Topic: Anyone else a bit unhappy with backwards compatibility?

@sixrings You're implying that the Switch 2 is worse than other consoles with back compat and since no one else seems to have really challenged you on this, I guess I will. Switch 2 back compat works identically to PS5's. Select titles receive free updates (which don't always bring them up to 4k btw, Last of Us 2 as an example is 1440p), some receive paid upgrades, and the rest run as they were originally unless they had DRS or an uncapped framerate. A PS4 exclusive game like Bloodborne is still 1080p 30fps on PS5 in 2025. Obviously it'd be nice if every game was 4k 60fps but a patch is needed for each game to reach that, and while it'd be nice for Nintendo to more speedily patch all of their Switch 1 games, Sony wasn't exactly quick with PS5 Patches either and 5 years on there's still a number of games that haven't gotten one. Switch 2 back compat is pretty great so far.

I'd say that the PS5 enjoys significantly better backwards compatibility, but much of that is down it being five years since the console launched, which has allowed them to whittle away at the list of games that don't work. At any rate, there's only six now, where the list for the Switch 2 still runs to the hundreds. Maybe they'll get there in the next five years; they've already managed to fix all the ones I've got, but I wouldn't be expecting it to hit single digits any time soon.

There are also a heck of a lot more games that have performance patches too. Again, that's partly due to the passage of time, but I gather that Nintendo has been relatively stingy with dev kits, telling a lot of the smaller indies to just keep making Switch 1 games.

I've been super impressed with the level of Switch 1 compatibility on Switch 2 but there are the issues that if you aren't using a upgrade pack the Switch 1 graphics don't upscale well to a 1080p screen and the Switch 2 display panel itself is fairly low end and not really HDR at all (Switch Lite screen is brighter with more accurate colours). Obviously there are some occasional compatibility issues because the hardware is so different but generally hats off to Nintendo for a brilliant job.

Personally I still think an OLED original Switch is a better portable platform for Switch 1 games. The colours just pop and of course the resolution of the panel is ideal for the resolution of the games and you get very good battery runtime but where an upgrade pack exists or you are prepared to pay for them then the Switch 2 becomes the better platform.

I don't own a Switch, so it doesn't matter to me at all. I have nothing to compare it to. Even if I did, I doubt I would care much. People get so hung up on frame rates and ***** these days.

The Switch 2 is fully backwards compatible. All Switch 1 games I own play on the Switch 2.

What I am a bit disappointed with is the lack of Switch 2 updates for many of the games, that unlock resolution and framerates. Like one of my personal favorite games: Persona 5 Royal.

Nintendo is also slow with this, as can you image how much better Pokemon Legends:Arceus would look and play like with increased resolution and 60 fps. /sigh

You do know that your Switch 1 games working on the Switch 2 doesn't make it "fully backwards compatible" unless you own every Switch 1 game ever released, right? 🙂

The only games that might cause some issues are for example the Labo stuff, since the Switch 2 doesn't fit in those carton housings. Especially the VR headset, since the Switch 2 screen is quite a bit larger.

@Jeronan You do know Nintendo themselves publish a list of software that's not fully compatible (or not compatible at all) - and while it's a relatively small % of games it's definitely more than just Labo?

Not sure what you mean here - there are plenty of Switch 1 games which crash or have serious graphical issues or sometimes don't even open on Switch 2. A small number percentage wise, but still hundreds of games with issues.

While I would like more Switch 2 versions of games, I think the backwards compatibility is great. The best Nintendo has ever implemented IMO. I had never even heard of the 'compatibility layer' thing before, but I am 100% sold on it now. I have not noticed additional input lag on any of my Switch 1 games either.

@dmcc0 And to make matters worse, Nintendo doesn't update that list anymore. You have to look at a game's eShop page to see if it has issues. There is no longer an up-to-date central list of all games with issues.

They've also discovered more games with issues since the old list was updated. And, as we've seen in these forums, there are several games that have BC bugs that Nintendo is seemingly not aware of and these games are falsely advertised as having "consistent behavior with Nintendo Switch."

Nintendo also doesn't even have an official way for users to report bugs. It seems fixing BC issues is not a priority for Nintendo cause they already have your money.

This will be probably my last comment ever here.

So much anti-Switch 2 ***** and drivel on internet now. Of course many are disappointed now since they believed in all those outrageously faked claims about that witch-magic called "DLSS".

Too many believed in that with DLSS it could upgrade from 240p to 4K and that VRR will boost the fps to 200 or 400 etc. While in the real reality it's so much worser. But it's still a big upgrade over the OG Switch. But too many believed in that everything from the OG Switch will be upscaled automatically to 4K and with +60fps wile improving the textures too.

Just don't believe in everything on the internet. Youtubers, Twitters & co are just a bunch of cowardly scums who are willing to sell their own souls just to gaining some more views and clouts. They're constantly lying and uses faked pictures/rumors/news/personas well everything!

