Originally released for VR platforms in 2024, Maestro is a fantastic rhythm game which perfectly adapts the motion and mannerisms of conducting an orchestra into a video game setting. Perform tempo conductions, introduce pieces of your orchestra via cues, perform pianos or fortes, all whilst trying to chain up combos and rack up the highest score possible, Guitar Hero-style. You can totally imagine this working well on a system like the PSVR2 or the Meta Quest, but what about this brand new Switch 2 port? Is Nintendo’s console capable of recreating the performance and motion-based controls of a modern VR game?

Waggle that joycon and pretend you’re Amadeus.

The answer is a resounding YES! If you hadn’t told me Maestro had previously been released for VR platforms, I wouldn’t have been able to discern. Okay, maybe the fact there are huge floating hands onscreen mimicking my movements, but the point stands: Maestro works wonderfully on Switch 2, with the joycons being able to recreate the same movements as playing that game with VR controllers. Sure, there isn’t a hand tracking support, as to be expected, and one or two syncing issues might actually occur, but the game has a quick calibration feature, with the press of a single button.

Having it work properly on the Switch 2 hardware is good and all, despite some ugly assets that constantly plaster the screen, but Maestro just wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for its soundtrack. And I guess that it’s the fact it’s being released two years after its original launch, with the inclusion of a handful of previously separately purchaseable songs, that makes this gem even more worth your time.

I thought he was going to be like JK Simmons in Whiplash, but he’s more of a valet. His character model is also a lot more detailed than the rest, for some reason.

Simply put, the setlist is pristine. I can’t find a flaw with it. When I first heard of Maestro, I imagined it would only include classical songs, considering the premise and the fact those are all royalty-free pieces of music. Sure, that comprises the vast majority of the soundtrack, and I see that as a good thing. All of the most iconic pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Verdi, and many others, are present. If you want to conduct the “March of the Valkyries” or Beethoven’s 9th, you can. And you will, since you have to play songs in order to unlock more songs…

But it’s the inclusion of more modern orchestrated compositions that elevates Maestro’s soundtrack to a echelon of its own. Pure, absolute perfection. The main battle theme from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is included. The Game of Thrones theme song is one of the songs you can conduct. And finally, the ultimate piece de resistance, the song that, by itself, already makes Maestro worth purchasing: “Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. How was the small indie team at Double Jack able to secure the rights for these songs? I have no clue. I just hope it didn’t lead them to the brink of bankrupcy, as I am fully expecting for more songs to drop in the near future. I don’t care if they’re paid DLC or not.

Feel the drama during a crescendo!

I never thought I’d say this, but Maestro is now one of the mandatory games every Switch 2 owner should pick up. It’s a fantastic example of how to adapt an existing motion-based game to Nintendo’s new hardware, taking full advantage of its capabilities with pristine performance and joycon controllers that track your movements with far greater precision. It’s one of the most entertaining arcade experiences you can have on the console, and a prime example of how developers can still come up with creative gameplay ideas that make you wonder why nobody thought of them sooner.

Maestro is available now on Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest Pro, PSVR2, Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Switch 2.

A copy of Maestro was provided by the publisher.