They say that if you don’t remember a party, it’s maybe because it was the best of your life. However, we do not think that happens to you with 1-2-Switch, a video game that does not go much beyond the technical demonstration on the possibilities of the Joy-Con. As that is a respectable product. As a “party” experience, it is far from what we expect. 1-2-Switch analysis.
Nintendo has relied on “party” experiences ever since they hit the pitch with Wii Sports . That video game, included in the bundle of the console, marked a milestone, the one that your parents racket in front of the screen or you see grandparents ready to throw a few bowls. People not used to video games were attracted by this simple but surprising proposal. In many cases, it was his only contact with the Wii.
This paragraph is necessary to understand 1-2-Switch , not because it is a title exactly the same, but because it shares its intention to break the ice or, at least, to attract a different audience. The 28 minigames that it includes go in that direction, to suppose instant fun in company.
However, I detect in this release a lower capacity to reach all ages, and also a lower charisma in the tests, as well as an excessively fast exhaustion in its proposal. After a first round, many tests do not want to see them again. You are amazed when you have to identify the number of marbles the Joy-Con seems to contain thanks to the HD vibration, but then you come to others that leave either a feeling of doing the same as in Wii Sports (but worse) or simply satiety.
1, 2, Switch: Party Trailer
One, two … and we goYou can’t say that the 1-2-Switch presentation isn’t going straight for you. The start is quick and easy. You hold the Joy-Con , shake them when they vibrate and the video game detects you. After a few tests, they are all unlocked. It is colorful, agile, with voices in Spanish that accompany you at all times. Nobody gets lost here, and we even have video explanations (with actors) that tell us the instructions for each minigame.
One of the most curious tests (consisting of eating sandwiches) uses infrared to detect when we open and close our mouths.
However, it is as negative to fall short as it is long … and at this point it must be said that the video game does a disservice to the “party” that we intend to organize at home. When you want your guests not to get bored, the least you want is to swallow so much explanation, which lasts the same or even longer than the tests themselves.
Once played once, they can be skipped, but the approach lacks fluidity. It is surprising that Nintendo, which has always advocated easy-to-understand game structures, has opted for an approach that is not exactly noted for its dynamism. It adds to the frustration that you are asked to put on or take off the straps from time to time. But the worst thing about the whole is that there are interesting minigames, although others to be forgotten, and there are even some that cause a strange feeling of repetition, as if we had already done the same in other tests.
It looks like a technical demonstration of the possibilities of the Joy-ConIn the end, 1-2-Switch works like what we’ve been advocating since January: a technical demonstration of the possibilities of the Joy-Con. In Safe we move them as if they were the controls of a safe, being aware of the sensitivity of accelerometers and gyroscopes . In Ball Counter, the HD vibration is used to invite us to guess the number of marbles in some boxes. In Binge they make use of the infrared of the Joy-Con, which detects when we open and close our mouths to eat sandwiches (obviously virtual).
HD vibe is amazing in the game of marbles. It also helps to know when to pull down on the cow milking test.
For this, it is a good video game. However, then there are tests like Clash of Steels, a swordsman fight, where not everything works as well as it should . There are blows at the wrong time, the reactions are not precise and, ultimately, there are things that take us out of the game. In the end, the feeling is not very far from that of the wiimotes, being supposedly the most advanced Nintendo Switch controllers in gyroscopic and accelerometer matters.
Therefore, the conclusion is that the possibilities are not exploited. And then there are mini-games that are simple, shallow, and no more than funny. 1-2-Switch is especially suitable for these situations, to do the goose . While the intentions are good, depth has been lacking. Make you shave, beat your chest like a gorilla, shake a bottle, pick up a phone when it rings… All are extremely ephemeral proposals. To use and to throw away.
It misses depth. In Wii Sports, each test had its hook, even with rankings, and there was continuity, with various levels of difficulty. There is no trace of that here, you cannot even play alone: always in company. Besides, we only have a group mode (from 2 to 20 players) in which two sets of friends can go head-to-head, taking turns playing mini-games always under the 1vs1 dynamic. Whoever reaches the end of the board first wins the game.
For all this, and because 1-2-Switch from the beginning seemed destined for a technical demo , the feeling that it should have been included with the console does not get out of our heads. But it is not your underlying problem, it is simply not a very prominent “party” experience. Its presentation is successful, the air it gives off as well, and although it experiments with the possibilities of the Joy-Con, it really is not that innovative. In addition, its power to liven up parties is questionable, remaining a somewhat regular resource.
“Regular”
1, 2, Switch
7.0
Readers
(4)
One, two … and we’re off, because maybe 1-2-Switch won’t end up being the best option to liven up the parties. It has some good ideas and as a demonstration of the power of the Joy-Con it is an interesting product. However, it is far from being a recommended “party” video game. It lacks rhythm, depth and above all fun. If you don’t have anything else to liven up the party with, you may be out of the way… but remember: you’ll have to do a lot on your part.
- Good technical demonstration of the power of the Joy-Con
- Careful presentation, with video explanations and actors, all in Spanish
- Some tests, like counting marbles, that are surprising
- Lots of ups and downs in the minigames, with some that you will only play once
- Lack of depth, pace and modalities
