Community: Which Switch 1 Games Benefit Most From Switch 2's New Boost Mode?

Haven't got round to testing it yet but I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing how much better Smash's fighter/stage select icons look as they were pretty mushy before.

Xenoblade 2 is the obvious answer

I'll be honest, I'm not noticing a huge difference. But I'm not really bothered by resolutions and framerate unless its really, really laggy or blurry. I just want my games to be fun.

(insert Alan Partridge shrugging GIF here)

Fire Emblem Three Houses looks so much better now that it's kinda unbelievable lol. That game looked so ugly but now I'm amazed at how it looks now.

I tried a number of games:
Dragon Quest XI
Pokemon Shield
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 & 3
Final Fantasy X
Super Mario Wonder
Super Smash Bros Ultimate

They all look so much better. In some cases the difference is huge.

I recall Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy having a weird scaling/image quality issue on handheld mode, so I think that's definitely one that I'll try out.

Somebody voted for Doom Eternal. That’s funny, because I think this game and its predecessor both run on 720p also in docked mode. Even the UI is in 720p if I remember correctly.

Maybe the cutscenes are on 30 fps instead of 20 fps, but even that wouldn’t be a huge advantage.

I'm playing through Dragon Quest 11 at the moment and it looks crispy on the Switch 2's screen now.

Assassin's Creed has been what I been playing through right now and brotherhood looks fantastic and clean on the screen now!

So far I've tried:

• Final Fantasy 12: Zodiac Age (big improvement, much less blurry)
• Pokemon Sword (biggest improvement, way less blurry and jagged)
• Astral Chain (average improvement, bit less jagged)

Just a massive W all round from Nintendo here.

So hyped that Nintendo finally dropped this; it was very important it arrived by March, as with GameChat becoming an NSO feature the only way to fix bad scaling previously depended on using the GameChat UI to condense the game into a smaller 720p container so this is a massive improvement. I look forward to playing games like Persona 5 Royal with this.

Bayonetta 3 looks a hell of lot better now in handheld.

Of all the games to show off first… 😂🤣😂🤣🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I do love Katamari though ❤️❤️

I'm hoping they add the ability later on to activate it on a per-game basis. There are some games that I'd prefer to have the touchscreen on, and some that I'd prefer to have the higher resolution. This is a great new feature though and I'm really glad they're giving us the option rather than forcing it one way or the other

Persona 5 and Hades are night and day difference. Diablo 3 looks much better. Diablo 2 is a little bit better. Bayonetta Trilogy and Cereza, Astral Chain, Nier Automata, Ninja Gaiden collection, Oris, Mark of Ninja, DMC 3 all marked improvements. No longer feel like a Switch 2 upgrade is needed for some of these since the Switch 2 caps out at 1080p anyway. Still would love 60fps patch for Diablo 2, Persona 5, Nier, Astral Chain, Cereza, Witcher 3 though. Might actually pick up Metroid Prime remastered now…

Are there any Switch 1 games that run at 60 FPS docked but 30 FPS handheld? I think there are some but I forget which ones
Anyway, I only tried DKC Tropical Freeze and Metroid Dread and they look much better in handheld now, Dread is capped at 900p sadly but that's still better than it used to be

@Sylamp The only one I can think of is Bowser's Fury but that obviously already had a patch. But I'd imagine any other game with that quirk would now run at 60 in handheld which is awesome!

Short answer, xenoblade.

Long answer Xenoblade 1- 3 lol

I don't think I remember (m)any other big titles that had such a large drop-off in quality between TV and handheld mode, some of that s*** bordered on unplayable.

@Sylamp Was curious about this too, but I only know of one example and that is Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition.

For some reason that game still ran a 1080p resolution in handheld and cut the fps to 30fps, instead of going 720p/60fps which based on docked being 1080p/60fps should have been very feasible o.O

@Ryoma no, Hyrule Warriors DE was also targeting 60 in handheld, it just never came close and always hovered around 30 FPS

@rockyourownium This is only handheld mode. An actual upgrade patch would also address TV mode.

Kinda crazy Nintendo dropped such a game changing feature without warning. Also pretty unlike Nintendo to add such a pro-consumer feature like this.

@Sylamp Hyrule Warriors was the big one that ran at 30 FPS handheld but 60 FPS docked.

@Dom_31 They're talking about upgrade patches, not upgrading to a Switch 2.

Kinda stunned that Nintendo implemented this ... kudos for that, even though they are plenty late to the party. Makes me wonder if for once they listened to a DF suggestion!

@rockyourownium We definitely need a SW2 Patch/Version for Astral Chain and all the Bayonetta games. As much as I appreciate this Boost Option, I don't use the SW2 in Handheld since the display is the worst I've had since 2011.

I knew you wouldn’t let us down with the tagline… ☺️

Mario Kart 8 always looked kind of pixelated to me because I always had the direct comparison with Mario Kart World in the back of my mind. It's a huge step-up and it looks great.

