It's an odd phenomenon when new hardware comes along which makes you delve into your back catalogue for gems you might have missed, or perhaps just revisit classic titles to see how they look and perform on your shiny new system. It's something that PS5 and Xbox Series X gamers have encountered over the last year, with a slim selection of brand new, bespoke titles prompting players to revisit their existing library on the new consoles and see how the classics look on the new machine.
While Switch OLED might not have any performance benefits over its normal LCD-screened siblings, we're still itching to replay our favourite games on the new console and see how they look on that gorgeous new screen — to enjoy the richer, deeper blacks and popping colours the new screen will offer. Some of us are, in fact, putting off collecting Korok seeds or starting something new from our back catalogue just so we get to play on the new Switch when it finally arrives.
So, below you'll find a non-exhaustive list of just some of the games we're looking forward to diving right back into on Switch OLED. Not all the video games — mainly because there isn't space — but some prime examples that we think will sing on Switch OLED...
Staff key: Thomas Whitehouse (TW), Kate Gray (KG), Gavin Lane (GL)
Okami HD (Switch eShop)
Okami is a beautiful game, in pretty much every way. Its watercolour-inspired art style came across beautifully in its HD iteration, which thankfully has a very good Switch port. A huge favourite of mine, I'm looking forward to seeing how it pops on a new screen. TW
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Astral Chain (Switch)
Astral Chain — or ASTRAL CHAIN as PlatinumGames prefers — is fantastic, and it's also a very accomplished technical effort. It's quite complicated visually and does a great job in bringing its sci-fi world to life — I loved my first playthrough. It's definitely time to re-visit and take on the absurdly difficult final boss all over again. TW
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Right, so... I don't really know how different the OLED will look, since pandemic reasons means I've never actually seen the thing, but if there's one game that's going to look good no matter what, it's Super Mario Odyssey. Plus, it would be nice to replay it for a good reason.
And, since we're talking about the new features of the Switch OLED, that kickstand's going to make it really easy to play games at my desk. For, erm, work research, of course. KG
Resident Evil 4 (Switch eShop)
Well, I play Resident Evil 4 every Halloween. I'm not kidding, every October I complete a playthrough, and as the Switch port doesn't have gyro controls (c'mon Capcom, that's not good enough) I'll probably enjoy it in portable mode on the new system. Games with ageing visuals often come across better on the smaller screen, looking deceptively sharp, and this one's no different. TW
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Switch)
One from the backlog which I put only an hour or two into before getting distracted by all the other video games. I remember this being incredibly colourful and, as Tom mentions above about Mario Kart 8, I'd imagine it's going to really pop on the new screen. The perfect excuse to dive back in. GL
Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch)
Another Game Voucher purchase that seemed vital at the time, but quickly got buried in the backlog, Luigi's Mansion 3 is one of the prettiest games on Switch, and with Halloween approaching again (it seems to do so on an annual basis — weird, that), it'll likely look particularly lovely on the new system. GL
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
This racer, which continues to sell in such numbers that Nintendo seemingly is in no hurry to make a sequel, was a looker on Wii U. It's always been great on the eyes on Switch, too, and is a pleasing example of a game that seems to make no sacrifices at all (after the drop to 720p) in visuals. It also happens to be one of Nintendo's most colourful games, so is perfect for testing out the new model's screen. TW
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)
Another Gav pick, and another game he redeemed a Game Voucher for before barely touching it. The small text of this one will benefit from the bigger screen on the OLED model, for sure.
Not sure exactly how the OLED model is going to magically create extra hours in the day to let me go back to all these gems, though. Perhaps that's a hidden feature of the new model, like the mysterious 'enhanced audio' (which I'm not convinced isn't just 'bigger speaker holes on the bottom'). GL
Minecraft (Switch)
I'll never have the hardware (or the money) to be able to witness Minecraft with ray tracing, but I bet it looks right pretty on an OLED. Although, isn't one of the things with an OLED that it makes the dark bits really dark? Minecraft's Creeper-infested nighttimes are already scary enough. KG
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
I've played this game all the way through three times, which is a lot for a game this size. I have to see how it looks on the improved screen though; it's the most stunning 'world' Nintendo has ever created, after all. TW
I have around 60 Korok seeds still to find, and I'm using a Breath of the Wild app to tick them off one by one. The other night I found myself stopping, though, just so I'd have a few left to find in a month's time. I should really get a pre-order in, shouldn't I? I walked into a department store and got a Switch on launch day, and now I'm confident I can pull off the same feat again. GL
Cuphead (Switch eShop)
This looks incredible on the base model Switch and Switch Lite, but revisiting Cuphead's vintage style on a screen that shows off its painstaking animation to the absolute fullest will be a real treat. GL
And here are a handful of upcoming Switch games we're most looking forward to seeing on that 7-inch OLED beauty...
