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Last year I ranked every mainline Pokémon game on the original Switch. And while I still stand by that list, a Nintendo Switch 2 update is more than overdue, especially with how different Pokémon Scarlet/Violet and even Legends Z-A run on newer hardware.
Then, there’s also the addition of the Handheld Boost Mode, which will make any Switch 1 title run with docked resolution in handheld, making their games look amazing.
Before jumping to the list, thank you so much for dropping by! It means a lot to me that you want to know my honest thoughts on Pokémon games.
So, without any fluff, here’s my updated list of the best Pokémon games on Nintendo Switch 2.
7 – Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen
Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen finally released on Switch—however, I wish we had gotten Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald instead. To me, the Gen 1 remakes are the worst games of the GBA era and cannot contend with the modern titles, especially when it comes to content.
While it’s true that FireRed/LeafGreen have the Sevii Islands and the Trainer Tower, they never felt compelling to me, and exploring them always felt lackluster.
The legendaries almost nobody caught
However, this time around, they got a bit more exciting since we can go to Navel Rock and Birth Island to capture Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Deoxys—something that maybe just 1% of players ever experienced legally.
You can’t complete the National Dex
But the worst part is that you cannot complete the National Dex, since Pokémon Home compatibility is a one-way ticket that does not allow you to send Pokémon from Home to FireRed and LeafGreen.
Pokémon BDSP, despite their major flaws, are modern titles with a ton of quality-of-life improvements, a fun post-game story, a Battle Tower, and full compatibility with Pokémon Home, making it possible to complete the National Dex.
FireRed and LeafGreen are great titles and a part of Pokémon history—games that any Pokémon fan should purchase on Nintendo Switch, even if there are better options.
6 – Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
Playing Platinum made it worse
My only experience in Sinnoh up until last year was with Pokémon Pearl, but meanwhile I managed to squeeze in a playthrough of Pokémon Platinum. And now I can confidently see how they wasted this entire remake even more.
On a good note, Sinnoh rebuilt in 3D looks great for a 1:1 remake with a few great additions.
Pokémon now follow you around again, and they remade the Grand Underground with different biomes where roaming Pokémon appear. I spent too many hours down there trying to get a Spiritomb for my team as soon as possible!
The Underground lost its social features
While this change to the underground was welcome, it cost us almost every social feature. You can see other players down there and walk right past them, and that’s it. In the originals, you could play Capture the Flag, set traps to mess with people, and visit their secret bases. Secret bases still exist here, but all you can do is place Pokémon statues…
Ramanas Park and the slate grind
Tied to the underground, they’ve also added the Ramanas Park, located in the space where you could capture the transferred Pokémon from Pokémon RSE in the original games.
Here you can now catch 14 legendary Pokémon if you have the slates. I never caught them all because getting these slates is rare and requires a lot of digging in the underground. Since I have multiple of these legendaries sitting in my Pokémon Home, I decided not to waste my time any further.
The mythicals are still locked
Then, there’s another aspect they managed to mess up: obtaining Mythical Pokémon. Darkrai, Shaymin, and Manaphy are still locked behind expired events. Arceus is only capturable if you have a Legends Arceus save file on your system, while Jirachi and Mew need Sword/Shield and Let’s Go saves.
This seems to be the pattern with every new addition in Pokémon BDSP. They add something new and exciting, but there’s something disappointing standing right behind it. Had they added some features from Pokémon Platinum, like the Battle Frontier, maybe, just maybe, it would’ve been a good remake.
5 – Pokémon Sword and Shield
Dexit wasn’t the real issue
We all know the biggest controversy surrounding Sword/Shield: for the first time, not all Pokémon were featured in the Pokédex. But honestly, I didn’t mind this much since there were bigger issues to address.
Exploring is stripped down in these games, and most of the time it feels like walking through a series of hallways, with the occasional side path leading somewhere that is not rewarding. While the Wild Area gives you freedom, it’s not the most expansive map, and there isn’t much to do here other than battling roaming Pokémon and tackling the Max Dens.
