BOY MEETS SWITCH 2

1/19/2025 11:19 AM

Listening to: "Better Off Dead" by Bad Religion

Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 at long last! I don't think we've ever seen so many accurate leaks for a Nintendo product, so that was pretty wild! But, man does this thing look cool! Many are commenting that there weren't any drastic changes, but I think that's a good thing. The original Switch has been wildly successful, and I'm hopeful that this more powerful successor will take it to the next levell! If you haven't seen it yet, here is the reveal video from Nintendo.

The brief look at the new Mario Kart game is super exciting! I can't wait to hear more about launch titles, release dates, etc. in the coming months!

So with this in mind, I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at some of my favorite games and experiences with the original Nintendo Switch. For starters, this is the console that kind of brought me back to Nintendo. I skipped over so much of the Wii and Wii U era and feel like I missed a ton. I also never really dabbled with the handheld systems and missed a lot in that way too. The Switch has been such a cool celebration of all of Nintendo's great games as they've re-released so many great games from prior consoles.

Stardew Valley

This obviously wasn't a Switch exclusive, but it is the place that I discovered and fell in love with this game. When I spent $15 for this game back in 2017, I had no idea that it'd be my most played game of the decade, or maybe even my life. On just the Switch alone, I've invested over 1600 hours into this game. I've introduced my kids and many of my friends to this game, and it has been so great! I even have a friend with whom I've spent 100s of hours on a co-op farm, which was such an amazing experience. It was like a whole new game for me! While Stardew Valley isn't my favorite game of all time, it is a very close second to Super Mario World.

F-Zero 99

Who would have thought that this revival of this SNES launch title would bring me so much joy? I always thought this game was cool on the Super Nintendo but it didn't ever crack the top ten when it came to my favorite SNES games. But, for some reason, I became heavily addicted to F-Zero 99, which has the same look and feel but with NINETY-NINE players all at once! It's absolute madness! They've continued to support this game since its release and I've had so many hours of enjoyment from it! After about 500 hours of gameplay, I've only come away with 28 wins, but they sure were rewarding!

Mario Party

I never got into the Mario Party series until about a year ago when I started playing with some friends from work. My first true Mario Party game was Mario Party Superstars. I think I always knew there was something special about these games, but without a consistent group to play with, I never really got into them. This past year has been so much fun, and Super Mario Jamboree has been really great as well! So excited to have played these games!

Celeste

Celeste is another game that wasn't exclusive to Switch, but that was the best place to play it in my opinion! Man, what a cool game. I never imagined that a 2D precision platformer would be jampacked with so much emotion. There's somehow a really deep and emotional story that makes you relate to the main character. The music compliments the game so perfectly. This is one of the few games I've attempted to 100% because I just couldn't get enough of it. Such a beautiful experience this was!

Final Fantasy VIII

There wasn't anything extraordinarilly special about the Switch release of this game, however this has been my favorite Final Fantasy game since it was released. The last thing I expected was that it'd be remastered and released on current gen consoles, let alone a Nintendo console! So, the day that this was announced was so exciting for me. I was also happy that they released a physical copy of this game for collecting purposes.

There have been so many great games and experiences on the Nintendo Switch, and I'm sure I've left so many of them out. But these were the ones that stuck out to me today! I'm so looking forward to seeing what's in store for us with the Nintendo Switch 2.