Nintendo Switch's packed lineup of 2022 games proves the platform isn't even close to running out of steam

2021 was a decent year for the Nintendo Switch. It started off with a handful of major titles like Monster Hunter Rise, New Pokemon Snap, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, alongside a few other smaller scale games and re-releases.

However, the few acclaimed heavy hitters for their latest portable console were saved for last - namely Metroid Dread and Shin Megami Tensei 5, both of which saw a late-year release.

Come 2022, and it looks to be a big year for the Japanese publisher on both first and third party fronts.

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Nintendo's packing bangers after bangers for this year

January has already dropped Pokemon Legends Arceus, which saw praise for reinventing the formula despite technical shortcomings. Plus on a related note, the company's recent announcement of the brand new Gen 9 Pokemon titles brings up the franchise’s game count on Switch to 7 - and that's not counting spinoffs.

February has been uneventful for the popular handheld, with nothing major coming - unless you count the Kingdom Hearts trilogy cloud games, which not many are a fan of.

Go on an epic adventure in a forgotten land or participate in a bloody conflict (Images via Nintendo)

But after that point, things took off smoothly. March has Kirby & The Forgotten Land and Triangle Strategy. The former is Nintendo's first attempt at a full 3D platformer featuring the beloved pink mascot - this time in a post-apocalyptic setting with new mechanics to boot and releases on March 25.

Meanwhile, Square Enix is handling the latter, a Switch-only strategy RPG releasing on March 4; it is based on the same 2D-HD visual style that debuted in 2018, also as an exclusive.

Control an army towards victory or compete against close ones (Images via Nintendo)

The two dormant franchises return in April - Advance Wars and Sports. The cult-classic Game Boy Advance military-style, turn-based tactical games get a Switch remake with Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp.

However, the beloved Wii Sports titles got a successor with Nintendo Switch Sports - it brings back the same simplicity and co-op play that kicked off the predecessor's fame. Grab them on April 8 and 29 respectively.

Score a goal and mow down foes (Images via Nintendo)

June 10 introduces more big names like Mario Strikers: Battle League - the newest entry in the Mario-universe' football series since the 2007 Wii entry. Not to forget Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - a musou-themed sequel to 2019's SRPG Fire Emblem: Three Houses, launching on June 24.

LIVE A LIVE, another 2D-HD remake of the Super NES RPG of the same name, makes its way on July 22. Meanwhile, Splatoon 3 dominates August. There's also Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in September, but things are a bit hazy past that. Regardless, we do know there are even bigger things to come:

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4 and of course, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel, none of which have a release date yet but are confirmed for 2022. Assuming they're not delayed, they will likely see release from October to December.

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That means there's at least one major exclusive out every month, and that's without factoring in major third-party releases - such as MLB The Show 22, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Or even anticipated ports/remasters of older games, like Kingdom Come Deliverance, Life is Strange Remastered, No Man's Sky and Portal Companion Collection.

All things considered, 2022 is going to be the biggest year since the console's 2017 launch. For a platform that's been out for 5 years at this point, it's surprising how Nintendo is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, it looks like it's just the beginning of a longer lifecycle for the Switch.

Considering the myriad of rumors about a Switch Pro model and the company's own statements about the system being "...in the middle of its lifecycle" (via Bloomberg), it's only obvious the journey isn't over yet.