Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a sun-drenched return to form

When you think of the biggest Nintendo games, images of Link’s green tunic, Mario’s blue dungarees and Princess Peach’s pink dress invariably come to mind. Yet where mascots Samus, Starfox and Kirby won the battle for players’ hearts, it was 2006’s Wii Sports that truly conquered the world’s wallet.

Bundled with Wii consoles outside of Japan,Wii Sports shifted a mind-boggling 82.9 million units, cementing itself as the third best-selling video game to date. By all rights, Nintendo’s Sports series should be a titan on par with Grand Theft Auto, yet despite Wii Sports' ubiquity, its patchy sequels have never come close to the same impact.

Where the original Wii Sports succeeded on novelty and sheer simplicity, its sequels struggled to expand the formula, adding mini-games without any of that trademark Nintendo soul. This time around, Nintendo has decided to give the faceless brand a likeable character of its own — Wuhu Island.

Taking place on an open-world version of the glistening isle (first seen in 2009’s Wii Sports Resort), Switch Sports Resort on Nintendo Switch 2 immediately oozes the good-time feel of an all-inclusive holiday with its most inviting dose of sun, sea, and sports yet.

Welcome (back) to Wuhu Island

The first stop on my sporty getaway is a testament to that breezy vacation feel — a tour of the island itself. Taking to the skies in the Pilotwings-esque Prop Plane mode, I grip the Joy-Con 2 between my fingertips, soaring across the sun-drenched isle like I’m steering a paper airplane.

Swerving serenely through photo spots to collect rings isn't a deep experience on its own, but it’s a breezy scene-setter for this motion-controlled holiday — adding a juicy extra dish to Switch Sports Resort’s bountiful buffet. The only thing missing from this all-inclusive getaway is the free drinks.

Where its predecessor, Switch Sports, launched feeling sparse, Switch Sports Resort has 12 different playable events right from the off. When it comes to competitive new sports, Thumb wrestling is a clear highlight. As I hold the Joy-Con 2 in a thumbs-up position, careening around, the playground favourite is surprisingly tactical.

Able to gently lower your thumb to bait your opponent, thumb war becomes a tense mind game, as you attempt to lure your opponent into a trap with a feigned press by flicking your thumbnail down. While only ever considered a ‘sport’ by grubby-fingered five-year-olds, this needlessly in-depth virtual recreation leaves me grinning.

The new Power Cruise then sees me taking to the seas in a jet ski, soaring across the ocean as I collect coins, leaving me pining for a Wave Race revival. Playing this single-player, it’s hard to get a good read, but I think there’s definitely strong multiplayer potential here.

Boarding, boating, and mouse mode magic

Skateboarding was another pleasant surprise during my return to Wuhu Island. Skateboarding uses mouse mode, with players dragging the Joy-Con 2 to simulate kicking with your leg and flicking the controller off the surface you’re resting it on to jump.

This laid-back island tour swaps Prop Planes sky views for the sidewalks, letting you grind rails and get big air as you scoot around collecting wheels and discovering postcard-filled photo spots.

It’s an impressively detailed environment, allowing me to peer inside a basketball hall before ollieing over a slew of sunloungers. I think we can all agree that mouse mode has been a bit of a letdown overall, yet outside of simulating a mouse in strategy games, using the mouse as a skateboard is oddly the most convincing support I’ve experienced on Switch 2 thus far.

Of the returning sports, Archery seems to have been tweaked the most. With your bowstring’s pull no longer shackled by the length of the Wii nunchuck’s cable, I can now draw my arrow back further, battling the wind to get the perfect shot as I loose my arrows into a selection of different targets.

Archery feels newly fiddly, but in a way that suggests depth rather than clumsy controls. A special mode sees the archery target divided into different colours, with players only aiming for the colour that corresponds to their avatar.

Of the other returning sports, 2026’s version of boxing feels pleasingly precise, with uppercuts, blocks and jabs landing with far improved accuracy over the Wii and Wii MotionPlus days.

Tennis is just as brilliant as I remember it being on a 480p CRT TV, with table tennis also feeling more nuanced, improved motion controls ensuring that back-and-forth rallies feel more frantic than ever.

Last(ing) resort?

Online multiplayer (first introduced in 2013’s little-played Wii Sports Club) makes a welcome return, giving solo players something to get stuck into alongside Island Crown, a new single-player mode that sees you forming a feud with a named NPC rival, challenging different CPU opponents in order to climb up each sport’s ranks.

After grin-inducing 45 minutes skating around Wuhu Island, soaring through the skies and challenging rivals to a thumb war, I leave my demo won over by its summer holiday charm. Where Wii Sports felt weirdly clinical, Switch Sports Resort looks to inject some much-needed personality into Nintendo’s stalled series.

Whether there’s enough here to keep players waggling for tens of hours still remains to be seen, and while it would be almost impossible to replicate that first Christmas when elderly relatives were whopping their offspring at Wii Tennis, so far, Switch Sports Resort is shaping up to be the best Sports title Nintendo has put out in years.

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