WELCOME TOUR | REVIEW | SWITCH 2

''WELCOME TO THE GRAND TOUR''

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Developed: Nintendo

Published: Nintendo

Genre: Tech Demo

Release Date: June 5th, 2025

Platforms: Switch 2

*GAME PROVIDED TO ME BY NINTENDO

Welcome Tour is the latest tech demo showcase for a Nintendo console and it is developed and published by... you know.. obviously Nintendo. With Nintendo needing to showcase all the tech inside their new console, this time being the Nintendo Switch 2, they decided, lets do so in the form of a information guide and tech demo mash up. However, was this the proper way to do it? or should another route have been taken? only one way to find out, so lets start the tour!

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GAMEPLAY:

Nintendo has a history of releasing pack in titles that showcase their console hardware's power or even just tech demos disguised as game that shows the player the new features that their new consoles offer, such as with Wii Sports on Nintendo Wii that took motion gaming from just a fad to a global phenomenon with how both fun and innovative the game was with bowling, baseball and tennis showcases. Then of course with Nintendo Wii U we had titles like Nintendo Land, which highlighted the Wii U gamepad capabilities, which I found really fun and inventive as well, which I seem to be in the minority about... but oh well, who cares, I'll just do like I always do and have Kirby eat all my enemies. Such a good boy, Kirby. Finally you have 1-2 Switch on Nintendo Switch that aimed to give players a proper introductions to the all new Joy Con controllers, albeit to a wave of mixed reactions for it from both hardcore gamers to even the more casual audiences. But now here in 2025, a new console has arrived and alongside it, a new tech demo showcase with Welcome Tour. Here in Welcome Tour, new audiences for the Nintendo Switch 2 console will journey across 12 different sections of the Nintendo Switch 2 and it's hardware, going through stages A to L. As you explore throughout these areas, you will learn more about the features the new consoles has and all technical spec details that goes into them as well. If I had to accurately describe just what this title actually entails, its like a mix of an information manual you normally receive with your electronic devices and blended alongside a collect-a-thon. Pretty weird right? I mean it plays well with my borderline A.D.H.D. because I'll be wandering around then just see something to pick up and be like ''OHH A SHINY'' and immediately have to go and pick it up, without question, which then makes me forget what I was doing in the first place. Oops. When you start up Welcome Tour, you begin in the same place you started when picking up your Switch 2 pre-order... in a line. The heck, dang it Nintendo, when you state this is to give fans the ''full Switch 2'' experience, we didn't think you meant even the pre-order waiting in line experience too. Ugh, oh well, let me wait in line for 4 hours then we can get World Tour started. Be right back guys.

Ok, you don't really have to wait 4 hours, it takes less than a minute to pick your character and move into the first game hub, which begins at Stage A and ultimately ends at Stage L. Each section of a stage has you run around a 3D world on top of Nintendo Switch 2 accessories like the screen itself, left and right joy cons, camera, wheel accessory, mouse wheel straps and the inside workings of what makes this console tick and work. Through these zones, you will be tasked with going to each component of the Switch 2 and collecting a stamp from each component that represents items like controller buttons, ventilation, docking connectors, SOC, magnet connections, ports, etc, and each discovered item awards you a badge for that area in order to advance to the next area. For example of going from Zone A to Zone B and onwards to L, some may require 9 stamps, 15 stamps or even up to 23 or more stamps before the next area unlocks and you find new tech to explore. Each new zone gives you even more beside badges like finding items laying around the ground that people have lost that you can collect and take back to the lost in found, which honestly is sort of like a game of hide and seek when searching for these things. You hear that, Michael Meyers? were coming for your Hide and Seek record, so get back behind your bush chump, were the captain now. Every zone also allows you to partake in quizzes that give you questions about the Nintendo Switch 2, history of its making, how it was made, and then tests that knowledge of yours and wonders if you were even paying attention in the first place.. or were you just sitting in the back of the class laughing like Beavis and Butthead. I did several of these quizzes, including a quiz at the end that asks you 13 questions and I got perfect scores on each them. See that? mama didn't raise no fool... she just raised a socially awkward girl that over uses puns and thinks fart jokes are funny because even in her 30's still hasnt found her maturity. Dont be hatin. But even though exploring the consoles parts itself is fun, at least for me, most people are here to test out the mini games and oh yes, there are ton of mini games that showcase Switch 2's capabilities that range from teaching you about the sensitivity of the HD Rumble with a mini game that wants you to find the origin of the rumble by moving the Joy-Con around to find out where the signal is the strongest, testing out the fluidity and smoothness of the Mouse function of the Joy-Cons by using a UFO to move around and dodged Spiked Balls for as long as you can and collect stars... which I started off pretty bad in, literally hiding in the corner to spare myself some time... and when that didn't work... then 30 tries later I got my courage and defeated my embarrassment and actually beat the dang level and got my medals. Sheesh.

