Nintendo Switch Sports Review – Return of a Legend

In 2006, Wii Sports was released alongside the Nintendo Wii, making full use of the motion controls that had become so iconic for this generation of consoles. It was sports that was the most popular game due to its accessibility and fascination. Nintendo also released part on the WiiU, but didn’t see the sport on the Switch, which came as a bit of a surprise. Everything did not change until, five years after its release, the announcement of Nintendo Switch Sports finally took place. The famous game returns with improved graphics and new disciplines. But did it work as well as the original?

• Platform: Nintendo Switch
• Publication date: 29. 4. 2022
• Developer: Nintendo EPD
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Genre: Sports
• Czech location: Not
• Multiplayer: Local and online
• Data to download: 1.4 GB
• Price: CZK 1,199 (Xzone)

Classics and new disciplines

The novelty enters the market with six sports, three from old parts and three completely new. You probably won’t surprise anyone with the return of tennis and bowling, it’s just a classic, but, to be honest, I didn’t expect the inclusion of chambara. However, in the end I was pleasantly surprised and quickly fell in love with this discipline. It combines speed and strategic thinking, in addition to the main sword, there is also a charging sword to choose from, or you can have two swords at once and you can come up with very interesting things with this. I loved tennis and bowling, just like the old sports, and you can’t really go wrong with them.

I liked the new additions a little less. In my opinion, volleyball is too scripted and the game gives you almost no freedom, you just have to do exactly what you want. I found badminton a bit more fun, but it’s a very long-awaited game. The court is smaller than a tennis court so you can’t think about so many things and just walk around until someone makes a big mistake. By far the most difficult sport here is football, which is actually quite fun in places, but in my opinion, the field is too big and it takes quite a long time to score a goal.

In addition, the six disciplines are relatively few and repetition is almost inevitable. But Nintendo is promising to add golf in the fall, so hopefully more sports will follow. It must be added that the current ones also offer various variations. For example, you can play obstacle bowling, which is a pretty nice change. But by far the biggest attraction in this regard has been the shootout mode in football. You can use the leg strap in it and really hit the ball with your foot. The idea is certainly great, but it’s a pity that the developers used the add-on only for this mini-game, where you just kick the ball into the goal, which will be played in a few minutes. Implementation in classic football would be much more interesting.

Another family game from Nintendo.

But get rid of the negativity, because Nintendo Switch Sports is definitely not a bad game, it really isn’t. Its advantage is excellent accessibility. The vast majority of disciplines are controlled only by flushing the controller, and sometimes by pressing a single button. Football is harder to control, but even that can be mastered by just about anyone. It’s just another Nintendo game that’s open to the whole family and you can see that it’s played a lot. Personally, I was very pleased with the controls, it is intuitive and most importantly fun. Sometimes there are problems that the console does not register movement correctly, but this is such a classic in these games. It didn’t happen often enough to spoil my experience significantly.

The name does not surprise with its capabilities, but only in the good sense of the word. Both local and network multiplayer are available. In addition, you can play against artificial intelligence, which surprised me very much. It can boil you over if you turn the difficulty up.

I also have to highlight the visual, which no one knows about, but since this is a Switch game, Switch Sports looks very nice, and even on 4K TV, the title will stand without problems. Personally, I like the new character style, but if you’re having trouble with them, there’s nothing easier than reaching out to Mia’s characters, which are kept in the novelty, however, only as a secondary option. You will also enjoy the sounds and especially the iconic music, which in addition to new songs also offers a remake of the soundtrack from the original Wii Sports game.

In any case, it is very difficult for me to rate the whole game, because it is absolutely important how Nintendo itself approaches the title. Sport for Switch has a huge potential, which, unfortunately, still remains untapped. Individual disciplines can play fast and not offer the desired variability. But if the developers add more and more sports, they get another hit.