Two years ago, Rockstar Games ported 2010's Red Dead Redemption onto the Nintendo Switch, and the result was a fine-if-modest port. Now, in a free update for RDR-on-Switch owners, Rockstar rides again on Switch 2 - and the results finally offer the older game something close to a generational leap.

As seen in on our testing, the additional headroom afforded by the Tegra T239 processor has now been leveraged by RDR to its fullest potential - though that comes due as much to raw horsepower as it does at least one Tensor core-specific function.

The 2023 version on Switch 1 largely drew from the Xbox 360 version as a visual-settings base, though its higher 1080p resolution while docked came at a cost of lower-quality anti-aliasing: FXAA, instead of Xbox 360's use of 2x MSAA. Other settings varied in either direction compared to the 360, with improved shadow resolution and inferior texture filtering rounding out what otherwise looked quite similar to the 2010 console original.

On Switch 2, RDR goes much further. While docked, DLSS upsamples the Switch 2 port's 720p pixel base to 1440p with remarkably clear results. The game now benefits from temporally stable foliage, flicker-free grass and clean anti-aliasing on building edges. Since this DLSS uplift is limited to less than 4K, it likely employs Nvidia's Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) model for DLSS on Switch 2 - as opposed to "DLSS Lite" - while still remaining highly performant.

The rest of RDR's Switch 2 visual presentation reaches surprisingly close to PC's ultra settings preset and thus surpasses Switch 1's near-parity with Xbox 360. Anisotropic filtering is finally in this time - at a 16x setting, no less. A much higher level-of-detail (LOD) setting leads to far less pop-in for both geometry and terrain in the open-world distance. And Contact Hardening Soft Shadows (CHSS) have been newly enabled in this port, thus applying natural-looking shadow crispness based on an object's distance from a surface, although the total shadow resolution is lower than the ultra PC preset that enables CHSS.

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Comparing RDR on Switch 2 in both docked and portable modes.

Removing Switch 2 from its dock, RDR in portable mode also employs DLSS with a similar doubling of base pixels, upscaling from 540p up to 1080p. Testing suggests nearly identical visual settings otherwise, with the exception of CHSS being removed and shadow resolution being lowered to resemble the PC's "medium" settings preset. These shadows still look superior to their portable presentation on Switch 1.

Whichever way you play on Switch 2, RDR's frame-rate jumps to 60fps and holds that level quite consistently, with its dips into the 50s happening in the same places - the Armadillo saloon, large zombie battles in Red Dead Undead - where the Switch 1 version would drop from 30fps to the 20s. Thankfully, those dips below 60fps are quite uncommon, and we no longer see the occasional frame-time stutter that the Switch 1 version exhibits.

Note that Rockstar has not taken the opportunity to further remaster or update the game's assets, meaning geometry and textures are identical to the Switch 1 version - which in turn were identical to the 2010 console original. Still, the welcome trinity of anisotropic filtering, improved shadows and far superior pixel presentation combines to give RDR's visuals better weight and stability this time around.

Should you have both a Switch 2 and PS5 available, however, Switch 2's impressive performance while docked still pales compared to the raw pixel-pushing power of Sony's current-gen console. And DLSS's generally strong uplift of pixels ultimately does struggle with its usual issues with disocclusion artefacts and sub-pixel detail on greenery. The only Switch 2-specific edge at that point is its new compatibility with Joy-Con 2's mouse mode for the sake of more precise aiming.

For more on this week's new PS5, Xbox Series X/S and iOS/Android versions of Red Dead Redemption, check out our companion coverage.