Terrible Nintendo Switch Ports That Ruined Great Games
Console ports have typically been a boon for general gaming audiences. By moving exclusive or limited games to different hardware, a wider audience of people can gain access to games that were initially unavailable to them. However, things start getting a bit weird when porting a game to a console with less power or features than the original hardware. This process can lead to subpar ports that lack the level of quality and polish that made the original versions of the game so special. This can be especially disappointing for fans when the game is a huge success on all other platforms. An awful port can drag a good game's name through the mud, leaving a permanent stain on an otherwise flawless record.
This is exactly what went wrong with many games that were ported to the Nintendo Switch. Due to its status as a hybrid portable/home console, the Switch, although versatile, lacks much of the power of its competitors. This has led to many ports — ranging from old classics to new hit releases — suffering from a laundry list of issues including poor frame rate, optimization, and graphics. This doesn't mean the Switch is a bad console overall, but it shows that not every game needs to come to Nintendo's current console.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
"Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night" is a popular indie game that takes its cues from the classic "Castlevania" series. Development on this beloved modern Metroidvania was led by Koji Igarashi, the producer of many "Castlevania" entries. Inspired particularly by Igarashi's "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night," "Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night" was a hit with both critics and fans alike, who saw it as the perfect return to what many regard as the best era of the "Castlevania" series.
Sadly, this spiritual successor failed to stick the landing for the Switch release. Compared to other versions of the game, the Switch port had a myriad of technical issues that prevented fans from enjoying the experience fully. One fan lists out the problems they ran into with the game, including "input lag, long loading time, frame rate dips, [and] constant crashes." GameSpot's review of the port noted, "All of Bloodstained's excellent qualities make the Nintendo Switch version even more disappointing." Thankfully, many of these optimization issues have been updated and fixed over time. But while the updates have improved the Metroidvania overall, for many players, these fixes were too little, too late.
Apex Legends
"Apex Legends" is an intense and massively popular battle royale set in the "Titanfall" universe. Constantly updated with new content, this game lets you play as different warriors, each with their own unique abilities and playstyles. Due to its massive success, it was only a matter of time before "Apex Legends" was ported to the Nintendo Switch. When the port finally launched two years after the game's initial release, however, it seems the Switch itself was not ready for the arrival of "Apex Legends."
Though "Apex Legends" is a fantastic game overall, the Switch port left a lot to be desired. Players on Reddit have complained about lag, "unplayable frame rates," and graphics reminiscent of a mobile game. Paired with lower draw distances, joining up with other gamers via cross-play gave Switch owners a massive disadvantage against players on other platforms. For a competitive game, especially a multiplayer shooter, stumbling blocks like these can completely ruin the experience. Some players have reported that playing solely with other Switch players is a good fix, but this doesn't totally negate the many issues that the game has. Instead, it essentially forces every Switch player to share the same problems.
ARK: Survival Evolved
"ARK: Survival Evolved" charges players with surviving in a prehistoric landscape. By combining survival and crafting mechanics with dinosaur combat and taming, "ARK" rose to huge levels of popularity. Similar to "Apex Legends," it took a little bit of time to get a Switch port of the game, releasing a year later. Judging from the issues at launch, "ARK" may have needed a slightly longer development cycle to work on the Switch.
This dream come true took a turn for the worse when the Switch port ruined the game in many different categories. A lack of developer support and a host of technical problems stopped players from enjoying "ARK" on the go. Some fans have even gone as far as to call it an "unfinished build," cementing the game as a terrible Switch port. Although many of the other entries of this list suffer from issues caused by hardware limitations, some players hold the devs behind "ARK" totally responsible for the poor state of the port, rather than Nintendo's console. Either way, the Switch "ARK" port is still one of the worst ports to come to the Switch.
Mortal Kombat 1
The "Mortal Kombat" franchise experienced an exciting return to form with the acclaimed "Mortal Kombat 1." Critics have been quite pleased with the game overall, and unlike most other entries on this list, "Mortal Kombat 1" was available for the Switch from day one. Sadly, this wasn't enough to save it from disaster. Being the most modern game on the list, there were bound to be some problems on Nintendo's aging system, which has been out for a few years longer than the PS5 or Xbox Series X.
The first thing that became apparent to players is that "Mortal Kombat 1" on the Nintendo Switch looks much worse than its other releases. Players have reported everything in the game looks smoothed-over and lacks detail, while others have noted serious issues with screen-tearing and lag. On top of this, Switch gamers were met with numerous bugs and long load screens that ruined the overall experience. Many of the graphical downgrades seem to have been intentionally made to accommodate the Switch's relative lack of power, though this doesn't mean that fans are happy with the decision. While this port does increase the audience of players that can play the newest "Mortal Kombat" game, players and critics agree that this is the worst way to experience it.
