Nintendo Switch Sports feels like something that should have been included with the Nintendo Switch console as a bundled game.
The Nintendo Wii had Wii Sports which became one of Nintendo’s best selling games of all time. The Wii U had a sort of remastered version in the form of Wii Sports Club, but this never reached the same level of success as its predecessor or its predecessor’s sequel Wii Sports Resort.
Enter 2022’s Nintendo Switch Sports, the Nintendo Switch version which seeks to grab players attention with sporting activities once more. The unfortunate thing though is that the game just doesn’t have enough content to justify its price, but we’ll get to that shortly.
Players in Nintendo Switch Sports will visit Spocco Square, a sporting hub where you can take part in up to six different sporting events right now.
These are Badminton, Bowling, Tennis, Volleyball, Football and Chambara. While the sports might be self-explanatory (except maybe Chambara), how they are played needs to be explained so let’s dive right in.
Switch Things Up
Nintendo Switch Sports cannot be played with the Switch’s JoyCon controllers docked. They need to be removed from the console and synced up so that you can move your body and arms while holding the JoyCons to control your playable character’s actions.
Players in Nintendo Switch Sports will use the fairly basic character customisation options to create their character, outfit them with cosmetic items and then head on over to the sporting grounds.
Loading up any of the sporting events for the first time will trigger their respective tutorial to play. The tutorials in each of the gaming modes do a good job of explaining the game’s mechanics to you.
Volleyball for example will explain that you need to move your JoyCon controller up and down at the right moment to bounce, block and spike the ball. Badminton and Tennis play out in essentially the same way with the JoyCon being used as a racquet.
Bowling requires players to hold down ZR on the JoyCon and mimic a bowling movement, as if they are throwing the ball to roll down the lane towards the pins. Chambara, being a sword fighting sport, involves using the JoyCon as if it’s a sword handle or grip to duel with an opponent and push them off a platform.
Football is slightly different in that players will use the JoyCons to kick the ball around the field or take part in a “Shoot Out” mode which requires the Nintendo Switch Sport’s physical edition leg strap. This is a simple strap which lets you attach the JoyCon to your leg so that you can mimic kicking the ball.
Strap Yourselves In
If you buy the digital version of the game though, you can still play this mode but you’ll have to fashion your own homemade strap or attempt to use your JoyCon while it’s inside your trouser pocket or something.
It’s less than ideal and Nintendo really should have thought this through a little bit more for those who don’t buy the physical edition. A future update to the game will also enable the use of the leg strap accessory for the other football modes available.
The actual gameplay of Nintendo Switch Sports is extremely familiar if you’ve played any of the Wii Sports titles. We’re glad that Tennis makes a return here but there’s something that’s lacking about it.
The iconic Wii Sports announcer’s voice and the sound effects that were present in the original game are engraved into our brain and hearing the new announcer here felt lacklustre since it’s just not the same as before. Essentially, the gameplay plays out the same though albeit with better graphics.
The Nintendo Switch JoyCon substitutes for a Wiimote perfectly well and with arguably more precision since we don’t have to rely on an infrared sensor bar anymore.
Smashing a tennis ball across the court is still as fun as before and is quite a workout when playing against competent opponents. Likewise sword duelling in chambara against an opponent will give your arms quite a workout defending against sword slashes and spinning attacks.
Football in particular is the most strenuous because moving the JoyCon both horizontally and vertically to kick the ball around is quite strenuous.
Nintendo Switch Sports also takes safety quite seriously since it constantly reminds you to have adequate space around you and to have the JoyCon straps attached so that you don’t fling the controllers into your TV or surroundings.
Going back to opponents though, at the time of writing this review, the online component of Nintendo Switch Sports was unavailable so we cannot chime in on this.
The online aspects, however, do let you unlock more cosmetic items for your character to use and we suspect that there might be some paid cosmetic items available to buy in the future. Right now though, there aren’t any.
https://youtu.be/KRbZqcyIahk
Playing this game with friends is part of the game’s charm so if you do pick this up, be sure to rope in some friends or family and give the multiplayer aspects a go. It’s a heck of a lot more interesting playing the game with someone else than it is playing solo against the CPU.
Nintendo Switch Sports is also set to receive another free update in the future which will add Golf to the game. Given the game’s current lineup of content, having an additional sport is extremely welcome since the boredom might set in quite fast playing the same sports over and over.
Final Verdict
Overall, Nintendo Switch Sports is a pricey package that contains an assortment of games that would be a hit with friends and family as a “party” game.
It brings back some classic Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort games, but doesn’t have enough to justify its high price point of R749 (RRP). If Nintendo can add more sports in addition to Golf in the near future, that would be great.
Nintendo Switch Sports boils down to a selection of fun games that will give you a decent workout but might not grip you as much as it should.
It definitely should have been bundled with Nintendo Switch consoles as a launch title, but they are unfortunately five years too late to the party with this one. We suggest grabbing this title when it’s discounted unless you plan to play with friends or family often.
