Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Evergreens

All Switch games that don’t run on Switch 2

By
Add as a preferred source on Google
Two people playing a game on an OLED Switch.
Nintendo / Nintendo

It is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement over a new console and miss some important fine print details. Nintendo was eager to share all the Switch 2 launch games and a massive list of upcoming Switch 2 games to get everyone excited to get their hands on the console, but it also let us know that most original Switch games would also be playable on the Switch 2. We learned a lot about certain Switch 2 Edition games and how they would perform so much better on the Switch 2 vs. Switch, but that asterisk of “most” games running on the new hardware was never focused on in any of the presentations. We all have a massive library of Switch games at this point we would like to be able to carry forward, so let’s shed some light on all the Switch games that won’t work on the Switch 2.

Every Switch game that has startup issues on the Switch 2

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom runs on a Switch 2 screen.
Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends

Nintendo has broken down games that don’t work on Switch 2 into two categories, with the larger one being games that have startup issues. These games simply won’t boot on the Switch 2 as of now, though Nintendo claims to be working on a solution to get them working. For now, assume you won’t be playing any of these titles on your Switch 2:

  • 112 Operator
  • A Boy and His Blob Retro Collection
  • Abyss Memory Fallen Angel and the Path of Magic
  • ACA NeoGeo Art of Fighting 2
  • ACA NeoGeo Samurai Shodown II
  • ACA NeoGeo The King of Fighters ’95
  • ACA NeoGeo The King of Fighters ’96
  • Airhead
  • Alchemy Garden
  • Another Crab’s Treasure
  • Arcade Archives Burger Time
  • Arcade Archives Crime City
  • Arcade Archives Dig Dug
  • Arcade Archives Gradius III
  • Arcade Archives New Rally-X
  • Arcade Archives Pac-Land
  • Arcade Archives Xevious
  • Astral Flux
  • Baron: Fur Is Gonna Fly
  • Batman: The Enemy Within
  • Beyond the Ice Palace 2
  • Boot Hill Bounties
  • Boot Hill Heroes
  • Botany Manor
  • Bus Simulator 2023: City Driver
  • Cats Hidden in Italy
  • Cats on Duty
  • Crazy Strike Bowling EX
  • Dadish 2
  • Darksiders Genesis
  • Dead by Daylight
  • Death Coming
  • DOOM: Eternal
  • Eggy Party
  • Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
  • Everdream Valley
  • Everspace
  • Fables Mosaic: Snow White
  • Felix the Cat
  • fig.
  • Final Fantasy
  • Fitness Boxing
  • Floor Kids
  • Fortnite
  • FRAMED Collection
  • Gal Guardians: Demon Purge
  • Gang Beasts
  • Gas Guzzlers Extreme
  • GRID Autosport
  • Guns Gore and Cannoli
  • I Got Isekai’d Into A Shmup
  • Inferno 2
  • Island Flight Simulator
  • Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection
  • Kids vs Parents
  • Kill la Kill – IF
  • Korean Drone Flying Tour Jeju Island-1
  • Kosmokrats
  • Library of Ruina
  • Little Nightmares Complete Edition
  • Manticore – Galaxy on Fire
  • Mexican Train Dominoes Gold
  • Monster Loves You Too!
  • MODEL Debut #nicola
  • Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame
  • MUSYNX
  • NASCAR Rivals
  • NBA 2K18
  • NBA 2K25
  • Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
  • Nobody Saves the World
  • Nova-111
  • Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
  • OK K.O.! Let’s Play Heroes
  • OMG Police – Car Chase TV Simulator
  • Onigo Hunter
  • Palia
  • Perserverance: Complete Edition
  • Pineview Drive
  • Pizza Tower
  • Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
  • Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX
  • Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles
  • RiMS Racing
  • River City Girls Zero
  • Rocket League
  • Roller Champions
  • Saviors of Sapphire Wings/Stranger of Sword City Revisited
  • Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-a-fide Edition
  • Slayin 2
  • Soul Dog TD
  • South of the Circle
  • South Park: The Fractured But Whole
  • Sportitions’24
  • Star Wars Episode I: Racer
  • Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
  • Strania – The Stella Machina – EX
  • Summer Pockets
  • Super Mega Baseball 3
  • Super Neptunia RPG
  • Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival
  • Taito Milestones
  • The Cube
  • The Jackbox Party Pack
  • The Jackbox Party Pack 2
  • The Journey Down Trilogy
  • The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition
  • Touhou Gouyoku Ibun ~ Sunken Fossil World.
  • Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
  • Tricky Towers
  • Trip World DX
  • Trouble Witches Final!
  • Trove
  • Trover Saves the Universe
  • TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3
  • Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r]
  • Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi
  • V-Rally 4
  • Warface: Clutch
  • Warframe
  • Warp Shift
  • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
  • Wolfenstein 2: The New Colussus
  • WolfFang 空牙2001 SkullFang 空牙外伝 Saturn Tribute Boosted
  • World of Tanks Blitz
  • Xtreme Sports
  • Victor Vran Overkill Edition
  • Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society
  • Closed Nightmare
  • Konosuba: Labyrinth of Hope and the Gathering Adventurers Plus
  • Senran Kagura Reflexions
  • Star Melody Yumemi Dreamer
  • Family Trainer
  • Beyblade Burst: Battle Zero
  • Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon
  • Undernauts Labyrinth of Yomi
  • Assault Suit Leynos 2 Saturn Tribute
  • Process of Elimination
  • Tokyo Xanadu eX+
  • Meiji Katsugeki Haikara Ryuuseigumi -Seibai Shimaseu, Yonaoshi Kagyou-

