NINTENDO SWITCH 2

It looks almost identical to its predecessor, so what's new for number two?

- Words Alan Wen & Tom Morgan-Freelander

The original Switch transformed the gaming landscape and became one of the bestselling consoles of all time, so is it any surprise that Nintendo hasn't messed too much with the formula?

As well as being a handheld, the Switch 2 lets you detach the Joy-Con controllers to play in tabletop mode, or combine it with the dock to play on your TV. The screen's slightly bigger, and it's more powerful.

In other words, it does just what the original Switch does but better. The lack of an OLED display feels like a backwards step, but the Full HD resolution and 120Hz refresh rate make up for it, even if you have to connect a TV to make the most of its HDR support. As long as your telly has the pixels it'll upscale to 4K too.

The frame of the game

The Switch 2's horsepower is on a par with the Steam Deck, but because games are developed and optimised specifically for the hardware you don't have to do any fiddling to get them running smoothly. Don't expect 120fps on the most graphically intense titles, but Cyberpunk 2077 is very playable at 40fps.

Despite a larger battery than its predecessor, stamina has not improved. Cyberpunk used up 1% almost every minute it was running, and even lo-fi indie Deltarune (see p48) drained it in under 4.5hrs. If you plan to take your Switch 2 on long trips, a power bank is essential.

One thing you won't exhaust quickly, though, is your choice of things to play. The current lineup isn't exactly bursting with new titles, but there are loads of old ones to download and you can transfer your whole Switch library across. That should keep you going while you wait for the big names on the horizon.