Review of the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Nintendo being nuts but, I guess, kinda interesting?

So, here’s the thing with Nintendo. They’ve got this crazy ability to blow our minds with the most random stuff. Think about it: remember the joyride Super Mario Bros gave us on the NES? Or how Tetris just… settled in with the Game Boy? And Wii Sports—who didn’t love flailing around with that? Now they’re back with something called Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It’s like, is it a game? Is it an instruction manual? I dunno, it’s somewhere in between those two.

They’re pitching this Welcome Tour as a way to get folks hooked on their new console. It’s backwards compatible—yeah, carries the weight of the old along with the new, you know? You get to collect stamps, and it’s like each stamp is this tiny passport through the console’s guts. Controller buttons, fans, dock ports—you name it, they’ve got a section for it. You dig in, figure stuff out, answer quizzes, and boom, you’re onto the next bit. There’s this HD Rumble thing—it’s like more intense or whatever—and then those… mouse controls? Who knew Joy-Cons could double as a mouse? My recliner armrest made that a bit wonky, but it still works!

Oh, and, here’s the catch—or maybe a hiccup? You can’t wrap up all the games in Welcome Tour unless you’ve got the right gear. Like you need this special USB camera thing or the snazzy new Pro Controller. Typical, right? But, honestly, most games are good to go with what comes in the box. There are these medals—little shiny trophies you get from games, which are like tickets to more adventures. Some are timed; you go for high scores when you’re slowing down.

First impression? It’s more loaded than I thought, really digs into the features of the Switch 2. I find myself diving back in—nibbling away at the tougher mini-games, soaking up info from these quizzes. The tour just sort of hangs out—isn’t annoying, if you know what I mean. Sure, it’s not serving up nostalgia like, say, Wii Sports, but it’s a modern-day manual, basically. The tour does this excellent job of showcasing what this Nintendo thingamajig can actually do. My wallet feels lighter, but hey, at least I know what’s under the hood!