(2019) Nintendo Switch (2017) Review and Retrospective | The Comeback Kids

  NOTE: This review was originally posted to Tumblr on July 16, 2019, and has been reposted here for archival purposes. It may not reflect recent events or my current opinions.

For a more recent Nintendo Switch retrospective, click here.

For once, I’m actually reviewing a current gen console that hasn’t been discontinued already.

That’s right,

The Nintendo Switch.

A while ago I did a review of the Wii U, and so you know how I feel about it. Despite it’s flaws, I still think Nintendo gave it a good lineup of exclusive games that kept me interested in the system and with the Gamepad it was overall a unique experience that I’ve never really had on any other console, and the fact that the system is so damn cheap these days makes it worth checking out and collecting for. That said, I can definitely understand why the system didn’t succeed in the way Nintendo themselves and their fans wanted to. The poor marketing of the system, confusion surrounding the Wii U gamepad gimmick, and Nintendo’s overall lack of focus in audience in the system doomed it to financially fail. So it wasn’t too long before Nintendo went back to the drawing board after a slow 2014, and in 2015 began rumors of the “Nintendo NX” and after a whole metric fuckton of false rumors and fake mockups, the Nintendo Switch was finally unveiled in October 2016 and was set to launch in March 2017. If there’s anything that has done consistently well for Nintendo, it’s their handheld line, and even despite having a rough launch the 3DS still managed to still well and triumphed heavily over the PlayStation Vita, fucking take that Colin Moriarty and your don’t tread on me alt-right Twitter bullshit. 

But anyway, I can definitely tell that with the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo wanted to seek a compromise between having the power of a modern game console along with the portability of the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, DS and 3DS systems. It was somewhat done with the Wii U, having the Gamepad being a second screen that could be used while someone else was using the TV, but at the same time it was still tethered to the Wii U system itself and had to be within the vicinity of the system, so unless you had a portable electricity generator it really couldn’t be used as a portable system. The Nintendo Switch is basically the next step after the Wii U - being a completely handheld system with roughly the power of a modern console. I use “roughly” pretty modestly considering it is still behind even the base PS4 and Xbox One in terms of power, but it’s just powerful enough to run 8th gen titles while still maintaining portability. And frankly, I think this was a good direction for Nintendo to go. Obviously their handhelds still sold well, and the next thing they could really do with them would just be to fuse them with their main console line. And the Nintendo Switch… pulls it off surprisingly well. The system’s pretty easy to develop for since it doesn’t have confusing or foreign architecture, and mostly uses the very basics - A custom Nvidia Tegra chip with the power of their GeForce-branded graphics cards. With the Wii U it was pretty apparent that the PowerPC architecture they had been using since the Gamecube had to go, and Nintendo’s decision to go with a GeForce-based Tegra chip was definitely smart of them. The Switch also uses a pair of 4-core ARM CPUs, and while the Switch isn’t quite on par with a base PS4 or Xbox One, let alone a PS4 Pro, Xbox One X or, hell, a fucking gaming PC, I do think the Nintendo Switch does what it’s intended to do pretty damn well. Thinking about it now, I’m kind of amazed with what they’ve been able to do with the Switch at this point with third parties porting games like Doom 2016 and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus onto a freaking handheld system. The Nintendo Switch feels unique for this reason, and it’s a gaming experience I never really felt quite before. While there were a lot of great and fun titles on the 3DS, it definitely wasn’t getting massive AAA titles like these and there’s really only so much you could’ve done with a run-of-the-mill handheld from 2011, so seeing what they’ve done with a system that’s basically designed to be a handheld is truly impressive. 

Of course, in the months between the Switch trailer dropping (and hell, even before that with all the NX rumors) and the system’s release, a lot of people were speculating that it would be the next Wii U - a console that would flop right out of the gate. People were making videos, writing entire articles about how the Switch was going to be a failure and that Nintendo didn’t learn their lesson with the Wii U. I mean, I was part of a somewhat active Discord server in those months, and most of the people there had bad feelings about the Switch and felt that it was going to crash and burn. Even I was feeling somewhat skeptical even if I still had hype for the system (although granted I still didn’t have a Wii U so it was… whatever). 

