Credit: Nintendo
featureEditorialsmario-kart-8
The 9 Best Nintendo Exclusives You Can Play on Switch
September 4, 2026·6 min read
The Nintendo Switch has built one of the strongest libraries in gaming, combining brand new adventures with definitive remasters from older hardware. Nintendo console exclusives stand out because they prioritize tight controls, creative level design, and endless replay value over superficial spectacle.
Whether you want to lose hundreds of hours exploring vast worlds or test your friendships in local multiplayer, these are the absolute best games available on Switch.
The 2D Mario series had been coasting on the same template for years, and Wonder blew it wide open. Its big idea is the Wonder Flower, which warps each level in wild, unpredictable ways.
Pipes come alive and start crawling, the action shifts into a top-down perspective, and Mario can even transform into a Goomba. Most full-length courses hide one of these effects, so you never quite know what a level is about to do next.
Add drop-in co-op for up to four players and a genuinely charming art style, and it is the freshest 2D platformer Nintendo has made in a decade.
Nineteen years after the last original 2D Metroid story, Dread finally continued the events of Metroid Fusion. This is tense, fast, precise side-scrolling exploration at its best, with Samus moving more fluidly than she ever has.
The hook is the E.M.M.I., near-unkillable robots that stalk you through specific zones and turn those sections into pure survival horror, forcing you to run and hide until you finally find the tool that lets you turn the tables. Tight controls, a labyrinth worth mapping in your head, and boss fights that demand real reflexes. It is the modern high point of the series.
If you want a game to disappear into for a hundred hours, this is it. Three Houses splits its time between sharp turn-based tactical battles and a surprisingly deep school-life sim, where you teach and bond with students at a military academy before leading them into war.
Your house choice changes the cast and perspective before determining much of the war phase, while the Black Eagles path can split again, creating four main routes.The relationships you build genuinely matter, both emotionally and on the battlefield. Three Houses became the best-selling entry in the series and expanded on the mainstream success that began with Fire Emblem Awakening.
Nintendo's answer to the online shooter refuses to play by anyone else's rules. Instead of racking up kills, the core Turf War mode is about covering more of the map in your team's ink than the enemy, which rewards smart movement and map control over raw aim.
It launched with two years of regular seasonal content and now offers a huge pool of weapons and gear, recurring events, and ongoing balance updates. Throw in the chaotic co-op horde mode Salmon Run and a genuinely fun single-player campaign, and it is one of the most distinctive multiplayer games on the system.
This is the one that got a whole generation through 2020. New Horizons drops you on a deserted island and lets you slowly turn it into whatever you want, paying off your mortgage, decorating, gardening, fishing, and befriending a rotating cast of animal villagers, all in real time alongside the actual calendar and seasons.
There is no fail state and no rush. It is a game about small daily rituals and quiet creativity, and its terraforming and design tools give it near-infinite personalization. Few games are this relaxing or this easy to sink months into.
The definitive version of the best kart racer ever made, and the best-selling game on the entire console. Originally released on Wii U, Mario Kart 8 was expanded into Deluxe for Switch with all of the original game's DLC, new characters, and a revamped Battle Mode. The separately sold Booster Course Pass later added 48 courses, taking the total from 48 to 96.
The racing itself is perfectly tuned, easy to pick up and deep enough to master, with anti-gravity sections and gorgeous courses. But its real strength is the couch. Nothing ends friendships and starts them again faster than four people crammed on a sofa with blue shells flying. It is the ultimate party game.
Ultimate brought back every playable fighter from earlier entries, then added its own newcomers. With all separately sold DLC included, the roster grows beyond 80 fighters drawn from across gaming.
It is a crossover celebration of the medium itself. Underneath the spectacle sits a fighting system with real competitive depth, playable as chaotic party fun with items switched on or as a serious tournament game. With that many characters, stages, and modes, you will never run out of things to try. It is the most complete package the series has ever offered.
Odyssey is Mario at his most inventive. The globe-trotting adventure hands you Cappy, a hat you can throw to capture and control certain enemies, animals, and objects, from a towering T-rex to a humble frog.
The larger kingdoms are dense sandboxes stuffed with hidden Power Moons, rewarding curiosity at every turn, and there are more than 800 of them to hunt down. The controls are flawless, the sense of joy is constant, and the sheer density of secrets makes it endlessly replayable. It is one of the greatest 3D platformers ever made.
Breath of the Wild redefined the open world, and its sequel somehow topped it. Tears of the Kingdom takes the same vast Hyrule and stacks floating sky islands above it and a sprawling dark underworld beneath it, then hands you a set of powers that break the game wide open.
Ultrahand lets you attach movable objects and Zonai devices to build vehicles and machines, while Fuse combines materials and objects with weapons, shields, and arrows. Many puzzles support several valid solutions, allowing players to reach the same goal in very different ways.
It is a staggering achievement in freedom and creativity, and the finest game in the Switch's library.
We want to hear from you. Share your perspective in the comments below, and please keep the conversation respectful.
Log in to join the discussion - vote, reply, and share your take.
Log In
A custom moveset mod for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which adds in Waluigi into the game.
Released
May 12, 2023
Developer
Challat
Publisher
Challat
7h ago
8h ago
9h ago
10h ago
11h ago
12h ago
3h ago
12h ago
1d ago
4d ago
5d ago
6d ago
An epic adventure across the land and skies of Hyrule awaits in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch. The adventure is yours to create in a world fueled by your imagination. In this sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you'll decide your ow
Released
May 12, 2023
Developer
Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 3
Publisher
Nintendo
