
In recent years, Switch has become home to a wide range of quality ports from other platforms. Games everywhere have made the leap to Nintendo’s handheld hybrid, including smaller mobile hits, cross-console releases from a few years ago, and more unexpected and recent cross-platform titles. 2020 was no exception, with some fantastic ports coming to the console, including goliath efforts such as DOOM Eternal i Ori and the will of the warnings, excellent renovations of old games like Chronicles of Xenoblade and the Subway remasterings and custom-sensitive adaptations such as Jurassic World Evolution i Outside of hypnospatial law.
Over the last two years we’ve analyzed the ports we’d love to see coming to Switch and it’s nice to look back at how many have appeared on the console in one way or another. We’ve compiled some of the games we’d like to see reach the Nintendo system over the next twelve months. Some of them are remnants of previous years for which we have still crossed our toes and toes, while others are novelties that we believe would perfectly complement the Switch library.
There are still a few Wii U ports that have not reached Switch (which we have completed and evaluated elsewhere), although Super Mario 3D World is entering February. We are also looking forward to the announced Switch versions of the independent classics Spelunky, Spelunky 2 i Train in 2021.
Let’s take a look at the top ten hopes for Switch ports in 2021, all but one that debuted on non-Nintendo systems.
Autumn boys
One of the highlights of 2020, Autumn boys is a battle royale platform game that gave locked players a social outlet with their collection of chaotically funny minigames. Our friends at the sister site Push Square loved their brand of multicolored multiplayer chaos and the multicolored multiplayer chaos looks like it would be at home on a Nintendo console.
What are the possibilities?
Strong, we would say. After a hugely successful release on PC and PS4, developer Mediatonic has been playing catch-up while posting content and crushing bugs. The third season is live at the time of writing, so as long as the creators and publisher Devolver Digital can find the time to put together a strong version of the game for other platforms, we would imagine that the will exists even though the path it is currently a bit nebulous.
A good FIFA game!
Zing! It’s gotten to the point where we’ve had enough of the “Legacy Edition” treatment. If EA does not invest in bringing all the FIFA experience to Switch, we would prefer that they do not bother at all.
What are the possibilities?
Depressingly thin. We’ve seen before the chicken and egg myopic situation that EA has been working on, despite supporting Switch elsewhere with versions like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered and the next Apex Legends, clearly, it doesn’t care about the comparative pocket change that will take place from a large Switch port, while FIFA Ultimate Team continues to track millions of people every week.
It seems that our best hope is for someone else to fill the football gap in Switch.
Wild outdoors
Yes, this appeared on our wish list last year and we are still missing it on Switch. Not to be confused with the similar name The outer worlds (Which one did come to Switch in 2020), Wild outdoors is a mysterious space-based open world FPS that involves a repeating 22-minute time loop. As lovers of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, we are big fans of time loops and the publisher Annapurna Interactive has a good track record in bringing games to Switch.
What are the possibilities?
As we said last year, Outer Wilds is integrated into Unity and its stylized art and solitary exploration would work well on Switch. The biggest problem against it is the workload of the small Mobius development team and probably by 2020 it didn’t help in that regard. Still, we are still waiting.
Bugsnax
One of the highlights of the year for Playstation owners, Bugsnax is a delightful first-person bug-hunting adventure with a surreal (and marginally horrible) edge and Pokémon Snapabout this. If nothing else, her catchy Kero themed song Kero Bonito is worth the ticket price and we’d love to hear it on Switch.
So are we talking about Bugsnax on Switch?
May be. Young Horses, an independent studio, may have signed up with Sony to make Bugsnax an exclusive PS release, but as far as we know, there’s nothing stopping the game from reaching other platforms later. The performance was a bit messy on PS4, but given the proper care and attention, the Switch version is within the realms of possibility.
It’s hard to argue that their colorful creatures wouldn’t fit very well in Nintendo’s hardware, right? Nintendo gamers can’t get enough cute creature catalogs either.
person may
There is a fantastic library of JRPG in Switch and the inclusion of Joker in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate made us believe that person may where Switch was a mere formality, perhaps a release from Royal May person with additional content? But no, next April will be the game’s fourth anniversary in the West and Persona 5 is yet not available on a Nintendo system.
Yes, yes, we are getting it Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, a Musou crossover (i Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity came out very well), but does not replace the dripping style of the original. Come on, Atlus!
What are the possibilities?
10%? Err …, 90%? It feels like a no-brainer, but we’ve given up trying to define Atlus and parent company Sega in things like “logic”. Remember that Persona 5 came out on PlayStation 3, so Switch could “handle” P5 well. Not pulling out a Switch port seems like Sega leaving a lot of cash just sitting at the table.
Speaking of Sega …