One of the more interesting aspects of the Nintendo Switch 2 that was shown during its big Nintendo Direct deepdive was the option to use the new Joy-Cons as mouse inputs by turning them on their sides and using the optical technology on the connecting side of the controller. That opens up the door for all kinds of versatility that could be applied to numerous games on the Switch 2. In fact, we have some key choices for games we’d like to see get Switch 2 mouse support. Here they are.
Unicorn Overlord
Unicorn Overlord is Vanillaware’s popular 2024 strategy RPG, and its very genre would lend itself well to mouse inputs. With how much we’ve played, it’s pretty easy to say there’s a lot of inputs, organization, and commands that could be simplified by mouse functionality. Moving characters around in formations, changing their equipment, and even issuing commands on the battlefield are okay on a gamepad, but with mouse support, they’d be a breeze and make Unicorn Overlord all the more intuitive and fun.
Doom 2016 & Eternal
Shooters are fine on a gamepad, but most of us who play them would far rather use a mouse and keyboard. We were born in WADS and high-sensitivity turning afforded to us by a mouse and keyboard, and so was Doom. That’s why it only makes sense that Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal should receive mouse treatment. Heck, if it works well, probably every first-person shooter that comes to Nintendo Switch should have mouse input support, but it should definitely be applied to one of the best shooters of all time and its sequel. It’s just common sense.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
It's been two years since Microsoft publicly vowed to bring a decade's worth of Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms. While the idea of Black Ops 6 running on a 2017 Switch is laughable, the Switch 2 just might be able to pull it off. If and when Call of Duty comes to Switch 2, it only makes sense that it uses the console's mouse functionality, allowing for precise aiming and the closest approximation that consoles can give to PC play.
Fortnite
Fortnite's building aspect is the source of the game's largest skill gaps. It's already hard enough to keep up with the quick-building skills of other players, so being able to quickly and precisely place roofs, stairs, and walls with a mouse could be the difference between elimination and a Victory Royale. It'll also be great for wielding Fortnite's arsenal of scoped weapons.
Quake Remastered
Much in the same vein of Doom 2016 and Eternal, it only makes sense that one of the most influential shooters of all time is there to introduce us to the Switch 2's mouse feature. Quake is synonymous with mouse & keyboard play, and it should easily translate to the Switch 2. And who knows, perhaps it could encourage a certain publisher to get the ball rolling on a new installment.
Super Mario Maker 2
Super Mario Maker 2 doesn’t have to do much to already be one of the coolest sandbox builders of all time… but mouse support would be so very nice. We already spend more than half of the game assembling props and planting them around our creations. Having the ability to design our levels with point-and-click input options would be absolutely peachy. You’d see Briefcase levels created with utmost efficiency, and we expect all of your favorite creators would be appreciative of, and maybe even inspired by, the quality-of-life improvement. It’d also give us something nice to chew on while we wait for Super Mario Maker 3.
Kid Icarus: Uprising
For the longest time, we’ve been waiting to see Pit and Palutena make a return on the Switch. It unfortunately looks like it’s going to miss the first console. However, we’re still keeping our hopes alive, and the Switch 2 presents a new opportunity to re-explore it. Why? Well, Kid Icarus: Uprising was half on-rails shooter where you used the touch screen of the 3DS to target enemies. That control scheme seems challenging to bring to just a gamepad, but the Switch 2’s mouse support just might be the ticket to make Uprising work on a Switch console.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
For the most part, Animal Crossing: New Horizons actually plays quite well with the standard analog stick. However, there is one key part of gameplay that'd be enhanced by being able to use a mouse: design. If we could quickly move and place furniture in point-and-click capacity, that'd take a lot of pain out of the home and island design. In a perfect world, I could just use an on-screen cursor instead of having to manually grab and move items around with gamepad buttons and sticks.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a criminally overlooked collaboration by Nintendo and Ubisoft. One would probably expect a Mario and Rabbids game to be a party game, but no, it’s a tactical strategy game in the vein of X-COM. Being a strategy game where you command units around a mapped battlefield from an overhead view, this game is begging for mouse support treatment. There’s nothing particularly difficult about Sparks of Hope’s controls, but it sure would be nice to be able to handle unit command and control via a point and click interface.
