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As with any Nintendo console, Nintendo Switch 2 backward compatibility is a key focus for the new handheld. Following the huge announcement of the console’s specs, price and more, as well as the system’s new Game Key cards, Nintendo has revealed how the new hardware plays old games.
Nintendo has revealed that some original Switch games won’t work via Nintendo Switch 2 backward compatibility, and it seems actual compatibility might be mixed. The company has published a list of incompatible titles as well as a list of games that suffer from compatibility issues.
Nintendo Switch 2 backward compatibility explained
Following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, an online Q&A revealed that the new system’s backward compatibility doesn’t work like prior Nintendo consoles. While the 3DS included DS hardware to play old games and the Wii U included Wii hardware, the new console doesn’t include any hardware from the original Switch.
With this in mind, backward compatibility uses a mixture of both software and hardware emulation to translate Switch 1 data into Switch 2. While this should result in a high level of compatibility, some titles will not work or will experience issues on the new device.
“Switch 2 doesn’t contain any Switch hardware”
Console producer Kouichi Kawamoto
“When we first started Switch 2 development, the focus was on enhancing its performance as hardware, namely, expanding its capacity,” explained the console’s director Takuhiro Dohta. “So, compatibility was a lower priority. For example, Nintendo DS games were playable on Nintendo 3DS, and Wii games were playable on Wii U, but it was difficult to achieve the same level of compatibility with Switch 2, because the hardware design approach was different from those systems.”
Console producer Kouichi Kawamoto explained that the “Switch 2 doesn’t contain any Switch hardware”. Therefore, the system makes use of “something that’s somewhere in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility” to run older games.
Nintendo has explained that the list of incompatible Switch games on the new console is likely to change. Either via in-game updates, system updates to improve compatibility, or paid upgrades for the new machine, some titles might be playable again on the new machine.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this for a new generation of console. In fact, the PlayStation 5 still can’t play all PS4 games via backward compatibility, although nearly every game now runs without issue on the newer machine.
With some great games now trapped on Switch 1 — such as Alan Wake, South Park: The Fractured But Hole and Wolfenstein II — we hope that Nintendo can work fast to bring every game to the new machine. Of course, there’s no promises that will be the case.
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