Nintendo Reveal Switch 2 Compatibility Features for N64 Titles, Ignores Original Switch
In a recent video, Nintendo highlighted forthcoming compatibility options for N64 titles played via the Switch 2, but continues to give original Switch owners short shrift. Plus, only Switch 2 users with the premium Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription can get the tweaks, not those with the standard Switch Online plan.
The compatibility options extend to customizable controls, a rewind function, and a CRT filter. Switch users only get access to customizable controls and, unsurprisingly, many gamers have not been very impressed with this news.
“The original Nintendo Switch simply does not have the raw technological power to produce a CRT filter, let alone rewind a 25 year old game,” said YouTube user HunterSaddo.
This sarcasm was matched by many others, including user Sydney_Angelyt: “The power of Switch 2: being able to apply a CRT filter. Truly, this is the power of next gen hardware.”
Can The Switch Handle N64 Rewinds And CRT?
The answer to this may not be as straightforward as it seems. While it is very easy, and possibly justified, to express surprise at Nintendo’s apparent inability to implement two features that a) are very common in retro game collections on other systems and b) should be well within its technological reach, the fact it didn’t add, or isn’t adding, these to the Switch’s version of N64 games is still worth a look.
Firstly, it’s reasonable to look at Nintendo emulators and find those with rewind features. Most game emulators have these, in fact. However, even established and popular N64 emulators such as Project64 aren’t capable of it.
The reason why is complicated but can be summed up as being due to the software architecture behind N64 games. Some rewind features are more like a constant save state rather than a literal rewind, but even this (with N64 titles) would generate data of around 4MB, up to 8MB, every time.
It may not sound like much, but the game would be asking the system to save this data frequently, so the RAM usage soon builds up (the Switch has 4GB RAM, which is low by modern standards). It may all boil down to the Switch simply not having the capacity to handle this, as crazy as that may sound.
As for the CRT filter: this also depends on how the Switch 2 implements it. If it’s a texture (for example, an image file) that’s used as an overlay, then there is no reason why it couldn’t be worked into N64 games on the original Switch.
However, if it’s a robust shader, the likes of which is used on many modern games, even ones that look old like The Labyrinth of The Demon King, then chances are this would also be beyond the rendering capabilities of the Switch. Especially taking into account the system also needing to run its proprietary emulation software at the same time.
Compatibility Issues
Although these are valid reasons for the lack of N64 features on Switch, gamers are rightfully annoyed given that a rewind function was successfully implemented on the Switch, for NES and SNES games, in 2019.
Granted, the Switch 2 uses completely different components to its predecessor, which also extends to a lack of backwards compatibility with around 80% of original Switch titles, but this is one of the biggest games companies in the world.
If the people responsible for creating the world’s first 3D games system can’t figure out how to implement rewind, and a CRT filter, into the original Switch for another games system it designed, then it could be fair to think there’s something seriously wrong with that company.
Meanwhile, any gamers who get hold of a Switch 2 on launch day (June 5, 2025) and therefore access to the N64 features, but don’t want to fork out extra money for the privilege of using them, may find themselves the owner of a Nintendo-branded paperweight if they look for other ways (such as third party software) to implement these features.