Metroid Dread (Switch)
Back when the OLED was revealed, there was a sneaking suspicion that it had been held back from E3 after all of the tedious / inaccurate 'Pro' rumours. The white Joy-Con, and the E.M.M.I colour scheme made us wonder if it was supposed to be announced alongside Metroid Dread. That theory aside, I can't wait for this game, so the fact it lands alongside the new hardware is perfect. TW
Tetris Effect: Connected (Switch eShop)
Of course, Metroid Dread is the big tie-in, but Tetris Effect: Connected seems like just the ticket for when barreling away from stalking E.M.M.I.s gets a bit too much to bear. This one will also be the perfect game to test just how 'enhanced' the new speakers are (if that's what they are exactly). GL
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals (Switch eShop)
Oxenfree was such a gorgeous game, with a red-green colour palette that managed to be spooky and unsettling, but not at all Christmassy. That's hard to get right! I'm assuming that Oxenfree II — with more experience and the funds from Oxenfree — will be even better, and I can't wait to find out how. KG
Those are some of our picks, but what about you? Let us know which of the games above you're most looking forward to sampling on Switch OLED in the poll below, and feel free to tell us others in your Switch library that you can't wait to replay in the comments below.
Comments 86
Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp!
For not mentioning that, Ad Block is staying on.
If they drop the price to €299 i will buy it.
Sold my switch for now, but i havent played Odyssey yet (dont know why)
I bought Ni no Kuni on sale, but I've actually been saving it for the OLED
Cuphead would be incredible!
This list has a concerning lack of Ori. Both of them.
Is it really that much of a game changer?
Put Dark Souls on there, you heretics!
Not getting one!!!!!
I feel like the Bayonetta games would pop on the OLED. Octopath as well.
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Rocket League, and, for no other reason than simple curiosity, Tetris 99. Will probably also replay NFS: Hot Pursuit too.
Alright so I'm not getting an OLED Switch, but I have an OLED. I will say for everyone to play some retro games, such as 3rd party collections or the NES/SNES games. Retro games look awesome on an OLED.
Even the 2D styles in Super Mario Maker 2 look awesome. lol
I looking forward to playing through BotW for the third time on the OLED. Any games in general.
I feel another Mario Odyssey replay coming on. Metroid Dread will definitely be getting a replay too. Mario World, Zelda III and Super Metroid should look nice and vibrant too.
I’m looking forward to the larger screen and a casing that isn’t falling apart.
I actually had one in my Amazon basket yesterday but I really don’t know if I can justify it. It really is crazy just to get a new screen I think. I do feel a bit of FOMO but it’ll pass
Probably not getting one, but both Metroid Dread and Shin Megami Tensei V look like they'll be a great fit for the system with their vibrant colors.
I'll still with using a TV thanks haha
I don’t plan on getting an OLED anytime soon. So nothing for me here. I’m sure they will look great though.
Hate to be that guy……but none.
@Funneefox
There's a lot of us uninterested in it.
Idk who would replay Luigis mansion 3. That game was horrid. Only saved by its visual presentation so I guess that would be nice to look at on an OLED but for how long? Such a tedious and glitchy game.
Eternal Darkness, and a sequel. So make it happen Nintendo.
Obviously several others as well. From whatever I'll be playing at that moment, to some previously announced games yet to be released and some of the best releases from earlier, and some highly unlikely to come to Switch in general, including Psychonauts 2 and Beyond Good and Evil 2.
If I did, cuphead.
Everything, considering the OLED screen is better than my main display.
I'd like to checkout the cell shaded stuff myself. I think those are the games that will really pop on the OLED. Astral Chain, Daemon X Machina, Breath of the Wild and Monster Hunter Stories. Another that comes to mind is Aragami.
@IceClimbers I was thinking the same thing about the lack of Ori.
I'll be buying the OLED and selling my 2nd model Switch. I play 95% handheld and sure, it wasn't the upgrade we all wanted/hoped for, but it'll still be nice with that screen.
Colors Live! Supposing the game gets a good review and I can actually try to do some Bob Ross painting episodes with it. Nobody has confirmed that yet though.
Animal Crossing New Horizons
For having 2nd island with different villagers.
I'm not interested in buying the next model, but I am interested in playing Dread
@BloodNinja Dark souls is a good candidate. There are areas in that game too dark for handheld play.
@Chowdaire I mean, it IS called Dark Souls :/
I'm genuinely curious how games like Saints Row IV, The Witcher 3, and the Crysis remasters are going to look like.
Also forgot to mention the Bethesda games, but since Doom Eternal was sort of downgraded a bit, I'm wondering if the more uglier graphical aspects will be noticeable.
