It’s the other three where I have problems. Badminton doesn’t really belong in the collection as it is barely different to Tennis, but because it is like Tennis, it too gets a pass. Both distil their respective sports down to a simple, highly familiar physical motion, and anyone who has ever swung a tennis racket or thrown a ball (so, just about everyone) will have an intuitive understanding of how to play those games. Of the six sports, Tennis and Bowling – the two that were present on Wii Sports 16 years ago – remain the cream of the crop. That’s the kind of experience that would have really sold the social portability of the Switch from day one.

Each is controlled by motion controllers, and can be played with just the one Jo圜on, meaning that you and a buddy can get a quick game of bowling in anywhere in the world. In Nintendo Switch Sports there are six sports to choose between: Tennis, Bowling, Badminton, Volleyball, Football, and Chambara (foam swords). However, the Switch already has a lot of those kinds of experiences, and there have been some baffling decisions made in development here that make Nintendo Switch Sports much less of an “all ages and skill levels” experience than its predecessor, so ultimately I struggle to see the value in it. It’s a well-made minigame compilation that highlights the strength of the motion controllers and system dynamics. Nintendo Switch Sports would have been an excellent launch title pack-in game, much like Wii Sports was back on that console 16 years ago.

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