From Mario To Zelda: Games To Look Out For On Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo announced the Switch 2 handheld gaming console to be launched on June 5, along with a slew of video games for it across publishers and developers on Wednesday. Here are the major titles —exclusive, non-exclusive and re-released— to look out for.

Nintendo announced the latest long-awaited installment in its 33 year old go-kart racing video game franchise.

Mario Kart World will be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 and is expected to retail at $79.99. Players can also buy it as a bundle along with the Nintendo Switch 2 for $499.99.

Debut prices may vary due to various economic externalities.

This time, the game will debut an open-world for players to explore, in order to discover new routes and areas. They can also use an in-built photo mode to capture vistas of their characters in various locations.

Mario Kart World is also the first game in the franchise to facilitate a maximum of 24 players racing together in the same race, the highest in the series' history.

Featuring a vast roster of playable iconic Nintendo characters like Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Princess Peach as well as lesser known characters like Pauline, who appeared as the original damsel in distress in Donkey Kong (1981), the game that started it all.

It also boasts of a dynamic weather system, diverse racing worlds, and a knockout tour mode with elimination, if they are at last place when they hit checkpoints.

The latest offering from auteur Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoftware, Duskbloods will be an online multi-player game exclusive to the Switch 2. It sports a visual style most reminiscent of Bloodborne, the company's Lovecraftian gothic horror game, while introducing a steampunk aesthetic in the mix.

Like Bloodborne, the game is expected to have the players survive encounters with otherworldly entities and environments via strategic combat and traversal. Except this time it will be against each other as well.

It is unknown, as of yet, if the game takes place in the same world.

Gamers will be playing 'Bloodsworn', a group whose special blood allows them to surpass the limitations of humanity, who will compete in a violent event known as the 'First Blood'.

Information regarding its retail price is unknown as of yet. Miyazaki is expected to reveal more information regarding the game in Creator’s Voice, a developer's diary series featuring him, releasing on April 4.

A prequel to Legends Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023), the game focuses on the 'Imprisoning War', a major event in the Zelda world that set the events of 'Tears Of The Kingdom' into motion.

In a similar vein to 'Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity', the game focuses on the conflict fought by the forces of Zelda and King Rauru against those of the Ganondorf.

Players will get to play as both these characters, while facing off against hordes of enemies in this game exclusive to the Switch 2.

The seventh installment in Sid Meier's iconic 'Civilization' series of turn-based strategy games will be available for purchase on, June 5, the Switch's launch day itself.

The latest addition to the 34 year old franchise started by computer programmers Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley, was already released for the first Nintendo Switch in February.

The game retains its identity as a civilisation development simulator, with geopolitical negotiations and societal evolution mechanics.

Some new features that Civilization 7 introduced to the franchise includes revamping the ages across which the player's civilisation evolves and civilisation leaders no longer having to necessarily be heads of state or match their civilisations.

The critically acclaimed prequel from the wacky Yakuza game series is set to get a Director's Cut edition on Switch 2. It will be launched on the same day as a timed exclusive, on June 5, along with the console and then be available everywhere else at a later date.

Producer Makoto Suzuki confirmed that there will be almost half an hours of extra cutscenes revealing various unknown aspects of the game's iconic storyline along with a new online mutliplayer mode that supports Switch 2's new 'Game Chat' feature.

Nintendo launched a completely new concept using one of its oldest and most beloved characters other than Mario. Donkey Kong Bananza is an action platformer that has more in common with the unbridled destructive chaos of Hulk: Ultimate Destruction than the tranquil exploration of Mario Odyssey.

The game will launch on July 17, exclusively for the Switch 2, and will retail at $69.99.

Players get to feel the raw power of a giant ape, viscerally tearing through diverse and detailed landscapes.

The game excels at creating destructible environments and engaging platforming puzzles.

FromSoftware's fantasy epic brainchild with acclaimed Game Of Thrones author George R R Martin will have its expanded edition released on all major console and personal computer platforms along with the Switch 2.

The developers confirmed that the Soulslike action adventure game will be released with its downloadable content expansion 'Shadow Of The Erdtree' along with some new items for the player character such as armour pieces and customisable cosmetics for the horse.

Hogwarts Legacy will also be re-released for the Switch 2, with players once again, returning to the Hogwarts School Of Wizardry in the form of an open world role playing game,

The game, originally released in 2023, is a prequel to the Harry Potter series of books and is set in the 1800s.

It will launch on June 5 along with the Switch 2 and will use advanced hardware to sport improved graphic capabilities, along with utilising the console's proprietary Joy-con 2 mouse controller in its gameplay.

IO Interactive's three-part stealth-murder epic Hitman: World Of Assasination will be arriving at the Switch 2 as well in a shiny new signature edition format. The game collects Hitman, Hitman 2 and Hitman 3, along with other game modes such as Contracts, Elusive Targets, Freelancer and more.

Players will once again, put on various disguises to assasinate the wealthy elite using various discreet methods like poisoning, electrocution, heights and a silenced pistol.

Means such as emotional manipulation, rigging environments to have fatal tendencies among others will also be included.

The open-ended sandbox nature affords endless possibilities to new and returning players.

Those who pre-order the game for the Switch 2 will receive Mario and Luigi themed outfits and items.

Hollow Knight Silk Song is an independent action two-dimensional platformer that started as a DLC that eventually grew to such a degree that its developer, Team Cherry, turned it into a fully fledged sequel.

This highly awaited sequel to 2017's Hollow Knight is expected to debut in 2025.

Players will get to control Hornet, who featured in a boss fight in the original game. The game is expected to have twice the enemies and collectibles along with a more fast paced and dynamic combat rhythm.

Players can also look out for new gaming sequels such as looter-shooter Borderlands 4, Enter The Gungeon 2 and the hotly anticipated James Bond game developed by IO Interactive known under the working title 'Project 007'.

Classic Nintendo games such as The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Soulcalibur 2 and F-Zero GX through the purchase of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, can also be watched out. The Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack will come with a controller fashioned after 2001's Game Cube for nostalgic Nintendo fans.