Reviewing Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles
Mario Kart World, Welcome Tour, and more!
Relentless news calls for a relentless newsletter — first up, my NPR review of the Switch 2 and its launch games:
[…] I don't think every Nintendo fan will need to upgrade until more exclusive games arrive, but if you can afford it now and know that you'll want one eventually, it's easy to recommend. Especially if you're eager to sling shells, crush mushrooms, and vroom to victory.
Mario Kart World
The original Switch launched with Breath of the Wild, one of the most influential games of all time. Mario Kart World doesn't break as much ground, but it's got more in common with that trailblazer than I initially thought.
When I previewed the game in April, I described it as baby's first Forza Horizon: an open-world racing game that would undoubtedly brim with noisome side activities. It's actually got a far lighter touch. The game strings dozens of possible races across an interconnected landscape for hectic Grand Prix events and 24-person Knockout rounds. Yet you can also freely roam across the titular world and discover its many delights — which, like Breath of the Wild, aren't advertised on the map.
Granted, blue-coin dashes and time trials rarely made me squawk with surprise like the shrines and secrets of a Zelda game. But these challenges perfectly fit in-between competitive bouts. Unfortunately, the mode works best when playing alone. Online friends can roam with you, but you can't unlock costumes and achievements while playing with them.
When it comes to actual racing, World feels like Mario Kart 8 with wider roads and glitzy new power-ups. It's hard to improve on 8's formula, which embraces the greatest hits from decades of series history. But by expanding the space between the races, Mario Kart World feels just innovative enough to earn the $80 asking price.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
The other Nintendo launch title, conversely, feels like homework — and I don't exactly mean that as an insult. Welcome Tour synthesizes Nintendo's recent forays into theme park and museum design into an exhaustive survey of Switch 2 hardware.
Imagine you're an ant, crawling along the Switch 2's surface, hungrily grubbing up morsels. That's the Welcome Tour experience. Your tiny avatar hunts for hidden stamps needed to progress through a massive console and its peripherals. You'll also endure demonstrations and occasionally entertaining minigames meant to show off the Switch 2. As tech demos go, it falls short of the heights set by Astro's Playroom. But as an interactive exhibition piece, it's oddly compelling.
I made it my mission to ace all of Welcome Tour's quizzes, which the game doles out after you've read facts about the Switch 2. Complete with satisfying bloop sounds and jokey answers, these multiple-choice tests target technical manual enjoyers and How It's Made watchers (a population that overlaps considerably with gaming console reviewers!). Poindexters like me will feel welcome in Welcome Tour. Everyone else may as well save the $10.
But what about the Switch 2 Pro Controller, I hear you demand? What about the $60 camera, you cry?
I’m impressed with the former and underwhelmed by the latter. Nintendo’s new Pro Controller almost looks reasonable at $85ish (much cheaper than the Xbox Elite 2 or Sony Dualsense Edge). Its back-buttons are easy to program, though I’ve found them less comfortable to press than competing models. Otherwise, the controller’s an obvious pick-up for anyone who plans to play much in docked mode.
That camera though. $60 hardly seems fair when you can easily buy plenty of cheaper and higher-quality webcams. Its only advantage is that it comes with a stand, which isn’t a given for models designed to latch onto a computer monitor.
More fundamentally, are the camera features even worth the bother? I’ve tested them for hours and enjoyed seeing the on-screen faces of my friends as they zip past me or spin out on Mario Kart bananas. I’ve also previewed Jamboree TV, the upcoming upgrade to the latest Mario Party, and couldn’t decide whether its new modes used the camera in refreshingly novel or predictably gimmicky ways. The camera doesn’t look like it’ll be the failure the Xbox Kinect was, but it’s certainly not shaping up to be a Switch 2 selling point.
This week I also helped edit Vinny Acovino’s excellent wrap on Resident Evil Requiem and the other demos he played at SGF. Meanwhile, my colleague Mandalit del Barco covered the deal striking video game performers reached with industry leaders. Finally, NPR freelancer Sherisse Pham reported on a mobile game Hong Kong police accuse of promoting “armed revolution.”
That’s it for now! Onward!
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