Allo' Allo! It'sa me, Wolfie.
(Before we get started, I am aware Nintendo released a patch for this game that included a few extra things, but due to it only being available as an update and not with the game itself, as well as the fact I've been writing this review for the past 2 - 3 months, don't expect that stuff to show up here as I won't be talking about it.)
Backstory:
SO, Switch Sports, this was a weird announcement, right? I mean its existence makes sense, the Sports series was originally made as a tech demo to show off what 2006's Wii console could do, though that tech demo also just happened to be a great game that gained quite the cult following, and it's something Nintendo hasn't even matched with every tech demo since.
But this was a weird announcement, right? Sure, people wanted this game, but did anybody expect a 3rd mainline “Wii” Sports game to happen?
Personally, I never thought Switch Sports was gonna be a thing, BUT OH MY GOD I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED, I'm just like you guys, I loved the OG Wii Sports, and Wii Sports Resort (screw you Wii Sports Club/Wii Sports U ya bish), I'm a massive fan of Wii Sports as a franchise and NOBODY CAN LIVE UP TO MY BOWLING STATS.
NO ONE!!!!! THE KING OF WII SPORTS FORBIDS IT!!!!!
Plot:
There isn't a plot, (what were you expecting? Lord of The Rings: Tennis Edition?)
In all seriousness, if you're looking to know what Switch Sports is, it's a game set in a fictional multi-sport facility named Spocco Square... yeah that's about it, so deep lore here guys xD.
Now onto the game
GAMEPLAY:
The original Wii Sports and its predecessor, Wii Sports Resort (WS for short), were basically mini-game collections of different types of sports from aquatic to even bike races, both Sports games provided a variety of content to stop you from getting bored, it was great at doing that to the point where you could call those games the definition of "a fun family game with tons of thought put into it".
As for Switch Sports for a game, it's basically the definition of "a really cheap yet well-made nostalgia-bait title". The Graphics are great and are some of the best I've seen from Nintendo, and the game itself is fun but incredibly small for the content it provides.
For starters, as of this review you only get 6 mini-games out of the box (see that's a pun cause the full game itself comes in a small box), 3 of which are returning ones from Wii Sports and WS Resort, and 3 of which are new to this game I'm talking about today, and that's a shame, as despite every single one of these mini-games still being really fun to play, I found myself getting bored only an hour or two after I came home from collecting my copy due to the lack of content present.
To do a bit of a comparison here, Wii Sports Resort had 12 different mini-games on it with 24 game modes spread out altogether across everything, While Switch Sports has a total of 6 mini-games with about 6 different game modes.
More mini-games are coming in the future (golf is returning), but even with that said, I don't understand why switch sports couldn't have those games at launch, I would've preferred it to be delayed so more content was packed in.
Now don't get me wrong, the content in Switch Sports is still really fun, me and my niece absolutely loved playing this game together. And it controls amazingly, especially with the returning mini-games:
- Such as bowling, in which I am the king and you need to bow down to me xD. I loved Bowling as much as I did back on the Wii, and the nostalgia boost when hearing "STRIKE" hit hard, not just that, but I mostly had no problems with the motion controls either. (apart from one thing in which throwing the bowling ball was over-precise to the point where even going slightly off-course from the in-game tutorial box just makes your Sportsmate look like it's doing an Olympic-trophy pose, or if LeBron James got a broken hip while throwing a basketball in mid-air). Though it does suck that you can't accidentally throw the ball backwards at other Miis, scaring them into thinking the bowling ball's gonna hit one of them (that's a gag from the original 2006 game in case anyone is confused).
- Tennis is also really great and works well like it originally did... so there's that.
- - And Fencing is really great too, or as the game calls it (dare you to say this in a posh accent) Chambara! I must admit, I don't remember Fencing from the original games so I can't really comment on how it controls in comparison to WS Resort's version.
As for the new games though, they detract from the experience Switch Sports gives:
- - Badminton and volleyball are 2 of the new games added to Switch Sports, and while they are definitely fun and full of enjoyment like the other mini-games, they're basically complete reskins of Tennis with only a couple of features added (which could be said for the actual sports themselves xD), it's you and another person (AI or 2nd player) against two other people, you have to get something over a net without letting the object itself (be it a ball or shuttle) hit the ground (just incase you didn't know what volleyball or badminton was xD). And again, to point out what I said just a second ago, it's not that these are bad, but when you consider the fact that we already had 1 "get thing over net" mini-game in Switch Sports, did Nintendo really need to add another 2 "get over net" games instead of selecting from countless other sports that exist? POSSIBLY ONES IN CATEGORIES THEY HAVEN'T EVEN TACKLED BEFORE IN THE SPORTS GAMES?
