By Kevin "Berserker" Hall

Player(s): 1-8
Extra Features: Local (2-4) and Online (2-8) Multiplayer/Co-op, Leaderboards, Add-On Content

It’s been quite a while since Nintendo fans have had a WWE 2K game on their consoles. WWE 2K18 was the last installment to appear on a Nintendo console. 2K games recently released WWE 2K25 for Switch 2 and, for the most part, it’s up to par with other versions of the game. 2K25 nearly has all the modes and add-ons that other consoles have and it’s quite a good release. I’m only going to go over the Switch 2 comparisons to other consoles in this review. If you want to see my full thoughts on the rest of the game, be sure to check out my WWE 2K25 review for Xbox Series X here on The Gamers’ Temple.

It’s quite amazing how well this game runs on Switch 2. It has a consistent framerate (I’d say 60fps) for all of the gameplay moments. It only slows down when you perform overly long grab/finisher/payback sequences. The bad part is that the slowdown can mess up timing, but you only have slowdown during those sequences. The actual gameplay is very smooth, which counts the most. I was honestly expecting this game to run at a constant 30fps, but it really seems to be 60fps for the actual gameplay. Naturally, the graphics are not quite up to par with other consoles. This is very expected since the Switch 2 is not as powerful as other current gen consoles. I mainly notice the flaw in wrestler faces. You can tell that they lack detail when compared to other consoles.

The Switch 2 version contains all the additions that the game has on other consoles. It still has a third-person camera option during gameplay and entrance sequences. The game also has The Island mode. Last generation ports (PS4/Xbox One) did not have this mode, so it’s surprising that it was included with the Switch 2 release. The Island plays out the exact same way as it does on Xbox Series and PS5. If you’re curious, you don’t have to have a Nintendo online membership to play The Island and My Faction modes. Naturally, you can’t play against online opponents in either of those modes unless you have an online membership.

The game still has the option to create a character for both My Island, My Rise and Universe. Switch 2’s Create a Characters suffers a major blow however. There is no Image Manager, so you can’t upload or download any custom images when creating your wrestler. This includes face pics. This is really bad since image manager was there for last gen consoles and a console that is equal to the upper class of last gen doesn’t have it!? The lack of an image manager brings down creativity greatly. You can only use the in-game pre-made faces and other content to create a wrestler. I’m hoping an image manger might come in a later update...? You can still download community created wrestlers. Created wrestlers can be uploaded for all to download. The game mentions that uploads have to be approved by an online moderator.

Controls may be a big part that readers are wondering about. By default, 2K has made the controls match other systems regardless of button layout. So basically, Y is light attack, B is heavy attack, X is reversal, and A is grab. I’ve tried the game with Joy-Cons and with a Switch Pro controller and both of them seem to work well. The Joy-Cons take a bit of getting used to for this type of game, of course. While playing it handheld, the game feels better to control with the extra grip that you get by holding the actual console itself.

The Switch 2 release of WWE 2K25 is a very solid release! Besides all the expected flaws, the only true flaw that I find is the lack of an image manager. If you can deal with the lack of creativity that the game leaves out, this release is nearly just as good as the other current gen consoles. It’s really amazing how well the game runs on Switch 2. You can’t go wrong with the Switch 2 release if you just want to have some fun with its many modes.

The Good:
+ Overall, the game runs amazingly well (solid framerate)
+ The Island mode is included!
+ It has all the same modes as the other next gen console releases

The Bad:
- No image manager (can’t upload/download face pics or other images for Create a Character)
- Graphics are not up to par with other consoles (very expected)
- The game has some slowdown during long scripted sequences (grapples, paybacks, finishers)
- Full motion videos (in modes like My Rise and The Island) seem to be slightly compressed (it’s only slightly noticeable)

Final Rating: 75%

Note: A review code for this game was provided by the publisher