And it turned out, the exact opposite was the case.

In it’s first year alone, the Switch managed to outsell the Wii U’s entire lifespan sales, and it had been reported multiple times that the system had become the fastest selling console of all time. It was practically the exact opposite of the Wii U’s launch - whereas the Wii U was a system that I as well as many other Nintendo fans thought was going to sell well just like the Wii did only to be a financial flop, the Switch was a console tons of people thought would be a failure… and it wasn’t. For what it’s worth, it’s still selling well. I mean, even just in my experiences, whenever I go to Target or Best Buy, I mostly see people looking at the Switch stuff moreso than the PS4 or Xbox One stuff. And I could honestly see the system, at the very least topping the Wii sales in the future. It’s clear that Nintendo took the Wii U’s failure very seriously, and they wanted to turn that ship around. And they did so by having better marketing that appealed to both kids and older audiences (even having a commercial at the god damn 2017 Super Bowl, probably the most publicized and well known American sports event there is), having a gimmick that made sense and could be well understood by the public, and on top of it all - coming out with great major titles in their first year alone. I mean, hell, even their launch was a major improvement, if not only for coming out with Breath of the Wild, a heavily anticipated game that ended up winning Game of the Year of 2017. It’s pretty clear that lots of people simply got it wrong, and well… here we are. The Switch is still selling well and it doesn’t look like that’s going to end any time soon.

There are another couple things I will also say about the hardware. There’s not much to say the regarding the dock, it’s… a dock. There’s inputs, you can charge the switch with it… yeah it’s a dock. It is pretty hollow, but I mean… about what I expect. I’m mostly going to talk about the handheld itself and… I really like it. The system is designed basically as a pretty standard tablet, which for all it’s worth definitely works for this sort of system. And with that aside the screen on the Switch looks really good for what it is, having a 1280x720 resolution. Granted, nothing mindblowing for a tablet, but for a handheld gaming device, games look surprisingly good running on it, and overall the screen is definitely a step up when compared to the, say, Wii U gamepad. I have heard some people have had issues with the build quality, but all I can really do is hope that I don’t run into any issues. Though, I did have a couple issues, for one thing I find the stand to be kind of finicky when using the Switch in tabletop mode and I kind of feel like it doesn’t really have the strength to hold the Switch up on it’s own which makes me feel like there should be another stand along with the one on the system or maybe something like an iPad cover that supports the system. I also found that when connecting the joycons to the system sometimes it won’t work right and don’t snap into place until I really put a lot of force onto them. It’s a couple minor issues, but ones I might as well point out.

The controllers for the system are also kind of interesting. Technically, the default controllers are the joycons, and the most interesting thing about them is that they can be used in a plethora of different ways in accordance with the system. The joycons can be used on their own as well as as separate controllers, and in that case they’re fucking tiny, but of course they can also be connected to the Switch in portable mode, which feels pretty good to me overall, and it also comes with a controller grip which is probably my preferred way of using it in the non-handheld mode. The analog stick and buttons all feel nice and there isn’t too much to complain about. There’s also a Switch Pro controller that a lot of people may prefer but I think the default controller grip works just fine for me, so maybe I’ll buy that when I feel I need a second controller or something. If there’s one complaint I had about the default control scheme with the grip, I will say that the D-Pad being replaced with individual buttons feels strange to me. You use the analog sticks for the most part anyway but in the times I did use it, mainly in Undertale’s boss fights, it just feels strange to use overall. I mean, for what it is since they wanted to allow for the use of joycons as separate controllers in addition to being used as one for certain games, I can definitely understand why they made that decision with the controllers, but it’s just that using them normally just feels really odd to me. Though I should also add that the joycons have gyroscope functionality, and for FPS games especially I feel like it works extremely well. Unfortunately as of writing this there’s no Overwatch port on the system so I can’t play that, but Paladins is at least free to play and I definitely enjoy using the gyroscope abilities to play that game. Still wouldn’t take it over my good ol’ mouse and keyboard, but for console FPS titles it definitely works well.

