I’ll be honest, I was less excited for Nintendo Switch Sports Resort than I was cautiously optimistic. I’ll admit I avoided the first iteration largely because of my poor experience with Mario Golf: Super Rush’s motion controls one year prior. I was convinced that the Switch just couldn’t do motion controls in the same way as the Wii and any attempt to capture the magic of Wii Sports would be in vain—and it didn’t exactly get stellar reviews.
However, just as Wii Sports Resort was both a fix and an enhancement of its predecessor, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort feels like the fully realized version of its predecessor. It’s hard to overstate just how magical Wii Sports was when it came out alongside the Nintendo Wii. It was a pack-in demo, and it was THE reason a lot of people I knew even bought a Wii. I cherish the memories I have of holiday get-togethers, playing Tennis and Bowling long into the night. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort had a high bar to clear for me, and I honestly couldn’t believe how easily it did.
Similar to its immediate and Wii predecessors, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is as simple as it is captivating. Players choose from a list of 12 different sports or sport-adjacent activities and play either for leisure or for their best scores. Fun is the beating heart of this game’s experience, and thanks to the game’s easy-to-understand control schemes, practically every game is immensely enjoyable both when playing alone and with friends.
Naturally, the entire thing is hinged on the game’s motion controls, and I think it’s obvious that it was never going to work as well as the Wii Remote (or Wii MotionPlus) by the nature of how those controllers were designed and fit in your hand. The Joy-Con 2 is fundamentally different, but I’m happy to report, with one notable exception, they all work really well. Naturally, when I booted the game up, I dove straight into Bowling—as it was genuinely the most played game by myself or anyone who owned Wii Sports.
And while I was a little disappointed you couldn’t choose when to release the ball, the motion and specificity of throwing and curving shots felt as good as I remember. Obviously, after that I had to go Golfing and see if the nightmare that was Mario Golf: Super Rush’s controls was over. Stepping onto the green was like coming home—controls were tight, responsive and identical to the way I remembered it being. It all came to a head when I got back onto the Tennis court, and those sweet memories of playing Wii Sports for the first time came flooding back.
“Nintendo Switch Sports Resort had a high bar to clear for me, and I honestly couldn’t believe how easily it did.”
After that, I decided to try some of the sports that I hadn’t really spent a lot of time with in the original Wii Sports Resort. Basketball was a lot more fun than I thought it’d be, finding fun ways to work in the motion controls to simulate the actions of dribbling, passing, and shooting. Same goes for Volleyball, which is a bit more involved, allowing the player to change their position with the control stick, while using the motion controls for setting, volleying, and spiking. Table Tennis may be the absolute highlight of the set, with fast-paced, extremely exciting matches that really use the Joy-Con 2’s gyro controls to incredible effect. To borrow a hacky critic phrase, “you really FEEL like you’re holding a ping-pong racquet.”
Thumb Wrestling was also a lot more fun than I thought it’d be, but it also feels like the one that’s the easiest to cheese, which will probably make it get really old, really fast for a lot of players—especially online. Archery is still as fun, although a bit lacking with the Joy-Con controls—using the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo just felt a lot more authentically like a bow and arrow. But if there’s one sport that suffers the most, it’s Boxing. While it still manages to replicate the basic motions of punching and blocking, it just feels so stiff and doesn’t give players the freedom of movement as its seventh-gen predecessor.
However, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort 2 makes up for this with Skateboarding—yet another game I didn’t think I was going to enjoy as much as I did. Honestly, this might be the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the Switch 2’s mouse controls in any game, as players pull back on it to kick forward, tilt it to lean into turns, or flick it to ollie or do tricks. It genuinely reminded me of playing with a Tech Deck in a way that was actually responsive. Prop Plane and Power Cruising are…fine.
And Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is brought to life in a big way on the Switch 2, due in large part to its improved hardware. Visuals are bright and colourful, while also being richly detailed—making the new Wuihu Island feel believably real, but also playful and cartoonish. The visuals are backed by a vibrant soundtrack that gives every sport a jubilant energy while maintaining its sense of fun—with the exception of Golf (obviously). Also, and this is just a me complaint; I kinda wish they would’ve brought back the original Bowling theme. Not to say the new one isn’t good, but I just really liked the chill sound of the original’s guitar strings, and it would’ve been a nice continuation of the audio motif.
“Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is so genuinely fun I honestly wanted to boot it up for a few games every day I was reviewing it.”
However, if there’s one thing about Nintendo Switch Sports Resort that genuinely annoys me, it’s its customization system. Similar to its predecessor, players can earn points to spend on cosmetics for their character—ranging from hairstyles to outfits and even different sports equipment. Unlike a normal game that would just let you purchase whatever items you want with your points, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort attaches it to a gacha-style random pull—with weekly and monthly exclusives to choose from.
Every pull costs 1000 points, and for some asinine reason, this game is unbelievably stingy with its points, only ever rewarding a 300–400, with each game (less than that sometimes). The only game I’ve seen dish out the points in large amounts is Golf, and only if you play nine holes. Furthermore, unlocks aren’t shared between character profiles, so unless you’re exclusively playing with a friend, you’ll need to spend so much time grinding between profiles for enough points to have a chance to get a cute outfit.
I genuinely don’t understand why a game so dedicated to being so much fun needed to be so restrictive with its cosmetic unlocks. It’s not so bad if you’re playing a long session with friends, but even then it’s still a bit of a slog. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort didn’t need to strong-arm the player into grinding for points; it’s enjoyable enough that you actually WANT to play, so why not just give the player fun stuff on top of a good experience?
However, despite this minor annoyance, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is so genuinely fun I honestly wanted to boot it up for a few games every day I was reviewing it. It’s a game that expands the Switch 2’s library in such a robust way that there’s honestly little reason to hold off on upgrading to the new hardware.
Now I’m begging you, Nintendo, update this game and bring back Sword-fighting. You put it in Nintendo Switch Sports!
- Swing your racket, pull back and aim like an archer, and more in 12 sports with intuitive motion controls
- Move together with friends and family** in sports like Boxing, Archery, Bowling, and Basketball, battle with one thumb to hand your opponent a defeat in Thumb Wrestling, and more
