Modern Vintage Gamer: Nintendo Switch 2 Backward Compatibility Tested - It's Good!

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


The Nintendo Switch 2 is here, and the most interesting aspect for me is backwards compatibility with original Switch titles, focusing on how well older Switch games might run on the new console. In this episode we run various games that suffered from performance issues on Switch 1 hardware. How do they perform on the Nintendo Switch 2? Lets take a closer look !

TimeStamps:

00:00 - Intro
02:39 - Quake (2021)
03:36 - Borderlands 3
05:15 - Bayonetta 3
07:01 - Doom 2016
08:58 - Marvel Ultimate Alliance
09:24 - Batman Arkham Knight
11:01 - Dragon Quest Builders 2
12:54 - Resident Evil : Revalations 2
13:45 - Ninja Gaiden 3 Razors Edge
14:28 - A Quick Word on Loading Speeds
15:42 - Outtro
 
so CPU bound games still see a pretty big jump, just not as big as GPU/Bandwidth bound games.

I assume that, while Switch 1 games have access to all Cuda cores of the GPU, they still only access 3 CPU cores like they did on Switch 1
 
As I said in the other thread, very interesting stuff when he talks about Dragon Quest Builders 2. Going from ~8fps up to ~24fps shows that even with the translation layer, the Switch 2 CPU is 3x faster. Since it is a BC game it is not taking advantage of the extra CPU cores either. Seems the Switch 2 CPU is probably ~5x faster than the Switch 1 if properly optimised for the extra cores.
 
Noice GIF by Arch Telecom
 


Testing 11 Backward compatible Switch 1 titles on the Nintendo Switch 2 - all of them see improvements running at 60fps. Let's see how much they are improved in the Switch 2 compared to the Switch 1 hardware.

TimeStamps :

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Ni No Kuni 2
02:20 - The Wonderful 101
03:49 - Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
05:23 - Ashen
07:00 - Darksiders 3
08:47 - Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
10:20 - Saints Row 3
12:19 - Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series
14:12 - Layers of Fear 2
15:20 - Resident Evil 5
17:09 - Shinsekai: Into the Depths
18:44 - Conclusion/Outro
 
I tried some Switch games on Switch 2.

Megaman Legacy Collection Vol. 1 - No running issues.

Catherine Full Body - Improves resolution, but runs at 30 fps. It's reminiscent of PS3 gameplay.

Fatal Frame Maiden of Black water - Improves resolution, but the frame rate is at 30 fps.

AI The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative - Improves frame rate to 60 fps, but the resolution is pixelated like on Switch 1. It's not very enjoyable.
 
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