So, onto the games. This is definitely the system’s strongest point. In just the first 2 years of it’s release, there’s been a number of particularly great releases and games announced to come in the future. One of the system’s very launch games was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which while it was kind of shitty for Wii U owners that waited a long time for an original Zelda title only for it to then get ported to another system anyway, was definitely a good idea to launch game with the overall impact of the title and it’s general reputation. Of course, I bought the Wii U version myself and I don’t feel like buying the same game for $60 just for a few extra frames per second and portability, but from what I played it is a good game and I can generally understand where the hype is coming from. It’s not necessarily my personal cup of tea (not really into open world games myself), but I think there is a good reason for it’s great reception and why it won so many awards including Game of the Year 2017. I already kind of talked about it in my Wii U review, so I’ll focus on the next big Switch title of 2017.

Super Mario Odyssey is actually a really good game. I still haven’t beat it, but in general it goes back to the 64 and Sunshine formula but improves over those games. Collecting moons and progressing through the game is a lot of fun, the worlds are big and fun to explore, even the story is surprisingly interesting for a Mario game. I mean, yeah, it’s still kind of just another case of Mario saving Peach but at the same time I still enjoyed progressing through it and what they did with a fairly tropey and typical formula. Even better, I got this game in a starter pack with it’s own little booklet which I thought was kind of cool. Oh yeah and I fucking love “Jump Up, Super Star.”

Then there’s Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle which was… a surprisingly great, fun title. I mean, I wouldn’t consider it amazing or one of the best games of all time, but for a game with such a shitty sounding concept… it turned out to be pretty good, basically being “baby’s first XCOM” with some interesting turn-based combat and good puzzles.

There’s also some exclusive games that I still haven’t gotten around to buying yet. Super Smash Bros Ultimate is one of those, and in general seems to be a great game that brings back the story mode element of Brawl that I liked,.while also being just a continued improvement upon the Smash formula. Yoshi’s Crafted World is decent from what I’ve heard, albeit nothing really special… same goes for Pokemon Let’s Go, and Splatoon 2 I’ve heard good things about but… I dunno. Just seems more like the Wii U game with some added content and better graphics, but I guess you can’t do much with a multiplayer game. Unfortunately I don’t really see myself buying it since I wasn’t that into Splatoon for Wii U (at least enough so I would continue being interested in the franchise) and Nintendo still hasn’t shown they have really improved with online. Super Mario Maker 2 came out pretty recently, and that’ll probably be a game I buy sometime in the future with a yearly Nintendo Switch membership.

One area that the Nintendo Switch has greatly improved over the Wii U, though, is third-party support. Third-party support was basically non-existant on the Wii U, some stuff did come out for the first few years but it wasn’t really long before people started missing out on major releases like Fallout 4, The Witcher 3 (PRAISE GERALDO), Overwatch, Doom 2016 and so on. Nintendo Switch, on the other hand, has been pretty consistent for having great third party titles, and has tons to choose from with games like Doom 2016, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Skyrim, Sonic Mania, Paladins and Fortnite, and will be getting games like Doom Eternal and The Witcher 3 in the future. In addition to that, the Nintendo Switch has been supported pretty well by indie developers. The Wii U did have it’s share of indie support, but it’s even better alongside everything else on the Switch. I personally bought Undertale and Night in the Woods on the Switch, probably my two favorite indie games that I loved playing for the first time on PC, and now being able to take those games with me makes it even better. It feels like the Nintendo Switch has sort of become my replacement or substitute for having a gaming laptop, just with a better form factor and cheaper price. One of the first Switch games I got was Team Sonic Racing, and recently I also picked up Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. Both of which I think will be games I enjoy taking with me anywhere I go, even if I could’ve just bought the former on PC (don’t have a PS4 or Xbox One though so wouldn’t have been able to play the latter anyway).

