All Nintendo Switch 2 first-party games, ranked from worst to best

From DK to Yoshi, the Switch 2's launch has been relentless

Now’s as good a time as any to zoom out and take a big-picture look at Switch 2’s first year library. What we found when ranking all 12 games is that there are hardly any duds in the bunch. Aside from two glorified tech demos, just about everything we’ve gotten from Nintendo in the past year has been some degree of fun. That makes it hard to put a list together without stirring some disagreement, but know that even some of the lower-ranking games on our list are still pretty darn enjoyable.

Below, see every first-party game from the Switch 2’s first year ranked. (This list includes games the were released on both Switch and Switch 2.)

12 Drag x Drive

Release date: Aug. 14, 2025

Read Polygon's Drag x Drive review

Drag x Drive was meant to be the game that showed off what the Nintendo Switch 2’s mouse controls were capable of. Sure, a Joy-con could be used as a mouse in a shooter, but the real draw was combining two controllers to create entirely new control schemes. Regrettably, the wheelchair-basketball game was a bad sales pitch thanks to its awkward (and noisy) mouse-dragging movement. It’s little more than a shallow tech demo that’s only fun to toy around with for a few rounds.

11 Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Release date: June 5, 2025

Read Polygon's Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour review

I won’t mince words: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a glorified instruction manual that should have come bundled with the console. Nintendo’s decision to charge any amount of money for it remains its most absurd move of this generation, but I’ll go to bat for some of the content contained within it. For every boring pop quiz, there’s a legitimately fun little minigame that shows off the console’s unique features in creative ways. It feels like an audition for a future Mario Party game, but you can get a surprising amount of time out of it if you’re a high score chaser.

10 Yoshi and the Mysterious Book

Release date: May 21, 2026

Read Polygon's Yoshi and the Mysterious Book review

The gap between the bottom two games and the top 10 is enormous. Just about every other first-party game Nintendo has released on Switch 2 so far has received a similarly positive critical reception, with only a few clear standouts. So don’t be too offended to see Yoshi and the Mysterious Book this low. It’s an adorable puzzle-platformer that might be the console’s best pure kid’s game. But in a game of inches, its repetitive loop and one-note puzzles are enough to break a four-way tie.

9 Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

Release date: Nov. 5, 2025

Read Polygon's Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment review

The Hyrule Warriors series’ brand of hack-and-slash action is very much an acquired taste, but if you happen to love that taste, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a treat. The Tears of the Kingdom spinoff’s larger-than-life battles really shine on the Switch 2’s capable hardware, letting you chop up hundreds of Moblins with far fewer frame dips than its predecessor. Its story is a letdown and it’s lacking in mission variety, but there are few better ways to let off steam than plowing through your enemies as a rolling Goron cannonball.

8 Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Release date: Dec. 4, 2025

Read Polygon's Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review

Undoubtedly the most polarizing game of the Switch 2 era so far, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond struggled to deliver on years of hype with a disjointed Metroidvania. But for all its obvious pain points (overly chatty NPCs, a weird open-world hub, an underdeveloped villain), Metroid Prime 4 still sings in plenty of places, thanks to Retro Studios’ knack for top-tier environmental design. Every location on Viewros has a story baked into its corridors, and discovering exactly what happened to the planet’s alien race makes for some great, atmospheric sci-fi.

Release date: Oct. 16, 2025

Read Polygon's Pokémon Legends: Z-A review

Even if you take issue with its compact open-world design, it’s hard not to find Pokémon Legends: Z-A refreshing. The spinoff ditches the series’ signature turn-based combat for a real-time experiment that has you directing your monsters like an actual trainer. It’s a great change of pace that reimagines the series’ fundamentals in promising fashion, even if there’s still room to toy around with that idea in future games. Though what really shines about Pokémon Legends: Z-A is all the oddball residents of Lumiose City, who fill some of the empty spaces with wacky sidestories and musings about urban development.

6 Mario Tennis Fever

Release date: Fe. 12, 2026

Read Polygon's Mario Tennis Fever review

Considering that the Mario sports series has been in a slump ever since Nintendo’s Wii U days, Mario Tennis Fever is a much-needed return to glory. The rallying is as satisfying as ever, but what really elevates it is the inclusion of Fever Rackets. These superpowered rackets add an extra strategic layer to already tense rounds, as you try to manipulate the battlefield with hazards. A weak story mode can’t take away from the thrill of outsmarting your opponents online with tricky shots and synergistic racket combos that turn otherwise average tennis matches into something gloriously wacky.

5 Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Release date: April 16, 2026

Read Polygon's Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream review

Nobody expected Tomodachi Life, an obscure Nintendo 3DS life sim, to reappear in the Switch 2’s first year, but thank God it did. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a wonderfully weird slice of island living that gives players an astonishing level of control in directing their own personal reality TV show. An updated Mii maker, a drawing tool that lets you create any object t, and a total lack of filters gives you the power to get as wild as you want. Its lack of online sharing is a bummer, but it hasn’t stopped players from forming a vibrant community around the game. Hop over to the Tomodachi Life subreddit and you’ll find the greatest thinkers of our time hard at work pumping out top-tier memes.

4 Pokémon Pokopia

Release date: March 5, 2026

Read Polygon's Pokémon Pokopia review

Who would have thought that the best Pokémon game in well over a decade would be a life sim? Well, anyone who is familiar with the Dragon Quest Builders series might have pieced that together as soon as they saw Pokémon Pokopia. Developer Omega Force did an exceptional job at adapting the tone and lighthearted wonder of Pokémon to its brand of chill crafting game. Piecing together how to create habitats that will summon new monsters to your island is one of the Switch 2’s greatest pleasures so far.

3 Mario Kart World

Release date: June 5, 2025

Read Polygon's Mario Kart World review

Sky-high expectations didn’t leave Mario Kart World much room for error during the Switch 2’s launch, but the kart racer deserves a second appraisal now that we’re one year removed. It may not have been a generational launch game, but it’s still a sensational racing game in retrospect. Strong track design, the revelatory Knockout Tour mode, and the relaxing delights of Free Roam all add up to one of the best Mario Kart games in the series’ history. With some extra content down the road, it could remain one of the console’s top five games for years to come.