Tech enthusiasts at Digital foundry have consulted and decided to list what they consider to be the most technically impressive video games in the Nintendo Switch family of systems. With the Switch’s successor on the horizon, now is the perfect time to look back at some of the games that pushed the hybrid console to its limits. While there are still some big titles yet to come to Nintendo Switch, such as Metroid Prime 4 and Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, here are their picks for the most technically impressive:
nominated:
- Fast RMX
- Metroid Prime Remastered
- The miracle of Super Mario Bros
- A tourist
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Super Mario RPG
- Paper Mario: The Origami King
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Metroid Dread
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Realm
- Luigi’s villa 3
Winner: Luigi’s Mansion 3
“This might come as a bit of a surprise, but in terms of visual ambition and achievement, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is phenomenal, delivering something very special that seemingly surpasses the capabilities of the Switch hardware. The game’s real-time lighting is brilliant, with impressive flash that casts shadows, ambient screen space occlusion and an excellent approximation of bounced lighting. What the Switch does here is comparable to results seen on much more capable platforms. This also applies to character rendering, with skin shading techniques that compare favorably to CGI films, while full geometric reflections are rarely seen in any game, let alone a Switch edition.
Long-term partner studio Next Level Games delivers top-notch work here, with excellent art design that extends to the environment design, showcasing variety and attention to detail, while the physics system – particularly the vacuum cleaner mechanics – is equally impressive. We’d venture to say that the relatively static camera angles give the developer leeway to carefully time any scene, but even so, the fact is we’re looking at visuals and effects rarely seen on the Switch, looking great and running smoothly at a fairly consistent 30fps in a second. You may have missed this one, but if you want to see Nintendo hardware used intelligently with stunning results, we highly recommend Luigi’s Mansion 3.”
