Switch Sports Review

Nintendo’s latest release comes in the form of a sequel to a Wii classic, Nintendo Switch Sports. All together there are 6 sports (bowling, chambara, tennis, badminton, volleyball, and soccer, as well as golf releasing in Summer 2022) that can be played globally, locally, and with your online friends. However, is Switch Sports able to compare to its predecessors of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort?

Pros: Let’s start off with what’s good in the game. My first pro is the character customization. With the introduction of a new character design, Nintendo also added customizations that can be unlocked by playing global matches. After you earn 100 points (you earn about 30-50 every game depending on what you play and how well you play) you are able to get a random item from themed collections that have 12 different items, with a completion bonus for when you unlock all 12 (don’t worry, once you get an item you can no longer get it again). These themed collections last for about 20 days until they are replaced with new ones. You unlock things such as new outfits, hairstyles, eye color, sporting equipment, etc. My favorite thing about this is that it is completely free… as of May 2022.

My second pro is the online aspect of the game. Playing with friends online is awesome, but the true fun comes from the Pro League. When playing globally, after you complete 10 matches of a given sport, you are put into the Pro League. Here, you are given a rank of E, and have to work through the ranks, by winning matches, until you reach A tier. Each sport has its own Pro League, and badminton seems to be the most competitive; it’s the one I’m most addicted to for sure.

The final pro that keeps me enjoying this game is the motion controls. Nintendo has really improved in this aspect and Switch Sports shows just how well they can make motion controls. Everything feels so smooth and on point. Getting your timing down can be tricky in some sports (like volleyball), but once you figure it out, the game is that much more enjoyable. Bonus points for utilizing a leg strap for kicking in “Soccer Shootout.” Moreover,I have not encountered too many issues where I move a certain way and nothing happens. All around, the motion controls are a definite plus.

Cons:

As much as I am loving this game, it is nowhere near perfect. That being said, the first con is the sports selection. It’s not that I don’t think that the sports that we got are fun, it’s that there’s just not enough. The last installment, Wii Sports Resort, had 12 different sports to play, Switch Sports, on the other hand, only has half of that. In my opinion, the reason they’re doing that is they plan on adding a couple sports every month to keep the hype of the game up, but that isn’t confirmed. That being the case people may be less inclined to buy it because there is no certainty besides golf this summer.

The second con is that there is no training mode. One of the best things about playing Wii Sports was going into training mode and trying to get medals in every category. Whether it was trying to get the highest score in the “Power Throws” or getting the most volleys in Tennis , it was a fun change of pace to switch over to training after the game asked you 7 times if you’ like to take a break. Where is that in Switch Sports? The only modes you can play are Global, Local, or Friends. Although the game is yet to get stale to me, not having those bonus minigames is a little bit of a let down.

The final con is the lack of a “Pro” system in Local. Even though Global mode allows you to play ranked online, there is no stat tracking like there was in Wii Sports. Instead, you can choose what difficulty to play on, Normal, Strong, and Powerhouse. Although Powerhouse is a definite struggle, there doesn’t seem to be a Matt in the game and instead just random characters that are all the same skill. In my opinion, part of the fun of Wii Sports was starting off at 0 and having to grind your way to the top. Here, there isn’t really a sense of achievement, once you beat powerhouse that’s basically it, and you don’t even have to work your way up to powerhouse, it can be the first difficulty you play in.

Final Verdict:

Although this game isn’t perfect in any way, and as of right now I would not say it’s an all around better game than Wii Sports, or Wii Sports Resort, it has potential. The game is extremely fun to play. If Nintendo were to add a good Training Mode and incorporate a couple new sports every couple months, I think that Switch Sports would be a must have for anyone who has a Nintendo Switch. Oh, and Nintendo, please add Online Ranked with your friends. I want to form a team and play online against others in Soccer, Tennis, and Volleyballs with my friends. While you're at it, allow us to play 2v2 tennis in private lobbies. With all that being said, I’m going to give Switch Sports a 7/10.