Reader ratings put CD Projekt Red's two ports first among these 12 Switch 2 games

A little over a year after the console's launch, the Nintendo Switch 2 games that players rate highest are not all new Nintendo exclusives. In one reader-driven ranking, CD Projekt Red holds the top two places. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Remastered sits first, and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition sits second. Nintendo's Donkey Kong Bananza comes third.

The Switch 2 launched on June 5, 2025, on the same day worldwide. Its library mixes a small group of exclusives with ports from other platforms and Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of earlier releases. Most Switch 1 games also run on the newer console through backwards compatibility. Some of those older games have paid Upgrade Packs. Others get free performance updates. The result is a catalog that draws on two generations of software.

The ranking comes from Nintendo Life, in a top 50 list by Gavin Lane and Nintendo Life Staff dated August 19, 2026. It is built from the ratings Nintendo Life readers give each game in the site's database. A game needs at least 50 user ratings to qualify. The order reflects reader scores, not a staff verdict. It also shifts over time as new ratings arrive. Some readers have complained in the page's comments about recency bias.

Reader rank and commercial or critical standing do not always match. Mario Kart World, Nintendo's top seller on the console with 15.39 million sales by the end of June 2026, places 29th with readers. The Switch 2 Edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom shares the console's highest Metacritic score, 95, with Hades II. Readers place it 23rd.

This article covers 12 of those 50 games, in the order the source ranks them, with each game's rank and user score as listed. The selection spans positions from first to 38th. Alongside the titles above, it includes Resident Evil Requiem, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokémon Pokopia, Stardew Valley and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Remastered holds the number one spot in Nintendo Life's reader-rated Switch 2 ranking, with a user score of 9.2. Its biggest change, according to Nintendo Life, is a visual upgrade.

CD Projekt Red publishes and develops the remaster. Nintendo Life lists its release date as September 29, 2026.

The upgrade targets a known weak point. Nintendo Life says the graphics drew the most criticism when the game first came to Switch. The remaster improves them on the newer hardware.

Image quality is not the only change. Nintendo Life also credits the remaster with better animations. It adds new accessibility options too.

Other problems carry over. Nintendo Life describes the combat as still weak. The outlet also reports that some performance problems remain in this version.

The remaster's changes cover presentation and accessibility. In Nintendo Life's assessment, they do not fix the combat or clear every performance problem.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition holds second place in Nintendo Life's reader-rated ranking of Switch 2 games, with a user score of 9.0. It arrived on June 5, 2025, as a launch-day port.

That date put it on sale alongside the console itself. Switch 2 owners could buy it from the first day the hardware was available. They did not have to wait for it to join the library later.

CD Projekt Red handled both publishing and development. As a port, the Switch 2 release is a version of a game that first appeared on other platforms. It is not a Switch 2 exclusive.

Nintendo Life's entry centers on technical performance. It judges the port to run well for a device with so little processing power.

Donkey Kong Bananza ranks third in Nintendo Life's reader-rated list of Switch 2 games, with a user score of 8.9. The game returns Donkey Kong to 3D platforming.

Nintendo released Bananza on July 17, 2025. Nintendo Life calls it the first Switch 2 release that every owner of the system should play. That verdict comes from the site's writers, while the 8.9 comes from its readers.

Two of the game's systems are Bananza Transformations and Banandium Gems.

Bananza also ranks high in sales. According to Nintendo Life, it had reached 4.78 million sales by the end of June 2026. That made it the second best-selling Nintendo game on Switch 2 at that point.

Bananza shares its 8.9 user score with Resident Evil Requiem, which sits one place lower in fourth.

Resident Evil Requiem ranks fourth in Nintendo Life's reader-rated Switch 2 list, with a user score of 8.9. Capcom's game pairs the tension of classic survival horror with the combat emphasis of Resident Evil 4.

Capcom released Requiem on Feb. 27, 2026. Its 8.9 user score matches that of Donkey Kong Bananza, which sits one place higher in the ranking.

The blend of styles defines the game. According to Nintendo Life, Requiem draws on both of those traditions instead of settling on one. The result is a horror game that leaves room for more direct fights.

The Switch 2 version has some rough edges. Nintendo Life points to small visual glitches. It also notes that the frame rate can waver when scenes get busy.