Smash Bros. Ultimate already looked pretty good during gameplay, but I noticed that icons and writing had jagged edges. These look fine now, too.

One thing I noticed before: hand-drawn 2D games like Night in the Woods, Mutazione and Broken Sword were upscaled a lot more smoothly than 3D games, so the difference is a lot less notable.

@DennisReynolds Thanks! Bayonetta 3 was the first game I thought of.

I only had a Lite when that game came out. I had A LOT of trouble seeing things clearly when I played it.

Ugh, while generally everything is welcome, this again is like a half-assed Nintendo-solution. Basic "upscaling" or rendering in higher resolution/framerates should be standard for ALL Switch 1 games really, with noticable "handcrafted" improvements as per a studio-by-studio basis.

But yeah. "Something" is good enough these days. And I DO appreciate it for all Switch 2 owners!

@Max_the_German but when running in handheld mode that game targets something like 640p and doesn't reach that a lot of the time, this would tell the software that it's in docked mode and bring up the target to 720p, would still be a significant boost.

i am curious to see how octopath 2 looks since i remember that being a game which looked especially blurry in handheld on switch 2.

@Scollurio Basic performance boosts ARE standard with the Switch 2. Every game already benefits from playing it on the more powerful system.

BUT these games were designed to run at a lower resolution in handheld, since the Switch 1 screen is 720P. Are you suggesting that they should have gone through and patched every single game separately instead of doing a hardware side patch like this? If so, that's a pretty steep expectation for what would constitute full-"assing it".

Check out daybreak ii it looks and runs like a dream now.

Honestly it’s all the little indie or retro games that run on 720p 60 fps on switch handheld and 1080p 60 fps docked. All of those will run on 1080p now. For instance Mega Man X legacy collection.

@XenobladeKisekiFan
this is the news i was hoping to hear!

@Stormcloudlive Is the resolution in handheld mode really capped to 640p? I always thought that both modes are basically identical, and the engine tries to maximise it while maintaining 30 fps. So I assumed that both modes would reach 720p on Switch 2. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Has anyone tried Xenoblade 1 DE ? I'm looking for an excuse to replay it. I was hoping for a Switch 2 upgrade, but this will incentivize my decision

Why is Hentai House: Lost Rooms so high up lmao?

Now you're playing with power 👍

since monkey ball rumble is still without upgrade, think that will improve quite a bit too//

Passive updates that were game changer include:

Roller coaster tycoon classic! It was a mess when zoomed out before, but is now smooth like butter.

Civilization VI was a 5 minute load to play time, now less then 90 seconds and late game turns are dramatically faster.

RiMe - had terrible frame rate, hardly hitting 30 most of the time, but is finally playable.

I can't really tell so far unless I do a quick on and off comparison. The most notable difference has been xenoblade 2 but that's still significantly blurry and pixelated but it looked horrendous without the boost. Smash and monster hunter gu felt the same as when I'd play them handheld on switch 1. Hopefully FE 3 houses and skyward sword have a difference

Pokémon Shield looks good now.

@Bats1234 It is a great game.

@Max_the_German Handheld mode Eternal caps at 612p and can drop to 360p, so it is still a huge improvement.

I was very excited to play doom2016 but the gyro has switched axis and without meaning to sound dramatic , I can’t play it like that. Still a great update and I’ll continue playing doom without the power boost, but I’d really like a switch 2 edition of that game. I imagine other gyro games will be impacted as well.

One little friend of mine is all about Lego City Undercover on Wii U so I got it on Switch 2 a while back to be able to play with him when I pay them a visit. The bigger display of S2 made the lower resolution look less than desirable but it looks really good now. Also checked Alien Isolation but the game already looked awesome so it's hard to tell, but I'm sure it's somewhat crispier now. Fatal Frame 5 looks pretty good too.

A VERY welcome update! I basically want to replay all my S1 games now.

I love my Nintendo Switch 2 so much. Love Handheld Boost upgrade and updated for Switch games. I m so happy. 😊😊😊😊

I tested some Switch games all look much better now. 😍😍😍😍

I still playing Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition on Nintendo Switch 2.

Can't wait for Pragmata release next month. 😍😍😍😍😍🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮

So far I've tried it out with Hundred Line, Persona 5, and Danganronpa V3. Think Hundred Line was the most I noticed the glowup but Persona 5 also looked much nicer, while with V3 it seemed to be running a bit better but still had some of the awkward lag and rough edges around the sprites since end of the day it's just a phoned-in mobile port no matter how you dress it up.

Castle Vania Dominous Collection had anoying scaling in handheld mode. So much better with the boost

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe looked incredible. Going to try Skyward Sword HD later, as that’s the Switch 1 game that looked the worst on Switch 2 to me.

I tested:

• Nickelodeon All Star Brawl 2 (before update game was like 480p): its better now but not huge difference looks like 720p
• Sonic Colors (before update really low resolution) looks pretty good now
• Tetris effect: not much difference
• Inscryption: not much difference
• Nowhere Prophet: perfect
• Monster Train: perfect
• Fall Guys: not much difference

Nintendo, please stop making the Switch 2 tempting by releasing GOTY-contender platform exclusives, and now adding cool new features. I bet Luigi's Mansion 3 looks pretty good with this, or Mario 3D World.