Other mini games I encountered made use again of the Mouse function as you take a car and have to tilt the Joy-Con to pull off some Grave Digger like action moves and balance on two wheels to hit a speed objective to make it to the finish line. There were also mini games that focused on the Joy-Cons themselves by having you hold them like a motorcycle and rev up the bike with the right Joy-Con and speed around like you're driving - that one felt really fun, even if it was on the short side. Then there were mini games that showcased 4K in pixel format using the original Super Mario Bros as an example and holy crap was this thing SO DANG TINY, I literally had to lean in to see what the heck I was doing in order to complete the mini game objectives. Nintendo, did Rick Moranis help you make this? because it felt straight up like Honey I Shrunk The Kids up in here. However, out of the mini games I played, the gathering water with the Joy-Cons was the one that was the bane of my existence. In this mini game, you use both Joy-Cons and use them as a scoop to hold, lift and drop water onto platforms to make a wheel spin to turn on a light bulb, simple, right? maybe for post people, but not me. I struggled so much doing Round 2 of this mini game, not being able to lift properly and basically just ended up flailing in all directions hoping to get lucky. DANG IT YOU STUPID WATER! GET UP THERE, GET. ON. THE. PLATFORM. ITS YOUR HOME! ARE YOU TOO GOOD FOR YOUR HOME!?. But while most of the mini games are actually fun, there were some I couldn't actively play do to VRR, HDR and other modes that involved handheld mode, at the time of recording my gameplay because those required handheld mod and aren't available in docked mode - that's not an issue with the game itself, just my own personal issue since I like to document everything I do with recorded footage. But.. what IS the issue with the game itself is the fact that some of these mini games REQUIRE extra hardware just to complete them. Yup, ouch. For example some mini games make it mandatory to own a USB camera to play it, which will run you like $55, and then other sets of mini game requires the Switch 2's Pro Controller, which costs you another $80. I mean I get it, they want everyone to experience what the console has to offer, sure, business wise, I get it, but not everyone is going to be able to shell out the dough for all the extra stuff, partially because Wario keeps stealing their money, but on the positive side at least, 90% of all mini games are playable WITHOUT paid accessory add ons, so experience isnt hampered TOO badly at the very least.

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''POP QUIZ, HOT SHOT''

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OVERALL:

At the end of the day, strangely enough I had a good time with Welcome Tour all things considered. Obviously its not perfect with mandatory accessory purchases being required and some of the better mini games being a tad bit on the short end, however with its collet-a-thon like game play finding hidden items, learning the ins and outs on the system and how its put together, hundreds of stamps to collect, quizzes to test your Switch 2 logic, 12 zones harboring secrets, mini games that allow you to feel the rumble and guess what shape you feel, but not getting zapped by Doctor Venkman for getting one wrong, first person balloon shooter that gives you a taste for the future of F.P.S. on the console such as Metroid Prime 4 and how it will play and dozens more, etc etc, they all honestly make this technical showcase a pretty fun one at the end of the day. Now should this have been a pack in like Super Mario Bros was for NES? Wii Sports for Wii, Nintendo Land for Wii U? well.. I'd say yeah, this could've easily been a pack in game and I don't think it would've gotten near as much as hate as it has gotten. Still $10 isn't too big of a price leap considering this tech demo can give you up to 6 to 7 hours of gameplay should you collect all medals, ranging around 50 of them and play all minigames. So while this might not be EVERYONE's cup of tea, which I get, I still find $10 for it is justifiable, even if I agree it should've been packed in with the console itself. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW

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