2025 was a massive year for Nintendo as it transitioned from the Nintendo Switch era towards a future dominated by the Nintendo Switch 2. With an array of big new exclusives, shiny ports and some cross-generational titles, there were plenty of fantastic video games releasing across the Nintendo Switch ecosystem.
We finally got a big new Mario Kart game, which expanded on the franchise formula with a fun open world and innovative tracks that blended seamlessly through new worlds. Donkey Kong got a major, impressive platformer that combined elements of the past with moreish smashing mechanics and vivid realms. Pokemon Legends: Z-A was an incredible addition to the long-running video games franchise, with reimagined gameplay mechanics that spiced up the action.
Metroid Prime 4 also finally released, after so many years in gestation! It felt like one of those video games that would never arrive – but 2025 was full of surprises.
In the lead up to the new year, ScreenHub is counting down and reminiscing about our favourite video games of the year. Read on for our picks of the best Nintendo Switch video games of the bunch, and why they changed our year for the better.
Best Nintendo Switch video games of 2025 – quick links
Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World arrived as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2 and it was an immediate, well-deserving hit. There was plenty riding on this Mario Kart sequel and plenty of questions about how it would live up to its dominant predecessor. But with novel ideas about racing tracks and a fresh open world filled with bite-sized challenges, it proved a fresh reinvention of the formula.
Read: Mario Kart World review: a familiar formula made fresh
It’s buoyed by lush visuals wherever you look and racing tracks that hide secrets. You can stomp your way through galleons, deserts and fields as one of many cool characters, with collectable outfits and other neat surprises waiting around each corner.
In future, we expect (and hope) Mario Kart World will be expanded – but even as it stands, it’s still one of the best Nintendo Switch video games of 2025.
Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza is a blast, in the literal sense of the world. Formerly, Donkey Kong was a monkey of finesse, trampling through jungle stages and riding in barrels with a degree of precision. In this game, he is transformed into a one-monkey wrecking ball.
Read: Donkey Kong Bananza review: a smashing new frontier for DK
This is an adventure that feels entirely fresh for Donkey Kong, with the platformer action and quest-based banana-gathering feeling more akin to the 3D Mario video games. It’s to Bananza‘s benefit, as it opens an entirely new frontier for the titular monkey, while staying true to the roots of the Donkey Kong franchise.
In its mix of frantic fun and colourful worlds, Bananza certainly cemented itself as one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 video games of the year.
Sonic x Shadow Generations
Sonic x Shadow Generations for Nintendo Switch 2 is an excellent port of a very good game. While the Shadow Generations half of this adventure technically launched in October 2024, the quality and sleekness of the game’s Nintendo Switch 2 port is well worth celebrating, as it elevates the action greatly.
Read: Sonic x Shadow Generations gets new life on Switch 2
Here, you can blast through well-designed and fetching stages as Sonic or Shadow, depending on whether you’re playing Sonic Generations or Shadow Generations, which are two standalone experiences. Even at high speeds, the levels are consistently crisp and gorgeous as you fly past.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a massive RPG adventure that takes everything from the original Fantasy Life and makes it bigger and more impressive. The freedom afforded by this game and its loosey-goosey structure is what really makes it a blast. Here, you can be a warrior fighting dragons and beasties. You can also be a woodchopper, or a fisher, or a cook. You can even be an artist.
No matter which life you choose, you have so many options available to you, all housed within a sweeping fantasy story involving time travel and multi-island adventures. This is a vast game with a very ambitious scope, and spending time in its world is so very rewarding.
Tamagotchi Plaza
Tamagotchi Plaza is a wonderful legacy sequel to the Nintendo DS-era Tamagotchi Connection Corner Shop video games that brims with cosy, good vibes, and touches of nostalgia.
This is essentially a mini-game collection, housed within a shopkeeping simulator. While there’s a small open world to explore, the crux of this game is that you’re managing shops where Tamagotchis visit, with each asking you to perform a set task or create a set item.
