Nintendo Switch 2 games got a big spotlight recently, and Ocarina of Time was the headliner. And look, we get it. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece. Nobody’s arguing that.
But here’s the honest truth: it’s not a $400 purchase.
BB broke this down in a recent video, and the take is hard to argue with. Ocarina of Time has been re-released on the N64, GameCube, Wii, 3DS, and Switch. At some point, nostalgia stops being a reason to upgrade hardware. Same goes for the Star Fox announcement. Cool? Sure. Surprising? Not even a little.
So instead of talking about what Nintendo did announce, let’s talk about what would actually make us pull out the wallet. No safe picks. No “oh cool, Mario Kart again.” Just the real ones — the deep cuts sitting in Nintendo’s back catalog that deserve to see the light of day on Switch 2.
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The Problem With Nintendo Switch 2 Games Playing It Safe
Before we get into the list, let’s just say it plainly: Nintendo knows exactly what’s sitting in their back catalog. They’ve always known. The question has never been can they bring these games back. It’s whether they will.
Remasters of games people have already played three times aren’t system sellers. They’re fan service. And fan service is fine, but it doesn’t justify a new console purchase for someone who’s been on the fence.
Give us something we can’t get anywhere else. Give us the games that have been locked away, overpriced on eBay, or just straight-up forgotten. That’s the move.
1. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem — The GameCube Game That Broke the Fourth Wall
Platform: GameCube (2002)
Copies Sold: Under 500,000
Most people reading this have never played Eternal Darkness. Not because it was bad — because nobody knew it existed.
This was the first Nintendo game to ever receive a Mature rating from the ESRB. It had a sanity meter. When it dropped low enough, the game stopped playing fair in the most unhinged ways possible:
- Fake blue screen of death
- Pretended to delete your save file
- Your character’s head fell off mid-cutscene and started reciting Shakespeare
- The volume on your TV slowly crept down to zero
The first time it happened, BB thought his GameCube was broken. That’s how good it was.
Now imagine that on Switch 2. Modern hardware could fake a controller disconnect. A fake system notification. Make it look like the entire console just crashed. The fourth wall breaks that were impressive in 2002 would be completely unhinged with current technology.
That’s not just a remake. That’s an experience you can’t get on any other platform. Day one, no question.
2. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance — The $300 GameCube Game Nobody Can Afford
Platform: GameCube (2005)
Current eBay Price: $250–$350 used. $500+ sealed.
Go ahead and look it up. We’ll wait.
Yeah. That’s a GameCube game from 2005 going for rent money on eBay. The reason is simple: short production run, modest launch sales, and then Ike got into Smash Bros. Demand exploded overnight and the supply never caught up.
Right now your options are basically: spend an irresponsible amount of money on eBay, or figure out emulation (we didn’t say that). A proper remaster on Switch 2 — same treatment Nintendo gave Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door — fixes that problem overnight.
You shouldn’t need to hunt down a disc or drain your savings account to play a 2005 strategy RPG. Just put it on the console and let people buy it like a normal human being.
3. Chrono Trigger — The Rumor That Won’t Die (And Shouldn’t)
Original Platform: Super Nintendo (1995)
Status: Rumored. Leaked. Winked at on stream.
Look, this one has been “coming soon” for years. But the leaks are getting louder, and apparently the Dragon Quest creator basically winked at the camera when someone asked him about it on stream. That’s not nothing.
If Square Enix brings Chrono Trigger to Switch 2 in HD-2D — the same Octopath Traveler engine — that’s a day one purchase without needing to see anything else. No trailer needed. No review. Just take the money.
Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest RPGs ever made and most people under 30 have never touched it. That’s a problem with an obvious solution.
If you’re the type who loves when an old-school RPG gets a second shot on modern hardware, we already wrote about one that flew completely under the radar — Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin Is the Most Unhinged Final Fantasy 1 Game Ever Made. It’s a wild ride and worth every minute.
