With the Switch 2 dominating hearts and headlines, it’s easy to forget that Nintendo released an alarm clock just a few months ago. Now that it’s received all its announced content and quality of life updates, has it become worth your time, or should we let sleeping Alarmo lie?
What Is the Nintendo Alarmo?
Nintendo Alarmois the culmination of the company’s decade-long lifestyle product initiative started under the leadership of the late Satoru Iwata. This included a half-decade of silence on the project, leading many to forget it ever existed.
The resulting alarm clock is a thing of dreams or nightmares, depending on who you ask. It features themes based on many of the company’s most popular franchises, fromZeldatoAnimal CrossingtoMario(lots ofMario). These dictate what character walks around the clock’s idle screen, the animations that play to ring in each new hour, the song used as bedtime music, and—infamously—the cacophony of sound to which you’ll wake up.
The wake-up experience of the Alarmo is an exercise in progressive antagonism. The “scene” starts off mellow before layering in louder music and more sound effects. This stops as soon as you get out of bed but resumes if you get back in within an hour. Wait too long and a boss will invade, turning a serene or endearing scene into one fraught with anxiety. There are options to start the alarm deeper into the sequence or never have it reach its sinister climax at all, letting you customize the experience to your needs.
Even as a Nintendo fan, it was a bit hard to love this. There’s no amount of Nintendo-colored wallpapering that makes waking up to the sound ofSplatoongunfire or incessantMariocoin noises appealing. By that same measure, this could be considered its strength if you have trouble getting and staying out of bed. It also felt lacking in content at launch, and its sleep tracking features are half-baked, making it hard for me to previously recommend to anyone but brand loyalists and curio collectors.
What’s Changed Since Launch?
Alongside the release of the clock, Nintendo announced that themes forAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsandMario Kart 8 Deluxewere on the way. Both of these have now arrived alongside an unannouncedSuper Mario Bros.theme.
Animal Crossingwas the theme I felt had the most potential, which means it disappointed me the most by under delivering. Given that the games already have a baked-in clockwork nature in how they change up the music for every hour of the day, the blueprint for a home run was staring Nintendo in the face. What we got instead were questionable character and music picks, with alarms that bury music under synthetic villager voices.
The other two themes fare better.Super Mario Bros.is the expected throwback to classic NES-era music and iconography, with the added touch of a dreamy, music box-esque rendition of theMariotheme as its Sleepy Sound (the theme-specific music that plays after you get settled into bed for a snooze). The unexpected winner, though, isMario Kart 8 Deluxe. The track-based scenes feature music that’s pleasant to wake up to, and the hourly chime in which different characters race by is easily the highest effort chime across all eight themes. While I wasn’t particularly anticipating the prospect of aMario Kartclock theme, I would now trade the other post-launch content for more of it.
Themes are only half the story as to what’s changed with the Nintendo Alarmo. In fact, the real game-changers are the myriad quality of life improvements. Some of these—like being able to preview alarms and change the duration of Sleepy Sounds—are nice to have. Meanwhile, the ability to set alarms on a per-day basis vastly improves the core functionality of the clock. No more fiddling with menus to turn off the alarm! This is a basic feature, but it single-handedly makes the Alarmo more practical.
It’s also worth noting that the clock’s performance hasn’t changed. Menus still chug, especially when picking themes. With more to scroll through now and no solution to make the process easier, there’s a sense that the added content weighs down the system. It doesn’t outweigh the improvements, though perhaps those improvements spotlight the unimproved performance.
Is the Nintendo Alarmo Worth Buying Now?
As far as we know, this is the end of the line for the Nintendo Alarmo. While Nintendo has started selling it in its retail stores, I can’t imagine the clock has performed well enough for Nintendo to justify continuing to support it in a meaningful manner. This isn’t to mention that the attention is now on the Switch 2.
So, assuming we’re looking at the Alarmo’s final form, is this likely content complete clock worth the steep ask of $100? Honestly, the answer hasn’t changed much.
It’s definitely a bit easier to recommend now thanks to the more customizable alarm functionality alone. The new themes also give Nintendo fans a lot more to chew on, and it’s destined to become a noteworthy oddity in Nintendo’s history with time. However, it’s still an inherently limited package that costs more than it should. If the thought of waking up to a barrage of Nintendo isn’t enticing, there aremore impressive clocks at this price point.
Nintendo Alarmo
Nintendo Alarmo is an alarm clock featuring characters and alarm themes from Nintendo games. It uses motion sensors to add sound effects to alarms and provide a hands-free experience.
