If Nintendo Switch Sports Resort’s sole mission is to make you look and feel stupid and have a ton of fun with friends and family, then Nintendo has accomplished that mission with flying colors (and flailing arms). Considering Nintendo’s other outings with its motion-controlled sports games, that shouldn’t come as a surprise–nor should the feeling of a sore arm the next morning: a feeling that I consider nostalgic at this point.
Switch Sports Resort delivers the best showcase of sports and modes, making it feel like a complete experience and the most cohesive package in the series to date.
For the nostalgic-driven players, it’s easy to notice which sports from previous games aren’t included among the 12 here, like Chambara, Badminton, and Disc Golf. But in place of those missing games are what I consider to be the greatest hits of the series, joined by welcome additions like the tension-fest competition of Thumb Wrestling.
Of those 12 events, there are three “Leisure Sports” (game modes that don’t require the player to be standing or exerting the use of a limb to flail), which include Prop Plane, Skateboarding, and Power Cruising. With the exception of Thumb Wrestling, the other eight more traditional sports will require you standing up in front of your TV, Joy-Cons in hand, and using physical gestures to mimic the act of playing the sport. You’ll swing your whole arm for Tennis as if wielding a racket; raise your arm back and then swing forward to bowl; or, in the case of Archery, hold a Joy-Con in each hand, raising one arm forward and pulling back with the other to simulate drawing a bow–it all still feels awesome, just as it has since the original game. The Switch 2’s HD Rumble is used well to enhance the experience with better feedback. In archery, for example, the controllers simulate the tension of the bowstring.
Like playing actual sports, your enjoyment mileage will vary. If I’m not good at a real-life sport, then clearly something is wrong with the sport and its in-game version. This was the case while playing Switch Sports Resort’s rendition of Table Tennis against friends. I was terrible at it and therefore I blamed the game. However, someone I was playing with was doing well and seemed skilled in what they were doing. While I refused to believe that I’m the problem and that it isn’t a skill issue, that experience proved to me that it is, indeed, a skill issue, and I just suck at Table Tennis. And it’s fine!
This scenario captures the essence of playing this game with friends: the natural banter that comes with the playful competition in sports. Because while this particular player was able to beat me at Table Tennis, I absolutely destroyed them at regular ol’ Tennis–a legacy sport in the series, and one I’ve loved since the original 2006 game. “Friendly” competition or showboating skills aside, each sport achieves what matters most: They’re all fun to play.
