The Best Deals On Nintendo Switch Games Right Now – The Verge

The keystone Mario title for the Nintendo Switch, Super Mario Odyssey, doesn’t disappoint. The latest installment in the Mario franchise brings plenty of fun, new mechanics, and ample charm. Perhaps the most interesting and prevalent twist is Mario’s ability to possess just about anything in the game world, thanks to his new companion, Cappy. Inhabiting creatures and objects isn’t just hilarious — it also plays a big role in solving the Odyssey’s numerous challenges and puzzles.

Super Mario Odyssey is a game with a firm understanding of what the franchise has done well in the past and builds on it in some interesting and unexpected ways. It’s an absolute must for fans of Mario, platformers as a whole, or just about anyone who owns a Switch. Read our review.

A prequel to Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has you traveling to the Hisui region to catch and study pokémon in an effort to build the region’s first-ever Pokédex. This installment in the series represents a fairly radical shift in the Pokemon formula which has remained pretty static since its inception on the original Game Boy.

Some of the more fundamental changes in Pokemon Legends: Arceus include the elimination of Gym leaders serving as de-facto bosses and instead replacing them with boss versions of Pokemon you must defeat on your journey. Arceus also places a big emphasis on crafting, and while there are still plenty of stores to visit where you can stock up on essentials, you can also gather and craft your own gear for free. Read our review.

Nintendo’s latest brawler pits beloved characters from the company’s franchises (as well as plenty from outside of Nintendo’s own realms) against each other. While the high skill ceiling for this long-standing fighting franchise can be intimidating to newcomers, sucker-punching fools as Jigglypuff has an almost universal appeal.

The roster of fighters in Smash Bros. Ultimate has expanded to include a massive list of 74 characters. Everyone from Solid Snake to Samus is here, even the Wii Fit Trainer makes an appearance. Regardless of your level of skill, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the most fun you can have while battling your friends for bragging rights. Read our review.

Taking place in a massive open world, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a much different take on the Zelda series, one that stresses exploration, experimentation, and emergent gameplay. BOTW is much tougher than previous entries in the franchise but presents multiple, unconventional ways to tackle the game’s more difficult challenges. Mastery of the game comes more from learning and exploiting the systems in the world rather than looting a bunch of sweet gear.

Years after its release, players are still discovering new wrinkles in the aging classic. While this isn’t the most recent title to feature Link, Breath of the Wild remains an essential entry in the franchise. It offers all of the hallmarks of a traditional Zelda title, including challenging combat and puzzles, but within a gorgeous, open-world design. Read our review.

That latest Mario release for the Switch is a polished version of the Wii U classic, Super Mario 3D World, and a new expansion called Bowser’s Fury. This remastering of one of the best 3D Mario titles flexes the more powerful hardware of the Nintendo Switch to provide better graphics and improved performance.

If you never got to experience this keystone title on the Nintendo Wii, this iteration is the definitive way to play this game. Not just for the spectacular base game, but for the fantastic expansion content as well. Read our review.

The latest Animal Crossing game came at a time when many of us needed it most. This sim has been a popular choice to play during the pandemic because it provides a necessary escape. Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets you go outside and enjoy life with neighbors, pick some flowers, catch a few bugs, and just relish the moment.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets you build and grow your own persistent island and eventually handle the overall welfare of the cast of characters that will call your island their home. By harvesting resources and trading with other islands, you’ll slowly turn the vacant island into something truly unique. Read our review.

Yoshi’s Crafted World is a yarn-and-cardboard-flavored platformer featuring everyone’s favorite green dinosaur. It’s one of the more charming titles to come from Nintendo, with levels and characters made from everyday objects. There aren’t many games that do exactly what it says on the box, but Yoshi’s Crafted World is definitely one of them.

This game isn’t interested in beating you down with crushing difficulty, it’s more interested in serving as the digital equivalent of a weighted blanket, or in this case, a hand-knit scarf. Besides its unique aesthetic, many of the levels in Yoshi’s crafted world introduce fun new mechanics and wrinkles to keep things fresh throughout your adventure. Read our review.

If you’re into kart racing and love Mario, there’s no better mish-mash of the two than in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch. It’s packed with plenty of courses and characters, and 48 new courses are expected to launch through 2023 as paid DLC. This installment in the Mario Kart franchise is essentially a suped-up version of the original Mario Kart 8 that debuted on the Wii U. Besides providing you with better visuals and performance, this version comes packaged with all the DLC from the Wii U version and then some.

While the basics of this franchise have remained largely the same over its lifetime, Mario Kart 8 represented some of the best improvements the series has seen, and the Deluxe edition only improves on that with new game modes, kart parts, and characters.