Switch 2 is an unreal upgrade over the OG Switch. But If you want's a true "next-gen" experience with 4K/8K, 60/200/400fps, ultra-settings and with a constant blinding ray-tracing on games who looks all the same, just buy a $10K PC or PS5 Pro & co instead then.

The internet is truly a disgustingly pathetic place now.
Just enjoy the life with your own requirements instead of constantly hating for 24/7 about everything.

That would be really nice. Maybe they think they would get too much spam 🤔

Very much agree. I love my Switch 2; honestly the best gaming device I've ever had. The occasional issues with compatibility can be annoying but it's pretty much inevitable that there will be a few issues translating from one device to another so I don't really hold that against the console.

@Keman unreal upgrade I would expect all first party switch 1 games to run at native 4k 60 FPS. Unless we’re talking splatoon 3 or arms that simply isn’t the case. It’s an improvement yes. But unreal? Nope.

@sixrings I don't think Keman meant literally unrealistic by saying unreal. 😆 Replace the word unreal with 'good'.

Personally I don't understand why someone who still has an OLED would put so much energy into complaining about Switch 2 BC. For the cases Switch 2 gives you an advantage, which are numerous, you have that. For cases where resolution scaling, portable screen quality or compatibility issues apply you still have the OLED

And especially with the resolution scaling bit, it's certainly overblown. Obviously games running at native screen resolution is better. But this has been a problem for gaming since we moved on from CRTs. Even on Switch there's no shortage of games running at 900p docked or similar. On Switch 2 there are games targeting 1440p docked which is functionally the same as a 720p -> 1080p scale

Obviously BC in portable mode applies a 720p -> 1080p scale almost universally and it's not ideal sure. But to suggest it's a complete deal breaker? I mean damn. You guys must never play games if running at sub-native on an LCD is a deal breaker

@skywake The subnative resolution of Switch 1 games on Switch 2 often looks REALLY, REALLY bad, for whatever reason.

It sucks, because, even if you own an OLED, it often means choosing between better handheld image quality vs. better performance.

Thank god for that bug in the code of Hyrule Warriors that makes it 1080p undocked lol

@Ralizah
I would assume there will be scenarios where you're getting double scaling. For example if there was dynamic resolution scaling to a target window of 720p which then on Switch 2 gets scaled up to 1080p. Which is not great. But this wouldn't be true for most games

The way some people describe it it's supposedly rendering all Switch games in BC unplayable when they lack dedicated updates. And from my experience that's certainly not the case. Something like Animal Crossing for example, I assume it hits full 720p on Switch. On Switch 2 playing it in handheld it was fine. If you look for it you can see it but if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't notice. In any case, certainly not unplayable. It's a 720p to 1080p upscale, it's hardly the end of the world

I think the more glaring thing going back to Switch titles via BC is just how much less forgiving I am of image quality issues. Because on Switch if there were issues I'd just mentally note "yeah, but it's the Switch so oh well". But now my standards are higher and I think "why am I playing this with these issues when I have better looking titles on this same system?"

@topsekret I actually think it makes sense for them not to waste resources updating the list, and just direct people to the eshop page for specific games - as long as the eShop info is correct.

The list is only really for people who already have a library of Switch games and are upgrading to Switch 2 - they can see at a glance how many of their games have issues. If you already have a Switch 2 and want to pick up a game, I'd argue it's more efficient to just check the current status on the eShop rather than dig out a list. The bigger issue here is as @FishyS says, that the eShop info isn't always accurate and there is apparently no way to report problems.

@dmcc0 Why not both? They are the ones manually entering the compatibility status into each game's eShop page. It would be trivial to design an automated process so when a game is flagged as having BC issues on the eShop, it also gets added to a master list on their server, which would be displayed on a dedicated webpage. They could put it in a nice table that would let you sort by game title or by date that the issue was discovered. Then they wouldn't need to keep manually editing a list in a Word document and exporting a pdf file (which is what they were originally doing).

EDIT: Alternatively, the eShop already supports the ability to filter games by certain criteria. They could easily achieve this functionality by just adding a filter for games with Switch 2 BC issues.

"The list is only really for people who already have a library of Switch games and are upgrading to Switch 2 - they can see at a glance how many of their games have issues."

So now that the Switch has launched, there will no longer be people with large libraries of Switch games interested in upgrading to Switch 2 that would like to see at a glance all the games that have issues? Bad take.

Also, as someone who does already own a Switch 2 and has several hundred Switch 1 games, I would like a central location I can view all games with issues. As new issues are still being discovered, it would be much more efficient for me to periodically view a central list of games. It's pretty inefficient for me to manually search each game in my collection one at a time to see if it has issues.

I don't understand why you're arguing that it's a good thing that Nintendo doesn't have such an obvious helpful feature.