Despite Nintendo Switch from its debut onwards its stock of titles has been enriched with various games dedicated to sports, from the most classic to the more interactive ones that exploit Joy-Con, longtime gamers expected nothing more than the modern counterpart of the good old Wii titles, those pioneers who cleared motion control technology in the most usable, genuine and fun way possible. With today's technology, and that of Switch in particular, it arrives then nintendo switch sports, real heir of Wii Sports we are talking about today in review. However, despite the good intentions and its own premises, it seems that among the many good things, many others did not go quite the right way.
The union that makes strength?
The welcome to the game is warm, with the colorful presentation of Spocco Square: the entire area dedicated to sport that will also serve as a menu to choose the activities to be undertaken. As soon as we open the game, however, we realize the first discordant note: in addition to the choice of playing locally with friends, always online with acquaintances, or with the whole world, Nintendo Switch Sports it does not offer some mode dedicated to the player who wants test yourself alone, such as could do a career mode, or a simple story mode.
Of course, they are not modes that were present in Wii Sports, but we are also in 2022 right? And at least it was lawful - if not mandatory - expect something more in this sense, something richer and more stimulating that is in step with the times, and not anchored in 2006.
Un shy attempt at progression it is given by the “experience points” that players can earn through the online game, where at each turning point they will receive a random prize among those available (all simply cosmetics, such as accessories or clothes for their avatar). This is the same modality that was used by the Kyoto House with Big Brain Academy (here our review) but that on Nintendo Switch Sports it is nothing more than an addition of "little substance".
Moving on to the avatars of the players, when we create ours we will be able to choose whether to use a Mii o whether to dial it with the appropriate editor, which will give a great result more modern and detailed than the Mii. As already mentioned, most of the cosmetics they should be unlocked by you by playing, so the initial choices for body and details will be somewhat scarce.
Let's take the field!
Nintendo Switch Sports offre 6 discipline in which to try your hand, and as already mentioned it will be possible to do it alone against the CPU, online against random players, or against your friends each from your own home. A seventh sport, he golf, will arrive later in 2022 as a free addition. In any case, remember that to play with Nintendo Switch Sports online functionality it is necessary the Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
The sports currently available are:
- Volleyball
- Badminton
- Bowling
- Soccer
- Chabara
- Tennis
Il tennis and bowling they are more or less as we remembered them, except that a nice obstacle mode has been added to bowling, where the track is not straight, but enriched with disturbances such as bumps, bumps, mechanical poles and so on: a small addition, but very welcome.
To replace boxing we find another combat sport, the chanbara, which will see us holding different types of swords, and which we will have to use to hit the opponent and make him fall below. The whole thing is to correctly tilt the sword (or swords) to parry the blows of the enemy.
La volleyball and the other novelty badminton they turn out to be sports quite poor in mechanics, but still pleasant to play. Certainly not quite the strong point of the package.
The latest sport currently in Nintendo Switch Sports is the one most awaited, namely the football, which will see players compete one-on-one or in teams, up to a maximum of 8 players (4v4). Together with tennis and bowling it is undoubtedly the most challenging game, especially thanks to the mechanics of being able freely control the player for the field, which until now was unrelated to all the other sports we have seen, even on Wii. Of course, we are not dealing with a simulator, but the various features present make it absolutely fun, always with the pros and cons of the case. This sport also features an a mode penalty shoot-out, where you can kick the ball with your legs (using the special leg strap to hold the Joy-Con).
A half-way victory
As you will have understood from our short descriptions, some of the sports are much less impactful and cared for of the others, which at present appear to be mere fillers. Of course, for their part they are still a variant to change from one to the other, and "one more sport" to challenge friends, but in actuality - as also happened with Wii Sports - you may decide to use some very little. .
Let's be clear, this is not to say that they are less important in Nintendo Switch Sports, but definitely are likely to offer players less fun challenges, which we had to take into account in the review.
That said, it is easy to see that to take full advantage of the offer of this game it is essential to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, because the most comfortable and intriguing features, as often happens in 2022, are all dedicated to playing online, which is "aggravated" if you think about the shortcomings for the single player we were talking about at the beginning. If you don't have a subscription, assume that our final game rating for you is at least half a point lower. And no, this one general paucity is not justified by 10 euro less on the list price compared to standard Nintendo games.
Different speech for those who often play with friends, relatives and guests at home, who will find a product absolutely in line with their needs even if they do not have online.
Review- Nintendo Switch Sports (Tested on Switch) 7.5 Final Score
Nintendo Switch Sports is the heir to Wii Sports, which however seems to remain somewhat anchored to 2006. Mind you, the social and online features are more than welcome and work very well, but what is really missing is a body even for those who maybe they were hoping for a challenge to be faced even alone, such as a story mode or a career mode. Too bad also for the sports offered, where half of them perform brilliantly, while the rest turned out to be rather poor in terms of content and variables. Despite these flaws, Nintendo Switch Sports does its thing, and it does it well, especially if you enjoy it with friends, whether it is live or online.
