It’s been 8 months since the release of Nintendo Switch Sports on Nintendo Switch. I enjoyed the game, and thought it was a fun successor to Wii Sports. I’ve played the game a lot more now than when it released, and after rereading my original review back in April, I’ve realized a lot of my views on the game have changed; for the better or the worse. So here’s my new review of Nintendo Switch Sports after 8 months and much more time put into the game.
So, of course, Nintendo Switch Sports is a sequel to the 2006 smash hit Wii Sports. Nintendo Switch Sports has six total sports to play, being three returning from the series and three brand new ones. Let’s start with the returning sports.
First is Tennis, which plays just as simply as it does on the Wii. You’ll swing the Joy-Con to hit the tennis ball across the court. It plays exactly the same, even with stronger swings leading to stronger racket swings. You also still have a second player that you control as well right by the net, which in single player you have full control of just like in Wii Sports. You still can’t move either. Overall, Tennis is basically the exact same as on the Wii, but it just looks a lot cleaner. I still prefer the Wii however since swinging the remote feels better than swinging the puny Joy-Cons.
Next is Bowling, which I personally think benefited the most of the three returning sports. The gameplay is very similar to the Wii, with you holding the trigger button as you swing the ball. Moving your character to aim the ball is also much simpler now. Instead of toggling if you want to turn your body or move side to side, you can do it all at once with A, B, X, and Y buttons, which is much easier. Bowling is still as fun as ever, and still very competitive — especially online. Survival Bowling online is very competitive. Basically, 16 players will compete to be the one with the best score. During every round, you’ll bowl twice. The players with the worst scores in every round are eliminated. It gets really intense, and is a super fun way to evolve Bowling in Nintendo Switch Sports.
The third sport is Sword Fighting, now called Chambara, returning from Wii Sports Resort. Chambara was so unique for me, especially since I’ve never played Wii Sports Resort. You’ll use a sword to either block or attack your opponent. If you’re blocking, the other player has to swing at you in the same direction as your sword to land a hit. After one player knocks the other off of the platform and into the pool below, they win the round and you need at least 3 wins to win overall. Chambara was really fun, but I found the concept to get old quickly and playing with the other sword types wasn’t very interesting.
Next are the new sports, starting with Badminton. Badminton plays very similar to Tennis, if the ruleset was very limited. The shuttlecock can never touch the ground, the rackets are smaller, and there’s just less moves you can perform when swinging. It’s very similar to Tennis. It’s weird that Badminton is in Nintendo Switch Sports at all. I found it to be the worst of the new sports.
Then there’s Volleyball, which plays probably the weirdest out of all the sports. Bouncing the ball in the respective directions just seemed off to me, and I got bored really quickly. I didn’t like how the sport made you be precise with your bounces every hit, and it just wasn’t very fun.
Finally we have soccer, the strangest of the six sports since it’s a bit more complicated as you actually move your character around. It was a really odd version of soccer since it seemed more like Rocket League. The ball is huge, it flies in the air at the beginning of a round, there are invisible walls surrounding the field, and the ball blows up when you score a goal. It’s really weird, but fun. While it is weird to play without the leg strap accessory, I got used to it.
The only other thing I want to talk about in Nintendo Switch Sports is the characters. Technically, they aren’t Miis. You can use a character that the game offers or you can put a Mii face on a character, so it doesn’t look like a Mii. Nintendo Switch Sports, to me, seemed like Wii Sports if the charm was removed entirely. The game didn’t feel like Wii Sports, and for that reason alone, I found this game to be pretty underwhelming and I still have my conflicting opinions on the game that I had back in April.
Nintendo Switch Sports is a fun party game but overall very mediocre, and one of my least favorite Nintendo games in 2022. So, what did you think of our Rewind Review? Let me know in the comments.