Nintendo Switch Sports Resort – Review

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort – Wuhu, it feels good not to take games too seriously!

Nintendo seems to have given some thought to our health as well. Or at least to the fact that, after a few hours spent in Hyrule, it really is time we got up off the sofa. We're not talking about an app that counts your squats, monitors your pulse and scolds you when you open the fridge. It's something much simpler. You pick up a Joy-Con, get to your feet, and, without too much explanation, you start having fun.

You could keep saving the world, facing down wizards, or shooting at everything that moves. Yes, there is shooting on Nintendo too, don't panic! But sometimes a game of bowling is enough.

And that's more or less what Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is trying to do. A game that, judged only by its trailer, can look fairly ordinary. A handful of sports, colourful characters, and controllers being waved around the living room. Only Nintendo has serious experience at turning apparently ordinary things into fun. And Resort comes with something extra: an entire island on which to spend your time.

Back on Wuhu Island

The story begins in 2006, when Wii Sports proved you didn't have to be a gamer to have a good time. In 2009, Wii Sports Resort took us to Wuhu Island and introduced Wii MotionPlus, for more precise movement.

In 2022, Nintendo Switch Sports moved us to Spocco Square, and later reached eight sporting disciplines. On 22 October 2026, Sports Resort brought Wuhu Island back, exclusively on Switch 2. We have twelve sports and a few new ideas for the controllers. For veterans of Wii Sports Resort, the return comes with a hefty dose of nostalgia.

Sport for everyone. Almost.

On the island we have tennis, table tennis, bowling, golf, volleyball, basketball, boxing and archery. Plus Thumb Wrestling, in which two giant fingers go at each other, and three leisure activities: skateboarding, aeroplane flight, and Power Cruising, which is to say jet-ski rides.

There's also jump rope, but that's only a warm-up. Let's not start counting thirteen sports. Most of the events are intuitive: you mime a tennis stroke, throw the bowling ball, or draw an imaginary bow. The controls, as a rule, respond very well.

Some disciplines, however, come with tutorials that are exaggeratedly complicated. It was as if Nintendo was preparing me for an international competition, and all I wanted was to knock down a few pins. I liked bowling and archery straight away, table tennis demands finesse, and basketball felt too simplified.

Who'd have thought a mouse would work on a blanket?

I admit I was sceptical when Nintendo presented the mouse function of the Joy-Con 2 controllers. I imagined I'd need a special surface, a desk, or who knows what other accessory. Then I tried skateboarding. You push the controller across a surface to pick up speed, lift it for jumps, and tilt it to change direction.

The surprise came when I discovered it works excellently even on the blanket on the sofa. No mousepad, no special preparations. Well, you might have said so from the start! I can't guarantee it works on every material. Skateboarding is the only discipline that requires the Joy-Con 2; the others, for the most part, also accept the first-generation Switch controllers. And if you start getting too carried away, use the wrist straps. The TV is not to blame.

A holiday on Wuhu, with my little girl

Of the twelve sports, I spent the most minutes in the aeroplane and on the jet ski, together with my four-year-old daughter. This, I think, is where Nintendo has achieved something very important. You don't need to understand complicated menus or game mechanics to enjoy a ride around the island. We tilted the controllers, followed the route, and discovered the places on Wuhu together. For me, these moments were worth more than any victory in a competition.

Sightseeing Tour mode gives you five minutes to discover places and collectible objects. If you don't want to rush, there is Free Play, where you can explore without a timer, but also without the rewards from the tours. Along the way you can unlock other starting points.

I liked seeing Wuhu Island again, but I have to admit I would have liked it to be larger. I got to know its main places fairly quickly, and it felt as if there wasn't much left to discover. If I want a broader experience, I can always fire up Mario Kart World. Here, though, I would have liked just a little more space to explore.

Champions, and fingers with personality

When you don't have a partner, Island Crown has you facing opponents controlled by the game until you reach the island's champions. The progression includes nine sports and gives you reasons to come back. You receive Spocco Points even offline, and you use them for costumes and accessories. The rewards also have a random element. But we need to talk a little about Thumb Wrestling.

Someone at Nintendo thought it would be a good idea to introduce fights between oversized fingers. And, apparently, nobody objected. You pin your opponent, and when you're caught, you shake the controller to escape. Sometimes I manage it at once; other times I wave the Joy-Con as if I'm starting a chainsaw, and I still lose. I probably haven't discovered the right technique yet. Or maybe my fingers just weren't made for high performance.

Bring more Joy-Con!

I also have a complaint about multiplayer. Let's say you have a pair of Joy-Con and a friend who wants to play. That should be enough, right? Well, it depends.

For boxing, each player needs two controllers. In Power Cruising, on the other hand, you can use one each in multiplayer, even though when you play alone you hold two. I understand the differences, but I don't like them. When a friend shows up on the sofa, the game should start at once. The need for extra controllers spoils the party a little.

There is online multiplayer as well, including Pro League, available with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. But I, for one, prefer to play Sports Resort with someone next to me. Especially when we can laugh together at a spectacular miss.

Verdict

Visually, Resort is colourful and cheerful. Wuhu Island is sunny, the characters are likeable, and the music fits the mood perfectly. On a gloomy autumn day, the island really does hit the spot. The sports that are too simple, the complicated tutorials, the multiplayer restrictions and the size of the island all frustrated me. I wasn't asking for a simulator, but I wouldn't have turned down a little more depth either.

Even so, I give it an 8 out of 10. I liked the variety, I had fun with the controllers' new functions, and I found enough reasons to return to Wuhu. Especially since, of all the things I did in the game, what has stayed with me most are the rides with my little girl.

In the end, not every game has to keep you in front of the television for a hundred hours. Some are just as good for half an hour of fun, a few laughs, and a rematch at bowling. And Nintendo Switch Sports Resort does exactly that. Even if, at times, it could stand not to take itself so seriously either.