Over the past few years, the battle royale genre has exploded in popularity thanks to its addictive last-man-standing formula. The biggest games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone have amassed huge audiences with millions of players. The Nintendo Switch is no stranger to the battle royale hype as it features numerous titles available on the eShop.
However, the Nintendo Switch does have some hardware limitations and while some of the biggest battle royale games have made it to the console, they often underperform when compared to their PlayStation, Xbox, and PC counterparts. As a result, the best battle royales on the Nintendo Switch are ones that utilize its unique portability to the fullest while retaining strong performance with its hardware.
Spellbreak
Spellbreak is easily the best performing battle royale game currently available for the Nintendo Switch. Departing from the traditional gun-based gameplay of popular battle royales, it features a unique spellcasting system that fire projectiles. Players are able to select from six elemental classes as they duel with others and navigate massive maps. The hover mechanic works surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch and the mechanics feel as smooth as they would on any other console. Best of all, Spellbreak is also a cross-platform game so playing on the Nintendo Switch doesn't prevent players from joining up with their friends.
Tetris 99
While Tetris 99 might not be the first thing players think of when they imagine battle royales, it offers one of the most unique battle royale experiences available on the Nintendo Switch. Combining the classic mechanics of Tetris together with the competitive nature of battle royales, Tetris 99 has players compete in a lobby to knock each other out of the game. As players complete rows, they can send attacks to other players in the form of "garbage rows" which fill up the screen. Much like how arenas shrink in classic battle royale games, Tetris 99 slowly increases the speed of the falling blocks as more players are eliminated.
Realm Royale
For fans of Paladins, Realm Royale is a spinoff to the popular hero shooter and incorporates many of its mechanics including character classes and unique abilities. Much like any other battle royale game, players are dropped from an airship and must eliminate others in a shrinking arena. However, Realm Royale also includes a number of interesting mechanics such as forging and mounts. While the framerate remains locked on the Nintendo Switch, the performance itself is fairly consistent and offers a unique battle royale experience for fans of hero shooters like Overwatch.Â
Fortnite
While Fortnite's performance on the Nintendo Switch can be hit or miss at times, it nonetheless offers one of the best battle royale experiences for the console. Although it obviously can't be compared to the PlayStation or Xbox, Fortnite runs surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch and Epic Games has released a number of updates to the renderer so that it makes better use of the GPU. Best of all, the flexibility of the Nintendo Switch allows casual players to take Fortnite on the go while competitively inclined players have the ability to play in docked mode with the Nintendo Pro controller.