The DLC fixes it, for 30 dollars
The DLC fixes a lot of these issues, though, featuring better layouts, NPCs scattered through the areas, and places that feel rewarding to explore. However, this new content will require you to drop 30 dollars. It’s a shame because after beating the main game, there isn’t much to do other than challenging the shallowest Battle Tower in the entire series.
So why 200 hours?
So why did I still put over 200 hours into this? It’s simple; it’s Pokémon, and I freaking loved playing this online, either battling or capturing the Gigantamax Pokémon. These were a great addition, and I love every single design! Also, one of my fondest Pokémon memories is playing next to my brothers on release day and trying to hunt a Gigantamax Butterfree in the Wild Area.
Although this left us completely overleveled for the rest of the game because Game Freak still doesn’t know how to balance anything. Maybe adding some freaking level locks like in the Battle Facilities or level scaling in the future would be a good approach.
Galar looks better than ever
And to close it off, Galar is beautiful, and it’s even better to look at in handheld thanks to the Handheld Boost Mode. It has the prettiest starting point of any Pokémon game, with characters and new Pokémon designs full of personality. In my opinion, it’s the best artistic choice for a Pokémon game on Switch 2 (except for those Wild Area trees).
4 – Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee
It didn’t get worse, the others got better
It hurts to see Let’s Go dropping to fourth. It’s not because I changed my opinion on it, but because the next 2 games got better.
Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee was the first mainline game I played on a home console, and while I loved it, most people didn’t. Everyone was waiting for the next generation and got what looked like a spin-off built for Pokémon Go players.
Motion controls, and how to skip them
There are no wild battles; catching is done by throwing a Poké Ball with motion controls, and my aim was genuinely bad until I got the hang of it. But if you play in handheld mode, the motion controls disappear entirely, and that’s why I play most of the game like this.
Far too easy
It’s also far too easy due to a couple of reasons.
First, your partner Pokémon is completely broken with higher stats than a regular Pikachu or Eevee, 31 IVs in every stat, and exclusive moves of different types that can be used to solo the entire game.
Then there are the Candies, which make battles even easier. A measly Rattata can outclass a Charizard in every stat if you feed it enough candies.
The best-looking Pokémon game on Switch
Despite all this, Let’s Go nails a few things going for it that overshadow the bad. In my opinion, this is the best-looking mainline Pokémon game on Nintendo Switch, with a great art direction coupled with fantastic and consistent execution, something that was lacking in Pokémon Sword and Shield.
You can also see Pokémon walking in the tall grass at their actual size, meaning no more Onix or Gyarados scaled down to the height of a 10-year-old. They follow you, and you can even ride some of them. Riding your bike is cool, but have you tried hanging off the back of a shiny Rapidash? Shiny hunting is also the most accessible it has ever been, and it was the first time it didn’t feel like a chore.
The whole package has that Pokémon experience that makes me want to revisit it from time to time. Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is a constant reminder that there is beauty in simplicity.
3 – Pokémon Scarlet/Violet
The free patch fixed everything
My biggest complaint with these games has always been the performance, bugs, and graphical issues.
All of that got fixed with the free patch available to every Nintendo Switch 2 user, resulting in a genuinely polished Pokémon experience.
I do think they waited far too long to send out a fix. But I can’t deny that this free patch turns Scarlet and Violet into some of my favorite games on the system.
You explore Paldea in full 60fps with a lot more Pokémon on screen at once, breathing life into areas that felt barren before. It looks fantastic on the big screen and amazing on handheld, and I can’t believe I managed to play 200 hours of the Switch 1 version.
Open world, still no level scaling
Technicall stuff aside, these games are open-world, and you can literally go anywhere you want as long as you keep upgrading Miraidon and Koraidon powers.
However, the biggest issue with the non-linear gameplay is the fact that Game Freak still refuses to implement level-scaling. The result is you constantly being under-leveled or over-leveled depending on the challenge you decide to tackle next.
