Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is the strongest installment in the franchise.

Background: A 20-Year Motion-Sports Lineage Frames the Resort

Nintendo's motion-controlled sports history forms the foundation for Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. The review says that if the game's sole mission is to make players look and feel stupid while having fun with friends and family, Nintendo accomplishes that mission emphatically, with flailing arms.

The review also notes that motion-based functionality has been part of every Nintendo console for the last 20 years, so the novelty of waving controllers is no longer the main event. Instead, the game is judged on whether it makes players feel silly, sore, and entertained. That goal connects to the original Wii Sports, which the reviewer played when it first released, and to the original 2006 game associated with Tennis, a sport the reviewer has loved since then.

The article frames Switch Sports Resort as the strongest showcase of sports and modes yet, describing it as the most cohesive package in the series so far. For nostalgia-driven players, it also invites a simple check: some sports from previous games are not among the 12 events here, including Chambara, Badminton, and Disc Golf. In their place, the review calls the lineup a greatest-hits collection, with Thumb Wrestling as a welcome addition built around tension-filled competition.

Development: 12 Events Split Into 3 Leisure Sports, Thumb Wrestling, and 8 Standing Sports

The 12 events divide into three Leisure Sports and nine non-Leisure events. The Leisure Sports are Prop Plane, Skateboarding, and Power Cruising. These modes do not require the player to stand or flail a limb. With the exception of Thumb Wrestling, the other eight more traditional sports require standing in front of the TV with Joy-Con controllers in hand and using physical gestures to mimic the sport.

The review gives concrete examples of the motion language. Tennis asks players to swing a whole arm as if holding a racket. Bowling asks players to raise an arm back and swing forward. Archery asks players to hold one Joy-Con in each hand, raising one arm forward and pulling the other back to simulate drawing a bow. The reviewer says it all still feels awesome, just as it has since the original game. The Switch 2's HD Rumble is used to enhance the experience with better feedback. In Archery, for example, the controllers simulate the tension of the bowstring.

Enjoyment varies by player and by sport, just as it does in real life. The reviewer jokes that if they are bad at a real-life sport, the fault must lie with the sport and its in-game version. That feeling came during Table Tennis, where the reviewer was terrible, blamed the game, and then saw another player handle it well. The reviewer concluded that it was a skill issue, that they simply suck at Table Tennis, and that it is fine.

The same friendly contrast appears in Tennis. A player who can beat the reviewer at Table Tennis can be destroyed at Tennis, a legacy sport the reviewer has loved since the original 2006 game. The review treats this banter as the core social experience, and says each sport achieves what matters most: they are all fun to play.

Some sports are easier to engage with than others. Tennis, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing are described as the most pick-up-and-play friendly, though that does not dismiss the depth of skill that can be learned and applied. Golf takes advantage of the Joy-Con's position, so newcomers need to pay attention to the angle of the swing, while experienced players naturally consider how much the controller is tilted. The review says both approaches feel intuitive. Golf remains one of the more chill sports, giving the arms a bit of a rest and offering a wide variety of courses with varying difficulties.

Bowling returns with a mode featuring obstacles to bowl around and simultaneous bowling, so players and friends do not have to wait to take turns. 100 Pin Bowling from the original Wii Sports Resort also returns. As before, the reviewer says few things are as satisfying as getting a 100-pin strike on the first frame.

Boxing is another return the reviewer sorely missed in Switch Sports, and the review says the arms are sore from its return. Boxing can feel like swinging wildly until the opponent is down, but Resort adds a stamina gauge for strategy, encouraging deliberate and methodical dodges, blocks, and left-and-right hooks. The reviewer jokes about having a real-life stamina gauge, admits they were not deliberate or methodical because punching the air with all their might was too much fun, and says losing did not matter.

Volleyball and Basketball use more complex movesets than the usual swinging and punching, and each sport offers its own distinct use of the Joy-Con. Their tutorials can feel cumbersome, which can be a speed bump for the uninitiated when playing with a group. The review still says a little patience is worth it for the end result.

