Nintendo Switch 2 vs Steam Deck: Sonic X Shadow Generations

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

Sonic X Shadow Generations on PC and Nintendo Switch 2 were provided to us by SEGA. Thank you!

As soon as Nintendo announced the Nintendo Switch 2, I was over the moon. I love having a solid Nintendo console to play their games on, which pairs perfectly with my portable PC for games that aren't on a Nintendo console. However, the Switch 2 is considerably more powerful, which allows bigger games to run on it. This has led some big titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Street Fighter 6 to be playable on the device, and that alone is pretty incredible.

So, I wanted to do some comparisons. The Steam Deck already has and can play these games since they were released on PC, but which device will provide a better experience for the games? That's the question I want to ask, so I am starting a series of articles where we compare the performance, visuals, and battery life of games that are available on both PC and Switch 2. And we are kicking things off with Sonic X Shadow Generations.

This remaster of one of my favorite Sonic games has always been near and dear to me, and with the inclusion of new content with Shadow taking the spotlight, it's a great excuse for me to dive back in and play again. With the game released on the Switch 2, I wanted to take a look and see where it was a better experience and best to play on the go.

Please note that performance and image quality may change with future patches. If these patches come in, we will do our best to update these articles accordingly with new findings.

Sonic Generations

The game is separated into two different sections for content, Sonic and Shadow, so I wanted to start with Sonic. This is a remaster of the original game and is not difficult to run at all, and I had no reservations about it being a blast. The game hits 60 FPS easily when playing in handheld mode on the Switch 2 and on the Steam Deck, and it looks great on both.

I did notice some minor differences in visuals, with the Switch 2 having a sharper image with some jagged edges. After testing on the Steam Deck, it seems that the game is running with Anti-Aliasing turned off on the Switch 2. However, this could have been done to keep a solid 60 FPS with lower battery drain, while supporting a higher resolution. The Switch 2 sports a 1920x1080p screen, while the Steam Deck is a 1280x800, so it's possible this was done to keep stability while facilitating the higher resolution:

Still, even with the lower resolution, the game looks great on the Steam Deck too. Because we are still able to hit the screen's native resolution, it looks sharp and detailed, and can add in FXAA anti-aliasing with no extra battery drain:

On top of that, battery drain is relatively low. The Steam Deck ranges around 9W - 11W battery drain, while the Switch 2 in handheld mode can drain around 10W - 11W. This means we have solid battery life across the board, but with the Steam Deck having a 50Wh battery versus the Switch 2's estimated 19Wh - 20Wh battery, we will have more time to play on the Deck.

Playing docked with the Switch 2 will increase visual quality and resolution, which is a welcome improvement. It is able to hold a stable 60 FPS while increasing the visual quality, and it seems to be better than the Steam Deck. Looking at a comparison between ending screenshots of the Switch 2 and Steam Deck, it seems to be around 1080p resolution, possibly a little higher, with a solid 60 FPS. The Steam Deck went through the same stage on 1080p at 60 FPS, but any higher resolution resulted in more drops.

Due to portable play being around the same performance, being able to turn Anti-Aliasing on, and having higher battery life, Sonic's gameplay section goes to the Steam Deck if looking to play on the go. If you are playing docked, the Switch 2 will be the way to go. With what appears to be a higher resolution than 1080p with 60 FPS gameplay, it's going to be a better experience than the Deck.

Shadow Generations

We will be testing the Steam Deck's performance using the recommended settings from our review.

Then, we have the much more complicated section. Shadow's gameplay uses updated visuals that are much more demanding, and there will be compromises to play it on both devices. We already reviewed the game on the Steam Deck, where we found a mixture of low and high settings can get us 60 FPS with no battery limits, but the Switch 2 is an interesting beast.

Looking at handheld performance first, the Switch 2 has two performance modes for a higher image quality at 30 FPS and a lower image quality for 60 FPS, but I did notice some slight oddities here and there in both. Looking at screenshots of each mode side by side, it appears to be a mix of high and low settings with a lower rendering scale on both performance versions. If I had to guess, I would say the Image Quality preset is sitting at 75% rendering scale, while the 60 FPS preset is at 50%. There's also considerably more flickering because of it, which can be bothersome.

On the Steam Deck, we can play the highest quality preset with 100% rendering scale at 30 FPS, though the battery drain is slightly higher than what I expect the Switch 2's TDP to be. While at our recommended settings from our review, we can get an almost solid 60 FPS, which keeps 100% rendering scale and turns shadows to low. However, the battery drain is considerably higher, so while we have better image quality, our battery life is much lower. Still, even with that lower battery life, the Steam Deck's larger battery capacity makes it about an even match for the Switch 2.

I would say, image quality-wise, the Steam Deck is the way to go for handheld. Being able to play at the highest quality with 100% rendering scale and similar battery drain to the Switch 2 is fantastic. However, it's a mixed bag for 60 FPS play. It can be hit on the Deck and look better, but it requires the extra power. The Switch 2 can get to 60 FPS and still stick to a lower battery drain, although it looks considerably worse. Battery life will be about the same between the two, so it can go either way. I would consider them on an even playing field here.

As for docked performance, it definitely looks better, but I wouldn't say it's great. For a small device like the Switch 2, I would say it's admirable how far it can push performance and image quality, but there are definitely compromises. The image quality mode looks to be slightly higher than 1920x1080 resolution with a mix of high and low settings, and possibly some slightly extra sharpness. Compared to 1080p on the Steam Deck, certain areas tend to look sharper, while the overall bluriness looks to be around the same. It also looks like it's at 100% rendering scale.

When it comes to the 60 FPS mode, we do get a bit of a noticeable downgrade. It still appears to be 1080p, but the rendering scale is lower. It is somewhere between 50% and 75%, and it can hold 60 FPS. The only way to get it to 60 FPS on the Steam Deck is to go to 50% rendering scale, which makes the Switch 2's performance mode much more appealing to look at. It still doesn't look pretty, but it definitely looks prettier than the Deck.

On the handheld side, the edge goes to the Steam Deck. The extra power needed to hit 60 FPS results in a better-looking experience with similar battery life to the Switch 2, while the Deck can hit 30 FPS on the highest quality settings with no rendering scale changes and solid battery life. However, while the Deck puts up a decent fight, docked mode will go to the Switch 2 due to the better 60 FPS experience.

Nintendo Switch 2 or Steam Deck?

I would say after playing the game on both devices that you can enjoy the game on both pretty nicely. In handheld mode, there are few to no sacrifices for the Sonic Generations portion of the game, while Shadow Generations has more clearly defined shortcomings on the Switch 2 due to lower TDP and pushing 1080p. Still, it's close enough that getting the game on the Steam Deck or the Switch 2 is still going to get you a great experience in handheld mode. However, in the end, there is a slight edge for the Steam Deck for better image quality overall when battery life is ignored.

As for docked mode, the Switch 2 edges above. The Switch 2's extra power boost from docked mode gives it a big edge, with slightly better visual quality across both Sonic and Shadow Generations. The Deck puts up a solid fight, but in the end, the Switch 2 still wins out.

Sonic X Shadow Generations can be purchased on the Nintendo eShop for the Switch 2, while you can get the game on PC/Steam Deck on Steam for $49.99 or on Fanatical for $43.49.

The Fanatical links above are using an affiliate link, which gives us a little back from sales at no extra charge to you. All proceeds go back into SDHQ and its development.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!