Wii Sports is among the best-selling games of all time – partly because the game came with an innovative and much talked about game console, but also because it was an extremely intuitive experience that also appealed to groups that had usually never played anything before.
Only with the help of simple arm movements could grandfather and grandson suddenly bowl, box and tennis against each other within the four walls of the home, and it consequently became a big talking point.
16 years have passed since Wii Sports, and now Nintendo is trying again, this time with new technology and new sports.
The movements in this sport in particular also suggest that you can take in a little extra where you stand in front of the TV – although it does not necessarily affect the outcome of the match, it feels incredibly good to live in the fun, among other things by bending settle down well when you receive the ball and physically jump and hide when you smash.
A bit of the same also applies to badminton: Here you fight feverishly to get the little feather ball over the net, the tempo is sky high and when the ball exchanges first pick up speed, this sport stands for the game’s undoubtedly funniest and most nerve-wracking moment.
It’s simply sensational fun, and I can guarantee loud cheers and cheerful profanity if played in the right company.
The figures you can put together are very nice, and it’s nice to see that Mii figures are largely being phased out for a more edible design. The surroundings are also quite lively, with tons of colorful details and fun references scattered around the utopian arenas.
The largest of these is the arena for the latest sport to be launched: football. Here, two teams of four are thrown at each other, and by waving their arms you can kick and nod to victory.
However, the football mode is anything but intuitive: not only does it require use to hand controllers per player, but it also uses more traditional control in the form of running around the court with the left stick.
This instantly becomes less accessible. My mother of 63 barely manages to mess up the buttons that calibrate the joy-cons, and in football mode it most likely switches to impenetrable for the oldest and youngest – you know, the target groups that Wii Sports was so good at hitting .
With only six different sports available at launch, it is true that not all the world is set on fire here, but in good company, the game can still offer buckets of fun.
Particularly engaging are the newcomers badminton and volleyball, with tennis and chambara notch in the heel. Bowling seems a little too simple and tedious, while football is more of a hassle than it is worth. Golf is supposed to be on tour in the near future, but could have been available already.
It is simply a bit scanty, although of course it is raw cool that the experience is accessible enough for both grandmothers and nieces to take part in the fun.
Nintendo Switch Sports is available on the Nintendo Switch.
