Defining Games of the Switch Generation
Image: Nintendo Life

A lot has changed in video gaming since Switch launched in 2017. Beyond all Nintendo's handheld hybrid switching, we now live in a world where a Nintendo game on mobile is a fairly normal occurrence and both Microsoft and Sony publish games on Nintendo's console. Crazy.

As we await official word on the next generation of Nintendo hardware, it's got us thinking back on the current cycle and the games that defined the era for Switch owners.

The following eight games — one for each year, though not one from each year — represent experiences that we feel define the Switch and this past generation in mostly (though not exclusively) positive ways.

These aren't just the best games, remember, but games that we feel captured the zeitgeist on Switch somehow. Games that, when we look back in 10, 20, 30 years, will make us think of Nintendo's first little handheld hybrid and the fun we had with it.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

Let's get the obvious one out of the way, a game that's not a Switch exclusive but is undeniably a generation-definer.

Breath of the Wild transformed Zelda in a way you probably didn't imagine possible having spent nearly two decades doing things in a fairly similar style. It proved once again that reinvention doesn't mean ejecting the core of the series, but rather rediscovering and finding new ways to emphasise the core that was there from the beginning.

BOTW made us feel wonder and awe once more while exploring Hyrule.

Hollow Knight (Switch eShop)

Here representing the epic indies and sprawling Metroidvanias, Hollow Knight epitomises the indie explosion we've enjoyed on Nintendo's platform.

Again, the seeds of this were germinating in the Wii U era, earlier even, but from Nintendo's perspective, it's the Switch era where independent developers have had the opportunity to flourish on an incredibly popular platform with a Nintendo that seems to finally understand their importance and the positive effect supporting smaller teams on your platform can have.

The eShop is a very different place now to the early days, and it's easier than ever for great games to get lost, but games large and small from indie devs have played a huge part in the success of Switch, and the success of this game, in particular, has elevated its long-awaited sequel to meme-level status.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most people reading this will have turned to video games to offer relief in trying times, and if there were a poster game for 2020-21 cosy comfort, this is it.

For Nintendo and anyone who took solace from this game, its March 2020 release timing was a happy accident. When we look back on the Switch in the decades to come, though, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will remain a defining memory of the system and the period. Talkshows were hosted in it, for goodness' sake.

We debated for a good long time about including another influential life sim that means the world to millions of people, and for a time Stardew Valley was also on this list. Ultimately it was the closest of calls, but in the interest of variety, it gave way to make room for something else. Still, if there were a ninth entry here, it'd be Stardew.

Hades (Switch eShop)

Another indie darling, but also repping the roguelikes (see also: Dead Cells, Balatro, and hundreds more) and the various games honed and toned in early access elsewhere before arriving fully formed on Switch, it's hard to believe that this is turning five this year. But there's also something so elegant and compulsive about Supergiant's fourth game that it has a timeless quality. Hades has always existed, no?

So many games from smaller teams have grabbed us over the last eight years, but few offer this level of refinement and class. Roll on the sequel.

Fortnite (Switch eShop)

You might argue (and some among us did!) that Fortnite is played more on other platforms. However, a list of generation-defining games in the Switch era felt incomplete without acknowledging not only the rise of free-to-play games over the past decade but also the intense popularity of the Battle Royale. A Tetris 99 might go down especially well around these parts, but Fortnite has been king of its category for longer than many expected.

Some players have mixed feelings about both F2P and BR, especially given the latter's prevalence from the late 2010s until fairly recently, but as with all genres there are great and terrible examples. And, unholy as it is, the number of them that gets, say, Mariah Carey, Spider-Man, and Harry Kane into the same game is one.

For all its insane crossovers, try-hard irreverence, and the slurry of freemium pap it inspired — from currency systems to mechanics to UI and general presentation — the fact remains that beneath all that is an exceptionally well-crafted, fun, nail-biting video game that anyone with a Switch can play with their friends, whatever console they're on.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Switch)

Oof, controversial! As we said in the introduction, not every entry here is just about being the very best (like no one ever..., oh you know the drill) and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet showcases some weaknesses of this generation, as well as positives.

And there are positives. As part of the first wave of mainline Pokémon games designed for the TV, Scarvi's open world is a promising indication of where the series could go next. It's got a great roster of monsters, a good story, and interesting new mechanics to play with.

But few games disappointed fans more from a performance standpoint than this pair of flagship Switch titles; Sword and Shield felt like a modestly successful test run but these turned out far worse. A poorly optimised port that's been downgraded from a platform with far more power is one thing, but a first-party-published game built specifically for the hardware? This one represents the many frame skippers we've encountered over the last eight years.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition (Switch)

It's games like Witcher 3 that make you forget you're playing on a tablet with components designed a decade ago when you fire up your Switch.

That's not to say it's perfect. We're all well aware of the caveats that come with any Switch port these days, and the normalisation of PS5-level visuals on your TV as the generation has progressed means that it's tougher than ever to go back if you've played it elsewhere.

But let's not forget that this set the standard and showed others what a talented team could accomplish with Nintendo's old mobile chipset. Witcher 3 was THE impossible port of the generation, proving to all that most anything is possible and Switch owners needn't feel short-changed. Remarkable.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

With one foot in the previous generation and representing the Wii U ports that have helped support the Switch since the beginning (and the system's best-seller, to boot), the last entry is a game that just won't die.

There's a reason there are 64.27 million copies (to date) of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe out there: it's the biggest and best entry. Sure, some of us like a little more Double Dash in our karting, but it's impossible to deny the Switch version's comprehensive brilliance and cross-generational appeal.

A game that can be enjoyed equally by both the very young and very old is a special thing and something of a Nintendo speciality, and MK8D is the quintessential Switch multiplayer experience. Cheers, Wii U! No idea how they'll top this one.

Switch OLED
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

An impressive roster, there! We tried to work in as many genres as possible given our self-imposed limit, but you know we like a list and our exhaustive genre best ofs and Top 50 Switch games will showcase many of your favourites missing above, and highlight even further the breadth of this console's library.

Let us know below if there are any gen-defining winners you'd swap in! 'Everyone is here' Smash Bros., perhaps? What about a VN? Does the zaniness of LABO's cardboard earn a spot on your list? Undertale? One of the other many incredible role-playing games which made Switch an RPG machine? Is Minecraft forever your cross-gen monster? Do you know how many Xenoblades are on Switch?!?

As the industry at large continues to struggle with dramatic changes wrought by the pandemic and layoffs across the board, with fantastic developers having to shield themselves from the spurting snake oil of Web 3.0 and NFTs and AI on top of everything else, it's easy to look back and focus on the bad. For anybody playing games in the last eight years, though — especially on Switch — it's been an incredibly rich and varied generation.

Here's to the next, whenever it may come!

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And here's Felix's personal selection, too, expanded to 15 Switch-defining picks