One extra is missing. Nintendo Life notes that Requiem ships without a Mercenaries Mode.

Hades II - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ranks eighth in Nintendo Life's reader-rated top 50, with a user score of 8.7. Nintendo Life judges this version to be close to flawless on Switch 2.

Supergiant Games released the Switch 2 edition on September 25, 2025.

The site's praise focuses on how the game holds up on the newer hardware. Its one clear reservation concerns the narrative. According to Nintendo Life, the story has lost some of its heart. That criticism targets the writing, not the game's performance on Switch 2.

Within this 12-game selection, Hades II is the highest-placed game outside the source's top four.

Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ranks 14th in Nintendo Life's reader-rated list of Switch 2 games, with a user score of 8.5. Team Cherry released it on Sept. 4, 2025.

Critics have also weighed in on the game. The Nintendo Life reviewer awarded it 10/10. According to the FAQ on the same page, it holds a Metacritic score of 91.

Nintendo Life describes the game's difficulty as intentional. In the reviewer's view, Team Cherry built Silksong to be tough. The reviewer also finds that the game repays the effort it demands.

This slide runs well short of 300 words. The source gives only the rank, the user score, the release date, the reviewer's 10/10, the Metacritic score of 91 and a brief note on the game's deliberate difficulty. Supplementary research is disabled for this run, so no further detail could be added without inventing it.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World ranks 17th in Nintendo Life's reader-rated list, with a user score of 8.4. It pairs an upgraded version of the Switch 1 game with new expansion content.

Nintendo Life lists the release date as Aug. 28, 2025.

The main technical change is the frame rate. On Switch 2, the base game runs at 60fps.

Star-Crossed World supplies the new material. According to Nintendo Life, the expansion adds 12 remixed areas. It also gives Kirby new transformations. New challenges complete the package.

The edition offers different things to different players. A newcomer gets the original game running at 60fps, with the Star-Crossed World expansion bundled in.

Returning players face another question. Nintendo Life's view is that people who completed the game on Switch 1 have little cause to replay all of it. For them, the case for the edition rests on what Star-Crossed World adds: the remixed areas, the new transformations and the new challenges.

Pokémon Pokopia ranks 20th in Nintendo Life's reader-rated list of Switch 2 games, with a user score of 8.3. Nintendo released it on March 5, 2026, and Omega Force developed it.

Nintendo Life's write-up singles out the game's originality. The site describes Pokopia as a bigger departure from the franchise's familiar formula than any Pokémon release in a long time.

Nintendo Life also lists weaknesses. It points to problems with the gameplay. It flags separate problems with how the game handles progression.

Pokopia's sales reached 3.68 million by the end of June 2026, according to Nintendo Life.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ranks 23rd in Nintendo Life's reader-rated list, with a user score of 8.3. Nintendo Life's entry presents it as the version of Tears of the Kingdom to choose over any other.

This edition came out on June 5, 2025. That makes it a launch-day title for the Switch 2.

Nintendo Life's guide points to Zelda Notes as part of what this edition offers. The entry does not describe the feature in further detail.

Mario Kart World is the best-selling Nintendo game on Switch 2 as of the end of June 2026. Nintendo Life's reader-rated ranking places it 29th, with a user score of 8.2.

Nintendo published the game. It went on sale on June 5, 2025, the same day the console launched.

The game's races take place across an open world. That structure sets the stage for each event.

Nintendo Life's entry does not treat the open world as the whole appeal. It credits the game with considerable mechanical depth in the racing itself. The driving systems, not only the setting, sit at the center of its assessment.

Stardew Valley - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ranks 37th in the reader-rated list, with a user score of 8.1. This version adds mouse mode and online multiplayer for up to eight players.

The edition's release dates differ by region. It came out in the U.S. on December 25, 2025. Players in the U.K. and EU got it on March 6, 2026.

Mouse mode is a new control option in this edition of the farming game.

Multiplayer on the Switch 2 Edition comes in three forms. The first is online play, which supports up to eight players.

The second is local split-screen. Up to four people can share one farm on a single screen.

The third is GameShare. It supports up to three other players. Those players can join from a Switch 2 or a Switch 1.

GameShare's reach to the older console means not every player in a group needs a Switch 2. Friends or family who still own a Switch 1 can take part.

Stardew Valley shares its 8.1 user score with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which ranks 38th in the same reader list.