We’ll never stop talking about how stunning HD-2D is — even when we have concerns about the future of remakes — so you shouldn’t be surprised to see Dragon Quest III on here. It’s a little blurrier on Switch than its other console counterparts, but it’s the incredible lighting and the late, great Akira Toriyama’s monster designs help add a brand new beauty to the HD-2D library.
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We wish we loved Europa more than we do, but one aspect this open-world adventure doesn’t let down on is its visuals. Even on the Switch, Jupiter’s moon is an absolutely stunning location to explore. Given a Ghibli-esque coat of paint, even if you don’t enjoy the puzzles, you will fall in love simply by looking around and taking in the atmosphere.
C’mon, you can’t look at Echoes of Wisdom and not think it’s cute. Zelda’s mainline playable debut is a step up from the gorgeous Link’s Awakening, with a larger variety of environments and creatures and beautiful torch-lit caves and temples. We’re totally in love with the miniature toybox aesthetic, despite those ever-present frame rate hiccups.
We really hope to see this art style make a return on Switch 2, perhaps with some Oracle remakes?
Aloy on Switch was not on our bingo car at the start of the year, yet, here we are, and Lego Horizon Adventures translates to the Switch beautifully. We’d go as far as saying it’s the best-looking Lego game on the system. It feels like you’re actually playing with Lego bricks on the screen, and it runs smoothly to boot.
It’s pretty basic gameplay-wise, but if you’re looking for simple fun over the holidays that happens to look utterly fantastic; you can’t go wrong with Horizon Adventures.
The Mario & Luigi art style is pretty iconic at this point — expressive, colourful, and capturing a cartoon childishness that the RPGs evoke, the series’ console debut had a lot to live up to. But Mario & Luigi: Brothership managed to nail the visuals perfectly. It’s like we’re actually playing with the illustrations in a 3D environment, and it’s a wonderful visual step forward for the series. We hope this isn’t the last of Mario & Luigi, and we can’t wait to see what future installments look like.
Leikir Studio and DotEmu’s unique twist on the iconic Metal Slug series might not be successful in every single way, but goodness, that pixel art, right? This might be the best-looking pixel art game that landed on Switch this year — extraordinarily detailed, slightly cartoon-y, and gloriously expressive, Metal Slug Tactics is absolutely gorgeous, perfectly capturing the spirit of SNK’s run-and-gun series.
With Nomada Studios, you know you’re going to get something that looks absolutely breathtaking. Neva uses colour beautifully, contrasting the black of the rot with the seasonal shifts. Marry it with the emotional narrative and lovely music, and you have a game that can bring out the sniffles from just one image.
Thousand-Year Door was already a great-looking GameCube game, but Intelligent Systems and Nintendo have entirely remade this classic RPG in the modern Origami King engine. And it looks fantastic as a result. Every single environment is bursting full of new details, and the enhanced lighting does wonders for places like Boggly Woods and Creepy Steeple. This is the Paper Mario standard in all ways, particularly visuals.
We’re surprised it’s taken this long to have a proper Moomins game, and Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a picturesque delight. Hyper Games has nailed the brief here — make a video game that makes you feel like you’re living in a Moomins book. Even if you know nothing about this Swedish children’s book series, you’ll be swept up in the charming watercolour world of Moominvalley.
Another game that knows how to use colour, SCHiM sees you jump between shadows in mono-colour worlds. The aesthetics are the biggest draw here, providing you with chill environments to hop around in. sometimes you’ll be at the park, a stage covered in muted greens, while others see you inside a store, which is depicted in plain biscuit tones.
SCHiM might be style over substance, but that style is simplicity done right.
Is it ever a surprise that a new Mario Party game looks excellent? Jamboree is the best Switch Mario Party in many different ways, but it certainly surpasses its predecessors in the visual department. The fluffy clouds of Mario’s Rainbow Castle, the slippery ice blocks of Cold Front, and the incredible water graphics throughout, prove that Super Mario Party Jamboree is a kaleidoscope of colourful visual delights.
When you’re playing Thank Goodness You’re Here, you might forget that you’re actually playing a video game. It feels like a British adult cartoon, with bold, stylised colours and line art. It’s simultaneously one of the best looking games on the Switch this year, and one of the grossest, but it embraces all parts of its British humour and culture to create an experience unlike any other on Switch.
Of course we weren’t leaving a Vanillaware game off of this list. The Japanese developer is the master of beautiful visuals, and Unicorn Overlord is another crowning achievement in its crown. The simple character designs are elevated by the studio’s beautiful colour work and animations. Every single battle is a visual feast, whether you have wvyerns diving at hopolites or archers shooting at knights. Come for the visuals, get lost in the fantastic gameplay.
