Nintendo games with questionable graphics and art directions

Nintendo games with questionable graphics and art directions

Posted on October 31, 2026 by Ethan in Features, Switch, Wii

Today, we’re going through some games we’ve picked out that meet these criteria. And it’s more than just Pokemon!

Nowadays, many Nintendo games have very good graphics. Some of the biggest titles on Nintendo Switch 2, Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, have incredibly stylized and detailed visuals that give each title tons of personality. On that note, most first- and second-party Nintendo games generally at least have good graphics. But looking back through the company’s history, there are a few titles that stand out – either because they have poor graphics, questionable art direction, or both. 

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

If we’re talking about Nintendo games with poor graphics, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet unfortunately make the top of the list. The Pokemon models themselves are now highly detailed with neat and interesting textures, but that’s just about the only positive thing we can say in terms of visuals.

Take a look at the greater Paldea region and you soon notice all sorts of cut corners – the most notable one being a near-complete lack of scenery and detail in the environment. Water is flat and lacks shading, fields are empty and barren, and the desert is completely void of details save for sprawling sands. You can definitely tell the developers didn’t have much time here – you could argue that Nintendo Switch couldn’t handle the game if its graphics were better, but then you’ve got Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – which not only looks infinitely better, but manages to maintain its targeted 30 frames per second rather than constantly dropping frames like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Thankfully, it does seem like Game Freak has learned from this. Everyone thought Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves were due for 2026, but it turns out they’re releasing in 2027 instead. Though it’s difficult to see from the trailer alone, the graphics do look like a noticeable improvement over the ninth generation. Hopefully that extra time means better graphics in the end! Other Pokemon games on Nintendo Switch have similar graphical issues, but none quite as dire as Scarlet and Violet. Sword and Shield’s infamous low-polygon tree lives to see another day.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

We promise this post wasn’t made just to clown on Pokemon’s graphics – we understand that, at least up until recently, Pokemon games were made on a rather strict timer, and that led to cutting corners and rushing things a bit to meet those deadlines. Developers are still people, and their work is still much appreciated even if it isn’t perfect.

That being said, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s graphics are about as far from perfect as you can get. It’s not just the execution of the graphics that’s flawed – it’s the initial art direction, too. In the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl on DS, the overworld graphics included human characters with chibi proportions. In battles, those same humans had more regular proportions. In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, this is kept exactly the same even though the graphics, being 3D and all, are much more detailed. But in the end, this doesn’t work – the originals on DS had chibi graphics in the overworld due to “technical limitations,” and not so much as a stylistic choice. The in-battle graphics are how all of those trainers you see in the overworld are supposed to look, and you’re supposed to kind of fill in the gaps in the overworld using your imagination.

In the end, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl wind up looking very awkward in the overworld, going from a shrunken-up chibi trainer to a normally-proportioned one during battles. Additionally, the camera zooms in on the overworld graphics numerous times during the story, revealing blurry textures especially on character faces. Then you’ve got water that looks like blue gelatin, swamp routes that completely lack any kind of lighting details, and… a game that winds up not looking very good.

Thanks to IGN for the picture!

Mario Kart Wii

Hold on, hold on! We can explain. Before you go typing in the comments, just because Mario Kart Wii is on the list doesn’t mean we’re saying its graphics are just as bad as Pokemon’s. They aren’t. This is more of an honorable mention if anything, but if you compare Mario Kart Wii to its predecessor, Mario Kart: Double Dash, you’ll notice a few things. First, Mario Kart Wii reuses many of its character models from Mario Kart: Double Dash, save for its newcomers of course. Secondly, everything in Mario Kart Wii looks washed out and grainy in comparison to Double Dash’s more vibrant colors. This is because the game applies a bloom effect over all of its gameplay, which makes edges appear softer and the whole game look kind of yellow and bright. Mario Kart Wii is supposed to be an upgrade over Double Dash, and in some ways it is, but in terms of visuals it winds up feeling more like a downgrade.

The game doesn’t look awful or anything, but it’s certainly not the visual leap people expected it to be. There’s even a bloom removal mod by GagePerchance on GameBanana, which is where the image above comes from. On the right is how the game looks with the bloom effect in the final version, and on the left is how it would look without it – much deeper colors, and a whole lot less yellow.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

While Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s actual graphics are fine, the art direction here is questionable as well. But it’s kind of interesting – at the time, Wii was Nintendo’s most popular console. You would think they’d make their biggest fighting game’s art style vibrant and colorful to catch people’s eyes, but the developers went in the opposite direction and opted for realism instead.

With characters like Snake and Link, this works fine enough… but then you look at others like Kirby and Pikachu, and it starts to fall apart. Many of Nintendo’s most popular characters are very cartoony – Toon Link, Yoshi, Olimar, and Squirtle look very out of place, for instance. Thankfully, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U returned to a more vibrant art style, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate took it to another level by adding simple detailing, so its art style is kind of the best of both.

While we’re here, Super Smash Bros. Melee is also really interesting to discuss, because its graphics are actually very impressive for 2001. But the art direction is particularly fascinating, as it’s so much different than anything we’d see in a Nintendo game these days. In 2001, a lot of Nintendo’s characters didn’t really have defined new-generation looks just yet. While characters like Kirby, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff look the same as they always have, others were interpreted and translated to 3D in interesting ways. Donkey Kong has super-long limbs, Yoshi has a drastically different face structure and a bent-over posture, Pichu’s eyes are oddly far apart – you can look at any of the character models from this game and immediately tell that they’re from Melee. Also, Bowser almost looks like his own character in Melee – his skin is almost like a burnt bronze instead of yellow, he’s hunched over, his spikes are browned – Melee’s 3D interpretation of Bowser is extremely unique. The game definitely has great graphics for its time, but it’s just interesting to look back on and see how different they are from the characters’ current designs.

Detective Pikachu Returns

There’s a lot of discussion around Pokemon games with poor graphics, but somehow Detective Pikachu Returns doesn’t seem to come up in that discussion too often – likely because a good chunk of Pokemon fans probably haven’t played it. But once you do, you’ll immediately notice that both humans and Pokemon look flat and lack detail, textures are blurry, and there isn’t much of anything going on in terms of lighting effects. The whole game looks very plain, and generally takes on this sort of dull, muted color palette. Even Detective Pikachu on Nintendo 3DS looks better relative to the console it’s on!

Of course, there are other non-Nintendo games whose graphics and art directions are… a lot more questionable. The fact that these are the only games on the list does show that many of Nintendo’s games not only have good graphics, but great ones as well. Just because a game’s graphics aren’t the best doesn’t mean the entire thing is unplayable – many still absolutely love these titles. We still love Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, for instance, even if their art directions are a little puzzling.

Which Nintendo game do you think could have done well with better graphics? Let us know in the comments down below.

More: highlight, Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet, top