Review: Everybody 1-2-Switch! – My Nintendo News

Launching alongside Nintendo Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in March 2017, the original Switch 1-2 did not resonate with critics and consumers. Although intended to showcase the Joy-Con’s unique features, such as HD-Rumble and the IR motion sensor camera, it lacked the polish and charm that Nintendo is generally known for. While frankly feeling stripped down and outdated, 1-2-Switch was a full-priced release, not even a console pack-in title like Wii Sports was. That being said, it’s not too surprising that reception was mostly bewildered when Nintendo announced that a sequel, Everybody 1-2-Switch, was due out. However, I personally wanted to give the game a chance and approached it with an open mind while playing with a group of friends, as there is a lot of potential for a game developed by Nintendo. Jack Box Gamesstyle board game. With all that out of the way, let’s find out if Everybody 1-2-Switch really is for everyone, or just another unfortunate case of “meh.”

Exactly like its predecessor, Everybody 1-2-Switch is a collection of multiplayer mini-games designed for social interaction, requiring you to get up and move instead of staring at a TV screen. This time though, you can play with up to 100 players using your smartphone or tablet instead of a Joy-Con, hence the added “Everyone” to the title. There are five mini-games that can only be played with a Joy-Con (these are only for up to eight players), four that require a smart device, and eight that can be played with or, which makes seventeen mini-games in total. Some minigames have alternate variations with minor differences to change the gameplay, change the rules, or just add an extra layer of difficulty, but for obvious reasons you can’t really count them in the grand scheme of things.

Considering 1-2-Switch (2017) featured twenty-eight unique mini-games, it’s a good thing that Everybody 1-2-Switch only retails for £24.99 EUR / $29.99 USD. The price of the original was frankly inexcusable, costing more than some other AAA titles like Metroid Prime Remastered. Even though Everybody 1-2-Switch feels like a more polished package overall, with the minigames it has being more enjoyable, it’s a shame it can’t at least live up to the amount of content from its predecessor, even if that just meant carrying over the original minigames for some (much needed) extra value.

In the main “Team Contest” mode, Everybody 1-2-Switch divides everyone into two teams. For unequal teams, there is the possibility at the start of the game for small teams to receive extra points, but for most minigames you will play, having more people does not provide too much of an advantage. A point is earned by winning a mini-game, and the number of points a team will need to win depends on whether you choose to play a 20-minute short game, a 40-minute medium game, or a 60-minute long game. (3 pts, 5 pts or 7 pts respectively). The minigames are chosen randomly, but the losing team can vote between four which they would like to play next. Below is a full list of minigames, along with a brief description.

Balloons – Inflate the balloon just before it bursts.
Hip Bump – Use your hip movements to knock your opponent out of the ring.
Joy-Con Hide and Seek – Vibrate the Joy-Con to find it.
Jump Rope – Watch the rope and jump.
Kitchen Timer – Return at the right time / Empty at the right time / Lift the lid at the right time.
Musical chairs – Sit down as soon as the music stops.
Ninjas – Deflect all throwing stars with your sword.
Quiz Show – Answer true or false questions as fast as you can.
Relay race – Organize a relay race with the Joy-Con as a witness.
Samurai Sword Fight – Knock down your opponent before they hit you.
Squat – Squat when you hear squat.
Statues – Walk in place, don’t move when he’s looking.
UFOs – Give the signal to greet aliens.
Auction (smart device required) – Each item has a fixed point value. The value differs for each team. Each team shares their million. You won’t know the other team’s offers.
Bingo (smart device required) – Bingo.
Color Shoot (smart device required) – Memorize and shoot the trending color.
Ice Cream Parlor (smart device required) – Note the number of scoops ordered, respond as quickly as possible.

Most of the minigames are fun enough to play at least once or twice with the right group of people, but there are also some golden nuggets in the mix. The ones that require you to use a smart device were some of my favorites, and Nintendo made logging into the game surprisingly simple. All you have to do is ask everyone to scan a QR code, and with a few taps you can choose a custom name and profile picture and jump right into the party. In my experience, there was little noticeable lag or lag, so I have to give Nintendo props for that, especially since it’s the first time they’ve done this sort of thing.

Quiz Show and Bingo are both available to play as separate party modes, and for good reason, as they’re two of the best minigames Everybody 1-2-Switch has to offer. In Quiz Party, you have to answer multiple-choice questions as quickly as possible, and there are even special modes where you can write your own questions to make things more personalized. Bingo, on the other hand, is a great version of bingo, a game every retirement home knows and loves. It’s nothing too crazy, but it gets the job done if you want to wind down for a nice, laid-back game. What more can be said?

Unfortunately, some games feel inferior to the classic counterparts they’re based on. For example, Statues, whose gameplay is identical to the popular childhood game Red Light, Green Light (yes, just like Squid Game), depicts interchanged photographs of a child telling you when you can move on, making you run in place with the controller until you are told to freeze. Since most of the time you’ll be looking directly at your friends and family rather than the screen, minigames like this feel uninspired. The same goes for the Musical Chairs, Jump Rope, and Hide and Seek mini-games, with the “video game” version possibly hampering the fun you might have just playing them in real life. There are only very specific scenarios, like a group of 100 people trying to play musical chairs, where Everybody 1-2-Switch would be superior to play in terms of convenience and enjoyment.

All minigames can also be selected to play individually, but with one very important caveat; you must have already played it at least once in Team Contest mode. Everyone 1-2-Switch already has a harder-to-unlock “pro” mode for Team Contest, so for Nintendo to also lock all minigames behind a game wall is a weird move to say the least. I can’t think of a good reason why they shouldn’t all be available from the start. It’s just a family party game after all.

Speaking of weird decisions, Everybody 1-2-Switch has plenty. The game’s instructional host, MC Horase, is a man wearing a horse head mask who appears in the lower left corner of the screen. Even though it sounds like dated internet humor from the early 2000s, it wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t explain things too much and repeat itself unnecessarily. Luckily, the video tutorials for each minigame can be skipped after the first viewing, but even after that there’s far too much setup, explanation, and practice for the games that should be self-explanatory. The option to disable these things would have been nice.

As an antisocial college student in my twenties, I’ll admit that I’m probably not Everybody 1-2-Switch’s target audience. With the right group of people, like at a family reunion or an elementary school pizza night, I can see there are definitely a few hours of fun to be had here. However, in a small group (who were all enthusiastic about playing at first), we quickly found that we would rather play something like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo Switch Sports, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, or one of the many Jackbox Party Packs instead. If you were a fan of the original 1-2-Switch, getting the sequel is probably a no-brainer, but if not, you’ll likely find this to be a mediocre package that’s just as entertaining as it is bad.

5.5/10

A copy of Everybody 1-2-Switch for review purposes was provided by Nintendo UK.