The Duskbloods
One of the most important games to be announced for the Nintendo Switch 2 was easily The Duskbloods. FromSoftware is set to bring an original game to the new console, and with it will come all sorts of options for gameplay and combat in the game. Inevitably, The Duskbloods will have a form of ranged combat in weapons like bow and arrows and magic spells. FromSoftware menus are also usually quite extensive and full of options. In both cases, mouse support allowing us to aim and click through our options would be a boon. Hopefully Nintendo and FromSoftware make it work to make Duskbloods all the more fun.
Balatro
Balatro is already a joy on the Switch, but using an analog stick instead of a mouse (or finger) adds an extra few seconds to turns and can make some gameplay moments feel a bit clunky. With the mouse feature, we could put our Switch 2 in tabletop mode and treat it like a laptop. Mouse features are often associated with shooters, but they are also excellent with this deck builder.
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Nintendo doesn’t do visual novels very often, but when they do, they knock it out of the park, and Emio – The Smiling Man is a chilling and thrilling example of that. That said, as is often the case with any visual novel, you move a cursor around the screen to investigate clues and talking points, and that’s just something that would lend itself better to mouse controls. We loved the game’s story and its interesting approach to progression and puzzle solving, but if we could move the cursor with the mouse function, it would make things so much easier.
Pokemon Unite
The Pokemon franchise has been everywhere, leaving no genre unexplored. Pokemon Unite has been one of the best, if underappreciated, Pokemon titles out there, seamlessly inserting the world's most recognizable pocket monsters into a MOBA setting. As admirable a job as TiMi Studio Group has done adapting what's normally a PC genre to console and mobile devices, MOBAs are still best experienced with a mouse to direct traffic and queue up moves.
Pokemon Unite is certainly no exception and it would be great to see the game enter a new phase with a Switch 2 version that takes full advantage of the Joy-Con's mouse capabilities.
Overwatch 2
Overwatch isn't a "twitchy shooter," but the action as still fast-paced and rewards the players who can react the quickest. Mouse features would allow for faster camera manipulation, and could elevate the use of certain heroes. Widowmaker, Genji, and Hanzo are a few characters who feel far more viable when aiming with a mouse instead of an analog stick.
Metroid Prime Remastered
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be one of the first Nintendo games to showcase how gameplay is enhanced by the Joy-Con 2's mouse feature. It only makes sense that Metroid Prime Remastered, which launched in 2023 for the Switch 1. If there are ever remasters of Metroid Prime 2 and 3, those games should all get mouse support too.
Splatoon 3
When Splatoon first debuted more than 10 years ago, it was Nintendo's wholesome way to get into the world of third-person shooters. It was originally meant to take advantage of the Wii U's GamePad peripheral, but as it grew in popularity, it settled into a more traditional presentation. Of course, how traditional can a shooter really be if it doesn't take full advantage of a mouse?
Offering mouse controls would give Splatoon 3 a whole new dimension, allowing those more accustomed to games like Counter-Strike 2 and other PC shooters a chance to dive in with a control scheme that's more attuned to their needs. It's not like Splatoon 3 doesn't have long-ranged weaponry where aim is everything, so the new Joy-Con's mouse function will have plenty of applications in this game. It'd be fun to see how many players can go from mouse-aiming and analog-stick sprinting on the fly.
Diablo 4
Diablo 4 already runs well enough with gamepad controls, but it'd be another cool way for Nintendo to show how third-party games are also better when they take advantage of the mouse feature. Mouse functionality would give players better control during harder dungeons that throw larger and stronger hordes of enemies at them, and would create for a one-of-a-kind gameplay experience where players are using one Joy-Con 2 as a gamepad, and the other as a mouse.
Pikmin 4
The Pikmin series has always felt unconventional compared to other Nintendo first-party franchises. The idea of controlling armies of tiny creatures is one of those that can sound complicated, but works out brilliantly in practice. However, just because it works doesn't mean it's perfect. Directing and re-directing Pikmin to specific objectives can sometimes be clumsy, especially for anyone who changes their mind about where they want their Pikmin to go from moment-to-moment.
This is something that the Joy-Con's mouse function can help with. Dragging the mouse and using it to highlight the specific Pikmin to direct at a target can be a big help and make the overall experience a lot smoother. This is one of those typical real-time strategy functions that can be taken for granted and it's nice to see that Nintendo will be able to apply it to games like Pikmin 4 in the future.
That covers our list of games we’d like to see get mouse support on the Nintendo Switch 2, but what about you? Chime in in the Chatty below about which Switch 2 games you’d like to see support mouse inputs!
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, 18 games we want to see get Nintendo Switch 2 mouse support
