When the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, it didn’t come with a traditional pack-in game like Wii Sports or Nintendoland. But what it did bring instead was a surprisingly diverse spread of launch titles – some small and odd, others grand and sweeping, with a few overlooked gems in between. It was a lineup that showed off the console’s hybrid identity right from the start, whether through co-op puzzles on detachable Joy-Cons oropen-world freedomplayed on the go.
9 Best 3D Platformers on Switch
Wahoo! There are many great 3D platformers on the Nintendo Switch and we take a look at all of them.
Not every game that launched with the Switch has stood the test of time, but the ones that have offer more than just novelty. They reflect on the early spirit of a console that had everything to prove after the Wii U.
61-2-Switch
The One Time Milk Jugs, Samurai Duels, and Baby Cradling Made Sense
1-2-Switch
It never quite lived up to its spiritual predecessor in Wii Sports, but 1-2-Switch was a bizarre experiment that leaned fully into the idea of what the Joy-Con could do. It was one of the only launch games that didn’t require players to look at the screen, relying instead on audio cues and HD Rumble to mimic things like shaving, eating sandwiches, and quick-drawing pistols.
What made the game stand out wasn’t just its novelty but how aggressively weird it was. There’s a mini-game where players stare into each other’s eyes while pretending to milk a cow. Another where the controllers are held like baby bottles. It’s absurd in execution but undeniably unique in the way it showcased motion controls, gyroscopes, and even the IR sensor – hardware features many other games never touched again.
Its biggest criticism was that it should have been bundled with the console rather than sold separately, especially since it leaned more into being a proof-of-concept tech demo than a full game. Still, it offered something completely different during the Switch’s early days, and to this day, there’s no other title quite like it on the platform.
5I Am Setsuna
When the Switch Opened with Snowfall and Sadness
I Am Setsuna
While bigger publishers scrambled to port over major games, Square Enix offered something quieter – a melancholy, snow-covered RPG made by Tokyo RPG Factory, a studio founded specifically to make throwback JRPGs in the vein of Chrono Trigger.
I Am Setsuna’s story follows a mercenary named Endir who is tasked with escorting a maiden named Setsuna to her sacrificial fate. It unfolds in a somber world blanketed in eternal winter, with piano-led music and deliberately slow pacing that mirrors its themes of loss and inevitability.
At launch, this was one of the only traditional RPGs on the Switch. It didn’t push the console’s hardware, and its battle system was directly inspired by the Active Time Battle system from 16-bit Square classics. But it filled a massive genre gap when the Switch launched, especially for players who wanted something more meditative and story-driven.
Though it didn’t reinvent the genre, I Am Setsuna helped round out the early library with a solid, if emotionally heavy, reminder thatturn-based RPGsstill had a place – even on a brand-new hybrid console.
4Snipperclips
When Cutting Paper Became a Team-Building Exercise
Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together
With all the noise around big releases at launch, Snipperclips quietly proved that the Switch’s real magic lay in its ability to bring people together – especially when they were yelling at each other over who cut who wrong.
This was a puzzle game built entirely around communication and cooperation. Two players control paper-like characters who can cut pieces out of each other’s bodies to solve puzzles, whether it’s forming shapes, dunking a basketball, or guiding a pencil to a sharpener. What starts off simple gets surprisingly complex, often requiring precise coordination and out-of-the-box thinking.
It was also one of the first games to make real use of the Joy-Con’s pick-up-and-play potential. Two people could each use a single controller without needing extra gear, making it a go-to game for spontaneouslocal co-op. And while it didn’t get as much marketing push as other titles, Snipperclips became an early favorite for families, couples, and anyone who loved chaotic puzzle-solving.
Nintendo later released an expanded version with extra levels, and even years later, the original remains a standout example of what the Switch was capable of – especially in couch co-op.
3Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
A Knight’s Work Is Never Done – Even on Launch Day
Shovel Knight
By the time the Switch launched, Shovel Knight was already a modern indie icon. But Yacht Club Games released Treasure Trove on day one – a collection that included the original campaign plus two massive expansions, Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment. The latter was even a timed exclusive for the Switch.
What made this version particularly special was how it bundled three entirely different playstyles into one package. Shovel Knight’s main game channeled Mega Man and DuckTales, with bounce-based combat and tight platforming. Plague Knight focused on risky, chemistry-based movement. Specter Knight rewrote the rules again with wall-running and scythe-swinging.
Each campaign reused the same world in different ways, with new characters, cutscenes, and even remixed boss fights. And unlike most launch titles that played things safe, Treasure Trove delivered an entire trilogy’s worth of content right out of the gate.
It may not have been built to show off the Switch’s hardware, but it helped establish the console as a home for indies – a role it would soon come to dominate.
2Dragon Quest Heroes 1 and 2
When Slimes Went to War on a Brand-New Battlefield
Dragon Quest Heroes 2
Technically a Japan-only launch title, Dragon Quest Heroes I & II was one of the earliest showcases of how the Switch could handle large-scale action games on the go. It combined the hack-and-slash gameplay of Koei Tecmo’s Warriors series with the world and characters of Dragon Quest, spanning across both the original Heroes game and its sequel.
The package was massive – dozens of playable characters from across the Dragon Quest timeline, screen-filling spells, boss fights against series staples like Gigantes and Killing Machines, and hundreds of enemies on screen at once. While the Switch port wasn’t as sharp as the PS4 version, it ran well enough to make a point: the console could handle big games even in handheld mode.
1The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
One Giant Leap for Link
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
There’s no overstating the impact this game had. Not just on the Switch’s launch, but on open-world game design as a whole. Breath of the Wild rewrote Zelda’s formula from the ground up – scrapping dungeons for shrines, tools for physics-based solutions, and guided paths for a vast, open-ended Hyrule where everything could be climbed, burned, frozen, or weaponized.
It was technically a cross-gen game also available on Wii U, but the Switch version defined the early days of the console. Playing a game of this size and ambition on a handheld felt surreal. Players could explore Hyrule Castle while riding the subway or set fire to bokoblin camps while sitting on a couch, never missing a beat.
Its emergent systems – from wind mechanics to enemy AI reacting to weather – led to years of player discoveries andspeedrunning tech. It wasn’t just that the game was big. It was that everything in it interacted with everything else, giving players hundreds of tiny ways to solve the same problem.
For the Switch, this was the flagship that proved the console’s hybrid design wasn’t just a gimmick. It launched with one of the greatest games ever made, and everything else followed in its wake.
8 Games for the Nintendo Switch 2 We’re Most Excited For
New console, new hype. These games already have us counting the days until the Switch 2 finally launches.
