Today, I’m adding more games to the list of games that have seen improvements when played on Nintendo Switch 2. Let’s have a look!

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The New Denpa Men (Nintendo Switch 2)

Genre: Top-Down Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Wireless)

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Review:

WARNING: THIS GAME HEAVILY PUSHES MICROTRANSACTIONS

Sometimes I just have to shake my head and sigh when games that desperately need Nintendo Switch 2 Edition releases have yet to get any sort of update, and then we find releases like The New Denpa Men, which now has its own separate release on Nintendo Switch 2 (and being free-to-play, this is effectively a free upgrade, I suppose). It’s not that I hate this game, but… look at it, this game didn’t need a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. But it got one, so I’m looking at it…

Before going on, I should note that if you have a save file from the Nintendo Switch version of the game, that can transfer over to this version. So if you enjoy this game on Nintendo Switch and are looking to keep playing on Nintendo Switch 2, you certainly can without any trouble.

Now, when it comes to improvements… there actually are some. Namely, graphics and performance, though… well, it is still New Denpa Men. The resolution and framerate are both noticeably improved here, though this only helps so much – the game still uses low-quality 3D models for environments and characters, and you can still see a lot of aliasing. It still looks pretty ugly and terrible… but it’s a better ugly and terrible, if that makes sense.

There are also improvements to loading times, though only just. On Nintendo Switch, it took me 6 seconds to load to the title screen, another 10 seconds to load up a game save, and 6 seconds to change location. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times are cut down to 5, 9, and 5 seconds. Yeah, not much.

In short, New Denpa Men on Nintendo Switch 2 is definitely improved… but that improvement is pretty slight, and doesn’t make much of a difference to the overall game. If you enjoyed it on Nintendo Switch, you’ll find it slightly better on Nintendo Switch 2. If you didn’t care for it before, this will do absolutely nothing to change your mind.

tl;dr – The New Denpa Men is an odd Turn-Based Monster-Collecting RPG, where the “monsters” you’re collecting are little floating multicolored bodysuit-wearing men hanging out around real-world Wi-Fi hotspots. This entry takes the series to free-to-play, and in some ways it’s the best entry yet in the franchise, but it’s really dragged down by the requirement to always be online while playing, and the addition of microtransactions in an otherwise family-friendly game is pretty disgusting too.

Grade: C+

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Crumble

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Split-Screen), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

I still maintain that Crumble is one of the true hidden gems on the Nintendo Switch, a wonderful 3D Platformer that is unfortunately marred by poor performance on Nintendo’s aging hybrid console. So this was definitely a game I wanted to revisit on Nintendo Switch 2 to see if the improved hardware would make for an improved gameplay experience.

Before we get to the main event, let’s look at loading times. On Nintendo Switch, this game takes 21 seconds to load to the main title screen, and another 9 seconds to load up a level. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times are cut to 12 seconds and 5 seconds, just over half the time. Not bad.

But the real question here is about performance, and on Nintendo Switch 2, the performance of Crumble is improved significantly, greatly reducing slowdown… but not eliminating it entirely. To judge, I looked mainly at level 3C – Temple, one of the levels that really chugs. Mostly, this level ran smoothly on Nintendo Switch, but I did notice a few times where it still hitched a bit. Surprisingly, even Nintendo Switch 2 can’t eliminate all of this game’s performance issues. Also, I’ll note that the game’s overall low resolution is not improved at all here.

Still, it’s definitely an improvement, and while the issues this game had aren’t entirely gone on Nintendo Switch 2, they’re mostly gone, and for a game that’s this joyous to play, I’ll gladly take these improvements, even if they’re not quite as much as I would hope for.

tl;dr – Crumble is a 3D Platformer that has players speeding through obstacle course-style levels as a slime with a grappling hook-like tongue. Crumble is sorely lacking polish and has some performance issues (even on Nintendo Switch 2), as well as a bit of a steep learning curve. Yet despite these major flaws, it is an absolute joy to play, with an incredible sense of speed, thrilling physics, phenomenal level design, and an outstanding sense of freedom. It may be far from perfect, but it is still an absolutely must-play game for fans of Platformers.

Grade: B+

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I hope you enjoyed this latest batch of Nintendo Switch 2 Difference Mini-Reviews, and found them to be helpful! Want to see all Nintendo Switch 2 Difference comparisons? Check out this page for links to every article where I’ve included these comparisons!

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