After exhaustive testing, we're confident Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom's Switch 2 Editions are technically exceptional and essential

Of all the Switch 2 upgrades we’ve reviewed to date, Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel Tears of the Kingdom rank among the most satisfying. Both get a host of highly practical upgrades: boosted resolutions, a push to 60fps, improved visual settings, snappier loading times, HDR support and integration with a neatly presented Zelda Notes mobile app. Most of the visual tweaks are rather straightforward in nature, but the highlight is Tears of the Kingdom, for which Switch 2 makes a colossal difference in fixing the sub-30fps drops seen on original Switch hardware. Despite the more complex, physics-based contraptions possible in this 2023 follow-up, Switch 2 now allows for a convincing 60fps reading instead.

There is one catch however: these extras are not doled out for free. Unlike the automatic res and performance boosts possible playing certain other Switch 1 titles on Switch 2 hardware – like Super Mario Odyssey, for example – both Zelda games demand that you buy a specific Switch 2 Edition, or upgrade your original Switch version for $10/£8 via the eShop. It’s worth it, I’d say – especially for Tears of the Kingdom – but what precisely are we getting in return? What are the visual improvements, and resolution boosts for each game? And how drastic are the gains in frame-rate? Let’s find out.

Let’s tackle the comparisons head-on. Switch 2 keeps a dynamic resolution setup in place, as per the original Switch release, but with a higher range to better support 4K displays. On the original Switch for context, both Zelda titles target 1600×900 while in docked mode, with scope to drop to 1280×720 where the GPU is taxed.

The good news is that Switch 2 boosts those numbers drastically across both games, putting us at 2560×1440 at peak, with drops to 1440×810 in absolute extreme cases – like entering the Ultrahand view mode through a busy forested area. It’s worth noting that such low numbers like 810p are rare, but likelier in the more demanding sequel, while Breath of the Wild tends to veer closer to 1440p.