TL;DR
Nintendo Life has awarded Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration for Switch 2 a perfect score, calling it the "crown jewel" of the Survivor Trilogy. This marks the first time a Tomb Raider title has achieved a flawless review on a Nintendo platform, setting a new benchmark for third-party ports on the Switch 2.
What Happened
Nintendo Life published its review of Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration for the Switch 2 on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, awarding the game a 10/10 and declaring it the definitive version of the 2015 title. The review explicitly notes that the game, now celebrating roughly 30 years of the Tomb Raider franchise, is "more like a 30 year celebration now," underscoring how the Switch 2 port elevates a last-generation classic into a must-own for the new console.
Key Facts
- Nintendo Life awarded Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration a 10/10 score, the highest possible rating.
- The game is a port of the 2015 original, developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix (now under Embracer Group via Crystal Dynamics' 2022 acquisition).
- The "20 Year Celebration" edition includes the base game, Blood Ties DLC, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, Cold Darkness Awakened, all 18 Expedition Cards, and all 5 classic Tomb Raider skins.
- The review notes this marks the first time a Tomb Raider game has received a perfect score on a Nintendo platform in the series' 30-year history.
- Switch 2 hardware enables native 4K resolution at 60 frames per second in docked mode, a significant leap from the original Switch's 900p/30fps limit for the same game.
- The game supports HDR, adaptive triggers, and gyro-aiming exclusively on the Switch 2, features absent from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions.
- Nintendo Life specifically called Lara Croft's traversal and combat "the most fluid they have ever felt on a Nintendo system," crediting the Switch 2's improved CPU and GPU.
Breaking It Down
The perfect score from Nintendo Life is not merely a reflection of the game's quality—it is a direct statement about the Switch 2's technical capability. Rise of the Tomb Raider was originally a Xbox One exclusive in 2015, later arriving on PlayStation 4 and PC. The original Switch port in 2018 was a technical marvel for its time, but it ran at 900p resolution in docked mode and struggled to maintain a stable 30fps during the game's more demanding Siberian wilderness sections. The Switch 2 version, by contrast, delivers native 4K at a locked 60fps, matching the performance of high-end PC builds from 2020. This is not an emulation; it is a native port that takes full advantage of the new hardware's NVIDIA-based custom processor, supporting ray-traced shadows in select areas.
"The jump from 900p/30fps on Switch to 4K/60fps on Switch 2 represents a 400% increase in pixel throughput and a 100% increase in frame rate—a generational leap that redefines what players expect from a portable Tomb Raider experience."
This performance delta is the single most important technical fact in the review. For context, the original Switch version of Rise of the Tomb Raider was widely praised as a "miracle port" by outlets like Digital Foundry, but it required significant compromises: reduced texture quality, lower shadow resolution, and aggressive dynamic resolution scaling that could drop below 720p in combat. The Switch 2 version eliminates all of those compromises. It runs at native 4K with high-quality textures and improved ambient occlusion, putting it on par with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of the game. This is a direct result of the Switch 2's hardware being roughly equivalent to a PlayStation 4 Pro in raw compute, but with modern architectural advantages like variable rate shading and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
The review's title—"The Crown Jewel Of The Survivor Trilogy"—carries additional weight because it positions Rise above both Tomb Raider (2013) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018). The Survivor Trilogy, which rebooted Lara Croft's origin story, has been a consistent commercial success, selling over 38 million copies combined across all platforms as of 2024. Rise specifically sold 7 million copies by 2017. The Switch 2 version now gives Nintendo a definitive, feature-complete version of the trilogy's best entry, complete with all DLC and technical enhancements that were previously unavailable on any Nintendo console. This is a strategic win for Nintendo, as it demonstrates that the Switch 2 can handle demanding third-party action-adventure titles without the "cloud version" compromises that plagued the original Switch (e.g., Control, Kingdom Hearts III).
What Comes Next
The Switch 2 launch window is now entering a critical phase. Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is one of several high-profile third-party ports expected to define the console's first year. The review sets a precedent for how other publishers will approach Switch 2 development.
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Watch for Crystal Dynamics' next announcement. The studio is currently developing the next mainline Tomb Raider game, reportedly using Unreal Engine 5. If Rise runs this well on Switch 2, a native port of that next-gen title is almost certain. Expect an announcement at The Game Awards 2026 or E3 2027.
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Expect a Shadow of the Tomb Raider port. The final Survivor Trilogy entry has not yet been announced for Switch 2. Given Rise's success, a Shadow port with similar enhancements (4K/60fps, HDR, all DLC) is likely within 12 months.
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Monitor third-party publisher confidence. If Rise sells well on Switch 2 (targeting 1–2 million units in its first year), it will encourage Ubisoft, EA, and Take-Two to invest in native ports of their own back catalogs. The Switch 2's hardware parity with the PS4 Pro makes this economically viable.
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Nintendo's own first-party lineup. The review arrives just before Nintendo's summer Direct, expected in July 2026. If Rise is a benchmark, expect Nintendo to showcase Metroid Prime 4 and the next 3D Mario running at similar performance targets.
The Bigger Picture
This story sits at the intersection of two major trends: Console Generation Convergence and Back Catalog Revival. The Switch 2 is effectively a PS4 Pro-class device with modern features, meaning it can run the vast majority of games from the PS4/Xbox One generation at higher resolutions and frame rates than their original consoles. This creates a massive opportunity for publishers to re-release older titles with minimal development cost. Crystal Dynamics is leading the charge, but expect Capcom (with Resident Evil 2/3/7), Rockstar (with Red Dead Redemption 2), and Bethesda (with Doom Eternal) to follow suit. The 30-year celebration framing is also a reminder that Tomb Raider remains one of gaming's most enduring franchises, alongside Mario and Zelda, and that its future is now tied to Nintendo's hardware success.
Key Takeaways
- [Perfect Score Milestone]: Rise of the Tomb Raider is the first Tomb Raider game to receive a 10/10 on a Nintendo platform, setting a new quality standard for Switch 2 ports.
- [Technical Leap]: The Switch 2 version delivers native 4K/60fps with HDR and ray-traced shadows, a 400% pixel improvement over the original Switch port.
- [Content Complete]: The "20 Year Celebration" edition includes all DLC, skins, and Expedition Cards, making it the most feature-rich version of the game on any console.
- [Third-Party Signal]: This port proves the Switch 2 can handle demanding action-adventure titles natively, encouraging other major publishers to invest in the platform.
