Highlights

• Despite its hybrid design limiting its posibilities, there are some Nintendo Switch games with gorgeous graphics.
• The graphics in games like Splatoon 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 have improved with each installment, while Tears of the Kingdom builds on Breath of the WIld.
• The graphical quality of games like Spiritfarer and Rayman Legends is impressive, considering the Switch's capabilities.

As the Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console capable of being played in both handheld and docked mode (except for the Switch Lite), it isn't expected that the system would be particularly powerful in the graphics department. However, there have been many games released on the Switch that prove it can compete with the others.

While there are certainly titles that fall short of showcasing the Switch's true potential, there are also titles that show just how far developers can push the technology and bring out the best possible version of their product.

Updated on February 2, 2024 by Gabrielle Castania: Not only have we added another game to our list, but we've made some minor behind-the-scenes changes to our list of the best-looking Switch games to include even more info about every entry.

Spiritfarer

Spritfarer isn't a massive, 3D open-world experience, but it's still graphically impressive. The game has terrific hand-drawn graphics and is full of cute, exciting characters to meet, with every location waiting to take your breath away. It can be tempting to idle, enjoying the graphics, animations, and views, but the gameplay is a lot of fun too.

In this side-scrolling game, you simultaneously manage your boat home while helping various spirits journey into the afterlife. Spiritfarer is a relaxed experience but has an emotional story that will engross you as much as its graphics will.

Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3 is a visually striking game, full of vibrant colors, great music, and chaotic gameplay. Set in a post-apocalypse, this third-person shooter has teams battling it out to spread as much colorful ink around an area as possible.

Being the third entry into the series, the game has improved upon many different aspects. There is a lot of customization to be had with your character, the gameplay has been streamlined, and of course, the graphics are even better than before. The series has always had a distinct style, and it is always a delight to see how bright and colorful the game gets during a few rounds of play.

Wavetale

If you like the idea of racing across waves and exploring sunken cities, be sure to give Wavetale a try. Full of unforgettable characters to meet and a gripping, mysterious narrative to follow, Wavetale has you taking on the role of Sigrid, doing whatever she can to save her friends. She can walk on water and swing across rooftops, navigating this beautiful, watery landscape.

This game has a very artistic style, and seeing the water ripple as you speed across it is really satisfying. Even ported onto the Switch, the game holds up well due to its simplistic but captivating graphics. Wavetale is a short experience but one really worth savoring.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Taking its cue from the breakout Wii hit Xenoblade Chronicles, this robust sequel captivates with atmospheric locales and charming, vibrant visuals that blend style and technical detail. Our heroes find themselves venturing across several distinct Titans drifting in a sea of clouds to reach the mystical World Tree.

While doing so, they'll gather Blades — a sort of Pokemon-esque weaponized life form — that unleash unique moves and epic animations. With its enticing aesthetics, likable characters, and fun, inventive battle system, this journey will fly by despite comprising dozens of hours.

Mario Party Superstars

With its huge collection of great Mario Party minigames and boards, as well as solid online support, NDcube's Mario Party Superstars is a true celebration of classic MP and a more-than-worthy remaster. This is further enhanced by vastly polished graphics and colorful aesthetics that really pop this time around.

This pretty facelift, coupled with smoother mechanics and quality-of-life refinements, makes Superstars shine as the definitive way to play the party series in its heyday.

Rayman Legends

Few games have been able to make a comeback in the same way that the Rayman series has. While EA seems adamant in ensuring that the man with no limbs doesn't overshadow any of its larger, bigger-budget games, it's hard to ignore how much love has gone into the Rayman reboot titles, particularly when it comes to the graphics and art style.

The Saturday Morning Cartoon vibe in Rayman Origins and Legends has been used a few times over the years, such as with the Battletoads remake. And yet, Rayman is one of the few other games to make it work well.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

The fourth (and for now, final) entry in the Xenoblade Chronicles series - the second game got a letter, not a number - is also a cut above its fellow Switch-only predecessor in the graphics department. Especially in the highly-detailed Future Redeemed expansion, which puts a bow on so much not just from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but everything that came before it.

While the more cartoonish character designs in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are a little easier on the eyes, the models and faces in 3 are still plenty good. It's in the overworld that the engine improvements really come into sharper focus.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Though the original Mario Kart 8 launched in the final few years of the Wii U’s heyday, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was ported to the Switch and continues to offer exciting new DLC additions even years after launch. Nintendo lovers of any age will find their favorite characters in the driver select screen, with dozens of ways to customize your vehicles.

There’s plenty of variety to be found in the courses as well, with delightfully animated characters rocketing around colorful, lively racetracks. Check out the adorable scenery, but keep your eyes on the road, too!

Fast RMX

For many years, Nintendo fans have been crying out for a new entry in the F-Zero series of zero-gravity racing games. While it seems unlikely that this will happen any time soon, fans of Captain Falcon can instead sink their teeth into Fast RMX, the racing game with graphics that look more at home on a high-end PC than a hybrid handheld console.

The incredible graphical quality of Fast RMX would mean nothing if the game wasn't a blast to play, which, thankfully, it is and is a great placeholder for the next F-Zero game, whenever that may come out.

Bravely Default 2

The original Bravely Default on the 3DS was a graphically impressive game for its time, so it's no surprise that Bravely Default 2 is just as sharp on Nintendo's follow-up console to the 3Ds.