Mortal Kombat 1 For Switch Review – IGN: 3/10
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My Time at Portia
"My Time at Portia" is a farming simulation game that released in January 2019 for PC. Similar to something like "Harvest Moon," players manage their chores while socializing and developing relationships with the town's villagers. The Switch port of "My Time at Portia," unlike many other entries on this list, was released alongside all the other home game console versions in April 2019. Being a casual farming sim, "My Time at Portia" feels like a perfect game for the Switch's library.
Sadly, the Switch's "My Time at Portia" did not meet the same quality as other versions. Despite being a fairly simple game, "My Time at Portia" wasn't optimized well for the Switch. As a result, players have experienced grueling load times and lag when navigating various menus. Some players have found it outright impossible to play, even though they enjoy the game. One Redditor wrote, "I wish they had put more effort into both finishing/polishing the game and making sure the port was stable." Again, the fans seem to find more fault here with the developers than the Switch itself, which should be capable of running a smaller farming sim.
The Outer Worlds
"The Outer Worlds" is an first-person-shooter and RPG that sends players on an epic adventure through space. In part due to the game's popularity, it came to the Switch less than a month after its initial release. Unfortunately, once again, the graphical limitations of the Switch were very apparent with this AAA action game.
Although the game ran decently well on Switch overall, it quickly became apparent where the problems of "The Outer Worlds" on the Switch truly lie: major graphical downgrades. Even for more tolerant players, the shortcomings were too much for some to bear. One player even went so far as to say, "I'm no graphics snob, but I couldn't continue through Outer Worlds." Players also noted that the game looked even worse in handheld mode, forcing many fans to only play with the console docked. Additional issues with stuttering frame rates, longer load times, and odd graphical pop-ins convinced many gamers that playing "The Outer Worlds" on the Switch may not be the best way to experience the game. Some players ended up abandoning the title before updates were released to clean up many of these issues.
Pillars of Eternity
"Pillars of Eternity" is a fantasy action RPG that debuted on the Switch four years after its original launch. Similar to the "Diablo" series, players are tasked with taking out hordes of enemies in an isometric view. Though "Diablo 3" runs very well on the Switch, "Pillars of Eternity" ran into issues with its port that make it one of the most broken entries on this list.
"Pillars of Eternity" was released in a nearly unplayable state. It was so bad, in fact, that the port was essentially abandoned by the developer Versus Evil. On X (formerly known as Twitter), the dev explained that the "limitations of the [Switch] hardware" made it impossible to continue releasing patches.
Pillars of Eternity Nintendo Switch update: pic.twitter.com/ZTkGeMRurm
— Versus Evil 🛡️ (@vs_evil) February 9, 2021
For many Switch ports, console limitations or poor optimization tend to cause many of the recurring problems. However, in this case, many fans believed that "Pillars of Eternity" could have worked on the Switch, and were disappointed to see the developers give up on what could have been a fun port. When players heard that Versus Evil cited the Switch's lack of power as the reason behind cutting off further patches, they fought back. One angry fan wrote, "yeah an isometric oldschool rpg is definitely too much for a system that can run Skyrim and Witcher 3."
Kingdom Hearts
"Kingdom Hearts" is an iconic series that fuses the world of Disney with action-RPG combat, allowing players to fight alongside Donald Duck, Goofy, and other characters from throughout Disney history. Despite arriving nearly 20 years after its initial debut, the game still ran into numerous issues when a collection was released for the Nintendo Switch.
Firstly, the game was released as a cloud-only version, meaning it streams to the Switch rather than playing natively via cartridge. Fans and critics noted numerous problems with connectivity and near-constant lag throughout. Paired with constant crashes, this game made plenty of players regret their purchases. A traditional port of an older game like "Kingdom Hearts" should have been easy to pull off, but the buggy move to cloud gaming soured the experience of the entire "Kingdom Hearts Collection" for many fans.
Reviews of the port were scathing, with VG247 saying that "Square Enix should be ashamed" of the final product. Paired with a ridiculous price tag, playing "Kingdom Hearts" on the Switch is far from the best way to experience the classic series.
Resident Evil 0
"Resident Evil 0" is a prequel to the original "Resident Evil," as well as a fan-favorite entry in the series. Similar to "Kingdom Hearts," the original game released in 2002 and didn't come to the Switch until nearly two full decades later. However, unlike other "Resident Evil" reissues on the Switch, "Resident Evil 0" seemingly didn't receive the same amount of love.
For those who played this entry on release, the game was buggy and nearly broken at times. The game's load times were ridiculously long, controls were clunkier than any other port of the modern age, and the title initially cost more than other ports. Rely On Horror's review noted that the cartridge version of the game apparently fared better than the downloadable version, but that's faint praise indeed. Although the game looked fine on the Switch, this port needed a laundry list of updates to make "Resident Evil 0" more playable. While games like "Resident Evil 4" were saved with updates after their initial bugs, "Resident Evil 0" is still kind of a mess.
