The 10 best Nintendo games to play in 2026: these make a Switch 2 worth owning

1 and 2. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are the two easiest recommendations

This list is built for July 2026 around one simple idea: ten games we would hand to somebody who has just pulled a Switch 2 out of the box. It is not a review-score contest, and we are not squeezing five Mario games in to pad the numbers. The aim is a starter library spanning different genres and showing why Nintendo still plays by its own rules.

The first slot belongs to *Mario Kart World*. Its 24-player races are terrific, but the real appeal is how easily a ten-minute session turns into an entire evening on the sofa. The connected world remains uneven and could use more things to discover, yet as a social game it is the safest purchase on the system. It works with children, friends who have not held a controller in years and the sort of people prepared to argue about a blue shell for half an hour.

*Donkey Kong Bananza* is the technical showcase Switch 2 needed. You can tunnel underground, tear chunks out of the scenery and punch through a wall instead of politely searching for the door. Destruction is not decoration here; it changes how you explore and turns every room into a small act of mischief. Pauline gives the adventure a heart, while transformations stop all that rock smashing from becoming routine. If you only buy one single-player game made specifically for the new hardware, start here.

3 and 4. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Metroid Prime Remastered are still teaching lessons

*The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition* is an upgraded version of a 2023 game. It is also still an astonishing achievement. The steadier frame rate, shorter loads and cleaner image remove many of the original version's rough edges, but the reason to return has not changed: bolt four unlikely objects together, build a ridiculous catapult and discover that the game lets your terrible idea work exactly as imagined.

You do not have to play Breath of the Wild first, although knowing that version of Hyrule gives several encounters more weight. If you want an adventure capable of lasting 100 hours without turning its map into a checklist, this remains the benchmark. The Switch 2 Edition also includes Zelda Notes, an optional mobile companion that can point towards discoveries without covering the screen in icons.

Then there is *Metroid Prime Remastered*, a GameCube game that still understands exploration better than plenty of modern releases. Its corridors are not a relic; they form one enormous puzzle you learn to read through the visor, sound and Samus's expanding toolset. It is shorter and darker than almost everything else here. That is exactly why it belongs. Nintendo can also make you feel alone on a planet where every locked door seems to be laughing at you.

5 and 6. Splatoon Raiders and Pokémon Pokopia are 2026's two biggest Nintendo surprises

*Splatoon Raiders* finally does what the series has been asking for: it pulls Splatoon's movement, ink weapons and unmistakable look out of competitive multiplayer. You play a mechanic travelling across the Spirhalite Islands with Deep Cut, through a proper campaign with four-player co-op. Painting a surface and swimming through it as a squid still feels wonderful, but you no longer have to organise your life around map rotations and ranked matches.

It arrived on July 23 and immediately earned a place on this list. There is a reason it also features among the games that ruled this month: it feels familiar and strange at once, the exact space in which Nintendo tends to thrive.

*Pokémon Pokopia* heads in the opposite direction. You control a Ditto transformed into a human and rebuild a ruined world by farming, crafting furniture and learning moves from other Pokémon. Bulbasaur grows grass, Lapras carries you across water and friends can visit the land you create. It could have stopped at Animal Crossing with Pikachu pasted on top, but making the creatures part of the landscape gives it an identity of its own. GameShare also lets a guest join without buying another copy.

7 and 8. Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Kirby are platformers without an entrance exam

*Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition* is what you play when you want the fun to begin before the first level is over. Talking Flowers, Wonder Effects and transformations rewrite the rules at a ridiculous pace. The Switch 2 release adds Bellabel Park, multiplayer challenges and new material; underneath it remains a 2D platformer anyone can understand, with harder routes waiting for players determined to master every badge.

*Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World* does a similar job in three dimensions. It is welcoming without becoming bland, offers excellent co-op for a less experienced partner and turns cars, vending machines and staircases into abilities through Mouthful Mode. The expansion builds new stages around crystals, and the performance upgrade makes an already lovely game feel much better. It will not pin you against a wall. It will make you play one more level before bed.

9 and 10. Rhythm Heaven Groove and Animal Crossing prove Nintendo does not need to resemble anyone else

*Rhythm Heaven Groove* is the least serious recommendation here and perhaps the most Nintendo. More than 80 solo games turn wonderfully silly actions—clapping, slicing an object, following a conversation—into rhythm tests capable of dismantling you after one badly timed input. There are more than 30 multiplayer games too. No combos to memorise and no textbook tutorial: listen, press the button and accept that a grumpy cartoon has just humiliated you.

We finish with *Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition*. Six years later, it remains the perfect choice for anyone who wants to drop in for 20 minutes, catch a fish, move a sofa and leave feeling as if something has been put right. The new version increases resolution, supports Joy-Con 2 mouse controls for decorating and expands online island visits to 12 players. A 2026 update also added a hotel, giving old islands a reason to reopen.

Are major games missing? Of course. Super Mario Odyssey, Pikmin 4, Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Smash Bros. Ultimate could fill half the list. Start with these ten, though, and you have racing, exploration, platforming, shooting, rhythm and a house full of animal neighbours demanding attention. By the time you finish all that, nobody will need to explain what a Nintendo is for.