Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit

Genre: Accessory / Minigame Collection / Action / Misc.

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Nintendo LABO is one of those uniquely Nintendo products that often seem to come out of left field and give players something strange and wonderful and often not quite completely thought-out. In this case, each of the four Nintendo LABO kits provides players with one or multiple objects that they can create using cardboard pieces included in the package, along with software that incorporates that cardboard into various games, usually by incorporating the Joy-Con controllers in various ways.

For the second of these LABO kits, the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit, players are given a few different items to create, along with a few games and activities to use them in. Players should be aware of a few things before getting the game, however. Firstly, while eShopperReviews tends to focus mostly on digital releases, Nintendo LABO is strictly a physical-only release. Secondly, because a part of the experience is constructing the cardboard objects included in the kit, you’re not likely to find much resale value in Nintendo LABO – once you open this game up and start making stuff, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a buyer wanting it used. Likewise, you should be wary of buying a Nintendo LABO kit used, for much the same reason.

Also, be aware that the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit absolutely requires at least one pair of Joy-Con controllers to use. However, unlike the other Nintendo LABO kits, there is nothing in this one made specifically for the Nintendo Switch (save for one very minor bonus construction included with every Nintendo LABO kit) and everything here should work fine with the Nintendo Switch Lite in theory if you have a pair of Joy-Cons. I say “in theory” because using the constructions to play the actual game seems pretty impractical if you’re not playing with a decent-size screen. Doable, but far from ideal.

Finally, a few warnings for those looking to get this game for a young kid. Nintendo LABO is a very kid-friendly game, but making these various constructions is something that will require a fair amount of time and patience, decent reading skills, and the ability to follow directions. Specifically, whoever is building these constructions needs to be sure not to break the pieces, not to fold the wrong part or do things in the wrong order, and not to mess with stuff like the stickers unless they are specifically told where to put them (the stickers aren’t just for show – they serve an important function). What’s more, popping out the bits of cardboard can create a lot of mess. If any of these things sounds like it may pose a problem for your child, this may be something that will require some supervision on your part.

As mentioned before, this game comes with pieces of cardboard designed specifically for use with the game, with cutouts for each of the projects, and those cutouts having lines to be creased in the appropriate places. I suppose in theory it may be possible to use cardboard to produce replacement parts, but you likely won’t end up with something that has quite the same quality as what’s included. However, while the cardboard here is decent quality and fairly sturdy, it’s nothing revolutionary – it’s just cardboard. In addition to the cardboard, the game also comes with a plastic bag full of other components you’ll need for construction – rubber bands, lengths of string, reflective stickers, and a few other odds and ends. While the cardboard pieces could theoretically be replaced with your own hand-crafted duplicates, some of these parts are unique, so you’ll want to be sure not to lose them.

The game itself is separated into three sections, “Make”, “Play”, and “Discover”, with each of these sections further sub-divided into sections focused on individual components.

In “Make”, players are given step-by-step instructions for how to build all of the main components in the box, complete with a full 3D representation of the process in action that players can play at multiple speeds, rewind, or even spin the example around to see it at different angles. This was actually a really excellent guide, although I did find myself sometimes mixing up the button for rewinding and the button to exit, causing a bit of mild frustration every time I did. Overall though, these instructions are fairly fool-proof, and should make it easy for a young child to complete all of the DIY projects contained within the box so long as they’re patient and can follow instructions properly, and the written directions include lots of cute little comments throughout that make the process just a bit more enjoyable. However, be aware that these instructions are only written, not voiced – the only sound you’ll be listening to are the cartoony sound effects signifying cardboard being creased and popped together, and music that sounds like… well, like bad porn music, really. It’s fine, though it can get a bit annoying after listening to it long enough.

A large part of the joy of this game is piecing things together and seeing how everything connects and builds as you progress, sorta’ comparable to putting together a puzzle except you have instructions for how to do it. So if you’re looking at this game and thinking about the ordeal you have to go through to build the stuff before you can play with it, you’re probably approaching Nintendo LABO with the wrong mindset.

In “Play”, players can make use of the objects they’ve created to play one of multiple minigames (which I’ll go into in a moment). Finally, in “Explore”, players are given insight into how all of this works, as well as being given a utility to create their own LABO projects (again, I’ll get to this a bit later).

For what’s included in the box, you have the following construction projects, although unlike the first Nintendo LABO kit, the projects are not always directly associated with a specific minigame. I’ll explain in a moment. First, here are the projects you’ll be building:

Joy-Con Holder – This is a little box for your Joy-Con. Which… is completely unnecessary and pointless, but acts as a simple project to get players acquainted with how to use Nintendo LABO. This item is not used with any minigame.

Robot – Yes, unlike the first and third Nintendo LABO kits, there is really only one primary construction in this kit, although it consists of multiple parts. It’s also probably the biggest of all of the Nintendo LABO projects to make (just edging out the Vehicle Kit’s steering wheel construction), and it’s definitely the most time-consuming, so definitely set aside a good chunk of time to build this one (Nintendo estimates 180-240 minutes). This construction consists of a visor to be worn on the head, and a backpack with four pulleys – two to be held in the player’s hands, two to be strapped to the player’s feet. All of this works well enough and feels reasonably sturdy, but it is absurdly cumbersome. I wish that Nintendo had put onto the backpack some sort of holder or container for the pulleys, as they are messy to store, and get in the way when you’re trying to put the thing on. Thankfully everything is designed with straps to accommodate different body sizes (I’m 6’1”, and I can get this to fit me fine, but it’s also clearly designed to be usable by small children as well). Surprisingly, the backpack has a good amount of heft to it, too.

