In November 2017, Bethesda Softworks and port specialists Panic Button carried out what appeared like a miracle: They launched a Change port for id Software program’s current reboot of Doom. The sport, a famously fast-paced, intense shooter with fashionable graphics, appeared ill-suited to Nintendo’s handheld and its capabilities, however regardless of some visible blurriness and a discount within the body price, the sport held up effectively on the hybrid system. In GameSpot’s 8/10 overview of the Change port, Peter Brown praised the sport as “a formidable port that begs you to contemplate gameplay over graphics.”
Doom was the primary Change “unimaginable port,” a colloquial time period that gamers took to utilizing every time a third-party recreation designed for way more highly effective {hardware} arrived on the Change in fairly good condition. Over the course of the system’s lifespan, it might obtain many extra so-called unimaginable ports, together with variations of Wolfenstein 2: The New Collossus, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, The Witcher 3, No Man’s Sky, and Ace Fight 7–large, visually-intensive, action-heavy video games, all of them translated to the system with immaculate care. Seeing how the Change dealt with these video games was all the time exciting–even when the ports have been less-than-ideal, there was nonetheless one thing particular about seeing them run on a handheld from 2017.
Previous to the Change 2’s launch this 12 months, Nintendo, in typical style, didn’t inform us a lot about what the Change 2 was able to on a technical stage. We knew that the brand new 7.9-inch 1080p display was able to displaying gameplay at as much as 120fps and was HDR-compliant. Nvidia introduced that the system’s customized chip would permit for DLSS, which is able to upscaling video games no matter native decision, and that the brand new system can be, in fact, way more highly effective than the previous one. For early adopters, although, the system’s first six-plus months of availability has concerned a variety of curiosity over what the system can and may’t do, speculating on what video games the system may or could not deal with, and pondering simply how shut these ports can come to different console variations.
For many individuals selecting the system up on day one, Mario Kart World was not probably the most thrilling recreation on the system–it was Cyberpunk 2077: Final Version, a closely up to date model of a recreation that was first launched in 2020. Right here was a recreation that completely wouldn’t have run in any kind on the unique Change–one that, the truth is, infamously struggled massively on the PS4 and Xbox One. At launch, the soundness and playability of Cyberpunk 2077: Final Version turned one thing of a referendum on what kind of video games we would see ported to Change 2 sooner or later. If it will possibly deal with Cyberpunk, what else is feasible?
Cyberpunk 2077 on Change 2 ended up being a superb port, one which, regardless of some compromises, ran effectively and seemed implausible on Nintendo’s hybrid system–it was a substantial step up from The Witcher 3 on the unique system, already a really spectacular port. There have been many sturdy Change 2 ports of current-gen titles in 2025: Avenue Fighter 6, varied Yakuza video games, Cronos: The New Daybreak, Apex Legends–and some weaker ones, together with 30fps EA FC and NBA 2K experiences, Persona 3 Reload with its odd frame-pacing points that trigger noticeable stuttering, and a Tomb Raider: Definitive Version port that’s noticeably downgraded from the practically 12-year-old PS4 model. It is troublesome to not strategy these video games not simply as discrete merchandise, however as indicators for what sort of life the Change 2 goes to have–what do these video games inform us about what this technique is able to?
I’ve tried to play as many of those ports as I can. Getting a brand new system and placing it by means of its paces is all the time thrilling, and even video games that clearly aren’t pushing the system very hard–like SpongeBob Squarepants: Titans of the Tide and Two Level Museum–show an apparent large improve in constancy in comparison with what the growing older Change 1 is able to. A number of the video games have stunned me–Ball X Pit acquired a big increase when the Change 2 model launched, and the variations between the Change and Change 2 variations of Fantasy Life i are notably pronounced. As somebody who opted for the Change for a lot of indie and fewer technologically intensive titles, these upgrades are an thrilling indicator of the experiences I am prone to have over the following few years.
However the perfect port of the primary year–and possibly the perfect instance we’ve got of what the system is able to proper now–is Star Wars Outlaws, dealt with by Ubisoft’s inner RedLynx crew. The sport, which launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Collection X|S in 2024, arrived on the Change 2 in good condition and has since been patched and improved to a degree the place it holds up extraordinarily effectively towards different techniques (and completely runs circles across the recreation’s efficiency on Steam Deck). It will not be an ideal recreation, however the arrival of the sport on Change 2 in such good condition was very exciting–if the system can do that in its first 12 months, what kind of video games can we count on to see ported successfully over the following few years, when builders have a greater deal with on the {hardware}?
Murderer’s Creed Shadows has placed on a very good displaying too, though in my time with it the sport suffered from a number of crashes and a very blurry presentation in handheld mode; it might be a number of patches away from its ultimate kind but. Like Star Wars and Cyberpunk earlier than it, the sport options cross-progression, which means I may stick with it my PS5 save with minimal fuss–a function that ought to, hopefully, proceed to incentivize studios to carry their video games to Change 2 alongside different consoles.
It is probably that extra important ports will likely be introduced in 2026, and we’ll be taught extra about what the system is able to by means of these video games. I used to be in a position to play a construct of Elden Ring in moveable mode at PAX Australia this 12 months, and regardless of earlier experiences of poor efficiency, the model I performed ran effectively and seemed implausible; the sport was delayed shortly thereafter, however there’s motive to be optimistic. There are many different video games on the way in which: 007 First Gentle, Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle, Ultimate Fantasy 7 Remake, and different main ports ought to inform us extra about what’s attainable on Change 2. For now, although, it is enjoyable to take a position and dream concerning the system’s future “unimaginable” ports.