We'll never stop talking about how stunning HD-2D is — even when we have concerns about the future of remakes — so you shouldn't be surprised to see Dragon Quest III on here. It's a little blurrier on Switch than its other console counterparts, but it's the incredible lighting and the late, great Akira Toriyama's monster designs help add a brand new beauty to the HD-2D library.
Related Articles
We wish we loved Europa more than we do, but one aspect this open-world adventure doesn't let down on is its visuals. Even on the Switch, Jupiter's moon is an absolutely stunning location to explore. Given a Ghibli-esque coat of paint, even if you don't enjoy the puzzles, you will fall in love simply by looking around and taking in the atmosphere.
C'mon, you can't look at Echoes of Wisdom and not think it's cute. Zelda's mainline playable debut is a step up from the gorgeous Link's Awakening, with a larger variety of environments and creatures and beautiful torch-lit caves and temples. We're totally in love with the miniature toybox aesthetic, despite those ever-present frame rate hiccups.
We really hope to see this art style make a return on Switch 2, perhaps with some Oracle remakes?
Aloy on Switch was not on our bingo car at the start of the year, yet, here we are, and Lego Horizon Adventures translates to the Switch beautifully. We'd go as far as saying it's the best-looking Lego game on the system. It feels like you're actually playing with Lego bricks on the screen, and it runs smoothly to boot.
It's pretty basic gameplay-wise, but if you're looking for simple fun over the holidays that happens to look utterly fantastic; you can't go wrong with Horizon Adventures.
The Mario & Luigi art style is pretty iconic at this point — expressive, colourful, and capturing a cartoon childishness that the RPGs evoke, the series' console debut had a lot to live up to. But Mario & Luigi: Brothership managed to nail the visuals perfectly. It's like we're actually playing with the illustrations in a 3D environment, and it's a wonderful visual step forward for the series. We hope this isn't the last of Mario & Luigi, and we can't wait to see what future installments look like.
Leikir Studio and DotEmu's unique twist on the iconic Metal Slug series might not be successful in every single way, but goodness, that pixel art, right? This might be the best-looking pixel art game that landed on Switch this year — extraordinarily detailed, slightly cartoon-y, and gloriously expressive, Metal Slug Tactics is absolutely gorgeous, perfectly capturing the spirit of SNK's run-and-gun series.
With Nomada Studios, you know you're going to get something that looks absolutely breathtaking. Neva uses colour beautifully, contrasting the black of the rot with the seasonal shifts. Marry it with the emotional narrative and lovely music, and you have a game that can bring out the sniffles from just one image.
Thousand-Year Door was already a great-looking GameCube game, but Intelligent Systems and Nintendo have entirely remade this classic RPG in the modern Origami King engine. And it looks fantastic as a result. Every single environment is bursting full of new details, and the enhanced lighting does wonders for places like Boggly Woods and Creepy Steeple. This is the Paper Mario standard in all ways, particularly visuals.
We're surprised it's taken this long to have a proper Moomins game, and Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a picturesque delight. Hyper Games has nailed the brief here — make a video game that makes you feel like you're living in a Moomins book. Even if you know nothing about this Swedish children's book series, you'll be swept up in the charming watercolour world of Moominvalley.
Another game that knows how to use colour, SCHiM sees you jump between shadows in mono-colour worlds. The aesthetics are the biggest draw here, providing you with chill environments to hop around in. sometimes you'll be at the park, a stage covered in muted greens, while others see you inside a store, which is depicted in plain biscuit tones.
SCHiM might be style over substance, but that style is simplicity done right.
Is it ever a surprise that a new Mario Party game looks excellent? Jamboree is the best Switch Mario Party in many different ways, but it certainly surpasses its predecessors in the visual department. The fluffy clouds of Mario's Rainbow Castle, the slippery ice blocks of Cold Front, and the incredible water graphics throughout, prove that Super Mario Party Jamboree is a kaleidoscope of colourful visual delights.
When you're playing Thank Goodness You're Here, you might forget that you're actually playing a video game. It feels like a British adult cartoon, with bold, stylised colours and line art. It's simultaneously one of the best looking games on the Switch this year, and one of the grossest, but it embraces all parts of its British humour and culture to create an experience unlike any other on Switch.
Of course we weren't leaving a Vanillaware game off of this list. The Japanese developer is the master of beautiful visuals, and Unicorn Overlord is another crowning achievement in its crown. The simple character designs are elevated by the studio's beautiful colour work and animations. Every single battle is a visual feast, whether you have wvyerns diving at hopolites or archers shooting at knights. Come for the visuals, get lost in the fantastic gameplay.
