1-2 Switch – Review

It’s like a rule with Nintendo systems that there’s gotta be one game that just takes advantage of every single little feature of a console and it’s controller. 1-2 Switch is that game for, you guessed it, the Nintendo Switch.

The problem this time around is that Nintendo are selling that perfect way of demoing a console separately. Wii Sports and Nintendo Land were both pack-ins for the last consoles, so while if a couple of games sucked in Wii Sports it was fine because it was free and Bowling and Tennis were amazing.

1-2 Switch features 28 different mini games and not all of them are any good. There are some gems in there, but with many more titles than Wii Sports or Nintendo Land the overall quality is dragged down. As the name suggested you’re going to want to have more than one player for this one, so if you live by yourself or seldom have people over – buy something else. 1-2 Switch needs one other person, or more, to be fully enjoyed.

Each of the mini-games show off different functions of the unique Joy-Con controllers, a few games like Samurai, Quick Draw and Sword Fight show off the motion controls. Ball Count, Safe Cracker and Joy-Con Rotation show off the HD Rumble. I Have to stop here and explain HD Rumble, because it really is amazing. In Ball Count you have to slowly tilt your Joy-Con to feel how many balls are in it, and it really does feel like there are balls inside. Safe Crack uses different levels of power in the rumble to simulate turning a safe rotation knob.

The game that stood out to me most was obviously, Milk. There’s just something so unwholesome about it, and even a 10-year-old is gonna find that funny. Table Tennis is great because it’s so simple, and it actually feels like playing a table tennis game, just without having to go fetch the ball from under the couch every missed shot.

Baseball is similar, I’m not sure why I like it so much, but it almost feels like a hark back to a board game, where you have to use your imagination. Gorilla, the last game on the list is also some dumb fun, but also has some nuance and you need to have some rhythm. Some of the other games just have you waggling around – that wasn’t fun 10 years ago; it’s not fun now. Last but not least is Shaver, I liked it because it was reassuring to know that I could shave my face better than my fiancé.

Sadly there is only one game that uses the IR motion camera on the bottom of the right Joy-Con, Eating Contest. The technology works great, the repeated play attempts will leave you with a sore jaw. The worst game has to be the one about putting the baby to sleep. Why you’d want to play a game about putting a noisy baby to sleep it beyond me. I don’t even have a kid and I hate it.

As mentioned before, the more people you have to play the game with, the better. The game supports a ‘Team Battle’ and ‘1-2 Switch Shuffle’ mode to help facilitate this and it really works. Trying to decide which game to pick is like deciding which movie watch on Netflix or what takeaway to have. So just let the game do it. The only annoying part is when the game suggests you have to take on and off the Joy-Con Strap, over and over – which leads to people not doing it. Someone is gonna end up with a smashed TV.

If you’ve seen the videos introducing each of the games in 1-2 Switch, then you’ve seen 1-2 Switch. The point of this game isn’t to look at the screen anyway, most mini-games will instruct you to look into the eyes of your opponent. The screen is either only for spectators or not used. The entire game, however, is well produced and presented, even if a little cheesy. You should be able to play the game on the TV or in table-top mode and be fine – just make some space.

It feels like a cop out to say it, but 1-2 Switch should have been a pack-in with the console. It’s an amazing way to show off the the new hardware, showing all the technology in the Joy-Cons and have people understand how it all works. But at $70 a lot of people are just going to overlook it. 1-2 Switch is just light on great mini-games, it’s shallow and once you’ve played them all with a group of friends you’re unlikely to go back. Some games just boil down to dumb luck, the real games are few and far between.

You’ll have fun with it, but probably just once.

Score: 3/5