Around November of last year, when readers were certainly not paying attention to anything else, Nintendo briefly shared that the Nintendo Switch 2 would be backwards compatible with games for the original Nintendo Switch. Fast forward to this year, and it turns out thats not so clear cut. According to Nintendo, the Switch 2 can play the vast majority of Nintendo Switch 1 games, but there are some caveats to keep in mind.The Switch 2 uses emulation to play Switch 1 gamesAs Nintendo posted to its site yesterday and confirmed in a developer roundtable I attended, the Switch 2 does not have any Switch 1 hardware inside. This means that, unlike the Nintendo DS did with the Game Boy Advance, it cant play Switch games natively, meaning its not able to run them exactly as they might work on original hardware. Instead, it uses what Nintendo said is a mix of hardware compatibility and software emulation to essentially trick these games into thinking theyre running on the original Switch.This comes with both downsides and upsides. The good is that, because the Switch 2 has more powerful architecture than the original Switch, you might see some slight benefits from simply running your game on the new console, like faster loading times. The issues start to pop up when looking at game compatibility. Credit: Nintendo Not every game, it turns out, plays nice with this translation to the new device. According to Nintendo, the vast majority of Switch 1 games should work without issue, with some select games getting free patches to help bring them up to snuff, but the company has encountered problems with over 120 titles, some of which wont even start up. These include popular games like Doom: Eternal and Rocket League, so if you depend on your Switch to play these, dont expect the new console to be able to replace your old one right away. Itll likely take some time for Nintendo to work out all the kinks here.Nintendo Switch 2 Edition gamesSo how is Nintendo getting around these problems? Well, aside from painstakingly checking each Nintendo Switch game (more than 10,000) one-by-one, its also releasing new versions of certain Switch 1 games that are built to run on the Nintendo Switch 2 from the ground up.These Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games will essentially be enhanced ports of certain Switch 1 titles, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom; Kirby and the Forgotten Land; Super Mario Party Jamboree; and even as-yet-unreleased games like Pokmon Legenda: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.Switch 2 Edition games will come with improved graphics, higher resolutions, and much smoother framerates, as well as new content in the case of Kirby and Mario Party. Youll also get new control modes when applicable, as Metroid Prime 4 will be able to use the Switch 2s mouse controls.The catch: you have to pay for these upgrades. While your Switch 2 should be able to play the above games just fine if you pop your Switch 1 cartridge into it, you wont get any of the enhancements that let you use its extra power unless you pony up, and will instead be playing via the same emulation as every other Switch 1 game.Luckily, if you already own the Switch 1 version of a game, you can get an upgrade pack (sold either at select retailers or via the Nintendo eShop) to get the Switch 2 Edition at a discount, as opposed to buying the Switch 2 Edition for full price (which, of course, is also an option). Even betterNintendo has confirmed that your upgraded game will still be playable on Switch 1, just without the enhancements that come with the Switch 2 Edition. Plus, subscribers to the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack will at least get both Zelda upgrades included with their plan.Official pricing for these Switch 2 Editions or their upgrade packs has yet to be revealed, but keep in mind that when youre shopping for a Switch 2, you shouldnt necessarily bank on the system being able to play your Switch 1 games, but better.How to play a Switch 1 game on Switch 2Now that Ive broken down the ins-and-outs of backwards compatibility on the Switch, lets talk about how to actually play your Switch 1 games on the Switch 2.The first method is pretty simple. If you own a compatible physical Switch 1 game cartridge, you can just put it into your Switch 2 to start playing it just like on the original console.Alternatively, if you want to move all of your game saves, wifi details, parental control settings, and digital games over to the Switch 2, you can use a System Transfer to do just that. Specific steps for the transfer system havent been published yet, but youll be able to use it to conveniently move pretty much everything from your Switch 1 to your Switch 2 all in one fell swoop. Credit: Nintendo Finally, for a more piecemeal approach, theres Virtual Game Cards. This is a new way of categorizing digital games thats set for release in April. Essentially, itll add a new icon to the Switchs home screen, where youll be able to see your digital games as a series of virtual game cards. Youll then be able to load these cards then and there to play them on the system youre currently using, or click Load on Another System to move them over to another console linked to your Nintendo Account. With that, you can move your Switch 1 games over to Switch 2 on a more case-by-case basis.