DQ11S looks worlds better now. Annoying as I literally beat the final boss last night and the smeary handheld resolution was definitely a turn off. This would have improved my engagement with the game no end.

Another Crabs Treasure also seems playable now. Its smeary visuals and frame rate drops made me put it down years ago. I may start again and give it another go because the game seems quite charming.

I just got Fire Emblem Three Houses last night, and it looked like actual poo in handheld. Then the update launched mere hours later and. . .man, did it make a difference.

I had a quick look at Persona 5 this morning and it didn’t look like a big difference to me. Now I’ve given it a proper try, it definitely looks much better. Really happy because it was looking pretty rough before.

I laughed hard seeing five people choose Hentai house, masterfull troll! 😂

@EvenStephen7 Skyward Sword is not compatible (alas) because of the motion controls.

Man, have you guys seen Yoshi's Crafted World in handheld mode? It was DREADFUL. Thank goodness it is now less dreadful, at least.

Anyone tried Bayonetta 3?

Those Katamari screenshots look exactly the same 😄

@Moon__ Skyward Sword HD doesn't have obligatory motion controls, and even if it did, you could play tabletop and see benefits from this update.
On a different note, I'm surprised to see a handful of votes for games with free Switch 2 updates. Splatoon 3, Link's Awakening, and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet have already been performing better on Switch 2, both docked and undocked.

Dragon Quest XI S looks really good and crisp. Problem is that i wanted to play the other DQ games but yeah, i will stick with Dragon Quest XI S for now!

Nintendo really wants us to throw away Switch 1

That screenshot is a terrible example

@Indielink Thank you! Can docked mode reach 720p?

@RupeeClock I know this. Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal are special, because they output at 720p.

@Bahamut_GR ill wait for the DE version.

Astral chain looks amazing. That art style was the right choice for that game. I wish they could make a sequel but who knows with platinum and all the changes there.

Somehow, I keep inserting "beast" before reading "boost" and I'm getting Sun and Moon Ultra Beast flashbacks.

I always wondered if this was possible... and if so, why it wasn't already standard on the Switch 2.

There is now even less need for Mario Kart World!

MK8 is peak karting.

Anyone saw a difference between the two Katamari screenshot?.. I must be blind XD

I really appreciate the update but I'm playing most of my Switch games on my OG Switch. I'm playing ARMS on Switch 2, but on the TV XD

I guess Nintendo is looking to give OG Switch owners another reason to upgrade to Switch 2.

Can anyone vouch for whether the following are improved (as both are currently on sale at the estore):

• Triangle Strategy
• Octopath Traveller 2

Thanks!

@Papery0shi, it looks way better, a lot cleaner. I didn't play it very long, though. I've probably gone through about 20 Nintendo Switch games, almost all look good and play better.

P5R and Haven both looked fairly pixelated in handheld, so now even if they don't seem like full 1080p, they look MUCH better to the point I'm not thinking about it, and that's about all I ask. The Ori games look so great now too, they were already amazing for the hardware but now they're even better

I am playing Bloodstained and it looks great, had a couple of slow downs, but the upgrade of boost is brilliant

Games get a res boost ofc but some also loose a bit of stability like Saints Row 4.

And the gyro aiming is f*cked up now that this mode simulate a controller pro, for some mysterious reasons

@RupeeClock No, they generate an image which is 720p, and Switch scales it up to 1080p.

Mudrunner , Kanjozoku , testing Redout 2

So far, I tried out Thousand-Year Door, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Breath of the Wild (not upgraded), Pokemon Shield, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Wavetale, Cuphead, and Smash Ultimate. Of these, Wonder and BOTW got the most noticeable improvements for me, though the rest of these games also are now looking much better (except Cuphead, which never looked very crunchy to begin with and looks indistinguishable from pre-Handheld Boost).

This update will make me want to revisit a bunch of my Switch games.

@SupDan What are U talking about ? Looked good even before boost on S2 ...

The update 'just' came out. I'm eager to provide feedback but... let me have a minute NL

Has anybody tried this with Let’s Go: Pikachu and Eevee? I’m specifically wondering if it’s no longer compatible in handheld mode with this setting turned on as the game doesn’t have pro controller/dual joy-con support in TV/tabletop mode and forces you to use the TERRIBLE one joy-con motion controls for some reason…

Another one I'm really noticing this morning, Fitness Boxing 3. I tend to do it in desktop mode and it's a bigger glow-up than you would think.

@horizonisland It still uses the handheld controls.

@premko1 We have VERY different opinions, then! For clarification, I don't mean the art style, which is very good, rather the actual resolution. On Switch 1 it already looked bad, on Switch 2 handheld it's even worse! The UI is very sharp, but the actual scenes and Yoshi himself look noticeably worse.

