Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Review (NS2) – You Had Me at Bowling

My friends, I was there. I was there at the dawn of motion-controlled, wrist-strap-warnings-ignored sports. It was a time of chaos. Of bruises. A time of broken television screens, Wiimotes installed into walls, and accidentally punched loved ones. It was glorious. Because the bowling was just that damned good. You’d pay any price to hit those lanes (and everything around you too).

Hell, Nintendo’s bowling is the main reason I still own a Wii. It remains my absolute “cannot fail to entertain everybody in any room” go-to for all social gatherings I host. Understandably, appeasing the masses at a whopping 480p has slowly become less enticing, which is why I got the Nintendo Switch update in 2022. Today, Nintendo is dangling the latest iteration, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, in front of Switch 2 owners, but is it worth the déjà vu and your hard-earned dinero?

The short answer is yes, with a few reservations. The longer answer involves a tropical island, some surprisingly clever new sports, considerably more to do when playing alone, and a handful of baffling omissions that make me sad.

Set on the familiar Wuhu Island, Switch Sports serves up 12 sports and activities, mixing returning favourites with new attractions and a sizeable playground to explore. There’s more structure here than in the 2022 game, which makes it a more appealing proposition for those of us who don’t always have a house full of willing participants. The motion controls are generally excellent, the new activities have some genuinely inventive ideas behind them, and the presentation benefits from Nintendo’s latest hardware. Yet this is also a game that occasionally seems determined to remind you of the things you can’t do, rather than celebrate everything it lets you.

Let’s start with the obvious. Bowling remains an absolute banger. It’s still wonderfully intuitive, still capable of turning an otherwise civilised gathering into a highly competitive dispute about whether somebody’s last throw was legitimate, and still the sport most likely to make a room full of people forget they generally view all video games with suspicion. Oh, and the 100-pin variant is a welcome addition for anyone who thinks regulation bowling doesn’t contain enough pin murder.

The Joy-Con 2’s motion tracking and haptics help proceedings feel tactile and responsive. You can get a pleasing sense of the action through the controllers, and the overall experience remains accessible enough that you don’t need to spend the preceding week studying a bowling manual. This is the magic of Nintendo’s sports games when they work: there’s very little between somebody picking up a controller and everybody else discovering that person has apparently been hiding an Olympic-level talent.

Archery is another highlight, with the act of drawing and releasing a bow making effective use of the controllers’ motion sensing and tactile feedback. There’s a satisfying physicality to aiming, accounting for the wind and letting an arrow fly, and it’s one of the sports that most clearly benefits from the Switch 2 input hardware. Table tennis offers a similarly enjoyable test of timing and reflexes, while the returning collection provides enough variety to accommodate different tastes.

Not everything lands quite as cleanly. Tennis remains enjoyable, but its movement and shot direction can feel more restrictive than you might expect. Your character automatically moves around the court, leaving you to concentrate on your swing rather than positioning yourself manually. Direction is heavily dependent on the timing of that swing, too, so mistiming a shot can send the ball somewhere you weren’t planning to visit. It’s manageable once you get into the rhythm, but harder opponents can expose the system’s awkwardness.

The doubles format also means solo players have two characters to keep track of, with occasional moments of confusion when the action gets frantic. The net-player AI is better at avoiding your returns, but there’s still room for accidental misses when the rally gets hectic. These aren’t deal-breakers, though they do make tennis feel less dependable than the best sports in the package.

The newcomers are where Switch Sports makes its strongest case for existing. Thumb wrestling sounds like the sort of activity somebody invents after running out of ideas at a family barbecue, but it’s surprisingly strategic. Charging, faking out your opponent and attempting to lock thumbs gives this peculiar little contest a satisfying back-and-forth. It’s simple to understand, but there’s enough mind-game potential to make a rematch an increasingly likely proposition.

Skateboarding is another clever addition. Using the Joy-Con 2’s mouse-style controls to simulate pushing off and navigating courses gives it a distinctly different feel from the other activities. It takes advantage of the new hardware in a way that feels purposeful rather than bolted on to justify the price of admission. Power Cruising also provides a welcome change of pace, with its water-based thrills offering another way to put the controllers through their paces.

