I am a big Nintendo apologist. I tend to overlook certain "hiccups," if you will, along each generation. Both PlayStation and Xbox definitely face far more scrutiny from my wrath. Then there are some things that I just can't even defend. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is one of those things.
Now, I did have a "let's just wait and see" attitude when the game was first shown off. While others berated Nintendo, I still hoped that there would be more to this title. Maybe it would be akin to Nintendo Land for the Wii U, which, at first glance, has the same vibe.
What vibe is that? Well, it's not so much a vibe as a statement: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour should have been pre-installed on every console.
And I don't mean because everyone should play it.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a budget-priced title, at £7.99 in the UK and $9.99 in the USA. From the pricing alone, this title seems like value for money. However, it is anything but.
The 'game' is EXACTLY what it appears to be from the outset - an introduction to using your Switch 2. That's it. There are no real bells or whistles, stand-out moments, or "you have to try this" sections - it's a straight-up look at your new console like a fancy instruction booklet.
Why Is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Bad?
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is bad because it is masquerading as a game that has earned a price tag.
The cheek that they had coming out defending charging for this title is even more outrageous now that I have had time to play the game. Sure, mini-games use many of the new features, such as the mouse mode for the Joy-Con 2's, which can be fun for a minute or two, but running along the in-game Joy-Con pressing to read a board describing individual components before taking a test—yes, a test—on said components is not my idea of fun.
A few mini-games here can be fun for a go, but they are throwaway novelties rather than anything substantial. That's all there is to Welcome Tour. You run about a miniature virtual Switch 2 console and read facts about the components, but it is neither detailed enough to please tech heads nor fun enough to please casual fans of Nintendo. I have no idea who the target audience is.
Put it this way, dodging rocks only proved frustrating during the early mouse-based game, and each minigame after was just as tedious. Guessing framerates is not my idea of a good time either, but if that sounds up your street, it's here along with first-person balloon popping.
I genuinely have nothing of merit to say about this game, as it uses a basic, charmless look for character models spread over sections of a Switch 2 console that I suppose are NPCs, but are devoid of any emotion or wit outside of a few repeating facts about the area they are standing in.
Finding stamps in each area is the 'main' section of the game, where you visit each part of the console, finding hidden panels that have bits of information regarding the component. And this could have been so much better if they had even let a little of the trademark Nintendo charm through the door. Instead, we get a rather dull experience propped up by tech demos of HD Rumble and quizzes on screen improvements.
Astro's Playroom is the prime example of how a game showcasing a new console and its features can be a fantastic, solid (and free) game. Nintendo should have picked up the ball, taken notes, and let Mario run with it here. Why couldn't we have had a Bowser's Fury-type game in this setting, like Sony did on PlayStation 5 with Astro? Yes, development time costs money, but warming the hearts of fans used to come for free with Nintendo.
This is a corporate feeling £7.99/$9.99 experience that will not have anyone saying, "Oh, I really fancy a game of Welcome Tour" in a few months. I did not want to start my Switch 2 reviews off on such a sour note, but there is little redeeming here when you consider what we are being charged for.
We went from having Wii Sports as a free pack-in title to being fleeced £7.99/$9.99 for a virtual instruction booklet peppered with minigames. I get that everything costs money to make, but if Sony could pull off Astro's Playroom for free, I'm sure Nintendo could have done a bit better with this one.
It's competent and functional, and some may even enjoy one or two of the minigames, but for what it is, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is tough to recommend for any new Switch 2 owner expecting something more than a console tech demo with quizzes.
