Critics agree that Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is the strongest entry yet in the series Wii Sports started, with early reviews from Eurogamer, VGC and The Verge all landing positive ahead of its October 22 launch on Switch 2. None of the three outlets attached a numerical score to its review.
The Verge calls it "the best so far" among Nintendo's console-launch sports games. Eurogamer describes it as the series at its most refined, and notes it stays fun without a crowd of friends in the room. VGC's Chris Scullion calls it the most feature-packed entry to date, while adding that it will not convert people who dislike motion controls.
The game returns to Wuhu Island, the tropical setting of 2009's Wii Sports Resort, and both Eurogamer and VGC single out the island itself as a highlight. Eurogamer's reviewer says Prop Plane's free-play mode, spent watching tiny islanders, boats and live matches below, is a favourite. VGC points to three Sightseeing Tours, tucked into the Prop Plane, Skateboarding and Power Cruising menus.
Twelve sports, with a few weak links
The lineup has 12 activities: Tennis, Golf, Bowling and Boxing from the original Wii Sports; Archery, Basketball, Table Tennis, Power Cruising and Prop Plane from Wii Sports Resort; plus Volleyball, Thumb Wrestling and Skateboarding. Eurogamer adds that a rope-jump warm-up could count as a 13th.
Basketball is the shared low point. VGC calls it probably the weakest event because of awkward dribbling and off-ball movement, and Eurogamer says Basketball and Volleyball both feel stilted, with each phase of play cueing a different move like a game of Simon Says. Eurogamer still praises their variants, including a timed hoop-shooting mode and a rhythm-based Volleyball twist. VGC calls Volleyball reasonable but unexciting.
Thumb Wrestling is the surprise favourite of both reviews. Eurogamer calls it a dark horse full of feints and mind games; Scullion says it is the event he has played most.
Critics split on Tennis and Skateboarding
The outlets diverge on the returning classics. Eurogamer says Tennis and Bowling remain the gold standard, easy for anyone to pick up. VGC is cooler on Tennis, arguing that shot direction still depends on swing timing with no stick movement, so points can feel slightly random. Scullion prefers Table Tennis for its precision, while Eurogamer finds that event's subtler wrist control a tougher sell.
Archery wins over both critics. Eurogamer especially enjoys a shared-target variant where hitting a rival's quadrant hands them the points, and VGC notes the event now ends with a round inside a volcano.
Skateboarding is the only event built around Switch 2's Joy-Con mouse controls, according to VGC: players drag a single Joy-Con back to accelerate and tilt it to steer. Scullion says it works well but has the steepest learning curve. His 8-year-old daughter picked up every other sport but struggled with it and asked why she couldn't simply walk around the island.
VGC also lays out the series' sales record: 82 million for Wii Sports, 33 million for Wii Sports Resort and 18 million for Nintendo Switch Sports. Switch Sports Resort is the fifth game in the line and arrives a month before Wii Sports turns 20.