- The One Stand Out In Switch Sports is The New Mini Game "Soccer"... which should be called football (sue me if you disagree xD), it's the best of all the new mini-games because it actually feels like something new, s..so.*coughs* oh god it's hard saying the word even, *breathes in*, soccer takes advantage of the new leg strap accessory Nintendo introduced back in ring fit adventure, it's a piece of fabric and velcro that you wrap around your leg and slip the switch's joy-con in after doing so. What this small piece of material does is allow the switch's joy-con to measure how high you lift your leg up in the air, it's very accurate and a pretty great thing to use (just to big this small item up a bit more, I've been using the leg strap for my weight loss journey on Ring Fit Adventure, and just like how well the leg strap works with Ring Fit, it's pretty much the same thing with Switch Sports, I can't fault it, it does what it intends to, and it does it well despite being used in 1 game mode only.).
What about the mechanics of Soccer though? well to put it simply, this mini game has the most variety out of any other included in this "collection" (if it could be called one), as it includes 4 of the 6 game modes that Switch sports advertises as "a variety of different modes" when it's really just 4 soccer things and 2 fencing, but I'm gonna give the soccer mini-game modes a little bit of credit, as I probably spent the most time on this one due to how fun it is (overall, I have 4 hours playtime in Switch Sports), my favourite mode has to be shoot-out because it is just ss*coughs*..so.. *gags*...soccer, you run around with a bunch of other AI and have to score in the opposite goal, using the joy-con on your leg to kick while the other joy-con in your hand is how you run around (not being able to run with the leg strap isn't as bad as it sounds), it's a lot of fun and I'd go back to this game just to play that.
Where’s My Mii?:
Another annoying thing about this game is how the Mii’s just don’t exist (apart from a weird costume option), which I find to be a shame as they were a selling point for Wii Sports back in the day, to say they weren’t what helped make the Sports series popular is ridiculous.
Like how many times have you gone onto Twitter or youtube and seen this absolute Mii lad pop up as a screenshot or video clip?
In Exchange for the Miis not existing, this game has Sportsmates (which you've been seeing in the screenshots throughout the review) and I….don’t hate them, admittedly, but I’m not the biggest fan of them either, I do think these avatars have some nice charm to them, but why their inclusion kinda sucks is mainly due to the fact that they don’t feel the same as a Mii. When I think of Wii Sports, I think of Mii.. not me.. But MII, when I think of Nintendo games made to show off what their new technology can do, I think of Mii. Do you see where I’m going with this? Nintendo took what was considered iconic by pretty much everybody in gaming and stripped it of the paint that made it glorious, leaving just a blank piece of plasterboard in the aftermath...
Online:
There's an online mode for this game... I'm not even sure it's actually even online.
I swear That Most of The time I Spent Playing the Online Mode in this Game was me and a bunch of other AI people. It's either that or every Nintendo user suddenly changed their name to Kyle, Stacy, Jim, Tim, Pam, Luca, Abby or Dan.
Wanna know what else makes me think the online mode is just AI? This screenshot is right here from when I WASN'T playing with my niece.
On the bright side, at least I didn't disconnect from Nintendo Switch's Poor Online Service:D
This still makes me the Wii Sports King, right?
Overall:
Yeah, That's pretty much it for this review. I wish I had more to talk about but I don't, and that's mainly because of how small Switch Sports is, I've never been so conflicted on a game like this before, Switch Sports feels as if it’s in early access with more content yet to come, even though it's the exact opposite of that. It makes for a great party game, but not for a great game overall
It annoys me as Nintendo used to be such a great company, but in the more recent years (realistically since the death of Satoru Iwata in 2015 and Reggie Fils-Aimé's company departure in 2019.), things have been going downhill at an unusual pace, not to the point of where most Nintendo content is downright the worst thing on earth (that's far from the case considering that 2021 saw Sora in Smash Bros and the announcement of MarioKart 8 Deluxe DLC in 2022), the bad parts of current Nintendo is that some choices are weirder and more confusing than previously, And certain things haven't been as good as they could and should be when it comes to down to Nintendo's own connection with their consumers.
But genuinely speaking, despite me still having fun with Switch Sports in parts, I don’t see a point in even buying this game, It's not worth the 39.99 it costs to purchase, abd You'd be better off emulating Wii Sports 1 and WS Resort.
Switch Sports gets a 5/10, This Isn't a Match You Should Show Up To.
- Burn It. Now if you excuse Mii (HAHAHA)... I need to get back to finishing LEGO Star Wars so I can do that review.
Thanks for Reading!