1, 2, Switch

Fun little party game, but 1-2 Switch really should of been sold with the console.
Some of the games work really well, a little over half get the job done, but the rest feel kind of gimmicky, or just don't work at all.

(written apr 12, 2017)

From the first time the player boots up 1-2-Switch, the game forces them to scroll through a slideshow of several minigames, and only after the player plays each minigame (with a second player) can they access the menu. Menu is a generous term; rather it’s picking a minigame shuffle mode or the entire minigame gallery. What an awful first impression.

1-2-Switch rides then dies on a central design choice: neither players look at the screen, using one Joy-Con each to play quickie-charades. You might use it as a pistol in a quick draw showdown, or as a wand to kind of…nudge towards the other player. Or just precisely rotating the Joy-Con’s, in 1-2-Switch’s most creative game, “Joy-Con Rotation” (yes, it’s actually called that).

Let me focus on one positive: Quick Draw is a very well-done minigame. Two players hold a Joy-Con by their hip, locked in an intense staredown (commonly broken by laughter), waiting for the signal. “Fire!” says the Switch, as both players lift up their Joy-Con, aim, and pull the shoulder button trigger. After the round, the game shows who shot first, even showing how long it took to fire and the angle the pistol was aimed. The downside is that Nintendo thought to take this one good game and surround it with 27 more bad ones and a $50 price tag.

It’s completely unclear what audience 1-2-Switch is targeting. The games either focus on the weak “don’t look at the screen” gimmick or the features of the Joy-Cons. The latter has first-time value; I played the game where the rumble emulates rolling marbles, said “neat,” then went to the next timewaster.

It tries very hard to appeal to people who don’t often play games with an extremely bland pop design. There’s a couple of actual “graphics” in the game, maybe two or three 3D models, but most of what you see are cut-out photos of real people following player actions. The player doesn’t look at the screen too much, but even looking at the menu is so bland, it feels like an out-of-touch PowerPoint.

I’ll close on this, the worst offense of 1-2-Switch. There is a minigame called Baby, and it is, as far as I know, the only game where both Joy-Cons need to be docked into the Switch. The player has to cradle the tablet like a baby, while it plays the same five crying soundbytes on loop, and then (I assume, I didn’t even bother to finish it) put it down so it can rest.

I don’t know what features of the Switch this game shows off. I don’t know who the hell will want to play this. I don’t know who the hell will want to play this around other people. And I certainly don’t know why Nintendo didn’t just release Quick Draw with a few extra modes for $1.99. It would’ve been a lot more fun than cradling a baby.