Has anyone tried Pikmin 4? Should benefit also (a lot?)!

I was testing out my games last night. GRIS, Danganronpa, Citizen Sleeper, Advance Wars, The Plucky Squire, and Dredge all look GORGEOUS.

Briefly tried Mortal Kombat 11.

Characters models are definitely noticeably less jaggy. Good improvement there. Don’t really see a noticeable difference in the backgrounds though.

Awesome update and completely unexpected. Does it prompt you what mode you want to play in when you choose a Switch 1 game or is it something you have to go into the settings for? Not a big deal either way but would be nice to get the option for the games that don’t play nice with the mode.

Checked Age of Calamity and it finally looks playable again. The Star Wars Battlefront Collection looks great too. Sniper Elite 4 also looks considerably improved and might make a big difference in the gameplay. Heard about Phoenix Rising being much better but haven't tried it.

What about the Crash Bandicoot games? Especially N Sane Trilogy, which ran at 480p in handheld

I'd like to see someone talk about the steamworld games, specifically Steamworld Quest. I have that one lined up to play, but haven't yet.

@larryisaman It's an option you can toggle. That way the difference is even more clear as you can see it in real time. In settings you go to system, then Nintendo switch software handling and then you can select the handheld mode boost option.

Bayonetta looked better to my eye.

I've always played most of my games docked, and I'm not as sensitive to changes in frame rate/resolution as I am for other graphical cutbacks, so the number of games this will impact for me is probably pretty limited. Though I have been going back and replaying some of my favorite Switch 1 games in handheld, so maybe I'll manage to get some benefit from the boost even if I don't consciously notice it.

Finally,

Can play in handheld mode on my switch 2 without that 720p weak switch 1 texture in handheld mode.

Yeah, that screenshot doesn’t make me want to rush out and try this lol.

This is the kind of built-in upgrade that we expect from a NEXT generation console rather than paid-for upgrades from last-gen to current-gen for every pre-existing game.

Well done Nintendo. Well done. We need more of this kind of thing!

Ghosts n Goblins Resurrection now looks absolutely stunning in portable mode, what a huge difference when you switch back and forth it’s super noticeable

Looking forward to trying Bayonetta 3 now after I finish Octopath Traveller.

@larryisaman It's a toggle in the system settings, kind of toward the bottom IIRC.

This is cool as sin and I’m gonna test it out when the update is finished. Got to go yank some batteries out of the lawnmower and my work truck first.

Also I’m sure John and Oliver at Digital foundry will have a field day testing this.

@CaptainQuo I wish there were more people like this

I voted for the obvious answer of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but huge shout out to the real ones that voted for Crash Team Racing!!
I sank a good 200 hours of handheld play into that 100p nightmare and loved every second. Going to try it out shortly to see the changes.

Y’s VIII looks 10000 times better handheld now

Essentially, all of them. Almost every Switch 1 game was running in 1080p (either native or upscaled) in docked mode, so they should all benefit. I'm noticing a huge visible improvement for every Switch game.

Fire Emblem Tree Houses.....it's like what i expected it to look on the Switch 2 when I got the system. Also tried Yooka Laylee and the impossible lair and it looks so good. The only "downside" so far is that the battery maybe goes down a bit faster? And in intense 3d games you clearly feel it being warmer in your hand.

@cyrus_zuo Agreed, handheld Civilization VI has been greatly helped by this new Boost feature. Performance gains not withstanding, the whole game screen is crisper and easier to read.

Bakeru looks vastly improved.

I tried out some games, and the difference is quite big although not in all of them.

Batman Arkham City, Star Ocean 2, Xenoblade 1, Nier Automata and Pikmin 4 look AWESOME now.

Dragon Quest XI though... This game really needs a Switch 2 upgrade.

I have yet to try more.

Ace Attorney Games (particularly AA6) are actually playable now. Looked ASS before in 720p on S2 handheld.

Excited for the possibilities with Hundred Line. Was going to get it for Steam Deck because I gave up hope on a S2 upgrade

@Justaguest how did you manage to turn a good thing into a negative?

Just to note, the Switch 1 has 3 portable profiles that differ in GPU clock frequency. The lowest runs the GPU at 307.2Mhz, the middle at 384Mhz, and the top runs at 460mhz. So a game could have a drastic improvement from portable mode to docked mode if they were running the lowest portable profile, but it also depends on the complexity of the game itself.

@jsty3105 didnt mean it like that. Should have probably written "lol" or something after that.All I am saying is that there is almost no reason to use sw1 anymore. Except for oled in some cases.

Just confirmed that Tropico 6 no longer looks like garbage in Handheld mode!

@Justaguest There is not a Switch Lite 2 yet, so I'm still using my Switch Lite for times when other people are using the Switch 2, and I feel a little bit better traveling with it.

I tested Witcher 3, Diablo 2 and MHR last night. Good results mostly. Witcher 3 looks really good suddenly, and D2 got crisp like it was on my OLED. MHR I couldn’t tell much of a difference, but I didn’t fight a monster just tooled around the main hub. Think it’s a combo of being a locked 30fps and art style that hides any major benefit there.

