Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Hands-On Preview: Wuhu Island Is Back, Baby

In the summertime of 2009, I took a abrogation to Wuhu Island. I spent the days swordfighting successful its arena, wakeboarding astir its shores, playing frisbee connected its beaches, and refining my archery skills heavy wrong its cardinal volcano. It was a large summertime spent playing Wii Sports Resort, the followup to the archetypal taste improvement and the crippled that introduced america to the caller and improved Wii Motion Plus accessory (that would aboriginal beryllium built into the Wii Remote itself). It was amusive to play with household and friends, but I was ever astir intrigued by the mounting itself.

Wuhu Island was a paradise; a taxable parkland disguised arsenic a tropical edifice constructed wholly astir sports and the tone of competition. I loved whenever I got to instrumentality to Wuhu Island successful aboriginal Nintendo games. It appeared arsenic the main mounting of Pilotwings Resort connected the 3DS’s motorboat day, a trio of tracks successful Mario Kart 7, and a signifier successful Super Smash Bros. There was a clip erstwhile Wuhu Island was planned for truthful galore Nintendo games that Shigeru Miyamoto told Satoru Iwata the land itself was becoming a Nintendo character. But then, it disappeared, arsenic 2018 marked our last travel to Wuhu Island for the adjacent 8 years.

But now, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort takes america backmost to my favourite abrogation destination for a caller epoch of motion-controlled sports action, and I was truthful blessed to beryllium back. During a demo astatine San Diego Comic Con, I got to effort 4 of Resort’s 12 sports: archery, bowling, powerfulness cruising (which is simply a trademark-free mode of saying pitchy skiing), and thumb wrestling, which Nintendo’s Yoshiaki Koizumi famously demonstrated for america successful past month’s Nintendo Direct.

I deliberation Resort is already poised to debar immoderate of the shortcomings of its predecessor. “

This bid has not changed each that overmuch successful 20 years. Each athletics utilized either a azygous Joy-Con oregon a divided brace of them, relying astir wholly connected elemental question controls with the occasional fastener press. I played 100-pin bowling, returning from the archetypal Wii Sports Resort, wherever a lone reddish pin denotes the beforehand of an service of pins to sound down. This was a classical backmost connected the Wii, and I’m gladsome to spot it backmost aft it wasn’t included successful 2022’s Nintendo Switch Sports.

In fact, I deliberation Resort is already poised to debar immoderate of the shortcomings of its predecessor. Nintendo Switch Sports felt precise airy connected contented astatine launch, with lone a fewer sports worthy playing One of its sports was wasted connected a beauteous boring instrumentality connected soccer, implicit with the limb strap accessory that was enactment to overmuch amended usage a mates of years earlier successful Ring Fit Adventure. It besides added aggregate sports months oregon adjacent years aboriginal that would person been bully to person astatine launch.

But Resort’s 12 out-of-the-box sports matches the fig from the Wii original, adjacent if the lineup is beauteous different. One of the caller additions is thumb wrestling, wherever you clasp a azygous Joy-Con with your thumb connected the trigger (like successful Arms) arsenic you weave your manus backmost and forth, trying to outsmart your opponent. When you get pinned, you tin shingle the Joy-Con 2 arsenic accelerated arsenic you tin to flight it. I’m not definite astir the replayability of this one: it seems to deficiency the extent of thing similar swordfighting, which was easy my favourite athletics successful the original, and a acold much compelling one-on-one conflict than thumb wrestling was erstwhile I tried it.

My different favourite athletics connected Wii was archery, and it’s large here. The deficiency of cablegram betwixt the Joy-Con controller – similar the Wii Remote and Nunchuck had – meant I could gully my arrow backmost adjacent further, and it was amusive battling the upwind to effort and deed targets acceptable up astir the beaches of Wuhu. There was different people I didn’t get to effort connected the Plains of Wuhu Island, and I’m excited to cleanable each one.

Nearby, successful the ocean, I tried powerfulness cruising, but I didn’t truly play successful the perfect conditions. I raced unsocial and cruised astir a precise elemental people connected a timer. All of Switch Sports Resort’s modes are designed with multiplayer successful mind, and I ideate it’d beryllium a batch much amusive to contention against others, but I can’t talk to that conscionable yet. I bash emotion whenever Nintendo brings pitchy skis back, though, arsenic it ever feels similar a motion to Wave Race 64.

Archery is peculiarly amusive with the Joy-Con.

Something absorbing compared to the Wii Remote and Nunchuck is that each athletics successful Resort had maine holding the Joy-Con 2 successful a antithetic way. I held a azygous Joy-Con vertically for bowling, the thumb grip I described earlier portion thumb wrestling, and I held the brace of controllers similar handlebars erstwhile powerfulness cruising, and it was a chill feeling to rev the motor for a boost. The gyro aiming connected Switch 2 is already a immense betterment implicit Switch 1’s drifty question controls, yet allowing the versatility of these small controllers to truly shine.

Something absorbing compared to the Wii Remote and Nunchuck is that each athletics successful Resort had maine holding the Joy-Con 2 successful a antithetic way.“

All that said, though, I can’t assistance but consciousness similar the highest of this franchise is acold down us. Wii Sports had a immense manus successful changing the gaming scenery successful the 2000s, and determination was a clip erstwhile it was truthful caller to invitation household and friends implicit to marque Miis and play Wii Sports. I americium genuinely excited to play the remainder of the sports and person Switch Sports Resort participate the rotation of casual enactment games for the remainder of the Switch 2 generation, but astir of that is rooted successful nostalgia alternatively than emotion for this benignant of gameplay successful 2026.

"1, 2, 3, 4, I state a thumb war."

I’m besides disappointed that Nintendo continues to propulsion the generic caller “Sportsmate” characters successful this series. Miis are truthful intertwined with Wii Sports, and I deliberation they person legitimately stronger quality plan than the basal avatars introduced successful the archetypal Switch Sports. You can still play arsenic a Mii successful Resort, I conscionable deliberation they should beryllium beforehand and halfway again, particularly aft Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream launched Miis backmost into popularity earlier this year.

Those issues aside, I did bask my instrumentality to Wuhu Island successful Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. Seventeen years later, I inactive emotion the conception of an land acceptable for each forms of competition, and I’m looking guardant to seeing the remainder of it done the 8 sports I haven’t tried yet. It’s inactive an fantabulous abrogation destination.

Logan Plant is the big of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN's Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favourite video crippled franchise of each time, and helium is patiently awaiting the time Nintendo announces a marque caller F-Zero. You tin find caller episodes of NVC each Friday connected the IGN Games YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, oregon your favourite podcast app.