Game On: Gamers are finally getting a Wii Sports sequel for Nintendo Switch

If you hadn’t heard already, February’s Nintendo Direct was chock-full of promising upcoming game announcements and expansions to existing classics. Kirby and the Forgotten Land got a new trailer and is confirmed for a March 25 release, while the long-dormant soccer spinoff Mario Strikers is making a comeback with Mario Strikers Battle League, due out June 10. Metroid Dread and Splatoon 3 are getting content updates.

Project Triangle got another demo – I reviewed the first demo exactly a year ago and confirmed it to be an excellent game thus far for fans of tactical RPGs like Shining Force, Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics. Out of nowhere, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be receiving a “booster course pack” adding 48 new courses for the cost of $25. It’s been five years since they did anything with the series, so it’s pretty safe to say there won’t be a sequel any time soon despite the game’s initial Wii U launch in 2014.

All of this is exciting, but some might call me the worst Nintendo fan ever because the reveal that left me the most excited was Nintendo Switch Sports. If that makes me a dweeb or a gamer with poor taste, so be it – but good luck coming up with any video game in history that brought families together better than Wii Sports has in 2006 and beyond.

Wii Sports is the only video game I’ve persuaded my aunt and my older cousin to play. I remember over Christmas 2007, my 40-something cousin who’s barely ever played video games before or since got a sore arm because he basically didn’t put Wii Bowling down for several days. Within hours, his skills far surpassed mine, and I genuinely loved getting whooped by a non-gamer. My aunt, who once bowled league, was unsurprisingly excellent, as well. I was just 13 at the time, and it’s a fond memory.

Over the past week, something possessed me to fire up my Wii again and face off against my wife with some virtual golf and bowling. It’s difficult to believe the game is more than 15 years old because aside from the rather poor 480p resolution – quite noticeable on today’s 4K displays – Wii Sports hasn’t aged a day.

Wii Sports took the timeless pick-up-and-play arcade formula and made it even more accessible with motion controls and a sports theme. Of the five sports available – tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing – only boxing was lackluster. An estimated 82.9 million copies of Wii Sports were sold, although it’s worth noting it was often a pack-in game for those purchasing a Wii console. Still, when I think of pack-in games, Wii Sports and the Sega Genesis 6-Pak are the two that stick out in my mind as terrific introductions for their respective consoles.

So maybe it’s nostalgia speaking, but I’m hoping Nintendo Switch Sports can inject some new fun into that flawless old formula that Nintendo once flaunted. So far, the lineup of games includes tennis, bowling, soccer, volleyball, badminton and – out of nowhere – chambara. While I’m admittedly skeptical of the last one, as long as it works better than boxing did, it’ll be an improvement.

Interestingly, the physical release of Nintendo Switch Sports will include leg straps for soccer, essentially mounting the controllers to the sides of your thighs. It sounds like a bit of a hassle, but I’m willing to go in with an open mind. Besides – while I love traditional control schemes, I feel a bit stupid paying $80 for a new set of Nintendo Switch “joycons” when so few games actually take advantage of the motion controls that contribute to such a high price tag.

Aside from the new sports and vibrant new graphics, Nintendo has decided to step into the 21st century this time by offering casual and competitive online modes for Nintendo Online subscribers. Those same subscribers got to enjoy an early playtest of the game from Feb. 18-20, and the reception is positive thus far. Nintendo Switch Sports is slated for an April 29 release, with golf being added for free in the fall.

Riordan Zentler can be reached at riordanzentler@gmail.com.