Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza "could not be realized" on Switch 1, says Nintendo president to hardware doubter

Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza could only have been made on Nintendo Switch 2, according to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa.

During a recent investor Q&A (translated via DeepL), Furukawa was asked how much of a technical jump there was between the Switch 2 and its predecessor. In response, he said that "higher hardware processing performance has become necessary for software developers to realize one of Nintendo's most important goals: proposing new ways to play."

With that in mind, Furukawa explains that Nintendo looked to boost the processing power, and he claims that without that boost, Nintendo Switch 2 launch games like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza "could not be realized."

"The Nintendo Switch 2 might not seem like much of a change on the outside." Furukawa continues, "However, in reality, both the hardware and peripherals have been developed from scratch."

Furukawa doesn't explain why those two games couldn't work on Switch, but if I had to guess, it would be because of Mario Kart World's extremely open approach to its world, and Donkey Kong Bananza's almost fully destructive environments. Couple that with the various third-party titles like Elden Ring and Hogwarts Legacy that are making their way to the platform, and it's clear that the Switch 2 is making a hardware step-up - even if that's not immediately obvious from its Switch 1-style design.

If you're trying to get your hands on the new console, make sure to check in with our Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders live blog.