4. Kid Icarus: Uprising — A Masterpiece Trapped in a Bad Control Scheme
Platform: Nintendo 3DS (2012)
Famitsu Score: 40/40 (perfect)
Nintendo literally bundled a plastic stand in the box because the control scheme was so rough your hands would cramp up mid-mission. Left-handed players basically couldn’t play it without buying a separate peripheral.
You were moving with the left stick and aiming with the stylus on the touchscreen at the same time. For an action game. On a handheld. It was a nightmare.
And yet — the writing is hilarious, the pacing is great, the combat is genuinely creative. The game is a masterpiece. It’s just that nobody could comfortably enjoy it.
Put it on Switch 2 with dual analog sticks and proper gyro aiming and you have a completely different game. You’re not just making it prettier. You’re making it actually playable for the first time. That’s a reason to buy a console.
5. F-Zero GX — The Racing Game Nobody Has Topped in 20 Years
Platform: GameCube (2003)
Developer: Sega (built for Nintendo)
Here’s a wild fact: Sega built F-Zero GX for Nintendo in 2003, and it has never been topped as a futuristic racing game. Not once.
The boost mechanic costs health. You can go faster, but you might explode doing it. There’s actual risk. Modern racing games just don’t do that anymore.
It’s technically available on Switch 2 now through the GameCube Classic app, which is fine. But a full remake with real online multiplayer, proper matchmaking, and a track editor — that’s a completely different conversation. That’s a system seller.
6. Super Metroid — The Game That Invented a Genre
Platform: Super Nintendo (1994)
Status: Credible leaks suggest an internal Nintendo remake is in development
Super Metroid is one of the best games ever made. Full stop. Every indie Metroidvania you’ve played in the last decade exists because of this game.
The leaks suggest Nintendo is working on a remake internally — pixel art style, not full 3D. Which is exactly the right call. You don’t touch the physics of Super Metroid. You don’t touch the map layout. You upgrade the lighting, make it look incredible on a modern screen, and leave everything else alone.
This game deserves to be experienced by people who weren’t alive in 1994. A proper Switch 2 release does that.
7. Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver — Game Freak’s Last Great Effort
Platform: Nintendo DS (2009)
Copies Sold: 12 million
Current Used Price: $150 minimum
Two full regions. 16 gym badges. Your Pokémon following you around the overworld. And they put a physical pedometer in the box so you could level up your Pokémon by walking around in real life.
In 2009. A pedometer. In the box.
Game Freak has not come close to that level of effort since. And now a used copy costs $150 minimum because it’s never been reprinted.
A proper Switch 2 version — even a clean high-definition port — would be the biggest Pokémon release in years. Game Freak wouldn’t even need to build much from scratch. The bones are already there. Just let people play it without spending rent money.
Before You Drop $80 on a Switch 2 Game, Do This First
Switch 2 games are running $70–$80 at launch right now. That’s a lot of money to spend on something you’ve never touched before.
Gamefly lets you rent before you commit. Switch 2, Switch, GameCube classics, DS titles — they’ve got a massive catalog. You rent it, you play it, you send it back. Or you keep it if you love it. No guessing, no buyer’s remorse.
If half the games on this list actually get announced, you’re going to want a way to try them without gambling full price every time.
Try Gamefly free for 30 days →
Seriously, use it. Your wallet will thank you.
So What Would Actually Make You Buy a Switch 2?
If Nintendo gave us any two of those games, the conversation changes completely. Give us three and we're picking up a console the same day.
The Zelda remake is cool. We're not saying it isn't. But cool doesn't justify $400 when you've already played the game four times across four different consoles.
Nintendo knows what's sitting in that back catalog. They've always known. The question is whether they'll actually use it — or keep re-releasing the same titles and wondering why the hardcore fans aren't as excited as they used to be.
We want to root for them. We really do.
Do better, Nintendo.