Why Nintendo Switch Sports FAILS As A Wii Sports Game 

The reason why you won the first golf game by a lot is because the first game always has bots because it's your first game.

They allow you to use Miis, but I think it just looks weird because it’s just a Mii’s head on a sportsmate’s body. Even the Miis don’t feel like Miis

We didn’t need a new wii sports, we needed a new wii sports resort

I really wish Nintendo wasn’t moving away from Miis. All the games are great. The Wii sports, tomodachi life, and others are awesome and I wish we were getting more.

i don't know if this is the right word to use but it feels like gentrification of an absolute classic game😭it baffles me how a game that was literally a tech demo for the wii somehow outshines switch sports in its character and charm. it's honestly sad how nintendo failed to reboot this series into something new and creative, and instead failed by giving us a washed out version of the original with nothing new or interesting added.

Switch Sports honestly just feels like a cash grab for nintendo. They didn't even try to take in some of the wii sport's factors that made it a great game. Switch sports had so much potential.

This reminds me of AC:NH vs AC:NL. Pretty big improvements in some areas over the original, pretty big loss of charm and depth in so many others.

One of my main problems with Nintendo Switch Sports, outside of the Sportsmates over Miis issue, is the fact that the only way to progress the game and unlock all of the emotes and costumes and other creatures and hairstyles is by playing online only. I know people don't have a problem with it, but I do and it's been bothering me for a while. There needs to be some sort of rewards system even when playing offline as well. Thanks for pointing that out.

I have been a huge fan of wii sports resort since I was a kid. Every time when I had a break I spent almost my whole day on it just to climb up higher in the ranking, defeating the champions, and end with a flight in the sky of Wuhu Island. NS sports just lacks all of these things that make me explore the island for hours without even noticing the time. Also I have to complain about the AI in NS sports. Unlike the Wii one they have a ranking system that make sure the AI opponents would be around the same level as the player every time to make it keep challenging but also not too hard, the only difficulty in NS you can choose is either too easy or too hard. That's just not engaging anymore. I gave up after I few time I tried to play hard mode of chambara. It felt so different when I finally defeated Matt in Wii after years of enjoying struggle, compared to constantly being defeated by random AI in NS. Maybe the only thing they did great on NS sports is the online playing, but I DID NOT JOIN NS ONLINE. How the hack can nintendo release a game only relying on online playing?? They even didn't do it on Mario Kart. They totally forgot the players who just want to enjoy the game by themselves. Everything just went so different and wrong in NS sports.

I love playing the vanilla game, and seeing the new one fall woefully short is tough to swallow. How has Nintendo regressed so far?

this is such a good video! hits the nail on the head on so many of my issues with this game. honestly, i think the reason they changed "swordplay" to "chambara" is so they could go "well it's a different sport now, we don't need to add the other swordplay modes" also, another one of my favorite part about miis in wii sports + resort is how the game would randomly select miis from your wii to watch you or play on your team! it's a truly magical experience to make a slam dunk while sans undertale watches from the stands, and this whole dimension is lost in nintendo switch sports- the background is all random sportsmates. that's probably part of the reason they got rid of the throwing the ball behind you easter egg- it's not like you have any of your miis watching you.

“With the improved motion controls of the Joycon.” that’s debatable

I'm glad you go over how the sports are actually fun, because that's how I feel. The game is fun, but not charming. I think the difference is important

Secret fruits in archery. Secret paddle/bowling ball/armor/sword designs based on champion status. Different flavor texts on island flyover based on the time of day. The drifting and wheelies in cycling. The scary shift in music when your health is low in Swordplay Showdown. The secret 100 pin strike. These are what made Wii Sports Resort special. These are examples of polish. These... Are what Nintendo Switch Sports lacks.

As someone who grew up in the Wii U/3DS era the only time I got to experience Wuhu Island was in Mario Kart 7. I wish it would come back.

They could have combined Wii Sports Club and Wii Sports Resort and made the best Nintendo sequel possible to date. They left out baseball, boxing, basketball, archery, and even frisbee. They had the blueprints and made what I think is a cash grab and a mockery of its predecessors. Imagine a cycling race online versus twenty others or a pickup basketball match with AI or online players as your teammates. Making GOLF a DLC package is just insane.

