Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Review – Punch Out

It’s easy to take the Wii and the revolution it brought for granted, two decades on; after all, we live in a world where everyone plays video games now, where it’s mainstream and normalized to such a degree that even if someone, somehow, is not engaging with video games at all, they are still more than aware of the medium and its subculture thanks to streaming, memes, influencers, and the bevy of video game movies, TV shows, and merchandise flooding everything that we are aware of in our day-to-day lives. So, it’s not surprising that it can still be hard to think back to a time when that wasn’t true, when games were still considered a niche-the domain of a few, a hobby that very often lacked respectability. And of course, a huge part of changing over time was the introduction of the Wii, and, of course its motion controls- and one game that perfectly sold the appeal of the Wii more than any other – literally, since it was a bona fide system seller the likes of which wouldn’t be seen again for a very long time – was Wii Sports.

"It’s easy to take the Wii and the revolution it brought for granted"

The original Wii Sports was an unassuming little collection of five mini-games based on popular sports. Of course, a crucial aspect of all of the included “sports” was that they could all be easily considered universal enough that everyone could understand them with little thought or effort, while also having the added perk of being extremely well suited for motion controls- which, of course, in the era of the Wii, was a Big Deal™. This potent blend, combined with very charming, simplistic, cozy presentation, and Nintendo’s usual polish, made it an astounding hit. A sequel was always going to be a given, which is what Wii Sports Resort was. Built to shown off the significantly better motion tracking technology in the Wii Motion Plus accessory, Wii Sports Resort is often viewed by fans as the series’ zenith, not only because it had a lot more games, which all played a whole lot better, but also because of how above and beyond it went in establishing a coherent vibe and tone and aesthetic – elements that players have found lacking in every subsequent entry in the franchise.

Which brings us to Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, the newest game in this lineage. Now, very explicitly, as the name should tip you off, this game is consciously evoking Wii Sports Resort. Much like that title built on the original Wii Sports by offering more sports, more modes, more content, and going bigger and better in every regard, so too, does Switch Sports Resort take the original Switch Sports, released in 2022 on the first Switch, and delivers a much more content packed, much more polished, much more appealing and all around fun entry. And also, very importantly, for the first time since Wii Sports Resort, Switch Sports Resort brings back the charm, character, and aesthetic that the series has been lacking since its earliest days.

"Now, very explicitly, as the name should tip you off, this game is consciously evoking Wii Sports Resort."

Naturally, as many a series fan will tell you, a big part of that is the return of Wuhu Island as the setting for the game. Wuhu Island in Wii Sports Resort was a vibe, a fun sort of tropical vacation getaway packed with activities and collectibles everywhere, and really fun and cozy to explore at your own pace. All of that’s true here too, and while the specific layout and locations have been shuffled and moved, this is still very much distinctly Wuhu Island. And Wuhu Island is packed with things to do – there are twelve separate sports offered out of the box this time around, bringing back bowling, golf, tennis, boxing, archery, table tennis, basketball, power cruising, prop plane, volleyball, skateboarding, and thumb wrestling for some reason. That’s a lot, representing a healthy mix of returning sports from every previous entry, as well as a handful of entirely new ones.

Each of these can be played solo, with you working up through the ranks to become Wuhu Island’s Champion for that sport, as well as with others (with the latter being how Wii Sports really became a mainstay of pop culture – it was a party game on a scale not seen before or since). As always, these sports are played via motion controls, using Joycon controllers for input. Most of these sports translate to the Joycon motion controls very intuitively – you can easily imagine how tennis, volleyball, golf, bowling, or archery would work, for example. In almost all these cases, actually playing the games remains as effortless and inherently fun and satisfying as the series has been for 20 years now. Your inputs are registered, tracked, and recreated on screen very well, the audiovisual feedback is great in the typical Nintendo fashion, and the game mechanics have been designed to create a very compelling immediate feedback loop.

Owing to the nature of motion controls, it’s not always perfect – in particular, the Switch 2’s Joycons using only gyro for motion tracking (unlike the original Wii Remote, which used a combination of IR tracking and an accelerometer) means that there is an inherent degree of drift (necessitating relatively more frequent recalibration), at least compared to on the Wii. It’s not very noticeable most of the time, and the game itself does a great job to compensate for that, but it is an undeniable fact that the motion controls are a lot fiddlier on the Switch than they were on the Wii.

"Owing to the nature of motion controls, it’s not always perfect"

One of the new games – skateboarding – also uses the Switch 2 Joycon’s mouse mode. This works very similarly to last year’s Drag x Drive, although it’s simpler and also more fun than it was in that game. You hold down a Joycon in mouse mode, and then drag it back, with the faster and more frequently you drag it, the quicker you go. It’s incredibly simple – throw in tilting the Joycon to turn, and there’s actually a fart amount of depth here (plus some real thought that went into how to make it work).

As mentioned, you can play each of these games multiplayer (either local or online), or solo, where you can either try to become Island Champion, or, in the case of three specific games, opt for the new Sightseeing Tours. These are exclusive to prop plane, power cruising, and skateboarding, and are exactly what they sound like – you going around the island, searching for photo opportunities and island missions as you do. These tours feel like the realization of the conceit of Wuhu Island as the setting for these games, because they add the connective tissue to really make the island feel like an authentic place. It’s a huge part of why Switch Sports Resort feels like it brings back the character the series had otherwise lost for a fair bit now.

Switch Sports Resort feels like the first game in the series since Wii Sports Resort that isn’t disappointing whatsoever. It feels like what you’d expect a new game in the series to feel like in 2026, with no caveats or warnings attached to it. It’s incredibly fun, incredibly accessible, incredibly content-packed, and incredibly polished. There is literally nothing more you could ask for from a new Wii Sports game.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.