Kart 8 the first time around, and it’s still getting new DLC. Just note that you will need Nintendo Switch Online to play with friends online.
Metroid Dread
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Metroid Dread is a well-refined version of the game that has inspired a generation of players and developers, spawning the Metroidvania, a whole new genre. The structure is simple – Bounty hunter Samus arrives on an unfamiliar planet and has to make her way around to find a means to escape. During her journey, she will find new tools and power-ups to help her get to previously inaccessible places. In Metroid Dread, the stakes are raised by pitting Samus against regular indestructible enemies, which requires a stealthier approach than previous Metroid games. Read our Metroid Dread review for more.
A solid difficulty, the new enemies and the immense satisfaction you get from discovering something new make Metroid Dread an essential Metroid game that delivers on everything fans already enjoy, while also looking incredibly polished visually. It’s definitely one of the best Nintendo Switch games, at least until we finally get details on Metroid Prime 4.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
(Image credit: The Pokémon Company/Nintendo)
Acting as a prequel to the main series, Arceus takes players to a much older version of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl’s Sinnoh region (known here as the Hisui region). Pokémon roam freely and you’re charged with completing one of the region’s first Pokédexes. With no gym leaders or badges, Arceus’ focus is primarily on catching Pokémon, rather than battling them.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is unlike any Pokémon game you may have played before – in the best possible way. While the likes of Sword and Shield add new features, Arceus goes even further: shaking up the game as we know it and offering an alternative to the established series formula. This makes Pokémon Legends: Arceus one of the best Nintendo Switch games available and well worth checking out if you’re a Pokémon fan or trying to become one.
Splatoon 2
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Splatoon is the closest to a shooter Nintendo is likely ever going to come. Instead of bullets, here you shoot ink, both to defeat other players and obstacles, or help with movement. Packed with fun modes that make the best of this idea, Splatoon 3 is most fun in multiplayer, a colorful and stylish ride the whole family can enjoy.
Splatoon 3 changes nothing about the series on a fundamental level, but it offers a lot of quality of life improvements that show Nintendo is listening to its players, such as a hub, better connectivity and a better campaign experience. With the Salmon Run returning and small but effective improvements, Splatoon 3 is a strong series entry for one of the best series on the console. Check our full Splatoon 3 review.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
This platform brawler for party game fans and pro fighters
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The long-running Smash is Nintendo’s family-friendly version of a fighting game, just as Splatoon is their take on the shooter. Instead of simply knocking out your opponent, you go up against each other in tag teams trying to smash your opponent off the screen.
Our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review says it like it is: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate packs in more fighters, more stages, more gameplay modes, and more tactical elements of any game in the franchise. This is, for all intents and purposes, the definitive Super Smash Bros., with everything that entails – and plenty of juicy Smash Bros DLC (Joker! Piranha Plant! Banjo-Kazooie!) to keep you occupied after you’ve unlocked the main roster of fighters (though all DLC has now been released). If you’re looking for one of the best Nintendo Switch games for fun with the whole family, then you definitely can’t go wrong with Smash. It’s without a doubt one of the best Switch games for playing with others.
Tetris 99
(Image credit: Nintendo)
When you’ve got a game as near-perfect as Tetris already is, how can you put a fresh spin on it to keep a new generation of players hooked? By tapping into a modern gaming craze. Tetris 99 takes the classic block-building, line-making formula, and fuses it with a battle-royale multiplayer system. You and 98 other Tetris fans go head to head, making lines as quickly as possible and sending screen-filling blocks to each other’s screens to knock each other out. The last person standing wins.
One quick five-minute game soon becomes a two-hour session, and with regular challenges and additional modes to purchase, it’s great fun. You can get Tetris 99 as a standalone game, but as a free download to those who subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, it’s the best reason to sign up for the service, too.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
(Image credit: Nintendo)
While past Zelda games have stuck pretty closely to the formula established by Ocarina of Time (the series’ 3D debut), Breath of the Wild throws much of the established wisdom away. Previously, Zelda games had you make your way through puzzle dungeons and fight enemies and bosses in a linear order. Breath of the Wild turns Link loose in an open world where he gets to explore the world of Hyrule as he sees fit, but enemies can approach him at any time, there’s wear and tear to his equipment and plenty of puzzles await.
It’s the puzzles themselves that make the game feel the most satisfying. BotW’s physics-based problem-solving means that there are often multiple solutions to each challenge depending on how you combine your various skills. Years after release, players are still finding different ways to approach the game’s various challenges and secrets. Breath of the Wild truly invigorates the Zelda series, making it one of the very best Nintendo Switch games. The sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, is highly anticipated, as players can’t wait to have new environments to comb through. This a game that feels incredibly broad in scope, with so many little touches to discover that it’s hard not to fall in love with this long-running series all over again. Read our full The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild review.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Mario can do XCOM-esque strategy, too, wahoo
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With Mario + Rabbids Kingdom battle, Nintendo and Ubisoft tried their hand at another genre we usually don’t associate with either of them: tactical strategy in the vein of XCOM 2. You fight opponents in turn-based battles that see you either attack, use special skills or try to avoid incoming attacks.
Because Mario + Rabbids combines the colorful joy of Mario with the… Rabbids-ness of Ubisoft’s rabbids, the result is as inventive as it is fun. Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope continues everything that was great about its predecessor, stuffing it with even more puzzles and skills to puzzle with in order to make it past villains from the Mario series. This is one of the best Nintendo Switch games because on the console, there’s nothing else like it. Generally, if you like strategy but don’t want to control gruff military men all the time, this is the game for you. Just know that because it’s aimed at a slightly younger demographic, seasoned strategy veterans may find Sparks of Hope a little easy. Check our full Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope review.
Best Nintendo Switch games: FAQs
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What are upcoming Nintendo Switch games for 2023?
You can look forward to plenty of great Nintendo Switch releases for 2023, from. Zelda fans have already marked down the day Tears of the Kingdom releases, while with Pikmin 4, another long-standing Nintendo series finally gets a new game. RPG lovers get Octopath Traveller 2, and with Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, a 3DS classic gets a Switch remaster.
What are the top 10 selling Switch games?
In December 2022, Nintendo revealed its latest sales numbers, which shows that the top 10 selling Switch games are all Nintendo mainstays:
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5. Pokémon Sword and Shield
6. Super Mario Odyssey
7. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
8. Super Mario Party
9. Ring Fit Adventure
10. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! & Let’s Go, Eevee!
