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Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is fun but it should have been a launch freebie

Nintendo's other launch title for the Switch 2 is Welcome Tour, but it's hard not to feel like it should have been a freebie in the box with the consolehere's why

[Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour]

The Museum design is a neat touch

One of the biggest question marks around the Switch 2 for a lot of prospective buyers has been around price, and understandably so.

The console is hardly cheap , and games like Mario Kart World are launching at 75. And, while there are backwards-compatible titles you can enjoy from your existing collection , thats a tough sell.

Its against this financial backdrop that I wonder what Nintendo has to gain by selling Welcome Tour, its new tech demo for the Switch 2s features, at a price.

It's certainly fun, and even educational at times, but it feels like the company that arguably sold more Wii systems because of its pack-in title is missing the point here.

Welcome, welcome

[Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour]

It's fun to find your way around, and you can slip on the Switch 2 screen and slide

Lets start with the positives, though. Welcome Tour is fun, offering a museum-like experience themed around the console youre playing it on.

Pick your avatar, and wander from Joy-Con to screen and beyond, learning about various console functions like the speakers, microphone, game-card slot, and those all-important controllers.

This is done through a series of tooltips and quizzes, and then demonstrations show off things like HDR with interactive sections like triggering a fireworks display and switching between dynamic ranges to see how the colours shift.

Theyre genuinely helpful, too, and judging the frame rate depending on whats shown on screen could help a new generation learn about the nerdy, techy bits of the console.

[Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour]

Shake your money makers

Some of the minigames are fantastic, too, like playing Twister with your fingers to showcase how the Switch 2 registers up to ten touch inputs at once, and even adjusting the kickstand in tabletop mode to see how well you know your angles.

Checking these things out gives you badges, and collecting them opens up new parts of the museum, but from our limited time with the game, it feels like the whole thing would be better served as a pack-in with the console.

Put it in the box

[Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour]

Minigames are fun, but it's hard not to feel like they should be included in the console purchase

Its not that Welcome Tour isnt a fun diversion, but more that given the choice between it and Mario Kart World, there really is no debate.

As nifty as using all of the Switch 2s functionality is, wed much rather do so in a game, especially if youre paying 7.99 for italmost half the price of a cracking Switch 1 indie game.

Its also the kind of thing that it feels like Nintendo would have put in the box in the past. To clarify, its not as groundbreaking as Wii Sports was when it launched, but that game helped shift millions of consoles and cemented the Wii in your living room.

[Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour]

The mouse-based game had us dodging the falling obstacles

The fact that the company would just include that with the console less than 20 years ago, while charging extra for Welcome Tour, is a tough one to get my head around, and thats before looking at what the competition is doing.

Sure, Microsoft doesnt have a history of pack-in titles, but PlayStation 5 includes Astros Playroom at no extra cost, and Id much rather enjoy platforming adventures with the little robotic goofball than I would do anything in Welcome Tour.

Final Thoughts

Thats not to say theres nothing of merit included here, and I think Welcome Tour will be fun for parents of budding gamers.

My six-year-old will have a blast hearing how the Joy-Con vibration can make Mario sound effects, but its hard not to feel like this should be in the box.

Previewed on Nintendo Switch 2. Preview event held by the publisher.

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