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Discussion Where do you rank the Switch among Nintendo handhelds?

M

MagiCarbo

Bob-omb
We've seen the Nintendo Switch match up to Nintendo's home console greats such as the SNES, Nintendo 64 and Wii. But what about Nintendo's handhelds? After all, the entire point of the Switch is that you can play it anywhere, so it's only natural to see where it stands in that category.

Personally, as far as the library and quality is concerned, I'd say the Switch is among one of the greatest Nintendo among their handhelds. I'd say it ranks up there with the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, maybe even surpassing those systems.

You have Nintendo console titles like Legend of Zelda BotW/TotK and Super Mario Odyssey playable alongside evolved versions of handheld staples like Kirby and Fire Emblem. Even those console-like games can play similarly to handheld games in that they can be enjoyed in small doses.

But I also think the Switch has brought back a lot of that "Nintendo handheld" feel that I thought was somewhat missing from the Nintendo 3DS, particularly on the third party front. From Indies, to the various great Japanese games and remasters, I feel like the Switch has brought back some of that magic from the GBA and DS.
 
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I think it can easily trade blows with each of the platforms if we exclude backwards compatibility. But imo if you allow backwards compatibility then the 3DS probably edges it out.
 
If I don't count nostalgia (the original game boy was a revelation for me back then), I'd say that switch is by far number one for me. It's modern, offers out of the box local coop, has tabletop mod which is incredible in flights and offers the best library out of any handheld.
 
My wish of 3DS is that i want it can connect with my PC screen, and Switch did it. As a hardware Switch is the best for me.
 
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Overall the 3DS is still King, it‘s more quirky and has the Nintendo charme that is missing from the Switch. But pure Software wise the Switch takes first place.
 
Easily at the top of the handhelds. All their previous handhelds were great in their own way, but the Switch's library is massive between 1st/3rd party games and NSO. Even if we're only talking exclusives, I'd still give it to the Switch. The SNES is the only Nintendo console with a comparable 1st party library IMO.
 
Switch is my favourite Nintendo console now thanks to the library of games. The 3DS though did have some really fun features and a more interesting UI but I never really got the most out of that stuff (Street pass for example)

If I had to choose one over the other Switch OLED is my handheld of choice
 
I enjoyed my Gameboy as a kid but not many of its games I owned are anywhere near my toplist of video games ever.

With the DS I re-entered the Nintendo ecosystem and I have a lot of love for that system (only played like four N64 games, never touched a Gamecube, GBC or GBA). I discovered a lot of new franchises and new styles of gameplay through it.

3DS had good games, but I never got too deep into the library of that one.

Switch tops the DS for me. So many good entries in beloved series and some I have never tried before (Animal Crossing Horizons).
Very very good system.
 
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Easily at the top of the handheld list for me. The sheer amount of quality games on top of stacks of amazing indies. Having a handheld that’s got decent versions of Doom, Diablo and Elder Scrolls, on top of Monster Hunter, Octopath, Ys, Phoenix Wright, Tactics Ogre and Dragon Quest, plus Mario, Zelda, Fire Emblem etc, plus near endless indies covering the gaps. For every quirky DS game for £25 there’s now a pile of indies doing something similar for less. The Switch has thousands of games and I there’s something for everyone, including stuff that the best other Nintendo handhelds just weren’t that good at.
 
I'm torn between GBA and Switch. For me, Switch will be my top Nintendo handheld once NSO ends up having a vast array of GBA titles, including some third-party ones. Or even just GBA collections outside of NSO.
 
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1. Switch
2. 3DS
3. GBA=GB(C)
4. DS

It's real close at the top with 3DS being a serious #1 contender, but Switch getting a consolidated library of "console" games along with the more "handheld-y" titles puts it over the top for me
 
It's hard to compare them because so many of the later ones subsumed the previous libraries, right? But if taken in their historical context, it's hard to top the OG GameBoy.

