Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on: Better and more beautiful (but you pay for that)

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be released soon, but we were able to get started with it in a hands-on. The Switch 2 has become better and more beautiful, but all this splendor has a price.

Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on

The pre-orders go like hot sandwiches, but Nintendo seems to be really ready. If we are allowed to believe the rumors, the Nintendo Switch 2 will become one of the largest console releases in the Netherlands (and in the rest of the world).

That is also allowed, because the first switch was extremely popular and once again shown what Nintendo is good at. Everyone who is even a bit interested in games, therefore, is eagerly looking forward to the successor: the Nintendo Switch 2.

The worldwide release of the Nintendo Switch 2 is up June 5. Various online stores have already opened their pre-orders and the console was also sold out quite smoothly. Fortunately, new pre-orders are increasingly accepted, so you are not too late to score one for the release. Therefore, keep an eye on the links below if you want to get one more.

• View the Nintendo Switch 2 at Coolblue
• View the Nintendo Switch 2 at MediaMarkt
• View the Nintendo Switch 2 at Bol.
• View the Nintendo Switch 2 at Amazon

Better, more beautiful and

We admit: after the first announcement we were already fans of the Nintendo Switch 2. But after seeing (and the hands-on) of the console during the Switch 2 Experience in Amsterdam we are completely tackled. The Switch 2 is more mature, better and a lot more powerful.

The first thing that stands out is the larger screen, it is almost 1.5 times larger than the Nintendo Switch 1. However, it is not an OLED screen (as in the current generation of the Switch 1) but become an LCD screen. But this screen of the Switch 2 does have support for HDR. That means that the Switch 2 display has beautiful colors and is nice and clear.

When we kept the Switch 1 next to the new version during the event, we also saw bar little difference. The black was a bit better on the Switch 1, but the Switch 2, on the other hand, was a bit brighter again. In any case, the screen certainly did not disappoint and is many times better than the LCD screen that the first generation of the Switch 1 had.

Furthermore, the Switch 2 has received many more upgrades compared to the Switch 1. The game computer is a lot faster and you can now also play on television in 4K (60 Hz). If you play on the built -in screen of the Switch 2 you can now play the games in Full HD (up to 120 Hz). You can play all old Switch 1 games on the Switch 2. And some games (whether or not for a fee) receive a special update for the Switch 2.

The controllers can now be stuck magnetically and to use it as a mouse. That mice felt a bit like a gimmick in the games, but perhaps Nintendo can convince us a bit better about the attraction of this position.

The games: better and more beautiful

But with the Switch 2 it is of course about the games. And we were not disappointed during the Switch 2 Experience. Mario Kart World was the major crowd puller and that is not without reason.

The popular racing game now has an open world for the first time and you can even race with 24 players at the same time. We had tried that too and it was a … total chaos. It was actually an even larger chaos than a standard game of Mario Kart. But to be honest: it was very nice and this variant is a great addition to the game.

• View all games for the Nintendo Switch 2 at Coolblue
• View all games for the Nintendo Switch 2 at MediaMarkt
• View all games for the Nintendo Switch 2 at Bol.
• View all games for the Nintendo Switch 2 at Amazon

In addition, we also tried the new game Donkey Kong Bananza. This game was very similar to Mario Odyssey. The big difference is that you now go through the game as a Donkey Kong and that you can break everything, but also (almost) everything.

Bananza is also the perfect game for all platform fanatics with a collective fetish that classics such as Banjo-Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee are of paramount importance.

Nintendo also showed during this hands-on that the Switch 2 is powerful enough to run heavy games. In a special corner (for 18+ Nintendo fans) Cyberpunk 2077 and Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut were shown.

Cyberpunk 2077 in particular was impressive. This game played in a special ‘performance mode’ of 40 fps. Nice to see that such a heavy game now also played on a portable console. Until now, only the Steam deck was able to do that reasonably.

There were also some popular Switch 1 games that will (for a fee) receive an upgrade for the Switch 2. One of the games was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which now received a higher resolution, improved Framerate and HDR support. The world of Hyrule has never looked so beautiful.

With one Maar: Nintendo Switch 2 prizes

Yet it is a bit shocked when you see the price of all this beauty. The first switch cost 330 euros during the introduction. For the Nintendo Switch 2 you have to do now 469 euros Lay on the table.

Not only that: also the games made especially for the new console have become considerably more expensive. Where you had to pay around 60 euros for Mario Odyssey for the first Nintendo Switch, the Game Donkey Kong Bananza is 80 euros (or 70 euros digital).

That does not mean that all games are so expensive. But keep in mind that you have lost more money on average to build a game collection on Nintendo’s new console. For the time being, that is the only drawback, because the Nintendo Switch 2 is also a huge step in the right direction.