Switch 2's First 17 Months of Nintendo Games, Ranked by Critics and Sales

When Nintendo launched the Switch 2 on June 5, 2025, it bet the console's first impression on a single game. Mario Kart World came bundled with the system, cost $79.99 on its own, and asked players to accept a very different kind of Mario Kart: an open world, 24 racers and a race mode where the slowest drivers are thrown out at every checkpoint.

Seventeen months later, that bet looks like one of the best in Nintendo's history. By September 30, 2026, Mario Kart World had sold 16.48 million copies. And it is only the start of a line-up that has grown into something special.

Here is every major Nintendo-published Switch 2 game so far, with real critic scores and Nintendo's own sales figures as of September 30, 2026.

The headliners

Mario Kart World (June 5, 2025). Metacritic 86. Sales 16.48 million. Up to 24 racers, 50 playable characters and a Knockout Tour mode that eliminates four racers at each of six checkpoints. It won Best Sports/Racing Game at The Game Awards 2025. Free updates have since added a Bob-omb Blast battle mode and the ability to play classic Super Mario Kart courses. Not every patch was popular: version 1.1.2 added 202 open-world "Route" courses to the random track pool, players pushed back, and version 1.3.0 in September 2025 partly reversed the change and made characters easier to unlock. It was a small, revealing moment: even Nintendo now tunes a game in public after launch.

Donkey Kong Bananza (July 17, 2025). OpenCritic 91, Metacritic 91. Sales 5.05 million. The team behind Super Mario Odyssey built a game where almost everything can be smashed, punched or dug through, with Pauline as a singing sidekick. It won Best Family Game at The Game Awards and was nominated for Game of the Year. A paid add-on, DK Island & Emerald Rush, followed in September 2025 for $20, though it reviewed less well than the main game. Read our Donkey Kong Bananza story.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (November 5, 2026). Metacritic 96, the best score of 2026. A rebuilt version of the 1998 classic with a jump button, a free camera, voiced cutscenes and an explorable Castle Town. Our Ocarina remake story has the details.

The Pokemon pair

Pokemon Legends: Z-A (October 16, 2025). Metacritic 78 on Switch 2. Sales 4.04 million for the Switch 2 Edition, and 13.31 million including the original Switch version. Set entirely in Lumiose City, it replaced turn-based fights with real-time battles and brought back Mega Evolution. A paid expansion, Mega Dimension, built around the Mythical Pokemon Hoopa, followed on December 10, 2025, though critics were cooler on it.

Pokemon Pokopia (March 5, 2026). Metacritic 89, the highest-rated Pokemon game ever on the site. Nintendo reports 4.04 million copies outside Japan, where The Pokemon Company publishes it. A life sim in which a Ditto that can turn into a human rebuilds a ruined Kanto region, it was co-developed by Game Freak and Koei Tecmo's Omega Force.

The rest of the family

Kirby Air Riders (November 20, 2025). Metacritic 79. Sales 1.94 million. Directed by Masahiro Sakurai, his first Kirby game since Kirby Air Ride on GameCube in 2003, and it brings back that game's beloved City Trial mode for up to 16 players.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (December 4, 2025). Metacritic 78 on Switch 2. Sales over 1 million across both consoles by February 2026. Its arrival was a story in itself: Nintendo restarted development in January 2019, moving the project to Retro Studios, the team behind the original Prime trilogy. The finished game sends Samus across a hub called Sol Valley on a motorcycle, the Vi-O-La, and pits her against the rival bounty hunter Sylux.

Star Fox (June 25, 2026). A remake of Star Fox 64 developed by Velan Studios, with a Metacritic average of 81 at launch. Sales 1.17 million.

Splatoon Raiders (July 23, 2026). A treasure-hunting spin-off starring the Splatoon 3 idols Deep Cut. Sales 2.42 million, making it the fifth best-selling Switch 2 game.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (September 17, 2026). OpenCritic 89. Sales 1.34 million in under two weeks of the reporting period.

Upgrades and partner games

Nintendo also sold paid "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" upgrades of older games, which add sharper visuals, smoother frame rates and sometimes new content. The Tears of the Kingdom edition scored 94 on OpenCritic, the joint-highest of 2025, and the Breath of the Wild edition 88. Late in 2026 the idea widened: Pikmin 4 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder both received Switch 2 Editions with new modes, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 arrives on Switch 2 on December 3. For owners of an original Switch library, these upgrades are a big part of why the new console feels good value. Super Mario Party Jamboree's Switch 2 Edition sold 1.28 million.

Two partner-made exclusives filled gaps: Koei Tecmo's Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (November 6, 2025) passed 1 million by January 2026, and FromSoftware's The Duskbloods is due in 2027.

The sales ranking

Nintendo's own top-seller list for Switch 2, as of September 30, 2026:

1. Mario Kart World: 16.48 million 2. Donkey Kong Bananza: 5.05 million 3. Pokemon Legends: Z-A (Switch 2 Edition): 4.04 million 4. Pokemon Pokopia: 4.04 million (excluding Japan) 5. Splatoon Raiders: 2.42 million 6. Kirby Air Riders: 1.94 million 7. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave: 1.34 million 8. Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch 2 Edition): 1.28 million 9. Star Fox: 1.17 million

Why it matters

The original Switch took a while to find its rhythm. Switch 2 has had a major Nintendo release every couple of months since launch, and the variety is the point: a kart racer, a destruction platformer, a life sim, a remake of a 28-year-old Zelda.

WGC's take: the best Switch 2 games are the ones that could not have worked on the old hardware. Mario Kart World's 24-racer open world and Donkey Kong Bananza's breakable terrain both grew out of performance limits on the first Switch. That is the clearest sign that this is a real new generation, not just a faster Switch.

By the numbers

• 16.48 million: Mario Kart World sales
• 9: Switch 2 games on Nintendo's million-seller list
• 96: Ocarina of Time's Metacritic score
• 24: racers per Mario Kart World race, double Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• 2019: the year Metroid Prime 4 development restarted

What to play next

New owner? Start with the two games that defined the console's first year, Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, then Ocarina of Time if you have never played it. For something gentler, Pokopia is the surprise of 2026. Coming up: the 2D Metroid Ravenous on January 28, 2027, with Pokemon Winds and Waves and The Duskbloods due later that year. See the full list in our 2027 release calendar.