Paldea feels too small
Also, Paldea being open-world makes the scale of the entire region look silly, with towns and villages being minutes apart, even when walking. I know this is a video game, but it still loses that sense of wonder. For example, in Sword/Shield, in any town, you can look at the distance and dream of what’s beyond the mountains or the plains you see in the distance.
And exploring the cities is also a big downgrade since you cannot enter buildings, there are barely any NPCs that actually talk and provide good information, and you can’t even enter the shops.
Area Zero is pure cinema
But on a positive note, the Terastallization and the whole lore behind it are top-notch. The ending in the main part where you descend into Area Zero of the game was pure cinema and probably the best I’ve seen after Sun/Moon.
The DLC expands and ties the loose endings, and despite being 30 dollars as well, I think it’s a worthy purchase given how much new content it adds to the game.
But! Legends: Z-A made me want more from combat in 3D Pokémon games. I love turn-based combat, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Pokémon Champions, but at this point I want the mainline games to follow the Z-A battle system and leave turn-based entirely to Champions.
It’s for all these reasons that Scarlet/Violet sits below Legends Z-A and above the Let’s Go games—a placement that would have been impossible on Switch 1.
The only reason this game is not higher on the list is because the next 2 games have something that mechanically players have been begging for for years: being able to throw Pokéballs.
2 – Pokémon Legends: Z-A Switch 2 Edition
One city was the right call
After 120 hours, I’m finally done with Legends: Z-A and the Mega Dimension DLC, and after much deliberation, I’m placing it second.
First, I don’t care even slightly about playing the entire game in a single city. Look at Scarlet and Violet—an open area covering the whole of Paldea, which makes it look ridiculous in scale. So when they decided to contain all of Z-A inside Lumiose, I was actually happy.
And playing it felt good. There isn’t much variety between the different areas of the city, but there are plenty of zones with Pokémon to catch, and each one caters to the Pokémon living in it. The city also has verticality, so you will spend a lot of time running and jumping across the rooftops of Lumiose.
Not without problems
Second place doesn’t mean it’s without problems, though. Like every modern Pokémon game, it takes forever for the tutorial phase to end; some sections feel repetitive, like the Z-A Royale and Mega Dimension especially, and completing that Pokédex research is the worst grind in any Pokémon game until you buy the DLC.
But it also has the most engaging battle system in any 3D Pokémon game. The story was genuinely fantastic, on the level of Scarlet and Violet, with great cutscenes and over-the-top characters that I think are among my favorite cast in any Pokémon game.
The battling is the best part
Then there’s the best feature in the entire game, the battling.
This is the first game that ditches the turn-based combat, and I loved it. Finally, you can just throw your Pokémon and start a battle right there, where you can actually take control of the Pokémon by selecting its move and position to dodge attacks.
Learning more about this new system and experimenting with new Mega Evolutions online was the most fun I’ve had with a Pokémon game in years! I just wish it had a bit more depth, such as Pokémon abilities, and a more rewarding ranked system.
What the Switch 2 Edition gets you
To close things, this is a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and if you buy the physical copy, the cartridge will work in both Switch 1 and Switch 2. However, only in Switch 2 will you be able to play it with a buttery smooth 60 FPS. But even 30 FPS is great; I’ve experimented a bit on my girlfriend’s Switch Lite, and I had a smooth experience.
But even with the performance boost, it still can’t beat Legends Arceus.
1 – Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Still the best on the system
Thanks to Handheld Boost Mode, Legends Arceus looks excellent on handheld, and even though it still runs at 30 fps, it is still the best and my favorite Pokémon game on the Nintendo Switch 2.
It throws out the gym structure entirely and drops you into Sinnoh centuries before we knew it, back when Pokémon roamed free and were a threat to the people in the region. While it’s a linear game with a structured narrative, you will find a lot of freedom inside each area you unlock.
Pokémon that will kill you on sight
In Legends Arceus, there are no wild encounters in tall grass, and you see Pokémon out in their habitats, behaving differently from each other. Some will flee the moment they spot you, while others will genuinely try to kill you on sight. Imagine having a Snorlax rush at you, pure terror.