@jfp haven't been able to check yet but Fast RMX is the game I'm most looking forward to!

@RupeeClock I'm curious about this as well. Does this basically reduce the benefit of the upgrade pack? Or does it still qualify as it's natively a switch 1 game?

@BaldB3lper78 of course they can. It has pretty much always been the case games get better the older a console is compared to the start.

Because there are optimization tricks unique to each console that take time to learn.

BoTW was an early gem on switch just because monolithsoft are optimization wizards.

@DennisReynolds Since when Nintendo is so consumer unfriendly ? Seems to me they are always pretty fair with their consumers. I agree some of their products are expensive though.

Will be interesting to see what the difference in battery life is with this on versus not on. Still hoping a few of the bigger (yet unannounced) indies and third party games get native S2 Editions, such as Witcher 3, Diablo, and Outer Wilds.

I wonder if Nintendo prioritizes the games that are (so far) incompatible with this mode for S2 Editions?

@Oldstalk They literally just charged Switch 2 owners to toggle 60fps for Xenoblade X.

@MADLUDWIG11

I tried Crash Racing earlier. Loads better.

XCOM 2 Collection is something else man, since it's dynamic res up to 1080p and uncapped frame rate, handheld is truly 1080p/60 and it looks so good.

The lack of handheld 1080p was an early frustration of mine with the Switch 2 backward compatibility and I’m shocked it was possible the whole time but not implemented. There’s no way it was that complicated to just allow the system to treat S1 games as always docked.

My best theories: on the generous side, maybe Nintendo was prioritizing the game-by-game adjustments to their emulation / compatibility layer, a huge undertaking to be fair. But more cynically, maybe they were trying to juice their battery life numbers for early reports as much as possible, or even drive more demand for the Switch 2 edition upsells.

Only tested with borderlands 2 so far but it does looker a bit crisper, especially on objects far away. Only downside is that the hud gets pretty tiny

@swoose I can think of a third possibility. This new feature actually comes with a pretty heavy drawback. It's not uncapping handheld mode to work as well as docked mode. It's just telling the switch 1 game it's docked but putting the output onto its own screen.

Now for most people this probably doesn't matter. But stuff like the touch screen won't work as expected. It's possible they were trying to avoid this and allow for full handheld functionality without basically lying to the game.

But maybe overwriting that for every game just wasn't possible, at least not without violating security measures they might not want to mess with.

So they instead surrendered and went with the messy option that does the job.

Overall this feels like the "Screw it just do whatever works" option.

Anyone tested Doom or Wolfenstein?

@jfp

Yeah they overly abused DLSS performance mode for Fast Fusion. Same mistake Square made with FSR 2 on the base PS5. They asked too much of it.

@gamma64

Those are games that need proper Switch 2 versions frankly. They’re dramatically cut down from the PS4 versions. I mean the game boost will obviously help with the resolution but that’s frankly not enough.

Thanks to this update I need to buy so many switch 1 games that I sort of avoided. Xenoblade 2 is on top of that list.

@AlonditeFE agreed, this is a good compromise since they likely won't be able to upgrade every game like they have with Pokémon SV, SMO et al.

@jfp Holy ***** Fast RMX looks absolutely stunning in handheld now. Just WOW!

Plants vs Zombies Battle for Neighborville ! Frame rate and resolution are poor handheld or on dock, on Nintendo Switch. I play this game so much better on my Legion Go 2.

Great feature. Hopefully a future iteration allows it to be enabled on a per game basis for the games that do use the touchscreen or that have performance or other issues.

Yeah XB2 got the best glow up from this lol

@OrtadragoonX oh for sure. But we haven’t got one yet so in the mean time how’s Game Boost??

I tested games that have free Switch 2 upgrades such as Splatoon 3 and Link's Awakening and these appear to just run in their Switch 2 "mode" (No touchscreen warning message, although these games don't support it.) Don't have a 3rd party game currently such as Dragon Quest III HD-2D or Final Fantasy Tactics to test.

Nintendo is somehow addressing this. Whether they have a blacklist of games, boost mode can detect games that are using Switch 2 enhancements, or they are running as native Switch 2 despite still being labelled as Switch software.

Not going to add it but so far every ____ warriors game I've thrown at it has been great. The extra S2 power already smoothed performance issues and with this on they look better and you get the full enemy counts

This is cool, getting games to run on the S2s native res. Too bad the S2 screen is a smeary mess in motion. But hey, it looks good when you're not moving.

I was hoping for an update for No More Heros 3 this week, and this has made the game look immediately better and not a blurry mess. I just booted it up and the menu is crisp while it's usually tough to read. Also, this should have been a launch feature 😭

I'd say those games that did reach absurdly low native resolutions in handheld modes would benefit the most.

Xenoblade 2 (mentioned by others above) was the first that came to mind. Those Id Software games like the Dooms and Wolfenstein games probably would too I should imagine.