I would pay an arbotrary amount of money to bring over island flyover to the switch. Wuhu island in that game feels like a separate world even with 480p graphics. Anyway, Great vid, keep them up, you have a really good channel

The only big problem I have is that you can’t explore the Overworld like you mentioned. That could’ve brought so much more live into the game and even into the Sportsmates. I grew up with WS and WSR and this game had so much potential.

I agree with a lot of your points here but it’s still loads of fun, especially with friends online. Golf and tennis are top tier fun but yes it definitely feels bare bones which is ironic because the console can handle so much more than it’s predecessor.

my main gripe with NSS is how slow paced the online is. I love playing golf tennis and bowling but when bowling or golfing, I have to wait 30s to find a game, then roughly 45s after each turn waiting for everyone else to finish. this just discourages me to even want to climb the ranking. In the golf i am currently B+ rank but still outperform everyone regularly. It would be nice if the jump was faster if you kept winning, and if you could start the next hole whilst waiting for others to finish the previous one

NS Sports really just feels like a soulless cash grab. It lacks any charm or passion in the original game and Resort. Honestly Resort is tought to beat, but on Switch? In 2022? Nintendo really messed this one up. Especially considering it wasn't even a complete game at launch and follows Nintendo's recent trend of releasing content later, like Golf.

The Wii with all its games felt so passionate. There were a ton of new games making great use of the motion control and the games were really fun with friends and family. And since the Wii is quite dated by now, I recently decided to buy a Switch in hopes of getting an even better experience thanks to the new hardware. But as it turned out, the games feel quite lazy and uninspired in comparison. The first game I got was Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And that was my first tip off of how uninspired all games would feel. And sure,it looks gorgeous, there are new maps and features, the gameplay is fun and it is still always a good time just playing casually with friends and laughing with each other about how incapable everyone is to complete a lap pf rainbow road without falling down. But if you look at the details it falls flat compared to the Wii version. Firstly I had almost no motivation to complete the cups because all the characters are unlocked from the start. And the carparts will be unlocked for collecting coins. There is just next to no reward for getting all three stars in a cup. Also, in the Wii version, after you completed a cup, you would see a little cutscene of the top 3 players on their victory lap which would then pan into all the drivers and guest standing on the home stretch with the 3 best drivers standing in the podium. Now after you played a cup you see the thumbnail of the cup and the leaderboard. And sadly, it looks like it is the same thing with Switch Sports. The original game was a sports game with a clear incentive to animate you to move a bit, but it was full pf character and passion. From dropping the bowling ball over the fans reacting when you shot the tennis ball into their stand to the training and challenges modes. Also it was just a good game in general. The Boxing in Wii Sports is to this day the best boxing game I have ever played and the general progression with the skill level rising an falling based on your performance might be one of the best difficulty selector in all of gaming. You could compare yourself to friends, you could see your improvement, and you had a great incentive to keep grinding a game. I still remember losing to specific Mii in Boxing 3 times and always getting a bit nervous when I got back up in my skill rating and knew I would face him again. Also I can still remember my joy and how proud I was after I finally beat him. Now with the new game I guess the graphics are great and the controls are really precise. But what am I playing towards except to kill some time. Why should I grind a specific discipline if not to overcome my virtual nemesis? I really home Nintendo will at some point get back to making their games as passionate and charming as they did with the Wii. Not only because I would enjoy it now, but also because I would want my kids to enjoy it. Because its these little details that make it unique and worth remembering. I can still remember being proud of myself after beating my Dad for the first time in Mario Kart. Not because my Name stood higher on the Leaderboard, but because my character stood above his on the podium and the whole grid was cheering. I still remember dropping my first ball when bowling, not because there was an embarrassing message telling me again how to throw the ball, but because my whole family was laughing tears when all the Miis jumped up in panic because nobody expected it.

Chambara is the worst sport included because the movements are stiff, in the sense that if i want to swing, i either swing with a set animation, or i don’t swing at all. in Resort, it follows your exact movements and if you so much as touch your opponent, it counts as a light hit. In Chambara, if I swing, it always registers it wrong, usually even swinging in the wrong direction

I wish they added street pass to the switch, it would be so cool to play online with someone you walked passed

I'm still holding out hope for at least one more mode. They don't stop updating these types of games until the "last major update," and if Mario Maker 2 and ACNH have taught me anything, it's probably going to be huge. Hopefully they bring back Showdown, but combine it with the movement system from Soccer to create an arena-style showdown, and they could even do a Survival Showdown for online.

