Topic: How do Switch 1 games play on Switch 2 that DIDN’T get a Switch 2 Update

Hi everyone, I have a question for those with a Nintendo Switch 2 and that’s how do most Switch 1 games (especially third party) work on the console? I’m specifically asking because while I’m sure the games that got Switch 2 compatibility updates work fine or even great, ever since the reveal that Switch 1 games are run through a process resembling emulation I’ve been concerned how most games that currently don’t have a compatibility update and likely will never receive one play? While I’m sure it’s miles better than those unofficial Switch emulators, I am worried about graphical or gameplay issues especially in more “niche” third-party games. If any one wants to share their experiences, I would be grateful!

EDIT: Here’s a list of a lot of games and what differences, both improvements and issues, there are on Switch 2 from a user named @kerr9000 on here, though do note that some entries seem to be inaccurate:
kerr9000's full list of tested games

Supposedly Arkham knight runs better and that game is notoriously bad on original switch. It'll still look like ass no doubt though. I'm eager to test it out.

Many Switch 1 games suffered from the vaseline effect. Blurred visuals that looks like someone smeared peanut butter on the screen. Probably the worst offender of this for me was Close to the Sun. When I finally get my hands on Switch 2 I think a second playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is in order.

I wonder about the Mortal kombat kombat games. Those really struggled on original switch. Looked like crap too.

From what I gather, unless specifically stated to have graphic updates, Switch 1 games will mostly just have some better loading times. Like the Arkham games aren't listed as receiving any specific updates, but I would bet they'll load faster on the Switch 2.

I'm hearing great things about the Hyrule Warrior games, cause they ran uncapped / undocked 1080 as I understand it on the Switch which the Switch couldn't handle very well, whereas the Switch 2 can without a patch. Would love for someone to confirm one way or the other as I've always wanted to play those games but they made me feel sick 😂

Honestly i was told here not to worry, but it is bleak for unpatched Switch games in handheld mode. THIS is why i was worried, and it seems i was right to. Not only do unpatched switch 1 games look significantly worse on switch 2 handheld mode, but some are outright broken looking. Fire emblem three houses text is so stretched in some places it is hilarious, and the natural upscaling for patchless games just look bad. It isnt as awful as 3ds and ds backward compatible games, but still sufficiently terrible as to render SW1 games largely unplayable for me in handheld mode SW2.

Ugh, and dont get me started on the miserable battery life or the horrendous ghosting on the LCD screen. Game journalists didnt even need review units to make note of the ghosting, but nobody mentioned it. It is clear now all these issues is also why Nintendo was hiding review units, and their excuse about the day 1 patch was largely cover to avoid pre launch criticisms of the console.

Im definitely going to be playing this less often than i thought until they fix the switch 1 upscaling issue and release switch 2 oled. Maybe if i only ever owned a regular switch the screen problens wouldnt pop as much but damn...

I’m low key excited to try the farming simulator games out. To see if anything changes or if they’ll stay looking like I took my glasses off.

@Quantumz00 appreciate your report. Good to read stuff that goes beyond the hype and digs into it because there’s not much out there yet

Im still glad i got it, the magnetic locks are so addicting. But i think im more anmpyed about this stuff because if Nintendo would have at least allowed reviews, i could have been warned by some of the outlets and thus mentally prepare myself for the downgrade.

It really gets my goat retroactively some of these youtube coverage of the Switch 2 event videos, some honestly had the gall to say "this lcd is so good you wont even miss the oled and honestly on balance they are about even!" Yeah, if you havent visited the optometrist in decades perhaps

At least for the backward compatibility there is an excuse... as nintendo didnt let game outlets do any extensive testing of it.

Just for fun I tried out Chess Ultra, as it ran horrendously on S1 and the difference is like night and day — going from something like 6-8 fps when moving the camera to what feels like +40

Some games both look better and run better. For example Pokemon Legends Arceus looks a bit better on Switch 2 with obviously improved framerates.

On the other hand. Persona 5 Royal, for example, looks exactly the same. Blurry and no noticable improvements.
So I really hope we get some free resolution updates for the Persona games.
As both Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal look significantly better on other consoles and on PC.

Persona 5 doesn't have dynamic resolution, the resolution is locked in both handheld and docked play. So yeah, it would need a separate update from Atlus for the resolution to be improved.

Only games with a dynamic resolution could theoretically be improved on the Switch 2 without any updates. Though I saw a video on Youtube where someone tested Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Switch 2, and even though that game does have dynamic resolution, apparently it wasn't improved at all. So I'm not sure how likely even these kinda games are to show a noticeable improvement in resolution without a dedicated update.

Yep. I did notice that Pokemon Legends Arceus looked slightly better on the Switch 2 when docked, but that's about it.

It's a shame really with so many resolution hard locked Switch 1 games. As it has made my Switch 2 purchase so far a bit of a disappointment and huge let down.
Especially since the paid upgrade of Zelda:BOTW was an outright rip-off with no noticeable difference.

@Jeronan yeah I'm currently playing Persona 5 and while I would have liked a ready-made improvement patch, I'm not holding my breath for it — knowing Atlus they'd probably just release a completely separate Switch 2 version

First one that I encountered that did not run (or had to close before getting to the main menu due to an error): Portal 2. Tested and working well so far: Marble it Up Ultra, Crypt Custodian, Doom 2016 (looks much sharper in handheld play, though you can of course still see it's designed for S1), Metroid Dread, DKC Tropical Freeze, Suika Game, Assault Android Cactus +, Ace Combat 7, Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair (load times still not perfect but not as painfully long as before). Of the upgraded games I was most impressed by TotK (running so smooth and in higher res + the improved textures = A+) and ARMS, this one just runs perfectly (and I mean PERFECTLY) and with the new joycons it's great even in handheld.

Edit: Sifu runs really smoothly, looks and plays great in handheld. Bo Path of the Teal Lotus has no more frame rate hiccups and therefore runs much smoother which should benefit this game tremendously.

Edit Edit: Portal 1 works fine though. CyberShadow good as well.

My 2 observations on this so far.

ToeJam and Earl Back In The Groove - Worse looking. Softer somehow.

N64 Online - Yoshi's Story - Oddly looks better to me!

@Mana_Knight Had the same with Ori and the Blind Forest (which I forgot to include in my list above). It did not look as crisp, almost a bit blurry and (unfortunately due to LCD) not as vibrant as on the SW1 OLED …

@jfp That is a shame...I had assumed they would all look the same or even ever so slightly better even without special focused updates like Pokemon.

@Mana_Knight I just took a look at it again … maybe it was the overall impression that made it seem blurry, because they use a lot of reduced detail in the for- and background (probably to get it working on Switch 1). Maybe with the higher res display that just becomes much more obvious. After checking again at least the characters and interactive elements look sharp …
I guess a lot of games will have similar problems, because compromises and workarounds just become more visible.