30 hours of battery life in something you could legitimately fit in your (admittedly large) pocket, for the price of about what a Lite is now, after inflation. A library that ran from Tetris to Pokemon. Three Zeldas, one of which is an undisputed classic, and the other two combined to be the most ambitious project in the series history at the time. The creation of Wario, the home of Kirby, and at its peak it had the third party pace of the GBA, but at a much higher quality ratio.

The Switch almost feels like a totally different device. And adult can take it with them, and it fits those of us who grew up on the handhelds as a couch handheld very well. The full power of the first party library, plus the excellent third party support make it a truly amazing system. But its not a "hours while secretly awake at summer camp device" the way the GameBoy was, and so it's magic is of a different kind.
 
For me personally...
  1. Nintendo Switch
  2. Nintendo 3DS / new Nintendo 3DS
  3. Game Boy Advance
  4. Nintendo DS / Nintendo DSi
  5. Game Boy / Game Boy Color
  6. Pokémon mini
 
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Switch is on top easily, the move to a hybrid format really did wonders for it.

I guess if we count BC then 3DS kinda automatically gets #2? But if not then it'd be DS for me.
 
As a whole, I think each subsequent Nintendo handheld is better than the last. So, Switch > 3ds > DS > GBA > Game Boy is my ranking.

If we're specifically looking at 3rd party support, then the ranking would be a bit different; it'd go Switch > DS > GBA > 3ds > Game Boy.
 
I love the Switch a lot, but as a handheld, I do find it kinda lacking. I cannot fit it into my pocket, which gives literally other handheld an advantage for me. The New 3DS XL is still number one handheld for me, I think.

I like the Switch more than the N3DSXL, but I like the N3DSXL more as a handheld.
 
Easily the best unless you do that thing of giving the same weight to the backwards compatible library to the original library on the DS and 3DS (so it's not really the DS and 3DS, it's DS+GBA and 3DS+DS), which I personally don't like doing and prefer to give more importance to the console's original library, but even then I'm not sure, the Switch library is way too amazing.
 
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I've played it more than any other handheld despite the fact I am now an adult without infinite freetime, so probably pretty high! My only complaint is something the Switch can't help: the fact it's bigger and heavier than the past handhelds.
 
I feel like "objectively" the Switch's catalogue is leagues above any other Nintendo console. It's the first time in forever that a Nintendo platform got a good chunk of multiplatform games (+ older gen ports) while at the same time it benefited from merging the first party output on a single platform, and succeeding the Vita as the indie darling console means it's almost always prioritized for ports and whatnot (ex: getting Hollow Knight like a full year earlier than PS4 / Xbox).

The hardware though is where I think it falters a little. I don't mean power-wise, more so the size (even the Lite is a bit bigger than what I'd like) and how it feels (joycon drift, the awful d-pad on the Lite, even just how the sticks feel move around and click). It's a bit of a shame they never attempted a clamshell design with any of its models, could've been interesting to see.
 
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Objectively Switch software catalog outclasses all of their handhelds.
It's just a lot ess portable than any of them.
I think if you assume the Switch being used is a Switch Lite, it edges out the Nintendo DS for #1 spot.
 
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I love the Switch, but a handheld system without StreetPass isn’t ever gonna make it to the top of my list of top handheld systems when it comes to what makes them the best specifically as a handheld system.

Switch wins in being both a handheld and home console, though.
 
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  1. Switch
  2. DS
  3. GBA
  4. 3DS
  5. GB(C)
I have very little personal connection to the GB and GBC when compared to GBA. 3DS I go back and forth on liking and not liking... ultimately, I think the lack of variety compared to the DS does it in and I pretty much consider it a "niche RPG" machine with some certified first-party bangers sporadically interspersed. Switch of course has the advantage of having both "handheld" and "home" experiences, but I think it does both better compared to its predecessor(s).
 
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1. GBA
2. DS
3. GB
4. 3DS
5. Switch


Switch has fantastic games but I don't use it as a handheld. Poor battery life, uncomfortable and just don't use handhelds much anymore unless it's for playing GBA games.
 
