Nintendo Switch Sports REVIEW

I have a group of five friends, and there are a few things we always do when we hang out. The main things we do are either Nintendo Land on the Wii U or, most of the time, a few rounds of Wii Sports including Baseball, Bowling, and Tennis. I absolutely love Wii Sports. It might not be much, but is such a fun party game that can neve be beat. And even though it got Wii Sports Resort and Wii Sports Club, they didn’t really feel like sequels, more like expansions. However, after 16 years since that original game, we have Nintendo Switch Sports on the Switch, which feels more like a sequel than an expansion. Though it only adds one more sport than Wii Sports and the three of those six are from past games, Nintendo Switch’s sequel feels more like a true sequel with an expanded world being Spocco Square, awesome graphics, and fun sports. And even the past sports were expanded on, like how Bowling is now a tournament to see who can make it to the finals and win through rounds, and of course, online play. Here is my review of Nintendo Switch Sports.

So, as you may know, Switch Sports includes six sports. Three returning (bowling, tennis, and chambara) and three new ones (badminton, volleyball, and soccer). But before getting into the sports, let’s talk about the game itself. Honestly, the game is lacking a bit. Unlike Wii Sports, there isn’t any side practice mode like the constant ball hitting in tennis or the 100-pin bowling. None of it. There are three ways to play: online, locally, or with friends online. Playing with friends online is where one friend makes a room for the friends to join, so they can play together even when they aren’t together. The local play is standard Wii Sports play with people in the same room using multiple Joy-Cons. The online play is the best part, with you playing online and the game finding people to play against. The online functionality works extremely well. No lag, and the game always finds opponents. The online works fantastic, and is a nice edition to Switch Sports. Next is my favorite part, which is Spocco Square. I don’t care if you can’t run around, it’s just so cool to look at. The design aspects look amazing, making it feel like a real place. But now, let’s get to the sports.

Tennis

Tennis is back from Wii Sports and it works pretty well. Like before, two player games let the player control both of their players, and four-player games put two players on a team. Tennis feels really nice on Switch Sports. It feels the same as Wii Sports tennis, but a little bit better. It’s still fun and addicting to play, and is a great Wii Sports classic.

Bowling

Bowling is also back from Wii Sports, and was expanded on quite a bit. There’s normal bowling and split-screen bowling, which is nice and shortens the game. There’s even bowling obstacle courses to reach the pins, too, which I deeply admire. However, the best part of bowling is the 16-player battle royale (essentially). In this online war, sixteen players compete to get the #1 spot. You bowl three times before seeing where you rank in the leaderboard. There are four rounds: Round 1, Round 2, Semifinals, and Finals. After round 1, eight people are eliminated. After round 2, three more are eliminated. After the semifinals, two more are eliminated. After the finals, only one will be crowned the winner. This is so addicting and makes you push yourself so you aren’t eliminated. Bowling was very much expanded on with lots of care in Switch Sports, and it’s still fun to play.

Chambara

Also known as Swordplay in Wii Sports Resort, Chambara is a sword-fighting duel in which two opponents attack with their sword or swords to kick them off the platform into the water. You can block with ZL or ZR and attack a player the same way they’re blocking to count it as a hit. After three rounds, the one with the most wins is the winner. This might be the most competitive sport I’ve ever played in a Wii Sports game, and it’s super fun. It is a bit slow, but still fun.

Volleyball

The first new sport we’ll talk about is volleyball. Volleyball is played like, well, volleyball. You can bump, set, spike, and block. These controls can be done with their normal motions. Your hands together can be for bumping, and bringing up the Joy-Con as a set. A spike is done by quickly bringing up the controller to jump and bring it down to hit the ball. These controls work well and make for a fun experience. I will say, however, that when playing with a CPU on your team, sometimes they don’t hit the ball and it results in you losing the point when you did nothing, which is a bit more constant than it may seem. It’s still a fun sport, though.

Badminton

I’m very confused why of the many, many sports in the world, Nintendo choses badminton. I’m not saying it’s a bad sport, I just think it’s weird that of the hundreds of sports out there, they chose the sport that might be the most similar to tennis, which is also in the game. In the Switch Sports version of badminton, it’s basically played like tennis except no single bounces and one player per team. The controls and gameplay however is basically the same. It is fun to play, but too similar to tennis.

Soccer

Wow, a Wii Sports sport where you can actually move around. Unfortunately, that results in the need of two Joy-Cons per player, which was pretty disappointing. Soccer is also very odd to play without the leg-strap accessory. If you were like me and didn’t buy the physical copy of the game and instead bought the digital copy, then you didn’t get this accessory. While it’s technically not used for actual soccer matches yet, it will be in a future update confirmed by Nintendo. But anyway, soccer is fun to play. It felt very similar to Rocket League with the big ball, shattering when you score a goal, and the perimeter being blocked by an invisible force. You can swing the Joy-Con to kick, or jump. You can also run fast, but there’s a meter that prevents you from running the entire game. You’d need to stop running to get it back up. Soccer was fun, but a pretty forgettable sport. 

 

So, Nintendo Switch Sports is fun. While six sports isn’t much (even with golf coming this fall and possibly more), Switch Sports can still be a fun time. While I don’t think it’s better than Wii Sports, it’s fun and unique in its own way. I do recommend it for people who enjoyed the Wii Sports games and/or have a big family, but not really for people who just like playing sports.

Ryan’s Fortress Rating:
73%
For families, includes online features 7+