Some of the most beloved games in Nintendo’s history are undoubtedly Wii Sports and its follow-up, Wii Sports Resort. The fact that it released as a pack-in title for the Wii, and was able to bring charming family fun to hardcore gamers and those who had never touched a game in their life, is a feat that Nintendo itself is still trying to recapture to this day. Now, with the Nintendo Switch 2, it is once again trying to recapture that magic with a new iteration of Nintendo Switch Sports, now based on Wii Sports Resort. I had the chance to play Nintendo Switch Sports Resort during Gamescom 2026, and even if I wasn’t necessarily blown away by what I saw, I still had a great time.
At the quite elaborate-looking booth, another person and I waited in line with were given the option to play 1 of 3 mini-games: Archery, Bowling, or Jetskiing. Then, we were forced to compete in the new Thumb War mini-game against each other right afterwards. Despite the relative newness of Archery and Jetskiing, we opted to go for Bowling since it has consistently been one of the most fun parts of the Wii Sports franchise. In hindsight, this choice may have been a mistake, as it didn’t really highlight how this game would be any different from Nintendo Switch Sports.
If you have played Bowling in Nintendo Switch Sports, or even Wii Sports, there really is not anything that Switch Sports Resort does differently than prior games. On the one hand, a mini-game like Bowling does not necessarily need any radical revisions, but it was hard to even see the visual differences between this new title and its predecessor. At many points while I played, I had to physically remind myself that I was playing a Nintendo Switch 2 game, rather than a game for the original Nintendo Switch.
The controls are still fun and easy to master, though. All you have to do is hold down the back of the trigger and swing the control as if you are throwing an actual bowling ball. Though I did sometimes wonder if it was a bit too easy. There was one point where I got 4 strikes in a row by barely adjusting my aiming direction, and while I felt proud of myself, it did feel almost effortless at points. Sure, it is bowling, and the difference between a strike and a gutter ball is usually down to luck, but I do not remember finding the mini-game this easy in prior games.
My bowling concerns aside, though, I found thumb wrestling to be a good time. It is one of the few times where the experience felt new compared to all other entries in the franchise beforehand, since it is an entirely new mini-game. You have to swivel the control from side-to-side and try to get your thumb on the other player’s before they do the same to you. If you are caught, you have to shake the JoyCon to escape. Each time you escape, though, the window to do so again gets shorter and shorter.
In the end, even if I did have some frustrations at how little the demo showed off what makes Switch Sports Resort feel new, it is not a game that necessarily needs to reinvent the wheel. The most important thing about a Wii Sports/Switch Sports game is that it’s fun, and whether I was winning at Bowling or losing at Thumb Wrestling, I could not stop smiling with glee. Plus, there are a whopping 10 other mini-games that I never got the chance to see. So, regardless of my concerns about how similar Resort is to its predecessors, I still believe that this will be a fun game for families and friends looking to spend some quality time together.
Nintendo Switch Sports Resort will release on October 2 for Nintendo Switch 2.