@BloodNinja But unfortunately Bandai hasn't released any of the other Souls games onto Switch yet even though they were rumored to be testing Dark Souls 3 on Switch at one point.
@Chowdaire Haven't played the Switch port, but Souls games have many areas that are intentionally dark though. A lot of people tend to raise the brightness to compensate, but you're not supposed to do that. Those games specifically have lanterns and/or torches to light those areas (playing Bloodborne with low brightness makes the game look so much better and scarier and makes the torch necessary)
I have a 65” OLED.
The only place I play the Switch in portable mode is…well…never.
Calculator. All day long e’ry day
I was on the edge but as managed to get a reservation i think I will get the switch pro... Ehm.... Steam Deck with my hard earned money... 😉
@Ricube And maybe an Oled TV
Oh look! I replied to myself!
I looking forward to replaying myself.
Not worth upgrading to me, not enough of a change to warrant forking out the money for it
Animal crossing new horizons is going to look awesome in handheld mode, Breath of the wild too.
Buying a Switch OLED the day it releases. I play mostly handheld, with my aging eyesight this is perfect for me. Going to replay Odyssey to bring back memories of first buying the Switch.
Or... you can buy an OLED TV and play on a big screen.
I am actually excited to try out Labo VR with it...see if games like Breath of the Wild look better.
@BlueOcean the cheapest OLEDs are still $1000+. That's not really affordable for most people.
Metroid
Tetris
Crusin’
Monkey Ball
Eastward
I don't think the OLED will do as much as everyone think it will. It's not a higher resolution, it doesn't have HDR, it doesn't have higher refresh rate. Honestly, I can't image it looking much better, marginally, but nothing more.
I'm not getting it. If I was there are several games that would look nice with the apparent & potential visual upgrade from the OG Switch. Tetris Effect and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes to mind first. Okami HD and BOTW have brilliant game art so I understand why they are up there.
@Merry_Blind Sure, I get that, played all three on PC but I'm not talking about tomb of the giants, I'm saying there are areas that you're supposed to see but can't due to screen brightness in handheld mode.
@BloodNinja I prefer Grossly Incandescent Souls
@Chowdaire GOOD CHOICE
@russell-marlow I'm hoping they at least hit 2, that would be enough to convince me to stick with my Switch instead of saving for a Steam Deck.
There is F.......Zero chance of me playing anything on the Switch OLED.
I'm probably gonna go through BoTW and Astral Chain.... after Metroid Dread
None, because pre-ordering a system in North America has been next to bloody impossible.
There's something I don't understand about the Switch OLED...
If you play these games on an OLED TV, on the regular Switch, you should get the same quality, right?
If so, it's not like we're seeing anything new with the Switch OLED.
@Nick2054 you have made me so jealous.
@Chowdaire Fair enough.
I ended up pre-ordering an OLED switch after days of waffling back and forth. I think this will potentially be the final incarnation of the original Switch platform.
When Switch 2 comes along, it will likely include backwards compatibility with Switch 1 games. But I’ve learned over the years that playing old games on the new system does not equal a better experience for those old games. Wii discs played on the Wii U for instance, have some weird resolution scaling problem. Likewise, DS games on the 3DS technically work, but are blurry and by no means the premium way to experience them.
So for me, the OLED switch will be my final, premium, original Switch 1 console, which I will keep in my collection forever.
Maybe I'm just a walking ad for this game at this point, but I'll put some time into Love Esquire on this baby, for sure. That and House in Fata Morgana.
@Hero8-Bit Well, a feasible multi-platform and long-term alternative for people willing to spend $350 (more expensive in UK and EU) on a minor hardware revision.
I can't say I'm that bothered. I mostly play on TV so the OLED really isn't much of a sales point to me. Unless my current Switch breaks on me I will not be buying one.
I can’t wait to try out each and every game I own tbh.
it’s going to feel like 2003 all over again; the year I purchased the GBA SP model and was in awe with the lit screen (never owned the AGS-101 model which was brighter than the original AGS-001).
the first game I tried then…Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. it was a mind blowing game as a day one release title for the GBA and more so with the lighting of the SP! I’m sure my mind will be blown as equally next month as it did in March ‘03!
If they make a Lite variant with an OLED screen then I'll definitely get it. I play a lot of visual novels on it and an OLED screen would make them even more gorgeous.
Cuphead will look awesome, but I can’t say I’m excited to play, as the difficulty gives me a headache! I wish they’d add an easy mode!
Smash and Rocket league.
Breath of the Wild is going to look amazing on it.
Every game will look better color-wise on the OLED model.
I don't see the point of this article considering theres no performance upgrade on the oled. Its just a slightly bigger screen and features that should've been available at launch like the bluetooth support, a kickstand that isn't garbage etc.
