Nintendo Issues New Switch 2 Updates, Including Pokémon Game Improvement

In the modern video game landscape, updates can be very exciting for fans, but tracking them can be hard since they aren't promoted in the same way that the release dates for upcoming Switch 2 games are.

For Nintendo game fans, a recent small wave of updates may be welcomed since it is designed to improve the performance of some titles, and that can save players from a lot of frustration.

Switch 2 Gains New Game Compatibility Fixes, Including a Pokémon Franchise Update

A January 2026 Nintendo Life article focused on a firmware update that affected two Nintendo Switch 2 games. Most notably, it was revealed that Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl had undergone improvements to its performance. The fix was designed to ensure that the game no longer crashes, which had been an issue for some players.

Cats on Duty was also given a firmware update to improve its performance, designed to make the game behave consistently with how it previously performed on the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Life finally detailed another change that could come to the Switch 2 in the near future. Nintendo has flagged Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe on the Switch 2 for having an audio issue in certain areas of the game that needs to be rectified.

What Critics Have Said About the Updated Switch 2 Games

This section will focus on how the recently improved Switch 2 games were received on a previous console they could be played on. Initially released in 2021, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl began as a Nintendo Switch remake of two Nintendo DS role-playing games, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl. On Metacritic, both earned a 73/100 score.

Cats on Duty is a 2025 tower defense game that uses the match-3 puzzle mechanic, which is common. However, it stands out due to having a sense of humor and being about warrior cats defending their homeland from a slew of monstrous foes. A Video Chums review of a PlayStation 5 version of Cats on Duty was given 4 stars out of 5.

If Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe gets the changes that it appears to be in line for, fans of the beloved Nintendo character will get to enjoy the game as it was meant to sound. The version of the Kirby game that operated as it was designed to do and came out in 2023 has a 79 score on Metacritic, based on 112 critic reviews.