Editor’s note: This review-in-progress is based on extensive hands-on time with a final version of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour in a controlled environment.
It will be updated with final thoughts, a score, and pros/cons in the following days.
I feel as though so much of the discourse around Welcome Tour will stem from its price point and how many, with Astro’s Playroom in mind, feel it should be a free pack-in experience that’s intended to help players familiarise themselves with the new features and specifications of the Nintendo Switch 2.
While it’s hard to disagree in principle, Nintendo has, in an unprecedented move, already included free upgrade paths to already owned titles, so it’s perhaps unreasonable to expect them to go against the bottom line overnight. It is what it is, and Welcome Tour is a $15 title—does it justify the price tag, is the big question?
If we’re doing an apples for apples comparison with Astro, then Welcome Tour is certainly lacking on the charm side of things. For a publisher that has the quintessential mascot platformer at their disposal, the decision to make everything in Welcome Tour appear, from a stylistic perspective, so in keeping with its mechanical focus feels like a decent misstep. The novelty of skating across a Nintendo Switch 2’s big old 8” screen or exploring the lower levels of the left-hand Joy Con 2 is there, but it seems odd to make every avatar in the game a bland, featureless Wii Fit trainer-type.
For generations of Nintendo consoles, there have been Mii, made unique enough to reflect their handler, so it’s puzzling for them to opt for the less appealing option. I can understand Nintendo wanting to position the Nintendo Switch 2 as a more mature console, but opting for an art style that is unexpectedly insipid over something alive with the colour and character Nintendo has forever been known for is a shame.
You pick your avatar from a line-up of eager patrons, all waiting patiently to get access to what is effectively an interactive museum, and it’s all about Nintendo’s brand new machine. You don’t get unfettered access from the get-go. You start in one of the Joy-Con 2 components but gain access to the remainder of the unit as your medal tally grows. It’s a cute enough premise, but it would have been better if it were Mario showing us the ropes.
In of the content it offers, I do feel Welcome Tour is certainly a celebration of Nintendo’s new console and all of the bells and whistles it brings. Sadly, it seems to do this without celebrating Nintendo itself, at least in the same way Astro’s Playroom felt like it covered off all of PlayStation’s important chapters. It feels as though Nintendo has forgotten much of its history based on what I’ve played. With that said, I’ve seen perhaps a third of the content available, so it might have more revelry than first impressions suggest.
Outside of an ittedly cool recreation of Super Mario Bros. 1-1 in 4K, the other activities, demos, and quizzes, which were front-ended by rather dull lectures on the console’s features, felt like they existed to get the function across rather than deliver anything exhilarating or fun. Again, this is a shame because if there’s one thing Nintendo has made core to its brand over its decades of existence, it’s fun.
Even the very nature of certain mini-games and technical demos is frustrating in that, depending on the spec it’s trying to showcase, you’ll frequently be forced to hop between handheld and tabletop modes. This doesn’t sound like a bother, though if you’re playing docked on a big screen, it can be rather intuitive. In the demo setting I was in, this was fine, however, I’d imagine for someone in their living room, with their dock on an entertainment unit, the inconvenience of having to constantly change gears would certainly be felt.
As mentioned earlier, all of the mini-games I’ve been able to play during my hour with the game, so far, serve to flaunt the console’s features. There’s spot the framerate eye tests with balls flying across the screen, there’s an electrified speed maze where you’re able to test the mouse functionality, and there’s even a mini-game where you’re asked to match the propped-up angle of the kickstand, as shown on-screen. These small games might offer a minuscule test of skill, but they offer little by way of elation, especially the kind you’d regularly get from a Mario Party.
Despite the negativity surrounding Welcome Tour ahead of its launch, I’d hoped it could still achieve much of what Astro managed to do for PlayStation. Unlike Astro, however, which cleverly weaved all of the console’s bespoke features throughout a seamless adventure, Welcome Tour seems to present any points of interest for the Nintendo Switch 2 like it’s a TED talk, capturing the thrill of reading an instruction manual all the while.
In short, it’s absolutely baffling that this is a paid experience. Even at its modest asking price, it’s hard to ascertain who Welcome Tour is for. It doesn’t do enough to celebrate Nintendo itself, and its clinical approach to presenting the console’s features, which any of its first-party games will likely do better, robs the mini-games of their fun. I hate to beat a dead horse, but there’s an alternate history where this game is Mario’s Welcome Tour and it rules.
Sadly, on this occasion, Mario is missing.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour releases exclusively for the Switch 2 on June 5th and will be available on the eShop for $15 AUD.
Editor’s note: This review-in-progress is based on extensive hands-on time with a final version of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour in a controlled environment.
It will be updated with final thoughts, a score, and pros/cons in the following days.