Read: Tamagotchi Plaza review: stay a while, stay forever
It’s a slow-paced, relaxing experience as each shop invites you to participate in one activity or another. Whether you’re nostalgic for the original Corner Shop video games, or you just want to kick back with a low-stress, low-key experience, Tamagotchi Plaza is very endearing.
Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV
Super Mario Party Jamboree‘s Nintendo Switch 2 Edition added in a variety of mini-games that are completely ridiculous and extremely fun. Like Sonic x Shadow Generations, this is a revival of a game that launched in 2024, but new content in this add-on and how it uses the Nintendo Switch 2 camera makes it feel entirely new.
Read: Super Mario Party Jamboree’s Switch 2 upgrade is absolutely worth it
When Super Mario Party Jamboree originally arrived, it was overflowing with unique game boards, a raft of neat mini-games and cool new ways to enjoy the Mario Party formula. Its Jamboree TV mode, which adds in even more cool mini-games as well as new ways to play, elevates the entire gameplay experience.
Two Point Museum
Two Point Museum could fit into any of ScreenHub‘s video games of the year lists, but we’ve put it in the Nintendo Switch category as its simulator gameplay works very well in handheld form. Not considering which console it’s on, Two Point Museum is an exceptional management game, complete with layers of challenge to keep you creating your dream museums.
Here, you play as a curator, and must make thoughtful decisions about how you lay out your museums, how fast they grow and how you manage expeditions to discover new artefacts and creatures for display.
Across multiple scenarios – including haunted museums, aquariums and zoos – you need to be careful about how you create your next masterpiece, with the game consistently encouraging a relaxed and intelligent approach.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
It’s rare that a video games franchise continues to surprise decades after it debuted – but in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, developer Game Freak delivered something dazzling. This game is an evolution of the franchise formula that’s sharp, snappy and exciting in each new phase.
It consistently introduces fresh new gameplay options as a compelling plot advances, with fun traversal challenges, sleek Pokémon collecting and moreish exploration opportunities providing ample reasons to forge on.
Read: Pokémon Legends Z-A review: a bold new frontier
At its core, Pokémon Legends: Z-A remains a relatively linear experience, encouraging players along a pathway that features Pokémon catching and evolution as you bond with a team of creature friends. But much like its Legends predecessor Arceus, there’s a breezy freedom in how you embark on your adventure.
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Playing Cyberpunk 2077 on Nintendo Switch 2 feels like a dream. Having a game of this calibre and scope on a Nintendo portable, and having it work so well, speaks to a changing time.
There are some downgrades, with the finer details on character models lightly smoothed, and some visual glitches here and there. But as a port of one of the most technically complex and demanding video games of the early 2020s, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is an impressive achievement.
Read: Cyberpunk 2077 feels fantastic on Nintendo Switch 2
Like other video games on this list, this is a port of an older title. But given the excellent, smooth performance of the adventure, and the novelty of being able to play Cyberpunk 2077 on a Nintendo console, Ultimate Edition certainly earns a spot as one of the best Nintendo Switch video games of the year.
Kirby Air Riders
Kirby Air Riders is an overwhelming game. Overwhelming in the speed and colour of its many quirky race tracks, and overwhelming in the sheer array of modes, mini-games and surprises in store.
There’s a cavalcade of esoteric modes and mini-games that reduce coherence but which provide compelling and endearing quirks. It makes for a game that’s an odd jigsaw of ideas, fit together with a bit of force.
Read: Kirby Air Riders review: a breezy, quirky racer with bright ideas
It’s not quite the simple racing game that it first appears to be and there are layers of depth that expand gameplay in new and often strange ways. In stages, Kirby Air Riders is perhaps a bit too weird and esoteric but it always brings you back in, thanks to well-designed tracks, moreish mini-games and its cast of cutesy characters.