I’ve never really treated it as a handheld, more a home console that I’ve taken on a handful of flights.

It’s never really felt right to compare it to a 3DS to me.
 
The Switch is easily the best handheld Nintendo has released since the DS. We got games from a wide variety of Nintendo series and third parties, even games that were never previously released on a Nintendo system.
 
I think the switch is the second best home console they've ever produced beaten out only by the snes. As a a hand held, the new 3ds xl is still king for me. The games designed for it were designed as hand held experiences, enjoyed best in short spurts. While the switch library is legendary, the games got more expensive to produce meaning we lost things like new etrian odyssey games, and a regular cadence of things like Pokemon mystery dungeon games. So as a hand held, with games that had shorter development times, and were great for quick sessions, I have to give the edge to the 3ds.
 
At the top.

It's probably the best console ever made in terms of the game library. Really only the PS2 could make an argument for being placed above the Switch.
 
Beanstar40 said:
I think the switch is the second best home console they've ever produced beaten out only by the snes. As a a hand held, the new 3ds xl is still king for me. The games designed for it were designed as hand held experiences, enjoyed best in short spurts. While the switch library is legendary, the games got more expensive to produce meaning we lost things like new etrian odyssey games, and a regular cadence of things like Pokemon mystery dungeon games. So as a hand held, with games that had shorter development times, and were great for quick sessions, I have to give the edge to the 3ds.
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Development times and costs for handheld games were already increasing in the 3DS era. It's easy to forget, but a lot of Nintendo's games on the 3DS were beginning to rival their console experiences.

So the Switch is just a natural evolution of that. Plus, games like BotW/TotK and Mario Odyssey are designed to be enjoyed in small bursts too.
 
The Switch might be the best Nintendo console but I don't think it's the best "handheld." Strictly on its own the DSi (or the DSi XL) is sort of the ideal handheld in terms of design and library. Taking backwards compatibility into consideration it's hard to beat the New 3DS. The DS family devices are genuinely pocketable in a way the Switch just isn't, the dual screens/touch screen provide gameplay experiences that simply aren't possible on other systems. And the libraries have a ton of unique gems from a really creative and fun era of game design. If I had to pick a "desert island" gaming device it'd be genuinely hard to choose between a New 3DS and a Steam Deck.
 
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I’ve just accepted at this point, I’ll spend the rest of my life being nostalgic for the Nintendo DS, but if I can set that aside, I think the Switch just about pips it as the best there’s ever been. The sheer library is insane.
 
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bashfluff said:
The 3DS is better. The Switch isn't as portable, and the battery life is way too short.
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OLED battery life is on the same level as New 3DS. It definitely varies more per title than other Nintendo handhelds, but you can get some hefty playtime out of anything that's 2D like Wonder.
 
Out of every Nintendo handheld I've owned, I'd rank them like this:

1. Switch
2. 3DS (DS games excluded)
3. GBA SP

3DS has my favorite games ever on it but I feel Switch had a lot more strong games to offer in general from both first party and third party studios. My handheld experience with Switch wasn't bad at all minus Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Having HD graphics on a handheld does give it an unfair advantage too since you can immerse yourself into the game's world more properly. I do wish Switch had some of 3DS' features though. StreetPass I miss you.

I can easily predict Switch 2 acing in the third party games but I'm curious if the first party catalog will be as strong as Switch's.
 
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ProteusRidley said:
1. GBA
2. DS
3. GB
4. 3DS
5. Switch


Switch has fantastic games but I don't use it as a handheld. Poor battery life, uncomfortable and just don't use handhelds much anymore unless it's for playing GBA games.
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I disagree with it having poor battery life.

Though I have the updated Mariko Switch.
 
Wockio said:
OLED battery life is on the same level as New 3DS. It definitely varies more per title than other Nintendo handhelds, but you can get some hefty playtime out of anything that's 2D like Wonder.
Click to expand...


Aaah, that makes sense. I don’t have the OLED, so it always crapped out after an hour or two for me.
 
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