Because Pokémon can attack you directly, you have more control over the trainer than ever before. You dodge, you throw items to stun them, and you send out your own Pokémon to start a fight. But battling is just an option since you can aim and throw a Poké Ball whenever you want. Legends Arceus was the first game to do it, and I’ll never forget those first opening minutes where I captured my first Pokémon.
Catching has never been this satisfying
And catching is so satisfying in this game. The throw has weight, the sound when it connects is rewarding, and there’s even a little firework that bursts out of the top of the ball in celebration.
After a few minutes, you won’t be able to stop yourself from throwing Pokéballs at everything that moves, and completing the Pokédex has never been so much fun. Pair this with a traversal where you can swap between your mounts at will, making for an addictive loop that is difficult to put down.
The battle system is the weak spot
Pokémon battles are a bit weird here, where they experimented with a system present in other JRPGs like Digimon Cyber Sleuth. They are still turn-based, but you can make your Pokémon attack several times by changing to the Agile Style. Or reduce your turns in exchange for more power with the Strong Style.
It’s not my favorite battle system, but boss battles definitely were. Here you actually need to play the game by watching the opponent’s movements, dodging with your trainer, and fighting at the right moment to strike. Arceus, for example, took me more attempts than I can count.
The best Pokémon game on either system
There are other things I can nitpick, like not having the greatest visual fidelity or having Shaymin and Darkrai locked behind other game’s save files. But in the end, Pokémon Legends: Arceus shows how great a Pokémon game with a more mature tone can actually look.
While I don’t think the story is the best in the series, it has the most memorable battle in a Pokémon game by how epic and difficult it can get. For this, and everything else I mentioned, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the best Pokémon game you can play on either Switch 1 or Switch 2.
What else is worth playing on Switch 2
Those were all the mainline Pokémon games ranked, but the Nintendo Switch 2 is home to many more spin-off Pokémon games, and I think these are a great option as well, such as Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness on Switch Online, the system seller Pokopia, the battle simulator Pokémon Champions, and many other.
I’ve ranked these and all the others in a separate list, which you can find here, but based on the list, here are my top 3 recommendations:
3. Pokkén Tournament DX
If you think controlling a Pokémon in Legends Arceus was cool, wait until you try Pokkén.
This is a fantastic fighting game with great graphics, good gameplay elements, and a unique roster with Pokémon that play nothing alike.
While the single-player content is a bit lacking, you can still go online and have some fun. Surprisingly, there are still people to play despite being a game released in 2017!
2. New Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Snap is my favorite game on the Nintendo 64, and hearing that a sequel was coming got me very excited. After playing New Pokémon Snap, I was amazed by how great everything looked, from the variety of available Pokémon to the unique actions each one of them had.
On Switch 2 this game looks a bit better with sharper graphics and smoother performance without the need for a single patch. It’s definitely an easy recommendation.
1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon DX
The original Isekai Pokémon game, where a human is sent off to the Pokémon world and wakes up transformed into one. Here he makes new friends and will do his best to help the community while trying to find a way to return home.
The main appeal of this game is going through dungeons with a group of Pokémon while managing the moves PP and their hunger. While this can be brutal, recruiting new Pokémon and seeing what combos you can pull off is super satisfying.
Don’t let the cute art style fool you; this game will make you cry if it wants to.
So, what’s the best Pokémon game on Nintendo Switch 2?
For me, it’s still Legends: Arceus, but Scarlet and Violet made the biggest jump, and it’s entirely down to a free patch that should have arrived years earlier.
Here’s the condensed ranking one more time:
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A
- Pokémon Scarlet/Violet
- Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee
- Pokémon Sword and Shield
- Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
- Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen
This ranking is based on my opinion and my own dozens to hundreds of hours with each game, so if you disagree, tell me what you’d change!
Thanks for reading, and I’ll be seeing you again next time, with brand new content!
