While this week’s Nintendo Direct was full of surprises, perhaps the biggest was that we finally got a release date for Metroid Prime 4 and, more importantly, our first look at gameplay seven years after its announcement initial. It was enough to send some fans are falling apart and it is with as much relief as enthusiasm to know that the long-awaited sequel is finally arriving in 2025.
But once the dust settled, parts of the internet started asking the question: Did Metroid Prime 4 work on Switch 2? The release date certainly ties into everything we know about the Switch’s successor, and there are moments in the trailer where it feels like a step up from what we’ve seen on Switch hardware. ‘origin. Of course, Nintendo never wanted to say what the demo was about, so IGN sought advice from the next best thing: the tech experts at Digital Foundry.
For years, Digital Foundry has analyzed video game performance at an unprecedented level and recently conducted a deep dive into what we can expect from the next generation of Nintendo hardwareso he’s in a better position than anyone to provide a reliable preview of Metroid Prime 4’s gameplay reveal.
So, did Metroid Prime 4 work on Switch 2?
Richard Leadbetter, technology editor at Digital Foundry, gave us the definitive answer: “It looks great and there are some cool effects that we took a closer look at, but ultimately all the evidence points to this game works on the original Switch. The internal rendering resolution counts at 900p, which is the same as Metroid Prime Remastered. And as good as it is, there are aliasing issues and even very minor frame rate drops. Everything about the visual composition is consistent with a truly well-made Switch game, where Retro has an excellent track record. I imagine the dev studio is really happy that people are making a connection with the Switch 2, mind you.
So while many were convinced that we got our first taste of a Switch 2 game in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, the truth is that it probably runs on existing hardware. While this is disappointing to some, it is also not surprising; I expect Nintendo to pull out all the stops when the Switch’s successor is finally revealed rather than sneaking in our first preview at the end of an (admittedly surprising) Nintendo Direct.
That said, developer Retro Studios deserves credit because making a game this beautiful with technology that’s more than seven years old is no easy feat, and Leadbetter explains how Retro could have achieved it: “A few years ago things at stake here, but ultimately it’s the skill of the developer working on a fixed platform that they’ve had time to learn over a long period of time. This singular focus makes great things possible. Another good example would be Halo 4 on Xbox 360: at the end of a console’s lifecycle, you see the hardware pushed in ways you never would have considered before.
Another reason the gameplay demo might look so good is that it might be representative of what the final game will look like rather than its exact outcome. It’s certainly not uncommon for this to be the case during early game previews and it’s also not the first time Nintendo has done something similar, as Leadbetter reveals: “Nintendo has released trailers which looked better than the final version of the games. There is the now legendary ‘Too big for the switch‘ trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and a trailer for Bayonetta 3 which ran consistently at 60fps, while the final game definitely doesn’t. However, in this case, with this developer and a game this long in the making, the instinct is to say that this is a Switch 1 and is representative of the actual console experience. If this were on the Switch 2, we’d expect anti-aliasing via DLSS (there’s none at all in this trailer) and a higher output resolution, for starters.
While all evidence points to Metroid Prime 4’s gameplay revealing it to be the original Switch hardware then, there’s no doubt, given its release in 2025, that it will eventually come to the Switch 2. Indeed, cross-gen games have long been part of every new console cycle. for years and it would make sense for Retro to develop an improved version of Metroid Prime 4 for the final release of the Switch 2. Which begs the question: what improvements can we expect over Metroid Prime 4 running on the Switch original? We can only theorize at the moment, but Leadbetter has his opinion: “This is a tricky question because it has as much to do with Nintendo’s cross-gen strategy as it does with hardware capabilities. One thing that always stands out about running Switch games on PC emulators is how scalable the artwork is. The art quality itself benefits immensely from higher resolutions, while the gameplay benefits from higher frame rates. At the very least, I would expect any remaining performance issues to be resolved, while running at a higher resolution, potentially increased by DLSS. If there are noticeable loading times, one would expect them to be reduced as the Switch 2 has faster storage and a hardware decompression block to ease the load on the CPU.
Of course, faster loading times and improved visuals are commonplace for cross-gen games running on more powerful hardware, but personally, it’s something I’m still excited about – not just for Metroid Prime 4 but also for the other Nintendo catalog. I would buy a Switch 2 in a heartbeat if they released enhanced versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and I’m sure I’m not alone.
But we don’t know at this time what Nintendo’s approach will be with the Switch 2. Many are hoping for backwards compatibility, myself included, but what about cross-gen games running on Switch 2? “The question is whether Nintendo is going for ‘easy wins’ like higher resolutions, higher precision effects, etc., as we’ve already seen on Sony and Microsoft consoles,” says Leadbetter. “Or will it draw more broadly from the Switch 2’s feature set and push for more revolutionary effects. After all, it supports ray tracing.
If Nintendo’s past has taught us anything, it’s that it doesn’t like to follow in the footsteps of others, so I hope Nintendo pulls out all the stops with the Switch 2.
Alex Simmons is IGN’s Features Director.