Mario Kart World isn’t quite the reinvention of the massively popular franchise that I thought it might be based on Nintendo’s extensive preview of the game. No matter. Mario Kart is a proven formula, and Nintendo has done more than enough to make MKW the kind of game that millions of people will play over the next decade or so. There are a ton of cleverly-designed new tracks that you can pick up and play immediately — but the more time you put into them, the more shortcuts and secrets you’ll find to help master them. There’s a truckload of Nintendo characters to pilot your kart or bike, from the heavy hitters to bizarre but amusing choices like a Piranha plant. And there are beefed-up multiplayer and sharing features powered by GameChat on the Switch 2.

But while Mario Kart World will feel familiar to the millions who played Mario Kart 8, it also introduces a few noteworthy new features. One is that the majority of courses don’t have you doing three laps around a track — instead, you’re driving from point A to point B, with every track being set in a part of a larger world (hence the name). And there’s an open-world mode where you’re not in a race. You can cruise from one side of the map to the other, looking for little bonus challenges, unlocking more outfits for your characters and finding other collectibles. There are hundreds of P-Switch challenges and dozens of Peach medallions and question mark boxes you can track down. The fact that you can’t cruise around free roam in multiplayer mode is a major bummer, and the world itself feels somewhat deserted as a result, but there’s still a ton to do here.

The open-world nature of the game also enables a new race type: Knockout mode. This is probably my favorite part — it’s an ongoing race across six courses with five checkpoints along the way. At each checkpoint, you have to be higher than a certain ranking or you’ll be eliminated. Being in the top 20 out of 24 total racers at the first checkpoint isn’t so tough, but obviously the challenge grows as the field is trimmed. Knockout mode is a great combo of a more traditional Grand Prix style race with a longer, world-crossing sprint to the finish. While I wish Nintendo took just a few more risks with Mario Kart World, it’s the kind of game anyone can pick up and have a blast with. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor

Nintendo hasn’t made a 3D Donkey Kong platformer since 1999, but Donkey Kong Bananza is more than worth the wait. I’d argue that it’s the first must-buy title for the Switch 2 and the most compelling reason to buy Nintendo’s latest console as soon as you can. It takes a delightful gaming mechanic (smashing nearly everything you can get your fists on) and builds a huge variety of engaging experiences around it. At first, I was worried I’d get tired of all the smashing, but the wide variety of different worlds and challenges keep things continuously fresh. The Bananza powers you pick up throughout the game definitely help with that, too — you can power up DK so his smashes are more potent, or transform into a speedy zebra to dash through obstacles or an ostrich that can float above them.

There’s also more story to the game than I expected, centering on DK and the 13-year-old girl Pauline who accompanies him through most of his adventures. She’s a charming sidekick and her love of singing is what helps DK unlock the aforementioned Bananza powers. The game is also absolutely gorgeous and visually stunning, with each world having a completely different vibe from the one that came before it — but they’re all wonderfully rendered. The music rules, too. Pauline’s songs are catchier than they have any right to be, and I had them stuck in my head long after I put the game down. Donkey Kong Bananaza is, quite simply, Nintendo at its best. — N.I.

As a launch title for the original Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a massive critical and commercial success for Nintendo. It shook up the formula the series had largely stuck to for decades, gave players a massive version of Hyrule to explore and an endless variety of ways to tackle the game’s challenges. But even when it came out in 2017, it was clear that Breath of the Wild was pushing the Switch’s modest hardware to the limit. Framerates could often drop below 30, the game maxed out at 1080p resolution and load times were rather long.

For Breath of the Wild aficionados and new players alike, the Switch 2 edition of this classic is definitely worth your time. The framerate is essentially locked at 60fps and that makes a massive difference in how fluid the game feels. It can also run in up to 4K resolution when the Switch 2 is docked. And while the game’s art style is such that extreme fidelity isn’t always obvious, there’s no doubt it looks better overall. Faster load times when jumping in and out of shrines is also a major quality of life upgrade.

One of the coolest things about Breath of the Wild for the Switch 2 is the companion Zelda Notes tool. It’s part of the Switch smartphone app and lets you do things like turn on navigation to find shrines and other landmarks around Hyrule, as well as fun tidbits like voice memories for various locations and daily bonuses like free meals or weapon durability restores. The Switch 2 edition of Breath of the Wild is a $10 upgrade if you own the base game, but it’s free for anyone who subscribes to the $50 / year Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Park service. — N.I.

With Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo managed to follow up the reinvention of the Zelda series with a game that added more to discover and more to play with, and it even throws in a mystical LEGO kit. Link soon discovers Ultrahand, which lets you grab and stick objects, batteries, engines, weapons, food (and more) to other objects. It’s the standout addition compared to its predecessor; a creative toolbox of solutions (or foolish endeavors) to solve every puzzle, fight every beast and explore every part of Tears of the Kingdom.

