Fans have been waiting for Nintendo to launch a Switch 2 for years now. It was reportedly due out sometime in 2024 before getting delayed to next year. And while the company recently hinted that the Switch successor will be revealed later this year, it could still be a longtime before it actually comes out. What games can Nintendo release in the meantime to keep players’ existing Switches from gathering too much dust?
It’s no secret the Mario maker has been relying on lots of ports, remasters, and remakes in recent years to pad its lineup. Improved versions of Wii U exclusives have become some of the best games on Switch, from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Inside Story. Last year, fans were even treated to a remake of the SNES’s Super Mario RPG, while Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door from the GameCube is out later this month.
Nintendo’s back catalog runs deep, though, and there’s still plenty of untapped potential to keep fans busy until the Switch 2 arrives in 2025. Here are all of the beloved classics and cult hits we’d still love to see come to Switch before its sunset. We won’t get all of them, but I’d be shocked if a few didn’t pop up on Nintendo’s release calendar heading into the 2024 holiday season.
Somewhat divisive at the time for not pushing the series forward as much as some fans would have liked, Pokémon Black and White nevertheless sold a ton on the DS and packed in 156 new Pokémon, the most of any game in the series. Based in the Unova region, which is heavily inspired by New York City, the games featured tons of urban settings and cool mini-games like Broadway-esque Pokémon musicals. With months of leaks heavily suggesting the Gen V games are the next ones to get remakes after 2021’s Chibi-overhauled Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it seems like a foregone conclusion they’ll come to Switch at some point. Hopefully the remakes aren’t as barebones this time around.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 was an all-around great game in 2019. The DS’s Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is getting a remake later this summer. So it’s only fitting, if increasingly implausible, that we get the full trilogy on Switch. While Nintendo has really improved the pacing, puzzles, and controls in Luigi’s latest outing, nothing compares to the creepy atmosphere and survival horror-lite vibe of the original. It would be great to revisit that with more quality-of-life features, as long as Nintendo can resist the urge to lighten the mood too much.
We’ve only received three console Punch-Out!! games in the boxing franchise’s history, and Punch-Out!! is the only one that’s not on Switch. Though often remembered for the use of the Wii’s motion controls and the balance board for an extra-realistic and difficult way of playing, it also sported a neat Contender mode that functions like a modern roguelike, as well as a novel split-screen multiplayer mode where Mac can transform into a Giga version of himself. You even get to fight Donkey Kong at one point.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 wasn’t as novel as its predecessor, but it was arguably the more polished and ambitious of the two games, with bolder level designs that leaned into their weirder gimmicks more. Nintendo brought the first Super Mario Galaxy to Switch via the limited-time Mario 3D All-Stars collection, so it would be bizarre if Super Mario Galaxy 2 didn’t make the jump at some point as well. It probably should have been included in the All-Stars anthology. Maybe the fact that it wasn’t means we might still get a full-blown remake.
Metroid Prime Remastered was a surprisingly crisp yet faithful trip down memory lane last year. The only major knock against it was that it didn’t include the other two games in the trilogy. Echoes, the straightforward if more challenging follow-up, deserves to make it to Switch before Metroid Prime 4 does, whenever that ends up being. It was also the first game in the foreboding sci-fi series to feature a multiplayer mode, a perfect fit for your next Switch rooftop party.
What’s left to say: it’s a crime that Xenoblade Chronicles X remains trapped on Wii U. The uneven spin-off swung big with massive maps, an intricate system of resources, upgrades, and unlocks, and a multiplayer system that tried to bring MMO guild-like systems to an open world single-player RPG. The storytelling, pacing, art, and music was top-notch, even if the mileage varied greatly on moment-to-moment character writing and dialogue. The last of the great Wii U orphans, no game deserves a Switch port more.
Rumors have been circling about a new Donkey Kong Country game over the last year, spurred on by the titular ape’s screen time in the recent Mario movie. Donkey Kong Country Returns can’t hold a candle to its sequel, Tropical Freeze, but it brought the platformer into the modern era and was especially good on Wii U and 3Ds. A re-release with new art, music, and improved controls would be the perfect foundation to rebuild Donkey Kong’s often overshadowed legacy heading into the Switch 2.
One of the top Fire Emblem games of all-time, Path of Radiance is a stellar tactical RPG that would benefit a lot from a modern glow-up. It’s already fully voiced and has some of the best system streamlining and balance in the series. All it needs is a fresh coat of paint so it doesn’t look like a sack of potatoes. Plus, younger Nintendo fans need to know where Ike came from. It wasn’t Super Smash Bros.
Of all the turn-based puzzle RPGs the Mario Bros. have starred in, Dream Team is probably the most unfairly maligned. Its beautiful art and wonderful music, as well as the inventive 2D dream levels, were tainted by the mind-numbing tutorials and terrible pacing. All problems easily remedied in a remake. And with Superstar Saga and Bowser’s Inside Story already having received upgrades, Dream Team feels the most ripe for a re-imagining that can earn the sequel its due. Don’t tell me Paper Jam deserves it more.
In a year of great games, 2006’s The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. Why more fans aren’t clamoring for it to be available on modern hardware is beyond me. Nintendo already did most of the work when bringing the game to Wii U and while its grim, more realistic style has aged with time, the wolf transformation is still unique and the dungeons remain some of the best in the entire series. Switch players who have been deprived of proper dungeons in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom deserve a glimpse at peak Zelda puzzle design.
Maligned for its cartoony art by a vocal minority of fans, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD is easily one of the top games in the series. Its seafaring exploration is overwhelming in scale and its storytelling has some of the best moments in the franchise. The Wii U version is another no-brainer Switch port that Nintendo has slept on for far too long. If they only bring one more Zelda to the current Switch, it needs to be this one.
The 2019 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening came as a complete surprise, not least of all because Nintendo retained the core elements of the beloved original while overhauling the top-down look with a beautiful, quasi-2DHD style. It would be great to see the company do the same with the complimentary companion pieces Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. Two remakes for the price of one, with plenty of incentive for people to buy both. What’s not to love, Nintendo?
Just fucking do it already.
