“Nintendo Switch Sports” is a great party game, both online and offline

With its predecessor, “Wii Sports,”  being the top-selling Wii game of all time, how will the new “Nintendo Switch Sports” hold up?

Since its announcement back in February of this year, fans of “Wii Sports” and “Wii Sports Resort” have been excited for what’s to come in the new “Nintendo Switch Sports.” The newest game in the line, released April 29, will start with six sports: volleyball, badminton, bowling, soccer, chambara and tennis. Nintendo has already announced that an additional free sport is coming later this year in the fall season, which is golf. This is more than the original “Wii Sports” which only had five sports: tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. 

“Nintendo Switch Sports” has three game modes: global online play, local play and online play. Global online play is what it sounds like, you play with people from across the globe. This is the only game mode in which you can earn cosmetic items to customize your character or sports equipment, so the more you play, the more you earn. You also won’t have to worry if you are scared of losing, as to earn these cosmetics, you have to earn 100 points. Every sport has participation points. Although, you will earn points at a higher rate for how well you do in the sport, as well as if you win. The max number of players for global online play is two, so you can tackle it alone, or with a friend right by your side. Local play is also what it sounds like, you play with friends in a local environment. The max number of players for this mode is four, so this mode is perfect as a party game among friend groups. The last mode is online play, which might be confused with global online play, but this mode is for you to play with your friends from a distance. This is the only game mode that will require multiple copies of the game; one per Nintendo Switch in use. The max number of players per Nintendo Switch is two, so you can play with your friends locally and online at the same time.

One of the great things about “Nintendo Switch Sports” is that it is very beginner-friendly. Each game will have a tutorial on how it is played when you play it for the first time. It will take you through various movements used in the game and will make you do it multiple times so you can get the hang of it. One of the things the game does not tell you, however, is that different games have a different type of controller play style. In chambara – sword fight- you can use either one Joy-Con controller or two depending on which sword style you want to use. Also in soccer, you will need two Joy-Con controllers per player, so this mode may not be the easiest to pick in a local game.

One other thing you might not like about the game is that there is a difference between the physical edition and the digital edition of the game. Besides the physical edition being $49.99, it comes with a leg strap which is used in one specific mode for soccer. If you get the digital edition of the game which costs $39.99, you can buy this leg strap separately for $9.99 if you want to try the game mode soccer shootout. 

Overall, “Nintendo Switch Sports” is a great game to pick up for any type of gamer. It might not be a game you can play for hours and hours on end, but it does an amazing job being a pick-up-and-play game, as well as a party game for both local and online play. 

[Nintendo Switch Sports found exclusively on Nintendo Switch]