Must-Have Switch Ports: March 2018 Edition

The Nintendo Switch is quickly becoming home to a lot of great RPGs, both originals and ports. There’s already a lot to look forward to this year if you consider the 40+ titles (and counting) we’re already tracking in our database.

But what about games yet unannounced that we’d love to see? Speaking of ports specifically, there are a ton of RPGs that would work amazingly well on the Switch, obscure and classics alike. Here are a few games I’d personally love to see on the Switch at some point in the future. I’m limiting myself to three choices (it was hard), but feel free to respond with your own selection in the comment section below!

As a child, I spent a lot of time trying to find Dad and uncover MAGI in Final Fantasy Legend II. For those unaware, FFL2 is not a true Final Fantasy game, but instead is actually from the Saga Series. Although I played a ton of the original Final Fantasy Legend beforehand, I found it very difficult to play. The second in the series, especially as a kid, felt a little more approachable due to its overall design. Combat was tuned to a finer degree, and the story was easier to follow. The game itself could still be very difficult at times, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome with some persistence. On top of that, the music is some of the best the Game Boy has to offer; beautifully composed by Kenji Ito and Nobuo Uematsu.

The 20th anniversary remake Saga 2 Hihou Densetsu: Goddess of Destiny was, as far as I know, never released outside of Japan. While I haven’t played that particular version, I’ve only heard great things about it. I would love to see it come to the Switch with an official English translation, but since things like the Seiken Densetsu Collection already exist and have yet to receive any localization, I’m not holding my breath for it. At the end of the day, I’ll take either version, but would really love to experience what the newer one has to offer.

This is the newest game of my three choices but plays hard on my nostalgia. One summer as a kid, I made it a point to beat River City Ransom on the NES every single day. To say I loved the game is an understatement. The (particularly at the time) unique blend of beat-em-up and RPG mechanics just spoke to me on so many levels. I loved the look and feel of its world. I loved buying books to teach me how to swing baseball bats at a devilish speed. I loved the fact that eating burgers and equipping cowboy boots increased my stats.

When River City Ransom: Underground was announced on Kickstarter way back in 2013, I was ecstatic to say the least. A sequel to one of my childhood favorites was something I always wanted but never expected to happen. Even though it took years to release, it finally did so on February 27, 2017. Despite receiving mixed reviews and little to no media coverage, I easily sank 20+ hours into the game within a week or two of release. Even though it is plagued with some…interesting design choices (the chasing and milk run missions), I still think RCR:U is far superior to the original in terms of gameplay. It’s just a fun game to play. While I don’t think it did well enough financially to merit a Switch port, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that it appears on the eShop at some point.

If you didn’t catch it from my bio, I grew up playing FF2 on the SNES. There’s no telling how much money I spent renting this game in the early 90s before my parents finally bought it via mail order (that used to be a thing) some years later. This game has since been re-released numerous times on multiple platforms. Some of these versions stay true to the original while others shake things up a bit. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the original, but the complete collection released on the PSP in 2011 is probably my favorite iteration of the title.

It still looks and feels like the game I sank so many hours into as a kid, but with some modern flair. I believe that the Complete Collection is the best graphical representation of the game, though I do prefer the difficulty that the DS 3D remake brought to the table. While I did not care very much for The After Years, it is worth mentioning that it is included alongside the original game in this bundle. As a package, it is nearly flawless and something every RPG fan should play at some point in time. I have no doubt that this game will appear on the Switch at some point. But the real question is when it will come and what rendition it will be. If I’m being honest, it will be a day one buy for me regardless of price and version. But I’d love for more people to experience a truly excellent version of a classic game.

What RPGs, whether they be the usual suspects or hidden gems, would you like to see on the Switch?