Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Hands-On: Bigger and better than ever

When the original Wii Sports was released, it seemed like a thinly veiled collection of mini-games intended to showcase the new motion controls of Nintendo’s latest console. The series has evolved into a wholesome, family friendly board game and its next entry – Nintendo Switch Sports Station – takes this premise to its biggest venue yet.

If you’re like most people (myself included), chances are you’re not aware of the history of Wii Sports, and that’s completely normal. The big change with this version is that the game is back on Wuhu Island, and for the first time in the series’ history, you can actually explore the surrounding area and discover various points of interest.

This may seem strange for a franchise that largely revolves around a set of standalone challenges and competitions, but it highlights a significant expansion of the game’s scope. Alongside traditional sporting events like bowling, archery, volleyball, golf, and basketball, Nintendo has added sightseeing missions. You can cross Wuhu Island in three different ways: by flying a plane, by skateboarding, and by riding a jetski.

While there are no real competitive objectives to achieve while surveying the island, you can collect things like Spocco Points. These can be used to unlock various cosmetic customizations for your Mii or can find Spocco Photos to allow new starting points for exploration. In some ways, this addition seems a bit odd, as its open-world nature seems like it would feel more at home in a new action-adventure game. And yet, I found it oddly relaxing and in a way, it felt Change sports station feels more like a full-fledged game than its predecessors.

First of all, Wuhu Island is surprisingly large. I spent over 15 minutes exploring it by plane, board, and jetski, and it felt like I was only scratching the surface. Not only are there a ton of hidden paths and difficult-to-find markers, but there are also open-world challenges that you’ll inevitably stumble upon – similar to what you find in Mario Kart World. There was even a second island in the distance that I hadn’t been able to reach due to time constraints, but from what I saw it seemed like there was another entire town to visit.

Nintendo

On top of that, you can do these sightseeing missions at different times of the day, allowing you to see what Wuhu Island looks like in the morning and evening. In a way, it almost feels like Nintendo took a tiny bit of the essence of other series like Pilot wings And Rave of the waves and injected this DNA into Change sports complex. It’s just fun, even if these experiences aren’t as fleshed out.

When it comes to the actual sporting events, many of the returning games like volleyball and archery are fan favorites that never fail to entertain. Boxing was engaging and felt like a movement-controlled adaptation of Punch!!. But more importantly, there’s just something satisfying about the way throwing a ball down a lane or hitting a ball with a racket translates so well into Joy-con gestures that if Nintendo didn’t include mainstays like bowling or tennis, I think people would riot. And to add a little spice to the mix, there are game modes like 100-pin bowling, where you can see how many pins you can knock down on a comically large lane.

Nintendo

Meanwhile, there are new additions like Thumb Wars, which is deceptively complex. The problem with this event is that if you lower your thumb without touching anything, you can leave it there and let it grow. This gives your opponent an opening to fight back and provides them with a larger target to crush, but if you can avoid this, your size advantage could give you an edge in winning the war.

My only regret is something of a personal revelation. Now that I have done Pilot wings And Wave racing connection in my head, I wish Nintendo would have included full-fledged races for vehicles like the plane, skateboard, and power cruiser. You can already do these activities in multiplayer, and while I could be wrong, I don’t think it would be that difficult to add things like time trials with rings to run through or downhill courses while boarding. With the upgrade of this resort environment, it now feels like there is even more untapped sporting potential, ready for the picking. However, if you simply treat this release as an updated collection of mini-games, players of all ages will still be able to have fun.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort for Switch 2 is available for pre-order now for $50, with official sales scheduled for October 22.