Not only is Bravely Default 2 great to look at, but its performance is also one of the best on the Switch by a wide margin, with frame rates much higher than most first-party Nintendo games and respectable load times to boot.

Alien: Isolation

This deeply tense, unsettling stealth horror finds a most unlikely home on Switch and manages to be perhaps its sleekest, most visually-detailed game to date. In Alien: Isolation, this heightened sense of immersion only adds to the tension as you, Ellen Ripley's daughter, creep about a dark, desolate ship to evade a sharp, ominous alien pursuing her.

With a film-like ambiance and presentation, coupled with convincing 3D models and lighting effects, Alien: Isolation feels like a true (and terrifying) simulation of the Ridley Scott classic.

Cris Tales

Another gorgeous indie title, this time by Colombian developers Dreams Incorporated, Cris Tales has a similar aesthetic to Gris with its hand-drawn, watercolor designs, but this time is set in a turn-based RPG rather than a platformer.

With a heavy emphasis on time travel to affect both combat and the overworld, Cris Tales is a great RPG that's sure to go down as one of the Switch's best-looking games as well.

Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight may have a very simple art style and side-scrolling gameplay that normally lends itself to weaker graphics, but Team Cherry managed to make one of the best-looking and best-playing games of the last console generation. It just so happens to also look fantastic on the Switch.

The true test for any Switch game is how it looks and performs in handheld mode, and Hollow Knight is one of the few that may actually look better handheld than on a TV screen. There have been several attempts to replicate cartoonish and simplistic visuals, such as in Cuphead and Gleamlight, but Hollow Knight arguably takes the prize for the most interesting 2D graphics.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

It's all in the lighting. Never mind the fact that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is handily one of the biggest games on Switch; it's also one of the prettiest. And so much of its visual success is owed to the fantastic lighting system that makes morning feel bright, sunset feel golden, and nighttime as cozy as a long gaze upon the stars.

This benefits the changing of the seasons as well. Since Animal Crossing: New Horizons shifts its presentation between Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, the changing leaves from bright green to deeper, from orange to fallen and covered in snow, it's all so seamless and convincing. No wonder folks can't get enough of this game - and no doubt the sales of its next-gen successor will be gigantic.

WarioWare: Move It!

In a year like 2023, that was loaded to the teeth with Triple-A video game releases, Wario Ware: Move It! may have slipped your radar, but it’s worth doubling back for all the sharp color and cartoon whimsy the game promises. Motion controls are a natural fit in a title like this, and get ready to, well, move it.

With numerous different games bringing plenty of different style and flare to each form, you’ll look a little silly playing the game without a question, but you’ll have the best time doing so.

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

As one of the biggest launch titles in the history of gaming, it's hard to look past Breath of the Wild from both a gameplay and a graphical standpoint. Compared to any other Zelda game that launched before it, Breath of the Wild is on an entirely different graphical level, and it became something of a benchmark when seeing how long the Switch's battery would last in handheld mode.

Breath of the Wild's art style might not be that realistic, but that just means that Nintendo could make the game look much better compared to past 3D Zelda games.

Link's Awakening

The 2019 remake of Link's Awakening was an unexpected but welcome addition to the Switch's game library, particularly considering the overwhelming success of Breath of the Wild. Taking the original 2D designs of the original Game Boy game and morphing it into a kind of toy world was a strange idea that could have flopped, but paid off spectacularly.

Like with Breath of the Wild, Link's Awakening's simple art style meant that the graphical quality could shine through much brighter than any other 2D Zelda game has in the past, even compared to the likes of A Link Between Worlds. Although the game does suffer in the performance department from time to time, Link's Awakening is easily one of the best-looking games on the Switch despite this.

The Touryst

Voxel art games have been hit or miss since the likes of Minecraft made this visual direction so popular, though none have been as much of a hit as The Touryst, a game with a very simple premise that could have easily become boring if not for how beautiful it looks.

What is most intriguing about this game, aside from how well its voxel art style works both in handheld and docked, is just how well it runs compared to many other Switch titles. This is even more impressive considering The Touryst's indie status compared to most of the other graphically-potent games.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

It took until right near the end of the Switch's lifespan for this aging workhorse of a console to get its very own 2D Mario, but it was well worth the wait. Super Mario Bros. Wonder parts ways with the decade-and-change 'New Super Mario Bros.' branding - a choice of words that will only grow more ironic with the passage of time. The result is something that feels as fresh as fresh can be. Bold new gameplay mechanics come together lavishly with classic series staples.

And yes, it's pretty. Oh, so very pretty. Opinions will forever vary on the New Super Mario Bros. games; such is the nature of subjective thought and all. But it's hard to dispute there's more life in the character models now, more expression, more pizazz. The backgrounds are similarly colorful, and the Wonder Flower effects? Just you wait and see!

Octopath Traveler

What games like The Touryst and Cloudpunk do for voxel art, Octopath Traveler does for pixel art; and it does so tastefully. Taking the design of classic Final Fantasy RPGs and bringing them into a modern age was no small task, but Square Enix managed to do it with this throwback to classic gaming.

It would have been easy for the turn-based RPG heavyweight to make every aspect of Octopath Traveler stock standard pixel art, but adding a 3D twist makes the game more visually impressive while lending an amount of depth that allows its world to look far more alive.