Nintendo is finally bringing its motion-controlled sports series to the Switch.
Here’s what we thought of it based on a hands-on preview.
16 years ago, Wii Sports changed how people interact with games and who those people are.
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Don’t worry, though: The iconic Miis are still available to use as your avatar.
And, even as a Wii Sports purist, I’m cool with it.
The first stop was tennis, which felt like returning to Wii Sports in a very natural way.
The improvement for the Switch version comes from the additional accuracy afforded by the Joy-Con.
Badminton, meanwhile, was a challenging change of pace.
Nintendo Switch Sports managed to capture the energetic back-and-forth and frenetic nature of Badminton very well.
For this hands-on, we went toe-to-toe with a single sword only.
Coming right off of the desperate flailing of Badminton, Chambara was slow and methodical.
These moments were punctuated by swift comebacks and climaxed in triumphant victories or woeful losses.
Again, in both cases, it was exhilarating and, most importantly, fun.
In moment-to-moment gameplay I went from bumping to blocking to jumping, and spiking.
Of the six sports, the most compelling–possibly most flawed–is Soccer.
It features the most intricate controls, which are more relative to a traditional sports game.
For me, what ensued was a big deviation from the other sports I had experienced.
But, for now, Soccer left me a little underwhelmed.
Thankfully only one strap is required even for two players.
The most apparent absence from the list of sports, for me, was boxing.
In the meantime, Chambara is a suitable 1v1 combat replacement.
Excitingly, there was a lot I didn’t see.
Each sport has different modes and difficulties that I didn’t get to interact with.
Nintendo Switch Sports is shaping up to be a welcome return for a Nintendo classic.
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