The only thing I'm NOT looking forward to is transferring my 1TB SD Card over to the OLED Switch. Zzzzzzzzzzz.
None, I have no interest in replaying games on a Switch with a slightly brighter looking display. I want to replay games on a Switch with a slightly better resolution and frame rate.
I'd actually like to try Link's Awakening on the OLED screen. It looks so beautiful. Also Paper Mario would be great, what a fantastic looking game.
You missed the option for "I'm waiting for Switch Pro!"
Since Cuphead is mentioned, wasn’t there a DLC to come? Or did I missed some news around it, like is it cancelled? Any NL-er come to the rescue 🤔
@Hero8-Bit the black levels on oled definitely have far higher contrast than even the best ips, but with a really good ips, I agree. However. Switch's screen is really bad. Like, really really bad. It's an ips, but I've never seen an ips with such poor contrast, dull colors and poor edge definition. It's an ips that looks like an old TN with 6 bit frc dithering but with wide viewing angles. So any Samsung OLED will run laps around that Sharp discount warehouse job they dug up from a landfill.
@Pusher2021 It's still coming. Probably delayed to 2022 (all platforms)
Games with a dark appearance mostly.
Amnesia: Collection
Outlast
Astral Chain
Doom 3
My switch is going out the window for a bit. Just got a ps4 and am playing Spider-Man and still have to play miles morales,battlefront,Jedi fallen order, avengers and guardians of the galaxy
None. Because I own a normal Nintendo Switch and play it docked on my LG CX, and thus, have absolutely zero reason to buy an OLED version.
@NEStalgia Yep, I said once on here that the Switch/Lite screen looks worse than the 3DS and New 3DS screen!
@BlueOcean it's hard to compare because switch's screen is brighter. Og 3ds wasn't even pretending to be usable in even shaded daylight... It was sharp though (and Sharp, lol). N3ds ranged from ok to not ok depending on if you got the ips or tn lottery.
But theres always been something really off about switches screen. IPS is famous for its color rendering. It has the most accurate color representation of all display techs. OLED has a blue shift and naturally oversaturates reds. Tn washes everything out. VA is wider gamut and better contrast than most ips but less accurate, bad off angle shift, and terrible latency and speed issues making it awful for gaming. Ips is used for most color critical work. But switch's ips? It's none of that. I honestly don't know where they found a screen that bad, or any ips with color that bad, in 2017. It's like it was meant as a ux panel for a photocopier or something.
@blindsquarel lol the argument in the ps xb console wars is that playstation is the marvel factory box. And there it is.... 😂
@NEStalgia It has all the wrongs, it's far more reflective than 3DS and New 3DS, contrast is very poor and colours seem pale. My New 3DS looks quite good indoors (resolution aside). My LG C9 is superb, the best thing I've seen. I wonder how that Switch OLED will look, will it be the cheapest OLED that Nintendo could find?
Um…none. Im sticking with my OG Switch. I learned my lesson with the New 3DS XL and how they announced the Switch not long after it’s release and besides I literally play in docked mode like 99.95% of the time. I’ll just hold out for the next Nintendo system. Announcement coming soon I’m sure.
I'll mostly be interested in playing 60fps games in handheld since I tend to only play 30fps games while docked so my TV can smoothen things out. Cruisn Blast will look even more crazily eye popping on the OLED, I bet. I'd also like to try out Megaman 1 or 2 to see what old school NES games look like with colors and blacks blazing. Mario Golf Super Rush is another I'm looking forward to seeing on the OLED screen. Oh, and shoot em ups! I'd like to see Espgaluda ll, Mushihimesama, Skyforce, and others on the new Switch.
@BlueOcean yep. It's weird because in ips you usually sacrifice contrast for color rendition. Switch's display has neither!
I am curious what the OLED will look like. Nintendo always goes cheap but it's a Samsung panel and Samsung never goes cheap on OLED. I'm shocked Nintendo picked a premium supplier.. Very unlike them. So I'm actually betting it's a good screen. Not AMOLED Galaxy S/Note tier but above average. And at that res out doesn't need to be.
Heck Vita was lovely with the oled and that was an early gen oled with the hard blue shift and bad latency. Nintendo would do worse, bit I'm not sure Samsung would. Though even vita struggled horribly outdoors.
@NEStalgia Yes, it's obvious in games with dark scenes where you have to turn brightness down to avoid blacks being grey. If you play a bright game like Super Mario Odyssey, you can note the lack of contrast in the colourful worlds.
@NEStalgia
Yeah honestly the fact PlayStation had Spider-Man was the deciding factor between that and a Xbox
Yes I see your point, if you buy the Oled and don't want Dread, then there is not much else in the way of new AAA games about, so it's back to the old stuff.
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