Metroid Prime 4: Beyond technically isn’t the first Nintendo-published Switch 2 game to offer 120FPS support, but I don’t count that weird paid tech demo known as Switch 2 Welcome Tour that launched with the system. No, Prime 4 is Nintendo’s first 120FPS Switch 2 experience, and it’s amazing. It is also a bit odd coming from Nintendo, but it makes me really hope this is an option in future games from the Mario company.
Out now on Switch 2 and the OG Switch, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the next entry in the popular sci-fi shooter series that is itself a spin-off of the 2D Metroid games. And while I found the opening hour to be a bit meh, the game really picks up once you reach Volt Forge. But one thing that was great and remained excellent from the very start was Metroid Prime 4‘s performance mode on Switch 2, which offers up 120 buttery smooth frames per second if your TV can handle it. Gunplay, platforming, driving, and even puzzle solving are just so much nicer at the higher framerate.
And this isn’t some hidden mode. No, the moment you first boot up Prime 4, it asks you to select between two modes: a 4K/60FPS option and a 1080p/120FPS option. I’ve played the game both ways, and while the 60FPS option is great and looks a tad sharper, I’ve primarily played Prime 4 in the 120FPS mode because it feels so nice and smooth. At first, I was worried that the Switch 2 would struggle to maintain that high framerate. But in my hours with the game so far, I’ve only seen one or two dips, and that was only in the open world desert portions of Prime 4.
It’s tricky to share 120FPS videos on the internet. Even using YouTube is challenging, as the ability to watch 120FPS content depends on the video, your device, etc. So unfortunately, I can’t show you how good Prime 4 looks running at a high framerate. But trust me, it’s great and totally worth the small trade-off of the image looking a little softer compared to the 4K/60FPS mode. And yeah, it’s weird to even be talking about modes like this in a Nintendo first-party release. I’m not upset about it at all, though, as I’ve long wanted Nintendo’s visuals and tech to catch up with the rest of the industry, and this is a big step in that direction.
Now all I can do is think about how great it would be for the next mainline 3D Mario to offer a 120FPS mode. Can you imagine a new F-Zero running at 120FPS? Or what about a Smash Bros sequel offering a high framerate mode? I know not all Nintendo-published games moving forward will support 120FPS, but I hope we get a few more every year as the company’s games often look and feel better than usual when you have all those extra frames.