That said, I do have a few concerns with the Switch. One of the biggest ones is… pricing. This was my original concern with the Nintendo Switch and why I ended up buying a Wii U instead at first. Pretty much every major exclusive title for the Switch is $60, the price of a brand new game, and for brand new games it makes sense, but then there’s games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, both of which came out two years ago, and are still the same price as they were on launch. With the PS4, Xbox One and PC, I’m able to find games that have been out for roughly the same amount of time for a lot less - Horizon: Zero Dawn, for example, which came out only a few days before Breath of the Wild, is a game I can find for $20 now. God of War on PS4, which came out just last year, I can find for roughly $30. 

The issue is even worse with the Wii U ports the system has gotten. A lot of people say that due to the Switch having ports of most of the best Wii U games renders the Wii U useless, but games like Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros U, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Bayonetta 2 and Hyrule Warriors - all of which range from being 5 to 7 years old, are being sold on the Switch for full price, and considering that I own a Wii U, I really don’t see any point of buying these games for $60 on the Switch when I could just go into GameStop and buy a used copy of each of these games for about $20 or less. And to be honest, with my undying love for Kart racers, I would love to buy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, considering Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U is my favorite Mario Kart title and having it portable with more characters (including Bowser Jr who’s always been one of my favorite Mario characters) and an actually good battle mode would be great… but at the end of the day I’d be paying $60 for a game I have on the Wii U with all the DLC, plus some new features. This isn’t to say I think the Wii U ports are a bad idea - since the Wii U was a failed console not many people got to experience a lot of it’s great titles and since the Switch is doing far better I understand why they would want to shed some new light on these games. I just don’t see why they feel the need to sell the ports for full price, but it looks like they’re still selling well despite their cost so it’s probably not going to slow down any time soon.

But I feel the Switch’s biggest crux is one that Nintendo has been… iffy about for a long time, and that’s of course online. Now, I won’t deny that the Wii U’s online was far from perfect, but at the very least I can say one thing - it was fucking free. With the Switch, Nintendo felt the need to jump on Sony and Microsoft’s bandwagon of requiring a subscription service for playing games. Now, you can argue that it’s still less than what either of those costs, being sold at $20 a year, but considering how little the Switch’s online infrastructure has improved I really don’t see why I should pay $20 a year. Hell, I can’t even say the Switch’s online improved from the Wii U, considering the Wii U had generally far more features, like the now ill-fated Miiverse and messaging, and didn’t require friend codes to add people, PLUS didn’t rely on an external mobile app for most of it’s communication features. Oh, but you get a benefit for paying $20 a year for online, and that’s… NES games. Ones I’ve played and bought multiple times on stuff like the Virtual Console, NES Classic or even just PC emulation. Hell, there’s not even stuff like Netflix or a basic internet browser on the Switch, which isn’t something I necessarily need but considering it’s available on pretty much every other modern piece of hardware (including the Wii U and 3DS) I don’t see what’s preventing the Switch from also having it.

It’s for these reasons that I find myself slightly preferring the Wii U over the Switch. I know that’s a very unpopular opinion, but I feel like the Wii U just had more features, and while it wasn’t great for online either, at least didn’t make me pay a monthly subscription for overall worse service and old ass NES games as a bonus.

That said, despite my criticisms, I still think the Switch is overall an excellent console. It does feel like Nintendo learned a lot of what went wrong with the Wii U as far as stuff like marketing and third party support go. The Switch definitely has its share of great exclusive games, both now and coming up, and I’ll definitely continue buying for the system as games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and maybe Pokemon Sword and Shield release for it (somewhat iffy about the latter though considering the way the game’s been handled, but eh). And it’s main gimmick is one that’s actually understandable and extremely useful. Games are getting bigger now, so you need more hardware and with the introduction of mobile gaming you definitely need to find a way to compete, and the Nintendo Switch offers a console-like experience in the palm of your hands. If there is one thing I’m somewhat concerned about for the future, it’s how the Nintendo Switch will do in the long run. Sony and Microsoft have both released information regarding the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett, and of course those consoles are going to be more powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One, both of which the Switch somewhat struggles keeping up with as it is. I just hope that with these new systems coming out, the Switch won’t begin to lag behind with third party support and it’s momentum won’t slow down too quickly. That said, considering the already pretty big userbase for the system and all the upcoming games for the system, I definitely don’t see it going anywhere any time soon.