Nintendo Switch Sports Resort hands-on: Bigger and better than ever

In addition to new events, now you can explore Wuhu Island like never before.

Nintendo

When the original Wii Sports came out, it felt like a thinly-veiled collection of mini games meant to showcase the novel motion controls on Nintendo's latest console. The series evolved into a wholesome family-friendly party game and its upcoming entry — Nintendo Switch Sports Resort — is taking that premise to its biggest venue yet.

If you're like most people (including me), there's a good chance you aren't up to date regarding the lore of Wii Sports, and that's totally okay. The big change with this release is that the game has returned to Wuhu Island, and for the first time in series history, you can actually explore the surrounding area and check out various points of interest.

Now this might seem strange for a franchise that largely revolves around a collection of self-contained challenges and contests, but it underlines an important expansion in the scope of the game. Alongside traditional sporting events including bowling, archery, volleyball, golf and basketball, Nintendo has added sightseeing missions. You can traverse Wuhu Island in three different ways: flying a plane, skateboarding and power cruising (aka jetskiing).

Nintendo

While there aren't real competitive objectives to complete while surveying the island, you can collect things like Spocco Points. These can be used to unlock various cosmetic customizations for your Mii or can find Spocco Photos to enable new starting points for exploration. In some ways, this addition feels a bit odd, as its open-world nature seems like it would feel more at home inside a new action-adventure game. And yet, I found it weirdly relaxing and in some ways, it makes Switch Sports Resort feel more like a full-fledged game than its predecessors.

First off, Wuhu Island is surprisingly large. I spent more than 15 minutes exploring it via plane, board and jetski, and I felt like I was only scratching the surface. Not only are there a ton of hidden paths and hard-to-find markers, there are also some open-world challenges that you'll inevitably stumble upon — similar to what you find in Mario Kart World. There was even a second island off in the distance that I wasn't able to get to due to time constraints, but from what I saw, it looked like there was another entire town available to visit.

Nintendo

On top of that, you can do these sightseeing missions at various times of the day, allowing you to see what Wuhu Island is like both in the morning and at night. In some ways, it almost feels like Nintendo has taken a tiny bit of the essence from other series like Pilotwings and Wave Rave and injected that DNA in Switch Sports Resorts. It's just fun, even if these experiences aren't quite as fleshed out.

As for the actual sporting events, many of the returning games like volleyball and archery are fan favorites that never fail to amuse. Boxing was engaging and felt like a motion-controlled adaptation of Punch-Out!!. But more importantly, there's just something satisfying about the way throwing a ball down a lane or hitting a ball with a racquet translates so well to Joy-con gestures that if Nintendo didn't include mainstays like bowling or tennis, I think people would riot. And to add a little spice to the mix, there are game modes like 100-pin bowling, where you get to see how many skittles you can knock down on a comically large lane.

Nintendo

Meanwhile, there are new additions like Thumb Wars, which is deceptively complex. The twist with this event is that if you slam your thumb down and don't hit anything, you can leave it there and let it grow bigger. This does give your opponent an opening to attack back and provides them a bigger target to smash, but if you can avoid that, your size advantage could give you an edge in winning the war.

My one regret is sort of a personal revelation. Now that I've made the Pilotwings and Wave Race connection in my head, I wish Nintendo had included full-fledged races for vehicles like the plane, skateboard and power cruiser. You can already do these activities in multiplayer, and while I could be wrong, but I don't think it would be that big of an ask to add things like time trials with rings to fly through or downhill courses while boarding. With the upgrade to this resort environment, now it feels like there's even more untapped sporting potential just ripe for the picking. However, if you simply treat this release like an updated collection of mini-games, there's still plenty of fun for players of all ages to enjoy.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort for the Switch 2 is available for pre-order now for $50, with official sales slated for October 22.