Nintendo Switch Sports Resort review: Wuhu Island getaway

The sportsmates are back with new experiences and old favorites in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort.

The Wii/Switch Sports series is back for more with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. Like the original Wii Sports Resort, this sequel adds new minigames and brings back classic favorites. It’s an improvement over its predecessor, with a better offering of minigames and a compelling offline mode.

Punching back

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort takes us back to Wuhu Island, the tropical setting of the original Wii Sports Resort. It features 12 sports, eight of which return from 2022’s Nintendo Switch Sports. Archery, Boxing, table tennis, skateboarding, thumb wrestling, power cruising, and prop plane are all new additions here.

I was most excited to try boxing, my favorite mode from the original Wii Sports, and an unfortunate omission from Switch Sports. It’s as great as I remembered, with a fun gameplay loop and a surprising strategic depth lying underneath. This is where the HD Rumble of the Joy-Con 2 really shines, as there’s a satisfying vibration you feel when you land every punch. Sending your opponent flying backwards with an uppercut never gets old.

Archery is another standout. Another sport that requires two Joy-Con, archery has you hold them out as if you were drawing a bow, and then aiming them at a target of varying distances. The subtlest movements of either hand can change the trajectory of your arrow, and the implementation of wind conditions adds a fun challenge.

Table tennis is fun, even if unforgiven. Unlike a lot of arcade sports games, table tennis doesn’t give the player much assistance. If you swing awkwardly or in the wrong direction, you’ll just send the ball flying off the table. It makes rallies feel really intense. The same can be said about tennis, which is back for this game.

As is expected with any collection of minigames, there’s a hit-or-miss nature here. For example, I enjoyed basketball, but grew annoyed by how easy it is to steal the ball from the ballhandler. It made matches against other players pretty frustrating. Thumb Wrestling, an entirely new addition to the Wii/Switch Sports family, is a pretty novel concept, but the fun dries up after a few matches. It also lacks the alternative modes that give some of the other sports a longer tail.

And then there’s power cruising, which requires you to hold your arms outwards to mimic the action of holding jet ski handles. These segments can go on for a long time, and I felt my arms starting to fatigue. It’s a bit ironic, given that power cruising is labeled as one of the game’s leisure sports.

Tropical vacation

It’s really nice to be back on Wuhu Island, which proves to be a much nicer setting than the sports complex from Switch Sports. Nintendo leverages this tropical setting with the sports minigames, which take place at various locations around the island. Archery takes you from the fields, to the beach, and eventually a volcano, while basketball has a natural backdrop of trees and water.

The three leisure sports (skateboarding, prop plane, and power cruising) feature a sightseeing tour that takes you around the island. You can observe the beauty of Wuhu Island as you pass other characters going about their business. I love that each sport has a geographically accurate location around the island, and that you can actually spot them when on a sightseeing tour.

Although I didn’t love power cruising, skateboarding and prop plane are a good time. Skateboarding cleverly utilizes the mouse mode, and prop plane has you hold the Joy-Con like a paper airplane, which I found to be fun and inventive. 

Keep the body moving

Switch Sports Resort keeps gameplay fresh with alternate modes within existing sports. For example, archery has a special mode that splits the target into four quadrants, with each player assigned one. You’ll need to fire arrows exclusively into your quadrant to earn points, and firing them into an opponent’s will grant them points instead. Bowling adds 100-pin bowling, and few things are more satisfying than scoring a 100-pin strike. Table tennis has a challenge that lets you hone your return skills. 

Perhaps my favorite feature in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is Island Crown. Island Crown presents a ladder of increasingly hard opponents for each of the non-leisure sports. Starting at rank #20, you battle a series of increasingly hard opponents on your way to challenging the sport’s champion. As you beat characters, the champion will chime in to give you advice.

Island Crown is the best way to play Switch Sports Resort offline. The highly ranked characters provide a good challenge, and you’re given plenty of cosmetic rewards for climbing the ranks and completing achievements. After you beat the champ, there’s a respective legend for each sport to give you your hardest match yet. For boxing, Nintendo brought back Matt, the infamously tough fighter from the original Wii Sports.

Stay in style

Customization is central to the experience in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. Island Crown champions have cool outfits that they’ll give you for beating them, and there are a slew of clothes, face markings, and sports accessories that you can unlock through gameplay, or purchase using Spocco Coins (earned entirely from playing the game) in the rotating shop. I was eager to nab some of the Halloween-themed items before the month ends.

Once again, you can import a Mii from your console, or design a Sportsmate—the more human-looking avatars introduced in Switch Sports. The game even allows you to set different outfit presets that you can select when starting up any sport. I made sure to give myself outfit presets for all of my favorite sports.

I was excited to design my character, but let out a sigh when I saw that the two hairstyles for Black men are dreadlocks and… shorter dreadlocks. I can’t even get a plain buzzcut? It just feels so outdated for a character creator in 2026.

Wii would like to play

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a great sports game with a variety of options to enjoy yourself in both online and offline play. Not every sport is a hit, but I’ve had an amazing time honing my skills in the ones I enjoy most. Motion controls feel intuitive, and I (mostly) enjoyed getting to design my character with new clothes and gear. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is also a great way to get the body moving, a concept I’m glad to see Nintendo keeping alive all these years after the Wii first made us get off of the couch. 

This review is based on a code provided by the publisher. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort launches on October 22, 2026, for the Nintendo Switch 2.

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Review for
Nintendo Switch Sports Resort
8
Pros

• Solid sports lineup
• Archery is a ton of fun
• Boxing is finally back
• Island Crown is an excellent single-player mode
• Intuitive motion controls
• The island vibes are immaculate

Cons

• Power cruising is a miss
• Basketball gameplay is frustrating
• Let me make a character that looks like me