A sequel to Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Luigi’s Mansion 3 has players controlling the titular character as he explores a haunted hotel in an effort to rescue his brother and friends. Not nearly enough games star the taller and slimmer Mario sibling, but Luigi’s Mansion 3 proves that Luigi is more than capable of holding his own.

Despite only having text dialogue that’s supplemented by jibberish and pantomime, this 3D platforming adventure is surprisingly witty and hysterical with plenty of trademarked Nintendo charm to go around. Read our review.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 updates the core elements of the original Tony Hawk games into an experience fit for modern consoles. The collection is a faithful remake of the original two games, and everything from the levels to the collectibles has been translated with remarkable accuracy.

The gameplay experience is largely unchanged, but what additions have been made are certainly welcome. Some extra objectives have been added to THPS 1 levels to be more on par with what THPS 2 offers, and there are larger meta-objectives to accomplish if you want to unlock different cosmetic options. This collection is easily the best way to experience — or re-experience — these staples of gaming history. Read our review.

Regardless of your opinion of Ubisoft’s Rabbids, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is an amazing turn-based strategy game that owes much of its success to games like XCOM and Fire Emblem. Kingdom Battle brings the delightful cast of Mario and Co. into an isometric strategy game with a surprising amount of challenge, even for veterans of the genre.

While the game certainly shares the aesthetics of other Mario titles, with its gold coins and Piranha Plants, the similarities end there. While Kingdom Battle doesn’t share the same sprawling meta-strategy layer as its peers, there’s still plenty of depth and nuance to its tactical gameplay. This makes Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle a fun and surprising addition to the genre. Read our review.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a remarkably deep, turn-based strategy game. While most games in this genre treat your units as disposable pawns, Three Houses forces you to become attached to these units by having specific characters lead them into battle. These characters each have their own distinct strengths, weaknesses, and personality quirks that become more apparent as you build relationships with them between missions.

This can make some missions extremely tenuous as you try to balance the benefits of bringing characters into battle, each with their own unique strengths while risking their potential death. This option can be switched off for a more relaxed experience, but this is one of the features that sets Fire Emblem apart from its peers. This latest entry in the Fire Emblem franchise is excellent for first-timers or returning fans. Its turn-based battle has never been sharper, and the characters and plot are memorable. Read our review.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is best described as Dynasty Warriors by way of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This title shares a similar aesthetic to the 2017 hit but is drastically different in terms of its gameplay. In it, you’ll take control of a cast of familiar characters from Breath of the Wild, like Impa and Zelda, and guide them through a linear narrative that leads up to the events that precede Breath of the Wild.

You can swap between characters during battles to make use of their combos and special abilities, but you’re also responsible for directing legions of soldiers to assist you in completing your objectives. Age of Calamity provides fans of Breath of the Wild with more backstory in a game that feels wholly different but strangely familiar in the best ways. Read our review.

A good way to embarrass yourself in front of your friends or just get active in your living room, Just Dance 2022 is one of the best dancing games available thanks to its massive tracklist. The game comes packaged with 65 songs that encompass some of the best pop music of the last several years, and players who want a more diverse library of tracks can subscribe to Just Dance Unlimited, which offers access to songs from previous Just Dance entries stretching back to 2009.

Just like other versions of Just Dance 2022, the Nintendo Switch version is capable of supporting up to six players via local co-op, and while you can use the Joy-Cons to track your movement, you can also use the Just Dance app on your phone.

Splatoon 2 is likely the most colorful shooter you’ll ever play. The multiplayer-focused game has players dousing maps with a variety of weaponized painting tools, ranging from paint rollers to airbrushes. It’s the perfect shooter for players that typically don’t enjoy shooters, namely because of its vivid color scheme and lighthearted approach to the genre.

While hunting down other players certainly has its benefits, victory in a given match and your personal score isn’t determined by how many players you knock out, but how much of the map you paint with your team’s respective color. This objective-based gameplay allows anyone, regardless of skill, to contribute to the success of their team. Read our review.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a title synonymous with fighting games. The same gratuitously violent, combo-based gameplay is on display here, but the latest entry in the franchise builds on that legacy by fine-tuning many of the technical elements. This makes MK11 arguably the best entry in the franchise to date, with tight gameplay that’s easy to learn and difficult to master.

In addition to the roster of 25 characters from Mortal Kombat lore, MK11 includes DLC for fighters from some unexpected IPs. So if you were ever curious about how the Terminator would fare against Rambo, this is your chance to find out. Each fighter can also be customized with different moves and gear, meaning that you’re unlikely to fight against the same character twice.