The Switch 2 launch lineup was weird — or that’s what I thought after watching the April Nintendo Direct, anyway. Sure, Mario Kart World as a launch game made sense from a business perspective. When a re-release of Mario Kart 8 sells 68 million copies on the original Switch, it’s hardly surprising to see Nintendo lead with what data shows would more than likely be a big success. But was that really it? Just a racing game?

One month later, I’ve played Mario Kart World more than any other game on my Switch 2. The way it fits into my life, whether I have a few minutes or an hour to play, transformed it from being an odd-seeming launch choice to one that makes perfect sense, even if Nintendo’s doing its best to make it seem otherwise.

I opted for the Mario Kart World bundle to save money, but the really exciting part about getting a Switch 2 — or so I thought at the time — was the chance to play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in full at last. I bounced off the game hard after speeding through some of its more difficult challenges for guides, and since it stuttered frequently in places and froze for several seconds during transitions between the open world and dungeons, I figured there wasn’t any point starting again until a more powerful Switch existed. The day my Switch 2 arrived, I loaded Tears of the Kingdom to see how much of a difference the frame rate improvement makes and haven’t played again.

Instead, I’ve spent most of my time with Mario........

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