The 10 Best Video Game Remakes on the Switch

Throughout its 8 years on the market, the Nintendo Switch has been home to a slew of incredible first and third-party games that made the most of the console's hybrid functionality and ability to take beloved titles on the go. Running concurrent with the Switch's lifespan has been the recent trend of companies producing high-profile video game remakes, which the Switch was able to greatly cash in on thanks to Nintendo's reimagining of several iconic first-party titles. So while every 8th and 9th generation console has plenty of video game remakes and remasters in their libraries, only the Switch has access to the great newer versions of classic titles in the Mario and Legend of Zelda franchises among others), and the following 10 games mark the best video game remakes available on the console.

• Release Date — September 13, 2021
• Developer — Sonic Powered, Square Enix
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — Action RPG, City-Builder
• Review Aggregate Score — 74% (Mixed or Average)

The original ActRaiser stands as one of the Super Nintendo's best games and a beloved 16-bit classic. So to see that the title was getting a ground-up remake for PC and modern consoles was a welcome surprise, and the Switch version of ActRaiser Renaissance has the added benefit of being portable. While it's not quite as good as the original ActRaiser, thanks to some interesting shifts in the art style and a new tower defense mode that many players didn't enjoy, ActRaiser Renaissance is still a faithful remake of one of the SNES' best games and an absolute must play for anyone with fond memories of the original.

• Release Date — February 16, 2024
• Developer — Nintendo Software Technology
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Platformer, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)

As is typically the case with Nintendo, the promise of new hardware on the horizon saw the company start to wind things down for the Switch last year, with only a few major first-party releases to speak of. As it turns out, though, two of them were some of the Switch's best video game remakes, with the first to arrive being Mario vs. Donkey Kong. A remake of the Game Boy Advance puzzle platformer classic, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a fairly faithful remake that makes only a few minor adjustments to gameplay but greatly enhances the visuals, and it's still just as fun today as it was more than 20 years ago.

• Release Date — November 14, 2024
• Developer — Artdink, Team Asano, Square Enix
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)

It's no secret that the Dragon Quest franchise got a much-needed shot in the arm with the excellent Dragon Quest 11, whose Switch version would quickly become one of the console's best JRPGs in the early days of its lifespan. Square Enix's decision to remake the initial trilogy of titles in the series (the Erdrick Trilogy) using the HD-2D art style of Octopath Traveler was met with substantial acclaim, so of course the title would get a Switch version. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is an old-school JRPG through and through, but it's also potentially the best version of one of the all-time greatest games in the Dragon Quest series, making it an essential purchase for any Switch owner who's a fan of Japanese role-playing games.

• Release Date — November 19, 2021
• Developer — ILCA
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 73% (Mixed or Average)

The decision to remake a beloved title in a series can be a bit of a tightrope walk for developers, who need to strike a balance between retaining what players love from the original experience while also introducing newer features that those same players have come to expect from modern games. The remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the Switch might err more on the side of being faithful remakes, neglecting to include many series innovations that came from subsequent games in the Pokémon series, but that also helps them to retain a very old-school charm that fans of the original can readily pick up on. While many still prefer these titles' original DS versions, there's no denying that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are still great entries in the Pokémon series.

• Release Date — April 21, 2023
• Developer — WayForward
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Strategy, Tactics
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)

The long-delayed remake of the first two games in the Advance Wars series finally arrived in 2023 after an initially planned 2020 release date, and it ended up being well worth the wait. These classic turn-based strategy and tactics games were the West's introduction to a series that had been hugely popular in Japan since the initial entry on the Famicom, and seeing them brought to life using new visuals and quality-of-life enhancements on the Switch only serves to prove how timeless the Advance Wars gameplay is. With any luck, the success of the Advance Wars remake package might pave the way for a new mainline entry on the Switch 2.

• Release Date — July 22, 2022
• Developer — Historia, Square Enix
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)

Long before Square Enix would take the HD-2D art style popularized by Octopath Traveler and use it to remake the initial trilogy of Dragon Quest games, the legendary studio would apply that same technology to one of its more obscure 16-bit RPGs: Live A Live. A fan-favorite RPG from Square that was trapped for years behind Japanese exclusivity, the Live A Live remake brings this excellent, time-hopping RPG to a modern audience, immediately establishing itself as a forgotten classic that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with greats from the same era like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. Best of all for Switch owners, this remake of Live A Live was initially a console exclusive until its eventual release on PC a year later.

• Release Date — November 2, 2023
• Developer — Square Enix
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)

A personal favorite of mine and arguably my favorite JRPG remake on the Switch, Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a ground-up remake of the PS1 classic, Star Ocean: The Second Story, and the enhancements it makes to the visuals, presentation, gameplay, and story make it the definitive version of one of the genre's all-time greatest games. For anyone who loves the original Second Story, Second Story R feels like the best kind of fan service, addressing any possible complaint players might have had about going back and replaying the original and adding in several quality of life features that make it not just one of the Switch's best video game remakes, but one of its best games, period.

• Release Date — May 23, 2024
• Developer — Intelligent Systems
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)

Sometimes, an original version of a title is so beloved that the thought of remaking it almost seems sacrosanct. Such was the case with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, which, other than being trapped on the GameCube, remains as enjoyable today as it was back in 2004. Nintendo's decision to remake The Thousand-Year Door was ultimately handled with care, though, with the new version remaining incredibly faithful to the original while updating the visuals and adding in some additional content that, for most fans, provided welcome changes that made a new playthrough more interesting. And much like Second Story R, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is more than just a great remake; it's one of the better games on the console.

• Release Date — September 20, 2019
• Developer — Grezzo
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Action-Adventure
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)

The original Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is one of the most-loved Zelda games for a reason. In addition to its excellent gameplay and dungeon design (both of which pull heavily from the series' greatest 2D game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past), Link's Awakening is decidedly weird and offbeat for a Zelda game, striking a tone that's much closer to David Lynch's Twin Peaks than what you'd typically find in another game in the series. The remake of Link's Awakening is a rousing success precisely because it honors all the things people love about the original while updating it with an incredibly unique art style, and it ends up being perhaps the best Zelda game on the Switch, barring Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, as a result.

• Release Date — November 17, 2023
• Developer — ArtePiazza
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)

Owing to its release late in the SNES' lifespan, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars would become a bit of a collector's item due to a smaller cartridge run. To add insult to injury, the title remained trapped on a long-dormant console, forcing players to resort to emulation if they wanted to experience its brilliant blend of JRPG mechanics and Mario universe charm, humor, and heart. Thankfully, Nintendo realized it was sitting on a gold mine with Super Mario RPG and greenlit a full remake for the Switch, and it's amazing how well the game holds up in a modern context, even with very minimal changes made to the base game outside of its visuals and difficulty balancing.