I actually like how Nintendo is moving more towards a modern design language with Switch Sports, and I rather enjoy the outfits/customization that the game has. I do agree though that the game itself feels lifeless, and there just aren't enough modes to play. Wii sports felt super fun to play with friends back in the day, and Switch Sports is definitely lacking in that department.

The fact you can separate the joycons literally makes the console perfect for boxing, boxing was iconic in the original, I can't understand why boxing would be implemented

I still bust out Switch Sports with friends if I don't have access to my Wii because bowling alone is easy enough to play and is still pretty fun, but I have many ideas on how they could've made this game really great, which I might make a video on. Definitely won't be as well edited as this, but might try to get my ideas out there

they gotta be adding more sports over time. I am not sure how many, but i feel like looking at spocco square, there has got to be a new sport in the bottom right corner. If they don’t keep adding new content then this game was just a tremendous letdown.

The first time I saw the Switch Sports design all I thought was "damn it's all corporate now"

I think the craziest part of Wii sports compared to switch sports is that Wii sports was a pack in game. Switch sports is $40-$50 depending on if you want the leg strap. That doesn’t even include the online subscription required for progressing in any meaningful way.

I think the reason why hats and glasses are off limits to Miis is because miis themselves can be given hats and glasses which are part of their core avatar. I imagine the game would have trouble accounting for situations like that.

Despite how badly I want a sequel, I would hate to see Nintendo butcher a NintendoLand 2.

The hideous new avatars made this not even feel like a Wii sports game, so that was the biggest letdown for me. Bring back the full body Miis! And that they didn't include my 2 favorite sports, basketball and baseball, didn't help either

If the game didn't market itself as a wii sports successor, but as a new IP, It would still receive a lot of hate, but half as much hate as it has now (since it would be more of a failed experiment.) As it stands it is an insult to the wii sports legacy.

Nintendo has been quite ungrateful to motion gaming. Look at the sales of games such as: 1 2 Switch, ARMS, Super Mario Party, Ring Fit & Switch Sports. All these games have in common million in sales & low effort/resources put into them. Profit margins are probably way higher than most other Nintendo games. Now if these games start declining people will fault the "motion gaming fad is over", when in reality Nintendo didnt put the effort. How is it possible that a 2009 game 3 console generations apart is far supeior than Switch Sports?

I, too, noticed the lack of progression in offline play fairly quickly (we don't have an online subscription). It feels a bit like playing a friendly/exhibition match on FIFA over and over again. It feels lifeless.

12:52 This is exactly what Go Vacation is! You find secret chests and cosmetics throughout a giant resort island, and you have to physically walk/drive/ride a horse or tp to your sports! Too bad they just made it a straight port from Wii To Switch, I'd love to see a remake or sequel~

That badminton game is so weird. It looks more like tennis than actual badminton, like it just a slowed down version of tennis.

The new characters have small heads and long arms| legs which is weird plus they don't have a lot of hairstyles. The Mii's have so much choices for their faces, skin color, hair and body. They can be anyone from a cartoon, a tv show, an anime etc. It's always fun to create a Mii and playing him in the games. Here, the character is ugly and the games are not very fun. I'm so glad i didn't buy Switch sports. I have Wii sports since 2014, still enjoy playing it today 😀

Bruh I can't believe this video was posted just 2 days ago! I remember playing Wii Sports once, when I was at the place of a rich friend of mine. I simply loved it! Tho I've never had my own because of the price back then... But now that I've got my own money, I was just thinking about those good ol'days and asked myself if that videogame still exists. Then I came across your channel and wow it's so nice ^_^ Istg ur so underrated... keep up with the good job!!

It’s crazy how the joycons are so much more technologically advanced than the Wii remotes, and yet they didn’t even bother adding Boxing to the list of activities? Seems like the most obvious choice to me

Bruh when I watched one of your videos I thought you had 200k plus subs, the quality is amazing. Keep growing :)

it was upsetting to see the miis not brough back onto the switch properly. i understand that it was mostly for the Wii and WiiU but the Miis are loved by ALOT of fans

Resort>Switch

I like how you say it was not bad, it’s a good game in my opinion. As it’s own game yes your 100% correct it’s amazing but compared to the previous entrys it falls short. And also Nintendo would it really that hard to add baseball back. And basket ball

When I watched this video, it felt like a video produced by a big 1 million subs youtuber. The quality is great!

