Back when the Switch 1 came out, it released with a small game called 1-2 Switch. That game was basically a small party game to showcase the technology of the Joy-Cons, and it retailed at around 30€. While I never got that game because I thought it looked underwhelming, to say the least, I would have gladly spent a couple of hours in it just to experience the tech demo aspect of it. However, I could never justify the 30€ for what would probably only have been an hour or two of play. With Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, Nintendo took the same concept from 1-2 Switch, slashed the price to 10€, and flat out turned the whole game into a tech demo, dropping the pretense that it’s a party game.
We understand that a larger discussion is at play here: Nintendo is increasing its prices and asking customers to pay for what should have been included, similarly to how Sony included Astro Bot Playroom with every PlayStation 5. Now, whether Welcome Tour is worth the price or not, is something we will get into at a later point. For now, let’s ignore that discourse in favor of the quality of the game itself.
What is Welcome Tour supposed to be?
This is not a party game. Frankly, it feels wrong even to call this a game because that implies that the goal here is primarily to entertain. In actuality, Welcome Tours main goal is to inform the player. In Welcome Tour, players take on the role of a very generic persona who visits a Switch 2 convention. At this convention, you take your character across the different components and accessories of the Nintendo Switch 2, learning what the system can do and why Nintendo made their design decisions.
Players move their avatar across the different areas of the Switch 2, take Quizzes, play minigames (showcasing the various features of the Switch 2), and attend actual tech demos. Finishing the game entails “discovering” all of the Switch 2’s features and playing the minigames and tech demos. If that does not sound like a good time to you, then that’s fine.
So are the minigames any good?
In short…yeah! While minigame collections may not be what will get people to buy a Switch 2 at launch, what is here is generally very good. The Switch 2 has some fun features, so these games are designed around showcasing those. One of the best examples of this is the UFO minigame to demonstrate the quality of the Joy-Cons’ new mouse mode.
The premise is simple: your mouse cursor is the UFO, and you have to collect stars to pass the level. It’s a very simple premise that barely would have passed as a browser minigame in 2005, but it’s still undoubtedly relatively fun to play around with for a couple of minutes. Other mini games focus on the new HD Rumble 2 feature, or ask you to pose in front of a webcam to mimic a face that’s on screen. Overall, while some games are forgettable, generally what’s here is pretty entertaining.
Next to the minigames, there are a handful of dedicated tech demos. These demos are much more focussed on showing the player a new feature, rather than them using said feature to achieve some high score. A great example is Nintendo’s tech demo of the 4K capabilities of the system. There is one demo where they showcase how the entire 1-1 level from the very first Super Mario Bros game fits into a 4K display – and you get to play through it.
Or take the demo for HD Rumble 2. Nintendo goes into great lengths to explain how this rumble mechanism works, how changing the technology behind the rumble enables them to achieve a stronger, more capable rumble. How do they demonstrate this? Well, by showcasing how the entire controller can be turned into one large speaker due to the rumble. The rumble is so strong that the sound emitted by the controller’s surface sounds exactly like the sound of collecting coins in Super Mario Bros.
Because of the plethora of accessories you could get for Switch 2, being able to explore all the mini games to their fullest requires the player to have some accessories. The two big ones you may not have are the camera and the Pro Controller. The good news here is that the Switch 2 is compatible with basically any USB camera. And if you don’t want to splurge 90€ for a pro controller, the charging grip also includes the back buttons you need for those minigames.
So is it worth it, and who is it for?
Despite being really annoyed by the fact that Nintendo is nickel and diming their customers, when they already paid quite a lot for their system, I can’t deny that I had a pretty good time playing Welcome Tour. I wanted the game to learn more about the system, to try out some of the tech demos to get an idea of what kind of experiences I may have in the future. Paying 10€ for it hurt, but having done it, I can’t say that I’m disappointed. With Nintendo’s sharing system (virtual cards), I can now lend the game to other people in my family group.
This “game” is not meant for people expecting to have a good “playing” time. It’s for those who have an intrinsic technical interest in the system. Those who want to know how this system was designed and why. It’s educational and occasionally fun. That said, Nintendo should have definitely included this game as part of their system. It just feels wrong having to spend money on a glorified brochure. But ultimately, I can’t fault anyone for deciding to take the plunge.
So what about you? Did you decide to swallow that bitter pill just like we did? Or is there not enough here for you to warrant this purchase? Let us know what you think in the comments!