Then there’s Prop Plane, which is less about competing and more about exploring. Holding a controller like a paper aeroplane, you can cruise around Wuhu Island, discover sightseeing spots and hunt for collectibles. It’s a relaxed, enjoyable way to spend time in a setting that fans will recognise, and the expanded island gives the game a stronger sense of place than a collection of disconnected sporting venues.

The open-world element is a smart addition, particularly because it gives you something to do when you’re not in the mood for another competitive match. Wuhu Island is a pleasant place to poke around, with new areas and hidden items encouraging a bit of aimless sightseeing. Sometimes it’s nice to play a sports game without feeling obliged to turn every activity into a contest that ends with somebody demanding a rematch.

Unfortunately, this leisurely approach has limitations. The exploration activities don’t support online play and lack CPU tournament opponents, which makes them feel somewhat detached from the more structured sports. They’re enjoyable diversions, but their long-term appeal depends on how much you enjoy hunting for collectibles and revisiting the island. Once the novelty wears off, there’s less reason to return than there might have been with a broader set of challenges.

Fortunately, Switch Sports does a much better job of giving solo players a reason to stick around. The new Island Crown mode offers a structured progression system, letting you climb the ranks, take on CPU opponents and challenge Island Champions across nine sports. It’s a substantial improvement over the 2022 game, which could feel a little thin when you didn’t have friends available to provide the competition.

Here, there’s a clearer sense of progression and something to work towards beyond simply improving your own performance. Unlockable rewards and character customisation give you additional incentives to keep playing, with outfits, hairstyles, highlights, nameplates and graphic stamps allowing you to personalise your Mii or Sportsmate. The cosmetics aren’t especially thrilling, and the reward loop can become repetitive, but the added structure makes the overall package feel more complete.

Still, Nintendo has made some truly peculiar decisions about what belongs in this particular resort. The absence of swordplay is especially strange given that Chambara appeared in the 2022 game. Frisbee and Frisbee Golf are also personally distressing to me, because they were among the most memorable shenanigans in the OG Wii Sports Resort. For a game that leans so heavily on nostalgia for Wuhu Island, leaving out activities so closely associated with that is insane.

There are 12 sports here, and the new additions deserve their place. But with tennis, table tennis and volleyball all occupying space in a relatively compact roster, it’s hard not to wonder whether Nintendo could have found room for some of the old favourites. Variety isn’t simply about the number of activities available; it’s about ensuring that each one feels meaningfully different. The new sports help, but the missing classics leave a noticeable hole.

The Switch 2 hardware is otherwise put to good use. The improved motion tracking, more nuanced haptic feedback and mouse-style controls open up possibilities that weren’t available on the original Switch. The sharper presentation also gives Wuhu Island a welcome facelift, particularly on a large television, while the game remains smooth and responsive in both docked and handheld play. This is a bright, colourful Nintendo production, and the updated hardware helps it look the part without distracting from the straightforward appeal of the sports themselves.

Of course, better controllers won’t prevent every household accident. You could argue that the Switch 2’s smaller, less sharply rectangular Joy-Con 2 controllers might lessen the damage caused by an inadvertent clobbering.

It wouldn’t be a particularly convincing argument, though. A Lleyton Hewitt-level backhand is still a backhand, regardless of what you’re holding. Keep your wrists loose, your surroundings clear and your loved ones outside striking distance. Nintendo’s virtual sports may have evolved, but the human capacity for spectacularly poor spatial awareness remains untouched.

Ultimately, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a more substantial and enjoyable package than its predecessor, particularly for players who want something to enjoy alone as well as with friends. The new sports bring some welcome ingenuity, the return to Wuhu Island provides a lovely sense of familiarity, and the improved solo progression gives the experience considerably more staying power. When the motion controls click, there’s still nothing quite like the uncomplicated joy of picking up a controller and getting stuck into a round of virtual sport.

But I can’t shake the feeling that Nintendo has left a few too many good ideas sitting on the bench. The missing swordplay and frisbee activities are particularly disappointing, while some of the returning sports and exploration features could do more to sustain interest over the long haul. It’s a strong collection, just not the definitive one it could have been.

This review was made possible via a no-strings-attached code provided by the publisher.