Boxing needs to come back, I'd also like to see more of those crossover sports. The frisbee golf mode was cool, you could then add footgolf or football table tennis to make more use of the leg strap and football mode. There's so much they could do, but haven't. Like, where's the baseball?

I really enjoyed this video. I like your style we’re even though you’re critical towards the game, you have a relaxing and understanding tone. It sounds strange explaining it, but it’s a nice change

They should make Nintendo Switch Sports Resort but actually make it good, and bring back an improved Wuhu island with it

The badminton issue is the fact that you really can go on an infinite back and forth unless you make it weak

Being honest here, I did initially defend this game, up until mario strikers battle league did the, release the rest of the content later, thing, and then the veil was lifted. I don't hate switch sports at all, I'd rather play it than club, which I feel had an even worse release and model, and I don't consider worth my time, but the game is pretty weak, even after adding golf. Add more sports and sure, the game will be more worth it then, but right now, I don't think so.

the sportsmate look like if you gave an Animal Crossing guy realistic proportions and then smacked their face with a frying pan should've been Miis and go hard on the cartoonish simplistic arstyle tbh

not to mention that this game compared to the original on wii, which was bundled in with the wii at launch gave us simple but fun and replayable games to try out. Whereas this came out on the switch, near the end of its lifetime with bare-bones minigames and a ton of missing content to boot. not even baseball or boxing is here either. Thats why I think it did better than whatever this is. I'm not a fan of how the items are distibuted either. I think it would've worked better if there were shops set ip the same way splatoon does their shops

All they cared about was online and multiplayer. If you don’t care about that then there is no point in playing it. Wii Sports Resort was also fun from a single player perspective and had plenty of content.

I would really love if they added darts, basketball, or ice hockey

You summed up basically all my thoughts on this game. This game disappointed me so bad, I actually forgot it released in 2022. Too bad it wasn't as great as I hoped.

Me personally, I like that they have tennis and badminton even though they’re similar, they are still very different

Wuhu Island is probably my favorite setting in any game

My dad has my old wii, and every time I’m there visiting we get the golf or bowling on the go. Almost a family tradition at this point.

I would consider Switch Sports more of a spinoff of Wii Sports than a sequel to the beloved series.

bro, keep up the grind! just remembered you from that mario kart stream with schlatt and sneegsnag! Keep up the good work!

I had wii sports. I still like this game. I just hope they plan on releasing more sports with free updates.

Your right joy con's motion controls just, not working for bowling pretty much sums up all the hardware issues with the Nintendo Switch. Just out of nowhere, stuff doesn't work.

The sportsmates are so bad compared to the Miis. I can’t go back to NSS knowing that I won’t have a chance to see George Bush hit a home run with a Minecraft Creeper and Jar Jar Binks.

I like Switch Sports. Playing against the computer doesn't really interest me, so the online-centric focus is great

Switch Sports is so sloppy. The sports options are limited, the sports themselves play in a stiff and rigid way, and replacing the miis with the new mascot characters was a nonsensical choice.

No offline skill rank, no deal.

would be nice to have a offline rating for sure, i wonder if theyll add it with a update at some point or even get more sports at some point

For the golf game I’m guessing you got a lobby with beginners. A bogey is 1 stroke over par and double bogey is 2, triple is 3, etc. Also nice video 👍

I agree. Volleyball is great tho I play in real life and appreciate the slides and quick sets as well as trying to guess where the hit would land for blocking and bumping

I hate this game with a passion. I grew up with wii sports resort and I played with my brothers. When I saw the trailer for this game in the direct, I about fell out of my seat I was so excited. I bought it the day it released and played it for a few hours, and then realized that it sucked. This was a really missed opportunity from Nintendo.

Wii Sports was full of charm like the Miis spinning backwards in bowling if the bowling ball went backwards

Missed Opportunity to Nintendo to call "Nintendo SWIItch Sports"

I hope the next direct doesn’t disappoint

You’ll be wrong they added basketball

As someone who plays offline (don’t have the time to play online), I’m glad I watch this video. Games are too expensive these days and I rather just not buy it. This game seems to heavily rely on online play… thanks for this video! Saving me some cash I’ll use on something else

I feel like this game suffers a lot from modern game development philosophy. The difference between this game and resort, is that resort had to come out complete at launch. Modern games can just patch in the content later. Nintendo is clearly experimenting with these practices in their sports and spinoff lineup. They probably thought that due to the low sales of sports club people don't really want games like these anymore. So they were cautious with the development of this game to not go too overboard, and they released it at an earlier stage of development than usual to test the waters. That way, if it doesn't bring in enough money, they just can cancel the updates and move the devs to something else. That prospect probably had an impact on the team's morale as well, since you won't care about a project as much if you know the higher ups can axe it on a whim. That may explain the lack of small details and gags. This is all speculation, but I do take note from tons of development horror stories from other studios.