Guys I'm hoping to get a Switch 2 just to play Switch 1 games. Is it worth it?

I just wish the switch 2 screen had a better pixel response

Did Astral Chain look THAT good before, or is it thanks to the boost? I've had the game for quite a while, but I haven't actually played it yet... It has really shocked me.

Other games that looks great now are Prince of Persia TLC, Resident Evil 1 and Metroid Dread. I mean, they looked fantastic already (and they ARE fantastic), but now even better. Perfect games to play on handheld.

@N8tiveT3ch You bet it is!
Although why don't you want to play Switch 2 games...? What's wrong with them?

Oh boy, time to play the Switch masterpieces that benefit from this update. I'm thinking Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, NieR: Automata, and... squints at list ...Hentai House: Lost Rooms?

I am glad to have this, but I don't think it will come into play very often. Most games I play handheld are indie games that usually aren't in need of a big boost. If a game is about graphics it's on my TV. If it's about killing time, I am using handheld while watching TV.

Seems like this should have been a selling point at launch. A missed opportunity for sure.

@FredsBodyDouble

Yeah I’m a bit surprised this wasn’t at launch. When they detailed backwards compatibility and how it would work first thing that went through my mind was “oh cool they can do a boost mode like the PS5 has that forces PS4 with Pro versions to run the Pro settings.

I’m glad it’s here but it really should has been a launch feature. Only theory I’ve got was that they’ve been working on this for awhile but they needed more time for bug fixing before mass deployment so it missed launch. That theory also makes sense with how deep they buried the toggle in the settings. This is basically a beta feature and they’re mass testing it. A future update will probably move it to greater visibility.

@Ralizah I couldn't believe it when I saw the results lol. I mean, what the hell is that game?

@the_beaver An AI slop shovelware game. Obviously the troll choice. I have to wonder why THAT one in particular, though. At least a couple of people had to get that ball rolling.

I think with the Switch 2, you don't really understand how much better it is than the OG Switch until you actually use one. It's a ton of micro improvements put together to make a system that really feels a step above. This new patch leans into that, for me

Given that games displayed on Switch 1 in handheld at 720p at best, yes, this is a massive upgrade. I've tested a dozen or more games and it's significant unless the game already had dynamic resolution prior to this update, in which case, you will probably only notice things like a crisper UI. The only negative I've noticed is that a lot of games didn't bother with antialiasing at all, and that is still very apparent (Trails Through Daybreak 1 and 2 for example; otherwise look fantastic).

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 looks a lot better. That really makes me happy.

@FishyS Never trust the results of an open poll on the internet, I suppose.

The worse the game looked before in handheld, the more it benefits from this. Jump Force is a good example.

I'm testing it out now, and loving it. It doesn't make them "Switch 2 upgrade" level of course, but it does better leverage the power of the Switch 2 to make Switch 1 games pop.
So far - I was playing Unicorn Overlord when this dropped, and had been playing it on PS5 recently. The game was already pretty solid on Switch 1, but it feels a little snappier and higher resolution now.

Ace Combat 7 - not a huge difference IMO, I already think the game benefitted from the increased specs of Switch 2. UI elements look sharper, I think, but I didnt do a side by side

Etrian Odyssey 3 - definitely sharper UI/text

Chrono Cross looks good, though I haven't tried it without boost.

Manticore - Galaxy on Fire looks sharp

FE Engage I think it's a touch better, but it honestly ran well already. One of those games that benefited already just from the power increase of Switch 2

Witcher 3 - really just needs an upgrade pack lol. It's a little better but still not what it could be.

Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack- couldn't see a difference, but it anyway ran well and had sharp text, and I don't expect the retro style sprites to look different here.

Fired up Grandia, looks about the same to me.

My Time At Sandrock um, feels cursed. Never fired it up on Switch before tho, so might just be the port in general?

Ninja Gaiden 1 - no complaints, great port. Switch 2 was already putting in work on this one, but it looks better now.

Persona 4 Golden looking good

Little Nightmares II feels a little smoother. Ditto Kotor.

Mario RPG runs like butter!

Put on RE Revelations 1. Honestly never played it before, but it feels pretty good here.

Tried it with Alien Isolation. Turned it on then off while playing and have to say there was a big improvement in visual quality

@rockyourownium I believe you may be incorrect about Hades as it's been said to do only 720p docked.

So not sure what improvement you're seeing as it's probably the exact same before the boost.

So far, I've only really tried it with Smash Ultimate and Sonic Generations. Both of these were among the worst looking Switch 1 titles I've played on Switch 2, given most of the rest either got an upgrade patch or use a graphical style that scales better. Smash Ultimate had a very crunchy character select screen, and the unclear future of Smash means it's hard to say if a patch would happen, no need patch now! as the new mode fixed the icons. As for Sonic Generations; SEGA made a new one for Switch 2 and abandoned the Switch 1 version, leaving Sonic running around looking like a cardboard cutout that was mistaken for an accordion with no hope of a Switch 2 iron, this is also fixed now through the new mode, and given Yakuza Kiwami 1 is probably in the same boat, the same may apply. Honestly! what does SEGA have against selling upgrade patches anyway? Also, I noticed that there were a few titles nominated that previously received mandatory free upgrades. The new mode doesn't affect Switch 2 software! Scarlet & Violet should run the same regardless of which mode is used!

