Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour review: nerdy and disappointing in equal measure

With the new Nintendo console released (see our Switch 2 unboxing), you would expect the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour to be a packed-in title showcasing new features. And yet, there's the rather unwelcome fact that you're charged for what could be described as an interactive instruction manual.

But with its predecessor on track to be Nintendo's best-selling console of all time and the Switch 2 already flying off shelves while bringing back the midnight console launch, the Kyoto company hardly needs to give anything away for people to buy in.

This title is also clearly nowhere in the same vein as a party game like Wii Sports, Nintendo Land, or 1-2 Switch. It's essentially designed like a virtual museum where you control a little person walking around giant rendered versions of different components of the new console. In fact. it's more of a museum than the actual Nintendo Museum in terms of how deep it dives.

Because of that though, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is also devoid of a lot of the charming personality you would expect from a first-party game – if you're after Mario and chums, they're all in Mario Kart World, the game you're probably already playing if you've got hold of a Switch 2. Or go retro and try the exclusive Switch 2 GameCube collection.

That's not to say Switch 2 Welcome Tour doesn't have some charm, especially when you're walking around massive Joy-Con 2's or getting to climb down to check out their innards. When you reach the device itself and walk over the touch screen display it's like you're ice-skating, and your avatar will even slip and fall over if you run for too long.

But its spartan graphic design aesthetics have more in common with Game Builder Garage or even Labo, incidentally games that are about making or teaching you about the inner workings of games and hardware. So too is Welcome Tour about peeling back the mystique and providing in-depth but succinct information about every aspect of the Switch 2, from the magnets that attach the Joy-Con 2 to the console to why the new dock has a curved design, to the wizardry behind its built-in noise-cancelling microphone – it makes you appreciate how the Switch 2 isn't just a mere upgrade.

It's also extremely nerdy, so I can see why it likely won't have mass appeal unlike Mario Kart. That may even be a reason for why it's sold separately, meant as a niche that only real Nintendo heads know.

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Games or demos?

Of course, the other half of the tour are minigames and tech demos that showcase what the new tech in the Switch 2 can do in playful ways. The mouse functionality gets quite the workout here in versatile ways, with the first minigame simply testing your precision as a UFO avoiding falling spike balls, before you have ones that also test the subtlety of HD Rumble 2, while another works in conjunction with the Joy Con 2's gyroscope – inspired examples showing how this isn't just about the new Switch 2 mouse controls.

When everyone is always banging on about 4K, frame rates, VRR or DLSS, some of the exhibits provide simple but hilarious methods of illustrating their function, and often how subtle some of these features are. Perhaps the most interesting one includes a cameo from Nintendo's mascot as you get to play through World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. but the display is tiny to illustrate how many pixels can fit in a 4K screen compared to what the NES could back in the day.

While some are just tech demos that you're done with after a minute, the minigames do have potential staying power because they are all surprisingly quite fiendish in difficulty, at least if you care about earning all the medals, which in turn unlock even more challenging versions of the same minigame.

However, Welcome Tour also has a very annoying progression gating system, with areas opening up in sequence and only after you've completed the stamp rally for the current area. At first, you think it's a cute diversion but it's really a mandatory and tedious exercise in walking around every facet of an exhibit until a prompt to check a new stamp finally appears. It's the kind of archaic pixel-hunting from older games I do not find fun.

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Even though there are some novel uses of the mouse and rumble, they rear their head more often than necessary, seemingly to pad out the tour's roster of minigames. It's also egregious that some exhibits are of additional official accessories like the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera and Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller, which also have minigames that require having those accessories in order to work.

If you think Nintendo was already being stingy about charging for this digital tour, then it just feels like another kick in the teeth to buy every new accessory before you exit through the gift shop – I mean the eShop.

If you're wondering how to get hold of the device, check out our guide to Nintendo Switch 2 orders, and see pricing on other consoles below.