Every morning for the past few weeks, I’ve woken up to the gentle wahoos of the Super Mario brothers, the chirping of Pikminor extracts from Zelda: Breath of the Wildthe beautiful orchestral score of. Nintendo’s rich library of sounds – many of which are recognizable before you’ve even opened your eyes – gently roused me from my slumber and commanded me to sit up and get out of bed. Because until you do, Alarmo doesn’t want to stop.

If you’re looking for the video game part of Nintendo Alarmo, other than the origins of the music it plays, then being able to play the gadget’s routine for getting out of bed is the closest thing it offers. You can ignore his first morning calls with a few basic movements, which are picked up by Alarmo’s smart motion sensor. I often greet him with a wave of the hand, a suggestion with a vague desire to get up, perhaps. This provides a short respite from the noise, but not for long. Other alarms can be silenced by similar movements – at the risk of becoming an annoyance to any partner or pet who is also napping – until you reach the 20 minute mark, after which Alarmo becomes nuclear.

This is where Alarmo can change your alarm to a much louder, more frantic version: Bowser suddenly yells at you to get out of bed, Pikmin screams as Bulborbs attack, Guardians from Breath of the Wild train their lasers on your sleeping body… I’m awake! I’m getting up! Listen, Alarmo, I’m physically leaving the room. The device chirps happily behind me, mission accomplished. Yes, I am indeed now out of bed. But at what cost?

Well, about £90 – and that’s what really changes Alarmo’s proposition from: ‘it’s fun, in a masochistic way’ to: ‘I really expected more for the asking price’. Why is it so expensive compared to other alarm clocks? Is it the clock screen, which displays simple graphics? Is it the smart motion sensor? Is Nintendo looking to fill a hole in its finances? without Switch 2 this year?

Alarmo’s motion sensor is impressive and really does a good job of telling the difference between small movements and getting out of bed. (It also notices if you sneak back into bed for a while after its alarm goes off. You win this one, Alarmo.) That said, the sensor detects all movement – so any other moving person in the room will also trigger it. I’ve gotten into the habit of turning off Alarmo manually when I finally get out of bed to avoid this – and it’s also a setting you can deploy by default, although this makes Alarmo the same as any other alarm clock with a button on top, which seems rather counter-conventional.

That’s because Alarmo doesn’t have much to offer other than its motion detection. There are hourly tweets you can turn on to get a regular Nintendo audio dose, you can set sounds to play softly as you fall asleep, and there are a few dozen music tracks in all. After a few weeks with its alarms on random mode every morning, there are still a few that I haven’t discovered yet. Some of Nintendo’s biggest franchises are currently supported with a range of soundscapes – Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, Splatoon and, somewhat oddly, Ring Fit Adventure – with Animal Crossing and Mario Kart still to come via a future software update. But beyond that? There are curiously few of them.

Where is the real game here? How can I improve my high waking score? This seems strange to suggest, and Nintendo has certainly released other non-gaming hardware historically. But for £90 and in a market crowded with other sleep tracking apps and devices, Alarmo’s feature set seems limited. There are a few screens that track sleep duration and movement, but these are simply presented, difficult to navigate, and little more than basic statistics. It reminds me of Super Nintendo World, where building a Mario-themed theme park wasn’t enough for Nintendo. Instead, participants receive activity tracking bracelets to gamify their visits and collect rewards. I also remember WiiFitNintendo’s hugely popular workout game that comes with its scale-like Balance Board peripheral, or the more recent Ring Fit Adventure and its Pilates ring, both of which offer incentives to encourage repeated daily play and improvement.

Most importantly, and perhaps closest to Alarmo’s feature set, I remember Pokémon Sleep. Developed by The Pokémon Company for use with your smartphone or its own expensive device, this Pokémon-infused version of the usual iPhone and Android sleep tracking apps tracks the length and quality of your sleep hours, offering in-game rewards and also in Pokémon Go the longer you sleep. It can do all that and record your snoring for free, or, if you buy a Pokémon Go Plus+ accessory, Pikachu talks to you too.

I can’t help but wonder if Nintendo has considered other features for Alarmo – unlocking more alarms or Nintendo Switch Online customization options, achievements and rewards – via some sort of longer-term gamification . As it stands, it appears that Alarmo has untapped potential and, therefore, too high a price. I understand the value of keeping things simple, and I can also understand the need to be careful about what an internet-connected device tracks into people’s rooms. But, at the moment Alarmo costs £90, it’s hard to recommend. Its motion sensor is fun, and I like that Nintendo still has the ability to surprise with something like this (especially since the world is waiting for the Switch 2). But for a company dedicated to creating such engaging games, this is a device that requires you to create your own.

A Nintendo Alarmo was provided to Eurogamer by Nintendo.