I played Pokemon Violet for a few minutes and I felt like it was ready for me to finally, actually playing it. I played Xenoblade 1 to get a feel for the toggle. That game benefits too.

Fire Emblem Three Houses

Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes

Pikmin 4

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak

DOOM 2016

Bayonetta 3

Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Immortals Fenyx Rising

Nier Automata

Sniper Elite 4

A lot of games you guys are saying aren't native or even dynamic resolution 1080. For me a standout title would be Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. On switch 2 boost mode would be locked 60FPS with native 1080 resolution.

There’s so much misinformation posted here in the comment section.

If a game on Switch 1 got updated for Switch 2 there will be no improvements, the boost won’t even be loaded.

If the resolution of the docked game is not 720p and above and handheld resolution is not lowered there is no improvement to visual fidelity with the boost.

There are also some cases where some software may have worse performance and little quirks.

I only usually play docked. The only thing that would interest me handheld would be some method to play Switch 2 games streamed from my docked Switch 2. (Ideally on a device with a dpad). They have most of the work done already for gameshare. I don’t think they will implement it though.

Still think the most important missing feature is VRR docked though.

@FishyS Trolly McTrollface

Why is a game called Hentai House second in the poll? Shame on you guys. I thought this was a family console.

It seems like the Xenoblade games are among the largest improvements here. Of the few games I've tested, I'd day Princess Peach Showtime is the biggest improvement. Online it says the original resolution was 720p in handheld, but I never believed that. It always looked very blurry and pixelated compared to other games. Now it looks pretty nice in handheld mode and it's giving me the itch to go back and finally beat the game now.

@Zeeba Pokemon Violet got a free Switch 2 update last June which gave enhanced the resolution and framerate. Handheld Boost shouldn't change anything with it unless you've gone out of your way to make sure Violet didn't update.

Pikmin 4 has NO BOOST OPTION ( playing without rollover update )

if i'd want to sit on a couch for a long play session for a particular game, i'm probably never seeing it in handheld boost mode. so local multiplayer games like monster hunter, pokemon and mario kart 8dx should definitely benefit hugely, as should games playable in shorter bursts (i would usually shill the goat gnosia here, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to benefit much. i guess the assets are scaled to the ps vita's 960 x 544? including the font somehow. still well worth playing despite still looking a tad crunchy, shill i must).

but yeah, this should've been a feature from launch. very funny that we're all (myself absolutely included!) excited for a feature that they withheld for seemingly no reason and that would've made the switch 2 launch that much stronger. handheld resolution was easily THE biggest downside of this console. now all we need are quick settings to enable this, mono audio, zoom and whatever other settings people might want without having to navigate all the way to the settings. nintendo please listen to the people

So interesting that this patch is almost released the same moment as the ps5 portal update with also has a new 1080 mode. Like they were waiting for each other

your battery life tho

I can think of some games where it's less a performance boost and more that they don't scale well to 720p.
Star Ocean First Departure R is a PSP port and the PSP backgrounds integer scale perfectly to a 1080p screen. When it runs at 720p, the backgrounds are very unevenly scaled, even on a native 720p screen. On a Switch 2 this would be even worse because the game would be crunched down to 720p with uneven scaling and then scaled back up to 1080p. You'd have had blurry but uneven pixels, truly the worst of both worlds.

There are loads of other games for which this is the case, this is just the first one to spring to mind.

@UpsideDownRowlet Wasn't it just a regular update? Anyway, I could be crazy, but it seems good enough to engage with finally.

@Zeeba The update made it so that on Switch 2, the games would run at 4K60 docked or 1080p60 handheld and doubled the amount of Pokemon which could be spawned at any one time. Because of this, Handheld Boost shouldn't change anything (same as any other game which got a free Switch 2 patch previously or a Switch 2 Edition).

@UpsideDownRowlet perhaps you're right. But I believe that it's better now. And if it's always been better now, then anyone who hasn't played it, now's the time to play. But the dlc is still full price.... And so is the game...

@Bahamut_GR Still a bit of a mess, and a great game. Needs a patch

The first AI: The Somnium Files is another one that super benefits from this. It already gained a lot from the Switch 2 cutting down its loading times but now it actually looks pretty nice handheld compared to how before there was a lot of fuzz around the models. Having played the game on both PS4 and Switch the gap is nowhere anywhere near what it was.

I assume Nirvana Initiative got a similar glowup, though that one generally looked and ran a bit better than the original game in the first place.

@Raylax
I own a modchipped Switch OLED so I've been able to render the docked image on the handheld screen for some time, and I've always been telling people how much better Switch 1 games look when docked mode is output on the handheld screen.

