The Nintendo Switch has proven to be a substantial step up from its predecessor. Despite problems like the joy-con drift and pricing, solid titles such as Mario Odyssey, and Breath of the Wild have kept players glued to the big N's platform. The Switch is yet another example of Nintendo's approach of putting graphical fidelity on the back-burner to focus on quality first-party titles and novel methods of play.
This has proven to be both an advantage and disadvantage. While its handheld capabilities are undoubtedly appealing to consumers, many ports have had to make significant concessions to fit those tiny cartridges.
10 Sonic Colors Ultimate Sped Into A Wall On The Switch
Sonic Colors Ultimate seemed like the ideal way to play one of the hog's best 3D outings on HD hardware. Unfortunately, Dr. Robotnik must have had a hand in the porting process. One potentially seizure-inducing glitch where the hog and the screen became oversaturated with colors spread widely on social media.
True to their word, the Switch version of Sonic Colors Ultimate has seen some much-needed patches that addressed the game's most deal-breaking issues. However, despite these improvements, some argue that the artistic changes made in the graphics and sound make it inferior to the version originally released on the Wii back in 2010.
9 Super Mario 3D All-Stars Was A Bare Bones Re-Release With Forced Scarcity
Taking three of the portly plumber's finest 3D platforming entries and putting them in one neat little collection on the big N's latest platform to celebrate his anniversary should have been a slam dunk. However, Nintendo being Nintendo, they botched this potentially grand celebration with a bare-bones re-release that was further kneecapped with forced scarcity. Instead of modernizing these classics, all three games look and run much like their initial releases.
In a pathetic attempt at giving players FOMO, Nintendo de-listed the collection on March 31, 2021. Unfortunately, fans posted memes about Nintendo murdering their beloved mascot rather than celebrating the brand.
8 Mortal Kombat 11 Was Beaten With An Ugly Stick
In an interview with GameInformer, Ed Boon made a point to assure fighting game fans that Mortal Kombat 11 would maintain that essential 60 frames per second – even on the Nintendo Switch. For the most part, developer Shiver Entertainment managed to achieve this, but sacrificed a lot of visual detail in the process.
The lighting, resolution, and texture quality have all been uppercut in the transition to the Switch. However, despite all these concessions, the game still switches to 30 FPS (frames per second) during the fatality sequences. That said, it's nowhere near the atrocities that were the SNES port of the original title and MK Trilogy on the GBA.
7 The Outer Worlds Are Considerably Less Majestic When Piloting The Switch
Following the Switch ports of Witcher III and Skyrim, The Outer Worlds was a bit of a disappointment. The game manages a 1080 resolution when docked, and the frame rate is a relatively stable 30 FPS until it starts chugging from busy gunfights.
This version of the title also features some optional motion controls via the gyroscope and detached joy-cons, and the ability to play on the go. However, there's no denying the downgraded visuals, lengthy loading times, and late textures, which serve to take the shine out of Obsidian's pulp Sci-Fi RPG.
6 Creepers Pale In Comparison To Minecraft's Load Times
Before, Minecraft Pocket Edition was the only way players could take Mojang's sandbox building game on the go. It worked well enough, but it had to make a bunch of concessions, such as trimming the number of enemy types and scaling down the size of the worlds.
When the Switch port was announced, the prospect of a fully un-compromised version of Minecraft that could be played anywhere finally seemed possible. Unfortunately, lengthy load times plague players who choose to build their masterpieces via Nintendo's portable system. However, if players can muster up the patience, they can still get some enjoyment out of this port.
5 Pillars Of Eternity Reached Its Limits On The Hardware
Between this port and The Outer Worlds, Obsidian really hasn't had much luck with Nintendo's latest platform. Upon release, Pillars of Eternity on the Switch was plagued with long load times and a multitude of bugs such as audio glitches and crashes. Players went as far as to call the port unplayable in its initial state.
Even after a series of fixes, the game still wasn't in an ideal state. If all that wasn't bad enough, publisher Versus Evil pulled the rug out from under fans by announcing that the port would lamentably see no further patches, attributing their difficulties to the "limitations of the hardware."
4 Payday 2 Ironically Robbed Players
Overkill's Cooperative FPS title Payday 2 brought the experience of playing cops and robbers on the playground into the realm of gaming, allowing players to work together to pull off a successful heist. If there's one feature that's absolutely instrumental to a concept such as this, it's the ability for players to converse with their partners in crime.
Unfortunately, the Switch port of Payday 2 omits voice chat entirely, making this version the inferior version by a country mile. The game also suffers from the same visual downgrades that plague almost every PC title that sees a port on the Switch.
3 Bloodstained Ritual Of The Night Was Cursed With Input Lag
Koji Igarashi's Bloodstained Ritual of the Night rose far and above other crowdfunded spiritual successors such as Mighty No 9 and Yooka Laylee. It largely succeeded in living up to fans' expectations. Provided that players controlled the shardbinder on platforms other than the Switch, as the latter was cursed with downgraded visuals, a noticeably lower frame rate, and game-breaking input lag.
For a 2D action Metroidvania title to feature controls as unresponsive as this is absolutely unacceptable. Even after a series of patches, the switch version is still by far the inferior way to play.
2 WWE 2K18 On The Switch Is A Chair To The Face
The graphical downgrade was expected, but the bugs affecting season pass functionality, lock-ups during online matches, and crashes during quick play were just unacceptable. The frame rate took a considerable blow to the face - becoming practically unplayable in matches with more than two competitors.
Faced with an overwhelming backlash, Blind Squirrel Games sent out a tweet assuring fans that the port would see some much-needed updates. Even after these patches, fans are better off taking a page from Kane and Daniel Bryan by giving this version of WWE 2K18 a big fat "Hell no!"
1 Arc Survival Evolved Is Proof That Life Doesn't Always Find A Way
Widely regarded by critics as the very worst title on the Switch, Arc Survival Evolved's developers were so preoccupied with whether they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should. Should players have the patience to muster through the game's unbelievably long loading screen, they'll be rewarded with a hideous and poorly optimized mess that struggles to run above 20 FPS.
Clearly, the task of porting this sandbox survival title was far too Herculean for any developer to try to attempt. While the Switch has seen some pretty impressive ports, this port makes its console look like a dinosaur itself.