FTL: Faster Than Light

Several of the games here have been on our personal wishlists for many years, and Subset Games' classic FTL: Faster Than Light appeals to this writer's sci-fi proclivities as well as feeling like a great fit for a handheld hybrid.

What are the chances?

Very low. The ship has left the dock, but hey, this list is a last hurrah for our wild hopes and dreams — we'd still love to see Subset’s pre-Into The Breach game join the Switch family. The devs themselves have said that "Playing FTL on a gamepad, or on a small touch screen, is not practical," but given the appropriate porting care and attention, we'd beg to differ. Unfortunately, it's probably just not worth their time at this stage. A shame.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

Bizarre Creations' Geometry Wars series peaked with this entry, an Xbox Live Arcade hit which would look great on a Switch OLED. Honestly, we could flesh out this list with a half dozen more 360 games. And we just might.

What are the chances?

Pretty low. We don't see Microsoft scooping this deep into the Activision back catalogue to please the crustier among us who recall the original with such affection, however modest the Switch port budget for something like this would be compared to Activision's flagship franchises.

Half-Life (2 + Episode 1, 2)

We might not dare to dream of this were it not for the wonderful Portal/Portal 2 collection already on Switch. We can live without The Orange Box's Team Fortress 2, but a cheeky Half-Life or Half-Life 2 plus Episodes collection would be a beautiful thing.

What are the chances?

Maybe if Nvidia Lightspeed Studios takes the reins like it did with the Portals.

Jet Set Radio

A Dreamcast classic from the turn of the century, everyone's all about 'vibes' these days, and Jet Set Radio is essentially Vibes: The Video Game.

What are the chances?

Maybe. There's already a revival of some description in the works, with rumours that a straighter remake or re-release is also coming. Personally, we'd be up for a straightforward port of BlitWorks' 2012 HD remaster, plus a grander reimagination, but then we're suckers for blue skies.

Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)

Kirby's Epic Yarn already got a re-release on 3DS with added extras, but the fact it came out in 2019 when Switch was in its ascension always stuck in our craw. It's such a joyous experience, it's a pity Switch owners haven't got to play Good-Feel's glorious game in HD.

What are the chances?

We adore KEY and with Wii games like DKC Returns getting the late-gen Switch treatment, there's no reason this couldn't either.

Immortality

We're big Sam Barlow fans around these parts (he'll crop up again later), so this is an obvious pick. It's probably a bit late to get Her Story on Switch, too, but if we're just throwing dream ports at the wall — which is exactly what we're doing — we'll take that 'n all.

What are the chances?

Significantly higher than the chances of us getting Céline Dion and the Bee Gees’ '90s hit Immortality out of our head, where it's been playing on repeat for the last hour.

The Last Story (Wii)

Coming from Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, The Last Story was one of the 'Project Rainfall' games (along with Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower) that players campaigned to see released in North America. Nintendo eventually permitted Xseed to publish it six months after it appeared in PAL territories.

An impressive, ambitious RPG and one of the last big releases on Wii, a Switch encore would be most welcome.

What are the chances?

Developer Mistwalker is bringing Fantasian to Switch before the end of the year, so the chances of squeezing in a port of this too seem remote, unfortunately.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

Falcom's 2004 RPG took its time coming to the West (and only on PSP, console-wise), so it's just the sort of thing we'd love to see get a wider audience. And as the first in the Trails series, this and its direct sequels in this trilogy seem like fine candidates.

What are the chances?

Good news. Falcom's President, Toshihiro Kondo, has expressed a desire to re-release this one "in some form", so there seems to be something in the works, and hopefully for Switch.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Switch is a Zelda machine, with most of the mainline entries available to play in some form on the system. The Wii U outliers are obvious (we'll get to those), but this 3DS gem shouldn't be forgotten in our rush to get our Deluxe ports.

What are the chances?

At this point, with Echoes of Wisdom handling this year’s top-down Zelda quota, we'd be surprised. However, this is prime for revisiting in a few years on the next console. As a sequel to one of the most revered entries in the series which somehow managed to not be crushed under the weight of our expectations, this deserves to be released from its 3DS cage.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

Like A Dragon (Yakuza)

Yes, we've asked for this before. Yes, we know Masayoshi Yokoyama still doesn't think Switch is a good fit for the franchise. But we disagree.

What are the chances?

With Sega, it's a coin flip. You'd think that 140 million Switch gamers would be reason enough to test the waters with a Yakuza port of some description, but having been burned by Wii U it takes time to turn the corporate decision-making boat. Of course, chances are that Sega will eventually pull an EA (having missed the boat on a lucrative console generation) and go all in with Yakuza on the next system... which will sink, and all the wrong takeaways will be salvaged once again. Pff.

Finished with the boat metaphors? Great. On to the next port.

Luigi's Mansion (GCN)

We've got 3, we've got 2, we're only missing 1. The GameCube original got a 3DS re-release, but having the entire Luigi’s Mansion set on Switch — which incidentally also boasts a full set of Pikmin — just makes sense.

What are the chances?

It makes sense to us. Too much sense for Nintendo to do it, though?