Nintendo Switch 2 has a list of free updates for a ton of original Nintendo Switch games. However, players have found out some games that weren't on that list are also running better on Switch 2 (like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) while others are having some unintended issues (also like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).
Despite being Shigeru Miyamoto's favourite child, Pikmin, is completely absent from the Switch 2 upgrade list. The Switch ports of the first three games and Pikmin 4 are backwards compatible but didn't get patched in order to take advantage of the Switch 2's features, which is frankly criminal considering how much of a slam dunk mouse controls for Pikmin would be. In fact, Pikmin 3 Deluxe is actually listed as a game "with issues that have been resolved, or are planned to be resolved, by an update" by Nintendo, and fans have quickly discovered why.
In a video posted by imonlyhereforpikmin on YouTube, the user shows off the litany of issues with Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Most notably, the game has strange visual glitching and screen flickering that appears constantly.
Before the Switch 2 launched the game was patched (thanks, Nintendo Life) with a note saying it "partially alleviated an issue that occurs when playing on Nintendo Switch 2 where the entire screen flickers during some scenes in the game, such as when a day starts and ends."
However the issues are still extremely prevalent in the game at the moment, even outside of those two scenes mentioned. Nintendo did previously say it "will be releasing an update in the near future to fix this completely" however.
But that's not the full extent of Pikmin 3's problems on Switch 2. In the video, imonlyhereforpikmin reports they experienced input lag on the game's menus, stuttering during gameplay, hard crashes, and an ominous red glow staying on the screen. Similar complaints have been echoed across social media, with threads complaining about crashing and glitching textures. The crashing in particular, imonlyhereforpikmin adds, makes the game "borderline broken."
Nintendo hasn't mentioned any of these issues, but hopefully they will be targeted in the next patch too (and throw in 4K and mouse controls while it's at it, please).