Payday 2
"Payday 2" tasks players with pulling off the perfect heist. Released initially in 2013, the Switch port eventually arrived in 2018, a year after the launch of the console itself. Although "Payday 2" isn't the most graphically intensive game in the world and similar games have been ported well to the Switch, this version of the game suffered greatly on Nintendo's platform.
Many players were up in arms due to the build of "Payday 2" that was released for the Nintendo Switch, which has spawned a number of conspiracy theories from angry customers. One player asserted, "This sounds like the developers were sitting on a canceled Wii U port from a few years ago and just quickly ported it to Switch," pointing the poor quality and dated feel of the game. For a game that could have run on the Wii U, it seems like "Payday 2" should have easily run on the Switch. Things only got worse when fans learned that the Switch port of "Payday 2" would no longer be receiving updates after about a year on the console. In the end, a seemingly lazy port is just as bad as a broken port in the eyes of fans.
LEGO City Undercover
"LEGO City Undercover" send players on an adventure to explore a world based on LEGO's City toyline. The game initially released on the Wii U in 2013, followed by a port to most other modern consoles in 2017. Since the game was available on back-to-back Nintendo consoles, it's especially easy to compare these two versions of "LEGO City Undercover" — and sadly, many fans weren't happy with what they saw.
Though the newer version looks better on the Switch in some ways, the overall performance of "LEGO City Undercover" left something to be desired. One player even went so far as to say that the game "runs way better on Wii U." Since the Switch is an overall direct upgrade from the Wii U, many players have blamed the port's faults on poor optimization. Additionally, the game still had almost every problem that it had on the Wii U when it arrived on the Switch, including frequent crashes, lag, and glitches that made progression impossible. Add all that to the game's minute-long load times, and players who own the Wii U version have no reason to purchase "LEGO City Undercover" for the Switch.
Rime
"Rime" is a puzzle-adventure game in which players control a young boy who wakes up on a mysterious island. Players climb, carry objects, and manipulate their surroundings to navigate the landscape and learn more about the world. Additionally, the protagonist can shout or sing to trigger various events.
Players immediately ran into some big problems while playing "Rime" on the Switch, especially in regards to the frame rate, which critics have described as choppy. Switch Player's review noted that the game looked specially rough in handheld mode. In the end, patches made the game better, but the Switch port of "Rime" simply did not initially live up to the standards set by other releases of the game. The game has reached more acceptable levels of playability through various patches, but the Switch version of "Rime" still lags in some places, making it a subpar port of a great game.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
"Super Mario 3D All-Stars" touted itself as the triumphant return of the three classic 3D "Mario" games, "Super Mario 64," "Super Mario Sunshine," and "Super Mario Galaxy." Each of these games are regarded as some of the best that Nintendo has to offer, with each being amazing experiences on their respective consoles. These games have also rarely been ported onto other platforms, leaving players without accessible opportunities to try them. That's where this collection came into play, but it seriously disappointed fans.
This port ran into many issues that prevented players from enjoying these gaming masterpieces to their fullest. Outside of various performance problems and a lack of enticing extras, players were quite disappointed with the collection's limited release window, which some felt was a case of Nintendo creating artificial scarcity. Since the game was only available for a short period, some players missed their chance to purchase "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" altogether. With inferior versions of each game, no widescreen support for "Super Mario 64," and many more nitpicks, it's no wonder that this collection left players feeling a bit disappointed.
Sonic Colors: Ultimate
A beloved 3D Sonic game, 2010's "Sonic Colors," made a triumphant return in 2021 with "Sonic Colors: Ultimate." Remade with updated visuals for a modern generation of consoles, "Sonic Colors: Ultimate" also arrived many issues. To be fair, there were problems across the board with this remake, but the Switch release was arguably the worst of the bunch. Although many still consider the original version of "Sonic Colors" to be a strong game, this Switch version of "Sonic Colors: Ultimate" sullied some players' opinions of it.
It's hard to pinpoint the worst issue, as the port experienced many frame rate porblems and game-breaking bugs that ruined the experience overall. Some players even reported save files being wiped, with one player complaining, "I've stopped playing for a while after my save file got automatically deleted twice in a row." An issue like this can be absolutely devastating to a new release, convincing prospective players to stay away. Although some of these bugs are no longer a problem, "Sonic Colors" on the Switch still flopped with players.
However, some fans who stuck it out have felt rewarded for their patience. One player writes, "It had some pretty bad glitches at launch, but they've since been patched out." In the end, unlike some entries on this list, "Sonic Colors: Ultimate" on the Switch had a happy ending.