Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, launching on Nintendo Switch 2 on October 22, 2026, transforms Wuhu Island into a fully explorable map in certain modes, offering a fresh sense of life to the sports title. After a one-hour hands-on preview at Gamescom, the game appears to blend returning sports with new additions, all controlled via the Joy-Con 2's enhanced motion sensitivity.
The game features 12 sports at launch, mixing new and familiar events. Returning sports like Boxing and Tennis play as longtime Wii Sports players would expect, but the ability to play as a custom-created character adds competitiveness. Boxing requires finesse thanks to the Joy-Con 2's added sensitivity, with defending your head and body using fists, plus bobbing and weaving to avoid punches.
New sports and open-world exploration
One of the standout new sports is Skateboarding, which surprised the previewer. You place the Joy-Con 2 face down on a surface, tilting it left and right to turn, swiping back to build speed, and flicking your wrist upwards to jump. Grinding automatically when approaching a rail and doing tricks with an extra flick in the air made it one of the most expressive sports tried.
Prop Plane, another new addition, has you hold the Joy-Con 2 like a paper plane, swooping through the archipelago while popping balloons. The open-world design also includes photo opportunities littered around the island, available in sports like Power Cruising and Skateboarding. Upon completing an open-world sport, the game shows an overhead view of the route you and rivals took, encouraging exploration in different directions next time.
Wuhu Island's identity and future prospects
Wuhu Island is not the largest map in a Nintendo game, but traversing it by land (Skateboarding), sea (Power Cruising), and air (Prop Plane) gives it a vastly different feel depending on the sport. The previewer hopes this variety staves off repetition.
Returning sports like Power Cruising, Table Tennis, and Thumb Wrestling capture the series' cutesy vibe. The game aims to recapture the togetherness of Wii Sports, and the previewer notes there's more content here than 2022's Nintendo Switch Sports. However, they wonder if the allure will wear off after collecting all the collectibles. The inherent silliness of new sports like Thumb Wrestling, combined with the tropical island vibes, may still put smiles on faces, even if the waves Wii Sports originally made seem far away.