My man just called badminton slow

Shocked they didn't just tweak up the original and add it as a Deluxe like they've done with a ton of other games. Would've done way better than this game will.

Mannnnnn idk if we will be getting any other sports after basketball. There is no more spaces open, apart from the middle area that could be home to new sports. There is potential cause of the like hotel thing on the very bottom right of the map, so there could be like a second screen with a few extra games, maybe a plane runway or something. But yeah this game could’ve been amazing

GO Vacation feel more like a Wii sport game than Switch sport

3:23 Matt being in there is epic

I just realized how small this video and channel is but I see lots of potentional

The legend himself, Matt from wii sports

The fact they didn’t use miis at first and didn’t keep the charm of Wii sports makes me wonder if they even have play testers sometimes

When I play switch sports I always use my MII and every time I play against players they're always using the Nintendo Switch Sports characters I like never play with somebody who uses they're MII's and it's probably because all those people probably were not around during the WII era

Not only does it fail as a Wii sports game, but fails as apart of the Wii series in general. Wii party, Wii play, and even Wii music are far greater than switch sports.

I just bought a Wii with 2 controllers and 8 games with wii sports resorts with it for 40 bucks, much better deal then Switch sports and it plays better with the Wiimote lol

Pros: Sports are great, controls feel good, loads of fun customisation, looks visually great Cons: No offline progression, limited customisation, not enough side modes, needs more exploration Feels like the biggest issue of this game is that it feels disappointing after Resort than the original more than anything. There is a genuinely great game and concept here, it just isn't fully realised, might be one of the few people who doesn't mind the sports mates. I even wondered how a "Switch Sports" title would do if it was the first two games remade, upgraded, and sold on the Switch, or if the game was treated as entirely separate from the OG series, even if comparison is inevitable. I know some people may look back at it fondly in a few years (like the Wii U)

I agree. Very underwhelming. It reminds me of New Horizons compared to New Leaf. Completely lost its charm. It’s hard to explain, but the people that know, will know without explanation

At 3:07 you can see a baseball field with no name above it whilst everything else has a a name above it as well with a ski resort type thing near the chambara so we could see baseball and ski both in Nintendo switch sports

This game is the epitome of Nintendo going for money. So many missed opportunities, there’s no boxing, basketball, 100 pin bowling, baseball, cycling, or any extra modes for sword fighting like the wii had. They could’ve added new sports that were actually good. Badminton and volleyball feel like much slower versions of tennis. Ping pong would’ve been a good replacement because the pace is faster. And don’t forget how restricted your movement is compared to tennis

another problem with the sport guys is that there's not much creativity in them, like why is there only 6 hair styles?

Tennis doesn't feel right at all to me in this game. Instead of actual motion determining what direction you hit the ball in, now you hit the ball left or right by hitting the ball early or late, and it doesn't feel natural. Badminton doesn't have the weird timing mechanic, so why did they change Tennis? Also, in the newest update, they somewhat ruined online bowling, because there's now a 50-50 chance you'll get the "special" mode, but of course it always seems to be the special mode when I don't want to do it

there is a difference between failure and comparison to what you prefer.

I’m sorry but Wii Sports (Resort Included) will never be dethroned. It’s just the og. Wii Sports is my second favourite game of all time. Disney Infinity is my all time favourite.

CLEARLY its because they didn't have baseball because that one was my favorite and i wish they added that instead of like badminton or something

Yeah, pretty much agree with most of your assessment. Not being able to use the earned items on your Mii character is pretty annoying. I was pretty much forced to play online because playing with my sister in law's family is the only time I play with other people. Since there is no progression or any other models offline, pretty much makes this game useless for me, except for bowling and golf practice. Pretty much only play mostly bowling and a bit of golf online.

the thing i was most excited about was ranking up in offline since it looked so fun on the wii but that wasnt even there anymore plus bad,inton shouldnt be a sport if you only have six variety is neccessary i was very happy when the game was announced but it lacks a lot of content