And I could even overclock to stabilize performance.

But with Switch 2, you get the benefit of a 1080p screen for docked images higher than 720p, and thanks to the extreme jump in power the games max out their framerates beyond anything overclocking a Switch 1 could achieve. Like Ni No Kuni 2 runs 60 fps, Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle runs 60 fps, Tales of Vesperia runs 60 fps, Bayonetta 3 runs 60 fps, etc.

One of the biggest reasons to own a modchipped Switch just got obliterated with this new update for Switch 2. I mean, it still can run English translated JP games like Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2, Yokai Watch Remake and Yokai Watch 4, as well as retro emulators for running English patched Fire Emblem games never released in the west (Genalogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776 on SNES, Binding Blade on GBA, Heroes of Light and Shadow on DS).

Still, this update absolutely crushes

edit
Oh, forgot the whole reason I replied was to say Ys IX Monstrum Nox also looks and runs great on Switch 2. As do all the Trails games.

And if you haven't checked out Ys X: Proud Nordics for Switch 2 which just released, it's peak. Even has a 120 fps mode. But I think it's best at 60 frames and slightly sharper resolution and more detail.

One funny thing, I didn't notice that Diablo 2 Resurrected used 3D models as opposed to sprites until this update.

And oh yeah! I totally need to try Ys IX!

Awww man, someone else noticed just how good those anime boys feet looked while playing undocked now, it's great to be able to take the Switch portable into town and enjoy looking at anime boy feet while having a coffee in starbucks or while being beaten up just outside starbucks. Best update of 2026!

On Reddit they're saying the Xenoblade Chronicles X Switch 2 Edition is redundant because of this. Sure it gives 60 FPS, but overall the graphics look a lot worse in handheld? That really sucks...

Xenoblades obviously. No more everything becoming a blurry mess. Hallelujah.

I've been playing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble and it looks great compared to the 480i resolution it was running on before LOL. Boost/Docked mode is 1080p.

Plucky Squire, looks WAY better in boost mode, the text is crisper, and it's even possible to read it when outside the book now. Performance seems smoother as well. Glad I put it aside for a bit and can now enjoy it boosted!

Smash Bros Ultimate looks leagues better! Even looks like a game made for the Switch 2. Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion looks better. An interesting thing I noticed about it is the enemy models. In the normal handheld mode the enemies look very low resolution and make choppy movements (maybe a lower framerate) which makes fighting them harder. But using the handheld boost mode they were higher resolution and I could predict their next attack far easier, making combat smoother. Funny thing is that I didn't notice any kind of change in the model for Zach, or the cutscenes, and the background looked exactly the same.

Just realized “In Other Waters” is perfect for this. The small text is much clearer and the touch controls suggest playing this in handheld mode. Just gorgeous on the big S2 screen

@AlonditeFE Whats the benefits Switch 1 games already enjoy across the board of being played on Switch 2?

To me this looks like a messy situation. Some games look and play the same as Switch 1, some have free updates and some have paid updates, or am I missing something?

What I meant was kinda like on PC. Same architecture but your PC from today is more powerful than your 7 year old PC.

You might be able to bump up the resolution, antialising and such.

Jailbroken Switch 1 consoles can already unlock frame limits and have a mild overclock, even in such a janky setting many Switch 1 games see improvements ON the same hardware. So I was of the impression that if the Switch 2 is leagues more powerful than Switch 1 and the actual makers of the hardware/games could just "unlock" higher framerates and resolutions across the board.

After all, in this day and age, especially multiplatform games are built "scalable" anyways, no?

Lost in Random and Destroy all Humans are night and day now. Having previously only owned a switch light it's amazing to finally have LiR actually playable in handheld.

@batmanbud2 that was one of the first i thought of as well.. remember going on a flight to Aruba,and thinking..i'm now going to play 3 houses for hours, and then concluding the screen was unreadable after 10 mins.

Under defeat hd is beautiful too

@Pillowpants I never paid for the update. My gaslit mindset is leaking in but I think it's perfect now. Something about it seems crisper and better put together. I think that it's lost when I go 4K.

But I noticed a similar cohesiveness in Pokemon Violet. There might be no visible improvement (someone said) , but the game feels much better to play. I'm experiencing elevated Pokemania now, and I haven't played Pokemon since Shield.

Oh, I wouldn't have realized Metroid Dread is capped to 900p if I hadn't read the comments. That explains why it doesn't look WAY better, but it sure does beat the heck out of before. It looked pretty rough on Switch 2, but at least there's much less of that jagged, no-anti-aliasing look now.

Pinball FX3, Pinball FX, Pinball M, and Star Wars Pinball benefit greatly from boost mode. I'm very excited about Pinball FX3 in particular. It looks and runs GREAT. I'd recommend downloading it for free, as it will be de-listed soon but if you have the free download you can still make in-game purchases in the future. Get Pinball FX3 into your library by the end of April if you don't have it already and have any interest in pinball.