While Nintendo Switch 2 backwards compatibility will let you play a broad range of many of the original Switch's library, it isn't completely all-encompassing. Nintendo says there were some notable technical challenges in fully supporting the previous system's library.
"When we first started Switch 2 development, the focus was on enhancing its performance as hardware, namely, expanding its capacity," Switch 2 director Takuhiro Dohta says in an official interview. "So, compatibility was a lower priority. For example, Nintendo DS games were playable on Nintendo 3DS, and Wii games were playable on Wii U, but it was difficult to achieve the same level of compatibility with Switch 2, because the hardware design approach was different from those systems."
