Although its plethora of fantastic first party titles are arguably the biggest draw of the Nintendo Switch, its ever-expanding library of games also contains some wonderful ports as well. Together with the latest Mario and Zelda titles, some of these multi-platform titles provide players with a fairly compelling reason to switch to a Switch. Unfortunately though, not all ports are created equally.
Due to the Switch being less powerful than its competitors in several areas, games which are designed to run on PC or other consoles don't always play nicely with the Switch's inferior internals. This can lead to games looking considerably worse on Nintendo's handheld hybrid and, in some instances, developing some fairly obvious and off-putting frame rate issues as well.
10 The Outer Worlds
Both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of The Outer Worlds currently hold an 85 rating on Metacritic. The Switch version, on the other hand, is instead languishing somewhere in the mid sixties with a pitiful User Score of just 5.3. The reasons for this are numerous, but, as is often the case, they typically lead back to a lack of power.
Porting a game to a weaker system usually requires a fair amount of optimization, but there's very little evidence of that on display here. The Switch version looks worse, runs worse and is generally inferior to other ports of the game in almost every conceivable way that counts. It may well be a great game, but not on Switch.
9 Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Super Mario 64 (94), Super Mario Sunshine (92) and Super Mario Galaxy (97) are some of the highest rated games on Metacritic and are considered by many to be three of the best 3D Mario titles ever made. The 3D All-Stars pack that brought them to the Switch leaves an awful lot to be desired though.
Its 82 Metascore may not seem too bad at first, but playing the games (particularly the first two) reveals a somewhat fatal flaw: the camera. For a series that has always been able to boast about its wonderfully tight controls, the mechanisms by which the camera is manipulated really don't work well on Switch and could really have done with being modernized for the release.
8 FIFA 21
For several years now, the team over at EA Sports has been releasing special versions of their hugely popular sports-sim franchise FIFA for the Nintendo Switch. Known as Legacy Editions, these ports are regularly missing key features found in other versions of the game and are generally a lot less enjoyable as a result.
Switch versions of FIFA games have always ranked considerably lower than their PlayStation and Xbox counterparts, but none more so than the latest one. FIFA 21's average Metascore for the PC, PlayStation and Xbox versions comes in at a fairly respectable 74. The Switch version, on the other hand, has a 33 rating; ten lower than the already abysmal score given to FIFA 20 Legacy Edition.
7 WWE 2K18
Much like EA Sports, Yuke's seems to have had quite a lot of trouble porting its once popular WWE 2K series onto Nintendo's latest console. Thankfully, however, the developer at least seemed to accept its limitations and stopped trying after a single entry rather than consistently releasing inferior versions year after year. That said, WWE 2K18 on Switch really isn't great.
The game holds a 35 rating on Metacritic, with many reviewers complaining about its unstable frame rate and an overall lack of polish. While far from perfect, other versions of the game all scored in the mid-sixties, which only serves to highlight the deficiencies found in the Switch release.
6 Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
Heavily inspired by the Castlevania series, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's success on Kickstarter is a clear and obvious indicator that there's still a lot of demand for high quality metroidvania-type games. Those who only got the chance to play the Switch version of the game may have already had their fill though.
When compared to the 83 average of the PC, PS4 and Xbox One versions, the 74 rating given to the Switch version may not seem that bad. The game itself tells a different story though. It's riddled with issues, with the worst offenders being its infuriatingly long load times, its stuttering frame rates and the inferior assets used throughout the game.
5 Ark: Survival Evolved
Even when running on a powerful PC, Ark: Survival Evolved is prone to the odd problem. Sadly, these issues become far more prominent while playing on the Switch and that's not even the worst of it. The game looks considerably worse to the point where playing it in handheld mode is nearly impossible due to the shockingly bad visuals.
The Switch version currently holds a 29 rating on Metacritic and its User Score is worse still at just 2.3. By comparison, the PC version is currently sitting on a 70 Metascore and it's also worth noting that many of the criticisms that this version faced at launch have since been addressed. The Switch port, on the other hand, remains a near unplayable mess.
4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
That CD Projekt Red and Saber Interactive were even able to get The Witcher 3 running on Switch is an incredibly impressive feat in itself. That it comes fairly close to matching the performance on other systems is therefore something of a technical marvel. Unfortunately, however, it does have one or two problems; the biggest of which come in the visual department.
While it definitely holds its own against other Switch titles, the game just doesn't look anywhere near as impressive as it does elsewhere. The frame rate can also struggle to keep up with the action at times and the Joy-Cons are a poor substitute for a DS4 or Xbox One pad. Its 85 Metascore is by no means bad and is arguably a fair reflection of its quality, but it still falls some way short of the 90+ scores held by some of the other versions of the game.
3 Mortal Kombat 11
While there are some people who enjoy testing their skills against computer AI, most of those who play fighting games like Mortal Kombat 11 do so to prove their proficiency against other players online. Due to the console's underwhelming network capabilities though, this can sometimes be easier said than done while playing the game on Switch.
Finding a match on Switch feels nowhere near as fluid as it does on other systems, nor does the combat itself once things finally get up and running. Throw in some missing content and the always online restrictions and it's easy to see why reviewers scored it the way that they did. The Switch port does average a fairly respectable 78 rating, but this falls some way short of the Xbox One's impressive 86.
2 Minecraft
Mojang's hugely successful block-building game has been ported to just about every system under the sun, but the Switch version is perhaps one of the most disappointing. Unlike many other multi-platform titles ported to the Switch, the visuals are actually fairly in line with those found on other machines. The problem, however, is that it can often take an absolute age just to see them.
Loading times for Minecraft on Switch are ridiculously long, especially when compared with those found on the PS5 or Xbox Series X. Once things do finally get going the experience really isn't too bad, but those wasted minutes can quickly add up. Despite this, the Switch port somehow holds an 86 rating on Metacritic, although still trails the PC version by a whole seven points.
1 Doom Eternal
Many PC part reviewers use Doom Eternal for benchmarking due to how well its performance scales with more powerful hardware. Given the Switch's inferior internals then, it should come as little surprise that the version of the game on Nintendo's latest console falls some way short of those found on other systems.
Although it does run fairly smoothly, this comes at the cost of graphical fidelity - and it's a pretty steep price that's paid. The game looks nowhere near as impressive as it does on even a mid-tier gaming PC, let alone a high end rig. Its 79 Metascore reflects this somewhat and ensures that it is the lowest rated version of the game on the review aggregator's site.