The Switch 2 edition adds the sort of improvements and upgrades that, arguably, warrant paying to upgrade your Switch edition. To start with, I struggled to make the frame rates choke in my current playthrough. On the original Switch, the gorgeous world of Hyrule would often stutter and slow as you transitioned between sky, surface and underground. The game’s framerates would peak at 30fps, while busy moments (or lots of custom building) could knock those rates severely.

On the Switch 2, ToTK runs at 60fps, locked. It plays smoothly, pretty much all the time, and it’s a big improvement to what is still a beautiful adventure. The new hardware adds HDR to the graphics. This expanded dynamic range comes into its own in the underground depths sections, the low-light areas a little clearer and easier to navigate. No surprise: loading times are also quicker when fast travelling and loading the game initially.

There are also gameplay quality-of-life upgrades, including audio logs you can discover and listen to on the companion smartphone app and the ability to both store and share your items, weapons and ingredients. If your favorite part was crafting spinning laser death machines, et al, with your Ultrahand, the ability to save builds as QR codes and share with friends is a fun addition, if a little limited in utility at the start. You will have to manually scour the internet for creations from people who aren’t on your friends list.

That limitation aside, the Switch 2 edition delivers plenty for that $10 upgrade charge – and Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass subscribers get both ToTK and BoTW upgrades for free. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief

Fast Fusion is a sci-fi arcade racer that wears its influences proudly. It loves Wipeout and the 3D F-Zero games, and it wants little more than to bring their ideas into modern times. Fortunately, those games ruled, so there are much worse inspirations to rip from.

The key to Fast Fusion is right in the title: It is seriously fast, and it commits to that feeling of speed with every choice it makes. Whooshing lines drag from the back of your hard-angled ship, its engine wheezing, the background perpetually blurred. You and your opponents cut through the air like hands out the window of a speeding car. Gloriously, you can jump, sometimes skipping turns entirely, other times launching yourself into a fiery wreck. An Ikaruga-esque mechanic has you quickly match the color of your craft to the many boost pads littered around each course, and there’s a boost meter you can keep topped up by taking the right line through a given section. Do it all right, and you can complete whole races without ever slowing down. Miss a few, and you’re playing a game of resource management at 500 miles per hour.

There’s pretty much no continuity between each track: One race you’re dashing through a forest like it’s Return of the Jedi; the next you’re dodging tornadoes on a stormy highway. But they are spectacles, and crucially, they give you the space to maintain your speed, with few super-tight turns thrown in your way. When there is an obstacle to dodge — a giant rotating fan, crashing logs — you tend to just whiz by, furthering the sense of walking a tightrope. It all adds up to a racer that, like its spiritual predecessors, keeps you constantly engaged. For $15, it’s a pretty good deal too. Just note that there’s no online multiplayer. —Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter

With DK taking center stage in the Switch 2’s first AAA platformer, that means we’re going to have to wait a bit longer for a new mainline Mario game (Mario Kart World doesn’t count). But you know that? That’s ok, because Super Mario Odyssey is still an all-time great title even among an already star-studded franchise.

It has one of the best soundtracks of any Mario game (Jump Up, Super Star anyone?) and some of the wildest mechanics. You want to turn Mario into a T-Rex? Sure, why not? How about a Hammer Bro or a Goomba? You got it — and that’s just the start. And with levels that will take you from the city to an edible wonderland, there’s no shortage of places to explore. So if somehow you’ve managed to skip Super Mario Odyssey and are looking to play one of the best 3D platformers ever made, picking this up for the Switch 2 is a no-brainer. And did we mention it runs better on Nintendo’s latest console, too? — Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter

World of Assassination is how the Hitman series packaged together three meaty entries in the death-dealing series, with online limited-run events, celebrities and even an eventual Bond tie-in. Is it the best, smoothest way to play Hitman? No, but while the frame-rate dips when you‘re blending into the crowds at Formula 1, or hiding away in at the fashion show, it’s playable and it looks good. It’s also a good indication of the leap between the two Switch consoles: The original games ran on the Switch, but demanded cloud streaming.

IO Interactive put so much attention into building compelling sandbox levels, and you’ll really live in stages like Dartmoor as you figure out the most delightful ways to end your target. Also: there are so many disguises.

If you thought three games in one is a lot, this is also the Signature Edition, which folds in even more content, levels and missions. There’s a lot to play through and if, like me, you never quite finished the trilogy, this is a portable, convenient way to wrap up Agent 47’s saga. It also gives the studio plenty of time to refine performance on the Switch 2 ahead of its big Bond title, 007 First Light. — M.S.