The Best Switch 2 Games, Ranked by Critics: From Ocarina to Hades II

In 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time earned a Metacritic score of 99, a record no game has beaten since. Twenty-eight years later, its Switch 2 remake has just pulled off something almost as unlikely: it is the highest-rated new game of 2026.

That is a fitting headline for the Nintendo Switch 2, which launched on June 5, 2025. Its library now mixes Nintendo's own heavy hitters, upgraded "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" versions of older hits, and, for the first time in years, big third-party games that run natively on a Nintendo handheld. This guide uses OpenCritic's Top Critic Average checked in mid-November 2026, with Metacritic scores where we say so.

How we picked

We included games you can buy and play on Switch 2 today, at 86 or above unless flagged. Switch 2 Editions count, because for many players they are the best way to play those games. We skipped original Switch games that have no Switch 2 upgrade, even though most of them run on the new console.

One caution about the numbers: OpenCritic usually pools reviews from every platform a game is on, so a multiplatform score is not always a verdict on the Switch 2 version specifically. Where a Switch 2-only Metacritic score exists, we give it, because a handheld port can run differently from the PC original. In practice, the Switch 2 versions in this guide have held up well.

Nintendo's own heavy hitters

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2026): 95. The full remake arrived on November 5 and went straight to the top of OpenCritic's 2026 chart. If you never played the 1998 original, this is the version to start with.
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition: 94. The best-rated game of 2025 on OpenCritic, with sharper visuals and a smoother frame rate. Its sibling, the Breath of the Wild Switch 2 Edition, scores 88.
• Donkey Kong Bananza (2025): 91. A 3D platformer in which almost everything can be smashed, built by the team behind Super Mario Odyssey. It had sold 5.05 million copies by September 2026.
• Pokemon Pokopia (2026): 89. A cosy life sim that became the best-reviewed Pokemon game on Metacritic. Its first paid expansion, Bubbly Basin, scores 88.
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (2026): 89. The tactics series' newest entry, out since September 17.
• Mario Kart World (2025): 86 on Metacritic, with 97% of critics on OpenCritic recommending it. The launch game that most owners already have.

Good, not great

Not every big Nintendo release hit the high notes. Three late-2025 games landed in the high 70s on Metacritic: Kirby Air Riders at 79, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Z-A both at 78. None of them is bad, and Legends: Z-A sold over 5.8 million copies in its first week across Switch and Switch 2, but if you are buying only a handful of games, the titles above come first.

Metroid Prime 4 deserves a word of sympathy. Nintendo first announced it at E3 in 2017, then took the rare step of restarting development in 2019 and handing it to Retro Studios, the team behind the original Metroid Prime trilogy. Arriving at all, eight years after the announcement, was an achievement. A 78 is a respectable result for a game that had every reason to fall apart.

The third-party surprise

For most of the original Switch's life, big multiplatform games arrived late, cut down, or not at all. Switch 2 has changed that more than many expected.

• Hades II (Supergiant, 2025): 94. Launched on Switch 2 the same day as PC, and arguably the best way to play it, in short runs on the sofa.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered (CD Projekt Red, 2026): 91. A native Switch 2 version arrived alongside the other platforms on September 29, with both expansions included.
• Resident Evil Requiem (Capcom, 2026): 89 on OpenCritic, 90 on Metacritic for Switch 2. Capcom's biggest horror launch, on a handheld.
• Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition (FromSoftware, 2026): 89. The full open world on Switch 2 since August 28.
• Split Fiction (Hazelight): 89 on Metacritic for Switch 2. The best co-op game of 2025, and it supports two players on one console.
• Pragmata (Capcom, 2026): 88 on Metacritic for Switch 2. A sci-fi action game about a spaceman and a small android girl.
• Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition: 88. The full fighting game, launch-day on Switch 2.
• Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition: 85 on Metacritic. Night City on a handheld, with the Phantom Liberty expansion.
• Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix, 2025): 88. A careful remaster of the 1997 tactics classic.

The pattern here matters more than any single score. Capcom, CD Projekt Red, FromSoftware and Square Enix have all put major releases on Switch 2 in its first year and a half, and critics have rated those versions close to, or level with, the other consoles. For anyone who wants one machine that does Nintendo games and big multiplatform releases, that has never been more realistic.

Small games, huge scores

Some of the best-rated games on the system are modest in size and price:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry, 2025): 91. The long-awaited sequel, on Switch 2 from day one.
• Mina the Hollower (Yacht Club Games, 2026): 91. A Game Boy Color-style action adventure from the Shovel Knight team.
• Dave the Diver: In the Jungle (Mintrocket, 2026): 91. The Korean hit's follow-up.
• Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (Falcom, 2025): 90, and 2nd Chapter (2026): 92. Full remakes of the beloved 2000s RPGs.

By the numbers

• 99: the original Ocarina of Time's Metacritic score, still the record
• 95: the 2026 remake's OpenCritic score, the year's best
• 5.05 million: Donkey Kong Bananza copies sold by September 2026
• 24: racers in a Mario Kart World race
• June 5, 2025: the day Switch 2 launched worldwide

What to play next

Our starter kit for a new Switch 2 owner: Ocarina of Time for the history, Donkey Kong Bananza for the joy of breaking things, and Hades II for the best twenty-minute sessions on any handheld. If you have a friend on the sofa, add Split Fiction. And if you want something calmer, Pokemon Pokopia is the gentlest game on this list, with an underwater town waiting in its Bubbly Basin expansion.

What to watch: 2027 brings Metroid Ravenous, a new Nintendo-published Metroid game, and Square Enix has confirmed Kingdom Hearts IV for Switch 2 in late 2027. The Witcher 3's paid expansion Songs of the Past is also coming to Switch 2 next year. The shelf is only going to get heavier.