From Batman: Arkham Knight to Bayonetta 3, Switch 2 is already improving the performance of several OG Switch games without a next-gen update

The Nintendo Switch 2 is already giving OG Switch games a nice bump in performance, even without an official next-gen update.

In case you missed it, Nintendo gave a handful of games free upgrades on its newest console – meaning games like Super Mario Odyssey, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and Arms run much better on the shiny system. The Switch 2 is totally backwards compatible, though, so you can play most regular old Switch games on the follow-up, and it seems like most of them are being improved with or without a proper upgrade.

Digital Foundry just tested maybe the worst big-budget OG Switch port of all time, Batman: Arkham Knight, and found that it was “as fixed as it can be on Switch 2 without going back to the game and optimizing it.” A very brief look at The Witcher 3, one of the best Switch ports ever, on the other hand, also found that it was enjoying improvements on the Switch 2 with a stable 30fps.

Any Switch game with an uncapped framerate would probably see similar improvements, however. On social media, early adopters were trying out everything from Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 3 to Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Yu-Gi-Oh on their new consoles. And, lo and behold, they all performed noticeably better on the beefier hardware.

If you’re looking to go back to a struggling OG Switch game, now might be the time to do it. No update needed. Heck, even the games that ran smoothly in the first place, all things considered, are probably worth a replay with all the under-the-hood improvements.

Be sure to check out our Switch 2 review, as well as our list of the best Switch 2 games.