Is The Wrestling Sim Any Good On The Switch 2?
The Switch and WWE games do not have the best history. Aside from 2020’s Battlegrounds, we’ve not seen a 2K wrestling game on the system since 2017’s WWE 2k18. It was an unmitigated disaster on Nintendo’s console, plagued by shoddy frame rates and loading times that were so slow, they made the Big Show look fast.
So when 2K announced at a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase in April that WWE 2K25 (the most recent edition of the publisher’s annual wrestling simulator) was arriving on the Switch 2, you’d be forgiven for feeling sceptical.
While the Switch 2 has already demonstrated it can handle bigger games, like the wonderful port of Cyberpunk 2077, the jury is still out on whether or not it is powerful enough to comfortably run titles being released simultaneously alongside their PlayStation, Xbox and PC counterparts. Although WWE 2K25 came out in March, it’s arrival on the Switch 2 is a test of that. Thankfully, it’s an excellent port that feels very much at home here.
There’s the same lineup of game modes, such as Universe, The Island (which is new for 2K25) and My Rise, all of which have the same features as the PS5 version, for example. Inside the ring, it’s a treat. Fights are smooth and authentic with barely a glitch in sight. We get the full shebang of match types too; hell in a cell, underground and backstage brawl are all readily available, as are the myriad weapons stuffed under the ring to batter your opponents with.
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Mankind versus Randy Orton in a backstage brawl match on the Switch 2
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Even the likes of Elimination Chamber and Gauntlet bouts, both of which have more wrestlers on screen at once, run smoothly with any changes in frame rate being barely noticeable. This applies when playing on a TV and in handheld mode.
That said, there are minor compromises. Some of the graphical density is missing. Welts and bruising – which look so impressive on the PS5 version – are missing from wrestler’s bodies. Their facial animations lack nuance at times too and they occasionally appear glazed over. In truth, none of these issues are serious enough to hamper the level of immersion the game offers. The question now is: whatcha gonna do, brother, when stuck with the decision of which console to play WWE 2K25 on?