Every Switch game that has compatibility issues

Nintendo music key art that spotlights several different franchises.
Nintendo

The other distinction is games that do technically work on the Switch 2 but have some kind of technical issues. Nintendo isn’t clear about what these issues could be, but again claims to be working on fixing them in the future:

  • Alan Wake Remastered
  • Alien: Isolation
  • Arcade Archives Ordyne
  • Arcade Archives Phelios
  • Arcade Archives Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 Plus
  • Arcade Archives Tetris The Grand Master
  • Asphalt Legends Unite
  • Dadish
  • Dex
  • Dust: An Elysian Tail
  • Elderand
  • Factorio
  • Fall Guys
  • Family Chess
  • Games Advent Calendar – 25 Days – 25 Surprises
  • Godlike Burger
  • Harvestella
  • Hitman 3 – Cloud Version
  • Hot Wheels Unleashed
  • Just Dance 2019
  • Klondike Solitaire
  • Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
  • Matchpoint – Tennis Championships
  • Mega Man Legacy Collection
  • MotoGP 21
  • My Brother Rabbit
  • Noir Chronicles: City of Crime
  • Overcooked! All You Can Eat
  • Pocoyo Party
  • Port Royale 4
  • Raiden IVxMikado Remix
  • Real Car Driving Simulator & Parking 2022 Games
  • S.N.I.P.E.R. – Hunter Scope
  • Saints Row 4: Re-Elected
  • SmileBASIC 4
  • Steven Universe: Save The Light
  • Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
  • Stumble Guys
  • Uta no Prince-sama: All Star for Nintendo Switch
  • Uta no Prince-sama: Amazing Aria & Sweet Serenade LOVE for Nintendo Switch
  • Uta no Prince-sama: Debut for Nintendo Switch
  • Uta no Prince-sama: Repeat LOVE for Nintendo Switch
  • NicoNico
  • Pilot Sports
  • Puru-Chara Friends: Hoppe-chan and Sanrio Characters
  • Clockwork Ley Lines – Wandering Witch in the Heat Haze
  • Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jesse Lennox covers all things gaming but has a specific interest in all things PlayStation, JRPGs, and experimental indies…
Topics
These gaming accessories are heavily discounted for Prime Day, and I’d buy them myself
After reviewing countless gaming products over the years, these are the Prime Day deals that impressed me the most.
Computer, Computer Hardware, Computer Keyboard

As someone who spends a good chunk of my day gaming, testing gaming hardware, and reviewing everything from monitors and headsets to mice and controllers, I'm always keeping an eye out for genuinely good deals. Over the years, I've used and reviewed hundreds of gaming products, which has also taught me that not every Prime Day discount is as good as it looks. Some products are discounted for a reason, while others become genuinely compelling purchases once the price drops. After digging through this year's Prime Day offers, I've narrowed the list down to gaming accessories that I'd actually recommend to friends and fellow gamers. Whether you're looking for a massive display to transform your battlestation, a tournament-ready controller, or a premium wireless headset, these are the deals that stood out because of their performance, value, and the amount of money you're saving.

1. Sceptre C415B-UUS360 Curved gaming monitor -- best big-screen upgrade

Read more
GTA VI finally gets a price tag and a no-disc rule for physical edition
It will be a single-player experience when it lands on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19th.
Poster for GTA 6 game.

Rockstar Games has finally confirmed the asking price of its highly anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto VI aka GTA 6. The game is going to cost $79.99 in the US for the standard edition, and if you're willing to plonk extra cash on the Ultimate Edition, you will have to part ways with $99.99 per copy. Pre-orders for the game are starting today, June 26th, at midnight, and you will be able to reserve a copy for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.

The asking price is definitely on the higher side. However, it's still below the $100+ speculations that were floating just a few weeks ago. By PC and console gaming standards, $80 as a starting price is still quite a high fee. So far, only Nintendo has been able to sell games with a similar price tag and has courted plenty of backlash for it, as well.

Read more
Netflix’s new horror game turns your phone into the controller, and it rings during gameplay
Unhinged offers two ways to play, a stakes-free Story Mode or a tense Standard Mode with a shrinking timer and checkpoint restarts.
netflix-unhinged-game

Netflix just unveiled Unhinged, and it might be the strangest thing the streamer has ever put in its games tab. Arriving June 30, this interactive horror story does not need a console or controller. Instead, your own smartphone becomes the entire interface, and you receive phone calls that ring straight through your actual device mid-game.

https://twitter.com/netflix/status/2069450411656794287

Read more