Batman: Arkham Knight was released on the original Switch with excitement, but it was not even a decent experience at best. The game was plagued by severe frame rate drops, long stutters, and borderline unplayable driving sections, a far cry from the smooth, cinematic gameplay fans expected.
Fast forward to June 2025, Switch 2 has finally been released, and it’s a whole new story. The game runs dramatically better, with stable performance and far fewer issues, proving that the hardware leap is not just noticeable, it’s game-changing.
Batman: Arkham Knight went from trainwreck to enjoyable on Switch 2
On Switch 1, Arkham Knight struggled under the weight of its own ambition. It attempted to bring a massive, graphically intensive open-world experience to a handheld device that simply couldn’t keep up. A storage bottleneck and an overwhelmed CPU resulted in massive stutters.
But on Switch 2? It’s a different story (via DigitalFoundry). Leveraging its faster CPU, GPU, and significantly upgraded storage speeds (due to the microSD express cards required and just plain better internal storage), the new hardware brute-forces the game into a much more stable state.
While still not the best, since the game is still a Switch variant and is only available due to backward compatibility, the actual gameplay experience is smooth and finally enjoyable. Even the infamous Batmobile sections are now playable.
It’s not a full remaster, but the Switch 2’s power allows the original, poorly optimised code to perform to the best of its ability. It’s a testament to just how much headroom the new system provides, and it gives hope for the playability of other demanding titles in the Switch library.
Batman isn’t alone in benefiting from this next-gen leap. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, another title that pushed the original Switch to its limits and was often lauded as a miracle (but still one with heavy sacrifices in resolution and performance), also sees significant gains on Switch 2.
A promising future for backwards compatibility
These improvements aren’t just pleasant surprises, they signal something much bigger. While the original Switch often buckled under the weight of AAA ports, its successor is proving that the same games can now shine, even without being re-released or reworked.
This isn’t just backwards compatibility, it’s enhanced backwards compatibility, if we go the Nintendo route in giving its name. Of course, there are caveats. The handheld display still upscales many titles from their original 720p resolution using basic methods.
This led to less-than-crisp visuals on the more advanced screen. And in the case of Arkham Knight, a few rough edges remain, including occasional crashes. But those issues pale in comparison to the technical trainwreck of the original release.
If there was any doubt about how significant the jump from Switch 1 to Switch 2 really is, Batman: Arkham Knight puts it to rest. Throw in improved performance for other demanding titles like The Witcher 3, and it’s clear: the successor is actually a leap forward.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
