It’s an incredibly special and exciting week with the release of a new console and a very highly anticipated launch title.

With around 28 launch titles coming on June 5th for Switch 2, that could describe a few games. But also, there really is only one candidate for that distinction this week – Mario Kart World!

Tell us more about Mario Kart World

While Switch 1 was one of the only Nintendo consoles that didn’t get its own Mario Kart – very much riding on the continued success of Mario Kart 8 – Switch 2 has a brand new installment. At launch.

Over a decade on, this is the first new Mario Kart on a mainline console and the first Mario Kart game since the mobile Mario Kart Tour in 2019.

It’s the same classic formula you know and love. Vibrant courses. Fun battle modes. Extensive Nintendo roster of characters – Donkey Kong, Wario, Daisy, Toad, Yoshi and the Mario Bros themselves. But there’s some big adjustments to make use of Nintendo’s most powerful console yet.

This is the first Mario Kart game to support 24 players per race from a roster of 50 characters – the largest out of the box roster to date with the most ambitious online modes yet. Characters also have alternative attire to really mix things up even further.

There’s selectable and customisable karts as there was before in Mario Kart 8 but another big difference is in Grand Prix mode you have to drive to individual tracks in free-roam, cruising around an expansive, wide open map. This can also include traversing along water, grinding on rails and even climbing up hilly surfaces.

This opens up the map in interesting ways, letting you find collectibles, complete missions and even find hidden secrets on the wide open map, which surely opens the game up to an expansive, ever-evolving world which Nintendo can continue to update through the console’s lifecycle. Just as they did with Mario Kart 8 and the Booster Course Pack.

Familiar courses will return but reimagined for the game, as well as brand new environments with day and night settings. And to take advantage of the increased player pool, you can take on ‘Knockout Tour’ which sees all 24 racers compete head to head in one long race, spanning the wider world, where a batch of racers have to reach a checkpoint before their rivals, eliminating them from the competition.

Finally, in Battle Mode you’ll have classic matchups like Balloon Battle as well as Coin Runners where you try to collect the most coins.

We absolutely cannot wait to get our hands on Mario Kart World, a title that surely has a shout at being placed among the best games of 2025 and one heck of a way to kick off the Switch 2’s exclusive library of games.

What else is coming to Switch 2 this week?

As well as an incredibly exciting sequel we’ve waited over a decade for, we also have a brand new Nintendo console and with it a unique batch of interesting titles. Here’s everything else coming to Switch 2 along with some of our particular highlights…

Another Switch 2 console exclusive, this is a remaster of the original Bravely Default game from Nintendo 3DS. Featuring HD graphics, new mini-games, a redesigned UI and additional quality of life updates, this is one of the sleeper hits also releasing on June 5th and a remaster of a fantastic game that should not be missed.

The big third party release of the launch and arguably the real technical test of the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware. Including Phantom Liberty and the base game, the game is receiving plenty of positive press for how it’s looking and working, presenting better than many other versions of the game and far outpacing what it did at launch. The best time to dive into this rich cyberpunk punk from CD Projekt Red.

For me, though, this game presents as Switch 2’s biggest test at launch. A fast-paced fighter that will surely test the limits of Nintendo Switch Online, needing to be smooth as butter in order to draw the player base across from other formats to here. With new modes and functionality to support the system, this is the other big multiplayer game at launch right next to Nintendo’s own driving behemoth.

An oldie but a goodie. Looking better than ever and for the first time on Nintendo hardware, Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut includes fully voice acted characters, higher resolution graphics and an all-new multiplayer mode – Red Light Raid. A fantastic introduction to the series for Nintendo owners and the absolute best way to play a classic if you’ve yet to enter this wonderful world.

Both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are getting full-blown Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades with full HDR, improved frame rate, a notes app for both games with increased functionality and more. This makes both classics imminently replayable and if you missed them the first time out, two huge Zelda adventures to play day one, better than ever!

The full Switch 2 launch line-up

Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer
Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
Civilization 7 (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition)
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Deltarune Chapters 1-4
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Fast Fusion
Fortnite
F-Zero GX (Nintendo Classics: Gamecube – Nintendo Switch Online)
Hitman World of Assassination
Hogwarts Legacy
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Mario Kart World
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition)
Shine Post: Be Your Idol! (Japan)
Sonic X Shadow Generations
Soulcalibur 2 (Nintendo Classics: Gamecube – Nintendo Switch Online)
Split Fiction
Street Fighter 6 – Years 1-2 Fighters Edition
Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars
Survival Kids
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo Classics: Gamecube – Nintendo Switch Online)
Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut