Nintendo's unsung Switch 2 launch game isn't Mario Kart – everyone should download it

Yahoo

a day ago

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Perhaps I should never have been in doubt – it's Nintendo, after all. Like so many others, when it was announced that the charming Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour would not be an included extra when you buy the console, but instead an £8.99/$9.99 extra, I was dismayed.
With Mario Kart World coming in as Nintendo's new most expensive launch game ever, it feels sad to know that what looks for all the world like a bundled title is in fact a premium download. Even worse, though, is that after playing it for a few hours, I think it's basically a must-buy for new Switch 2 owners who like their tech.
The game drops you into a museum-style exhibition covering all the changed details and upgrades that have come to the Switch 2 compared to its predecessor, and lets you explore section by section.
You run around finding stamps to unlock new areas, but you can also take part in tech demos that underscore the improvements made to the console, and mini-games that help you see how new features can actually work. These games award you medals for completing certain objectives, and more medals unlock further stages in the games.
If, like me, you were convinced that mouse mode was nonsense, for example, you'll find multiple little games that do a perfect job of showing how fun it could be in the hands of a good developer. Similarly, the tech demos have some jaw-dropping stuff to demonstrate, including vibration engines so precise that they can actually make noises (like the iconic Mario coin sound).
This all adds up to a fun structure that only gates harder games behind medals – you can explore the whole massive floor plan just by finding all the stamps needed to move on. Also dotted throughout the museum are trivia desks.
These pop up bits of information about specific features – like a set of boards that tell you exactly how the new dock is different from the old one, and why. You can then take a quick quiz to prove you remember the key details. It's like Switch 2 school, and is probably the part where the game feels most like the advertisement it basically is.
However, it's also the part I've been enjoying most, weirdly. These information boards go into way more detail than I expected, often about tiny engineering decisions and why they were made.
Take that dock – it now has four non-slip feet to stop it slipping around. However, because no slip whatsoever would make it more liable to tip over, one of those feet is actually slightly different, to encourage a little slipping. This tolerance makes it mostly non-slip, but also tip-resistant.
That level of detail is replicated all through the game, and I'm finding it genuinely fascinating to learn about – and I can easily imagine it being a great tool to encourage younger gamers to learn about how these devices actually work.
If Welcome Tour had been packaged with the Switch 2, I think it would currently be getting garlands – and being placed in the hall of fame of pack-ins, along with Wii Sports and Astro's Playroom from the PS5 launch. Instead, it's in a weird limbo as a paid game that isn't really a "game" per se.
Still, I've had my Switch 2 for about 24 hours and I've played more of Welcome Tour than Mario Kart World, which has to tell you something. I think that every Switch 2 owners who finds a spare tenner should pick it up – if only to discover that mouse mode isn't a gimmick.