Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Preview: I Declare Another Hit

Wii Sports was an experience that transcended the line between gamer and non-gamer. It went on to become one of the best-selling games of all time and made the Wii ubiquitous in millions of households around the world. Now, with the Switch and Switch 2 notching their own records, Nintendo is looking to capture similar magic with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort.

I was able to play four of the different “sports” experiences available in the game – Thumb Wrestling, Bowling, Power Cruising, and Archery – to see how Nintendo Switch Sports Resort stacks up to its predecessors. With the Joy-Con's even greater fidelity and the addition of HD Rumble, there is the potential for Sports Resort to be something special. And based on what I played, I can easily see this being another hit that brings everyone together for some good clean fun.

Thumbs Up for a Little Wrestling

Thumb Wrestling might be the goofiest of the sports on offer in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, but it might also be the collection’s sleeper hit. Where the other sports I experienced felt like natural extensions of the interactions you’d have with a bowling ball or a bow and arrow, this is just your thumb. And yet it works.

The idea behind Thumb Wrestling is fairly simple. You move the joystick to reposition your thumb and then press down on the trigger to lower it. It’s a bit of a cat and mouse game where you almost want to bait your opponent by lowering your thumb before quickly repositioning, raising it, and then slamming it back down. Against the CPU, all I really needed to do was wait until the AI opponent decided to lower its thumb, and it was game over.

Yes, you can wiggle the Joy-Con to break free like you would waking up a dazed boxer, but it was only a matter of when, not if, I was going to win. Against a live opponent, though, things are far more interesting. You could have a long stalemate where no one moves, similar to a real match of thumb wrestling, but it’s when you can react faster than your opponent that the real skill comes into play. Whether or not the game has legs is another thing, but for a first-time experience with friends, Thumb Wrestling is going to be a crowd-pleaser.

Spare a Few Minutes to Get Lost in Bowling

Although there is traditional bowling in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, my demo consisted of taking a look at the returning fan-favorite 100-pin mode. Essentially, it’s the same concept as regular bowling, where you get 10-frames of two rolls each, only there are 100 pins instead of 10. You can position yourself at any spot in the lane, angle towards the left or right gutters, and then you pull back while holding the trigger and release. You can put a little spin on the bowling ball by twisting the Joycon, but the goal is the same: knock down as many pins as possible within those two rolls and then start again.

Bowling was my first love in Wii Sports, so seeing it back in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort brings that nostalgia. Obviously, with the Joycons, the movements are more precise, but this is just how I remember it and effectively implemented. There’s something so satisfying about watching a bowling ball wreak havoc on an army of pins, and it looks really good on Switch 2.

Ride the Waves With Power Cruising

Power Cruising is Nintendo Switch Sports Resort’s version of Jet Skiing, a little Wave Race homage if you will. You hold both Joy Cons out in front of you as you would the handlebars on a jet ski, press the trigger to accelerate, angle them in mid-air to turn, and twist them to use your boost meter.

It was a simple time trial of three loops around a course, with some rings to offer additional speed boosts and seemingly random waves to get a little air time. I can’t say how involved Power Cruising gets, but for a fun race-style experience there is a lot of good tactical feedback in the Joy Cons. That interplay between the feel of the waves and the throttle comes through pretty well. In terms of variety of experience, Power Cruising gets top marks.

Aim for the Bullseye in Archery

While the other three sports I played felt like experiences that I would eventually master, Archery challenged me the most. Using both Joy Cons to mimic the action of drawing back an arrow is as natural as you would expect, but just like in real archery that’s only part of the equation. Taking into account the distance and wind speed/direction required leading the arrow upon release, and even that took some trial and error.

In my experience with Wii Sports, I eventually got Bowling down to a science, regularly carding 300. I expect the same for Switch Sports Resort, but Archery will make you work for every bullseye, and I love that. It’s the sport that I’m most eager to return to and try to get better at.

That’s the best compliment I can pay toward Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. Once my time was done with the preview, I wanted to get right back in there and try for that 100-pin strike or refine my Thumb Wrestling tactics. And with 12 total games on offer, there is so much of the game I didn’t see.

Wii Sports was the game that brought gamers and non-gamers together in a way that turned Nintendo’s motion-controlled system into one of the best-selling consoles of all time. And while I think the novelty of motion control has dissipated, the appeal of this type of experience has not. I can’t wait to challenge my son, my wife, my mom, and anyone else willing to declare a thumb war.