Years ago, when the dominating forces in the industry were the Xbox 360 and the PS3, I used to complain about Nintendo’s focus on gimmicky hardware and motion controls. We were getting newer, bigger, bolder games in these consoles, while the Wii and Wii U were too focused on bringing a motion-based gimmick to the spotlight, gameplay and game feel be damned. Nowadays, I think things are a bit different. Bloating development costs have turned the AAA landscape into a sea of samey titles, too safe in terms of gameplay in order to appeal to as many demographics as they can at the same time.

Nowadays, I think that Nintendo’s motion control gimmicks are something the gaming industry needs, perhaps now more than ever. The company’s motion control revolution began with Wii Sports back in late 2006. How fitting, then, that exactly twenty years later, another Nintendo title from the same family would remind me why these kinds of games are so important. I wasn’t expecting much from Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, but it ended up delivering exactly the kind of entertainment I needed at this particular moment in time.

I say this as someone who grew up playing tennis in real life: the table tennis mode in this game is much better than the tennis mode.

If you are a living being that breathes and has been alive from 2006 onwards, you know what Wii Sports is, and its impact in the industry. That carefree, motion-based fun became one of the most influential games of all time, and one of the reasons the Wii became such a hit back in the day. The game would receive a sequel in 2009, title Wii Sports Resort, focused on the improved Wiimote with better motion capabilities. A Switch-based sequel, Nintendo Switch Sports, would be released in 2022, using the joycons as the motion-based controllers in this case… which wasn’t as well-received.

The reason is simple: Wii Sports was short in content, but it was a free tech demo. Wii Sports Resort was a full-priced product, but it came with a controller, and had enough content as is. Nintendo Switch Sports was pricey and somewhat barren in terms of sports variety, especially at launch. The main difference between it and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is how complete and feature-filled the latter feels in comparison.

Playing a skateboarding game with a mouse just feels weird.

You get a chunk of the sports that were previously part of Nintendo Switch Sports, plus a wide assortment of new activities, divided in two groups: competitive sports and leisure activities. The former are self-explanatory, they are new sport minigames for you to enjoy, taking advantage of the brand new joycons for better motion sensoring, game feel, and responsiveness. Leisure activities might actually be the best thing this package has to offer, but I’ll talk about them in a few.

You have your standard fare like tennis, golf, basketball and boxing, and they all work as well as you’d imagine. I’d say that tennis felt too simplistic, as if I didn’t need to actually pretend I was playing tennis in order to win easily; thankfully, table tennis is also included, and it felt A LOT more intuitive. I felt like I was actually doing something with my arms that resulted in what I was seeing onscreen. Archery was another interesting minigame with a somewhat creative control system.

Look at me! I’m Oliver Queen!

Each of these minigames features different backgrounds, difficulty settings, and support for online multiplayer. If that was everything each mode could offer, it would already be enough, as there are enough kinds of sports included in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort right from the getgo. There are achievements and daily perks, however, given to players in the form of points. The more you play, the more points you collect, and you can then use them to acquire new outfits for either your Mii or the game’s own avatar. I don’t like that you can’t actually choose the items you want to buy (they act like gacha), but hey, it’s already an incentive to begin with. It proves that Nintendo learned from past mistakes, adding lasting appeal to each of these initially seemingly shallow minigames.

Now, let’s talk about the most interesting aspect regarding Nintendo Switch Sports Resort‘s content: leisure activities. In those modes, you are able to explore the now-famous Wuhu Island (seen in Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart 7 and Pilotwings), collect macguffins or simple stroll around in your vehicle of choice. You have three modes of transportation at your disposal: a skateboard, an airplane, and a jetski. All of them feature inventive usages of the Switch 2’s joycons, and their more precise motion capabilities.

It’s basically a brand new Wave Race. I’m not even joking.

Riding a skateboard is the less exciting gimmick, as it requires you to use the joycon in mouse mode. It works as intended, but it just doesn’t feel very fun to play. There’s a reason why Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has resorted to the same control scheme since 1999; if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. It’s a slight bummer that this is the only land-based means of transportation for you to explore Wuhu Island, however.

But sure, one modality is lame, the other two are, well, excellent. I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun with the jetski and airplane modes, and the reason is simple: not only do they feature interesting usages of the joycons, but at the end of the day, from a certain point of view, they are new entries in two dormant Nintendo franchises: Pilotwings and Wave Race.

The boxing mode ain’t a half-bad workout.

You control the airplane by holding a joycon like a paper plane, in a very intuitive manner. It hurts the arms a bit after a while, but it’s quite fun. Meanwhile, when riding the jetski, you hold the joycons akin to its handlebars. Use the motion controls to steer the boat, and tilt a joycon to accelerate. It’s a silly and simple usage of the controllers, in a way that felt fun, simple to understand, and very intuitive. You can either explore the island at your own pace in a free roaming mode, or look for a bunch of collectibles under a time limit. I don’t even need to point out the obvious: the second mode is, by far, the most interesting of the bunch.

Flying an airplane with the joycon works like a charm.

I never imagined Nintendo Switch Sports Resort would be exactly the kind of game I needed right now, especially given the current state of the gaming industry. It’s all about having a good time, enjoying creative minigames, and making clever use of the Switch 2’s motion controls. It’s Wii Sports, Pilotwings, and Wave Race all at once. This is the kind of tech demo that should have accompanied the Switch 2 at launch, whether bundled with the console or sold as a launch title. Not only does it showcase some genuinely clever uses of the joycons’ motion controls, but it also builds entertaining game modes around them.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is available now on Switch 2.

Reviewed on Switch 2.

A copy of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort was provided by the publisher.