“Tools” (giant screws) – These are used to tinker with the Robot construction in one of the included “minigames”.

There are also a few little extra pieces for more minor uses, such as to demonstrate features discussed in the Explore mode.

Now, as for the different games included in this package, you have the following:

Hangar – This is the one “minigame” (actually more of an application) that makes use of the “Tools” I just mentioned, and has you inserting them into the backpack portion of the robot suit to alter the in-game appearance of the robot you’ll be playing as in other minigames, changing the colors of its different parts. It’s a cute little addition, but not one you’ll spend much time in.

Robo-Studio – Another “minigame” that’s more of an application, if you can even call it that. This one is more like an oddly-structured sub-menu, with its one purpose being to change the sound effects your in-game robot makes in other minigames. This is even less substantial than the Hangar minigame. What’s more, it appears to be broken – some of the sound effects simple didn’t seem to work at all, much to my confusion.

VS – This is a two-player competitive mode where two players who each own a robot suit can duke it out. And yes, apparently playing this mode requires two fully-built versions of the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Suit, meaning that most players won’t be able to play this at all. I should note that compared to the other Robot mini-games, the zoomed-out view here makes everything seem far less impressive than it already was. Ugh.

Robot – This is the main gameplay mode of the game, which is all the more disappointing as all it is is basically a small area where players are tasked with destroying as many UFOs flying around it within the span of a few minutes. I’ll note now that moving around in the game as the robot is awkward and at times even painful – turning requires leaning to one side or the other, a movement that feels unnatural, and while the game does utilize some cool transformations that players can make the robot do, at least two of them require players to squat while doing it. Simply put, while controlling your robot in the game is novel and interesting, it’s too much of a chore to actually be fun. Oh, and since I’m getting into the controls now, suffice it to say that both the VS minigame and the Challenge minigame use the exact same control setup.

Challenge – This is a gameplay mode that has you controlling the same robot from the VS and Robot minigames in the same manner, but in self-enclosed missions players can undertake to unlock new abilities and “level up” their robot. It’s nice that this addition brings a little bit of depth to the main game, but the levels are sparse and uninteresting, and this minigame suffers the same control issues as the others.

Calories – This is another “minigame” that’s really just a menu screen, displaying the calories it’s estimated that you burned while playing the other minigames.

Aaaand that’s it. Three variations on the same very limited game with poor controls (one of which you won’t be playing unless you sucker someone else into buying a copy of the game), and two glorified sub-menus, and a minimal application. Compared to the other Nintendo LABO sets, I found this to be extremely disappointing. Also, while the actual minigames do use the Joy-Cons in interesting ways, I didn’t find their application here to be quite as novel as in the other LABO sets. And I should note that the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit is the only one without anything you can use in other games – everything you create for this game will only be used for this game.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention the graphics. Um… they’re fine, but don’t do anything especially noteworthy. There, I’ve mentioned the graphics.

For the more ambitious creative types, there is of course the Explore mode that’s included with each of the Nintendo LABO games, which not only acts as a fascinating tour through the different features of the Joy-Cons (simplified so that kids can understand them), but also gives players access to a “Garage” tool that enables them to design their own interactive applications using a drag-and-drop interface. Don’t get too excited, though – you’re not going to be getting any sort of extensive game design kit here, as there’s not any way to alter the graphical interface beyond the buttons and light-up panels you’ll be using, so you won’t be producing anything as visually impressive as the minigames included with this package. However, for those looking to jerry-rig their own tools using the Joy-Cons, or get a very, very basic grasp of how programming languages work (including interface features that represent “IF/THEN”, “AND”, and “NOT”). I should note that while most of Nintendo LABO is extremely kid-friendly, this final section may be confusing to even more seasoned game players, despite that it is very, very simplified compared to actual programming languages.

Out of all of the Nintendo LABO kits, Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit is by far the worst. There are fewer minigames with less variety as before, three menu screens posing as minigames, and of the three minigames present, one requires a second Robot Kit and an additional player to play, and all three of them suffer from awkward, frustrating controls. There is still some joy to be had by building the thing, as well as fun for more experienced players who want to toy around with the Explore mode, but that’s the same joy you can get with the other LABO kits that have some actual fun mini-games in them, make more creative use of the Joy-Cons, and have constructions that you can use in other videogames. As a result, what little joy there is in this package is redundant when the other Nintendo LABO kits exist. If you want to try out Nintendo LABO, get one of those.

tl;dr – Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit is a really unique hybrid of a Minigame Collection, a series of Accessories you create yourself using the included pieces of custom-made cardboard, and a Misc. tool you can use to explore the features of the Nintendo Joy-Con controllers. However, compared to all of the other Nintendo LABO kits, this one is worse in just about every way – there are fewer minigames on offer with less variety and frustrating, awkward gameplay, with glorified menu screens presented as minigames to make up the difference. There’s also nothing here that can be used in other videogames, unlike the other LABO kits. And what little fun there is to be found here are features that are already in the other much better LABO kits. If you want to try Nintendo LABO, go for any of the other LABO kits, this one is the worst of the lot.

Grade: D

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