The extra complexity comes largely from learning positioning for the player and teammates. Volleyball plays more like a choreographed dance, moving from passing to setting up a shot to blocking an incoming ball, all requiring the physical motion of raising the arms at just the right time. Basketball involves a few extra moves depending on position. The reviewer says their group needed a moment to fully grasp it, but once they locked in with a teammate, leaned on communication, and fought off the urge to run in for a shot, careful passing felt satisfying. Winning helped too.

Both Volleyball and Basketball also offer pick-up-and-play modes that reduce the learning burden. Basketball has several modes focused on shooting hoops against opponents, while Volleyball narrows gameplay to a rhythm game where players time ball bumps on a beat. The review calls them fun bite-sized helpings of each sport, with Basketball's Five-Streak Battle standing out because it builds tension around landing five consecutive shots while three other opponents shoot for hoops simultaneously.

Latest Progress: Leisure Modes, Island Crown, Switch 2 HD Rumble, and Online Limits

The Leisure Sports are presented as a standout because they offer a much-appreciated change-up from the usual arm flailing. Prop Plane asks players to control a plane by holding a Joy-Con like a paper plane and guiding it through the game's open world. Skateboarding uses the Joy-Con's mouse features, sliding the controller back on a surface to simulate pushing a skateboard. Power Cruising has players control a jet ski by holding a Joy-Con in each hand, steering as if using handlebars and twisting the right one to trigger a boost; an optional solo Joy-Con control scheme is also available. The reviewer says these modes trigger deep nostalgia, reminiscent of playing with toys as a kid, with the Joy-Con becoming an extension of that feeling. The game simulates imagination, and the result is pure joy.

Each Leisure Sport has its own chill sightseeing mode, allowing players to explore the Resort's island from land, water, and air. On the opposite end, they also have competitive modes. The review singles out Skateboarding and Power Cruising for competitive courses that have whispers of Mario Kart-style intro sequences. The courses increase in difficulty and introduce speed boosts, tight turns, and genuinely thrilling course-specific moments, such as skateboarding down a mountain on a narrow path while racing an opponent neck-and-neck.

The reviewer says these modes are so fun that it feels like a glaring misstep to not include the ability to compete against CPUs in this format. Compounding the problem, none of the Leisure Sports can be played online, which is not the case for the other nine sports.

The other sports avoid that pitfall through Island Crown, an in-game tournament-like mode where players move up the ranks against increasingly difficult CPU opponents. Three sports that are part of Island Crown can be played in cooperative mode: Tennis, Volleyball, and Basketball, should players want to involve friends. Island Crown also showcases a large part of Resort's distinct personality, with each sport featuring its own ultimate opponent who shares quips and tips as players push through match after match. Ranking number one and taking down these pretty-faced athletes rewards more accessories and items to customize the avatar.

Avatar customization remains familiar to players of Switch Sports. The review says the avatars have not evolved much from that game, nor did they need to. The reviewer also says they never thought the experience needed to evolve past the original Wii's Miis, and notes that Nintendo continues to support them in this game. A dead-eyed Mii can still face off against the new pretty-faced avatars. There is also an option to make all CPU opponents Miis, populated from Miis created on the console and randomly generated ones. The reviewer says they changed to this option as soon as they realized it was available.

Current Stage: The Resort Is a Complete Package for Friends, Family, and Sore Arms

The novelty of motion controls may be gone after 20 years of motion-based functionality on Nintendo consoles, but what prevails is unabashed fun. The review says the game still makes gathering people together, moving, and acting silly in the name of virtual sports worthwhile. Beyond that, Resort still sparks imagination through its Leisure Sports and shows that there is still wonder in motion-controlled games, such as performing plane tricks with nothing but the motion of the hand.

At present, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is positioned as the series' most complete and cohesive package: 12 events, three Leisure Sports, Thumb Wrestling, eight standing sports, Switch 2 HD Rumble, Island Crown ranks, cooperative play in selected sports, avatar customization, and Mii support. The reviewer, who played the original Wii Sports when it first released and was awed by rudimentary real-life movements mimicked on screen, says the game lets that feeling return as an adult.

The feeling is best shared. Whether the player is a jaded 36-year-old man with no children, a parent, a grandparent, or a kid, the review says it is hard to imagine even the most calloused-hearted person not having fun. The final takeaway is practical: bring together family, friends, and even neighbors, break out party essentials, and accept that a sore arm the next morning is part of the nostalgia.