Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Preview: Wuhu Island Returns to Fix Every Switch Sports Problem

Pack my bags and book me a one-way ticket to Wuhu Island. That was the immediate reaction after IGN's extended hands-on time with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort at San Diego Comic Con, and it captures exactly why this sequel has vaulted from mild curiosity to one of the most anticipated titles for the Switch 2 launch window. The original Nintendo Switch Sports arrived in 2022 with a sparse selection of activities and a heavy reliance on online matchmaking that left solo players cold. Resort, by contrast, appears to be solving all of Switch Sports' shortcomings in one ambitious package.

The significance here extends beyond nostalgia. Nintendo is bundling the game with every Switch 2 this holiday season, positioning it as the system's Wii Sports moment — twenty years after the original phenomenon smashed living room TVs worldwide. For the casual audience that owns Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Party, and little else, this bundle strategy is a masterstroke. But the preview suggests Resort has genuine depth for dedicated players too, with a single-player campaign structure, collectible hunting, and exploration systems that could sustain engagement for months rather than hours.

Here's a thinking process:

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a sports and party game developed and published by Nintendo for the Switch 2, launching holiday season 2026. The package includes 12 sports activities ranging from returning classics like Bowling and Archery to new additions like Skateboarding and Thumb Wrestling. Unlike its 2022 predecessor, which confined players to the sterile menu hub of Spocco Square, Resort centers everything around a fully explorable Wuhu Island — the beloved vacation paradise last seen in Pilotwings Resort on the 3DS launch day over a decade ago.

The game supports both solo and multiplayer engagement across competition, exploration, and leisure modes. Players can race Jet Skis in Power Cruising, soar through volcanic craters in a Prop Plane, grind rails on a skateboard using Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, or simply wander the island in free-play mode without timers or objectives. Collectibles and achievements open up cosmetics for Sportsmates and Mii characters, while split-screen co-op exploration lets friends share the experience locally. For anyone who felt Switch Sports lacked staying power at launch, this structure represents a fundamental philosophical shift.

Here's a thinking process:

The core innovation is how each sport offers multiple engagement modes rather than a single competitive match. Power Cruising exemplifies this design: players can race friends on obstacle-strewn courses rewarding speed and big-air jumps, or switch to a five-minute sightseeing tour hunting landmarks like a pink dolphin that rewards persistence with collectibles. At round's end, an overhead map traces each player's path around the island — reminiscent of Breath of the Wild's Hero's Path feature — creating natural post-game conversation about discoveries and divergent routes.

Skateboarding uses the Joy-Con 2's mouse functionality in a control scheme that feels intuitive: drag the controller backward like a foot pushing off, lean left and right to steer, flick up to ollie, and waggle for aerial spins and tricks. The physics allow grinding rails, crashing into the ocean (which respawns you on shore), and hunting paths up to Maka Wuhu volcano. Prop Plane flying offers a different perspective entirely, letting players soar into the volcano's mouth — a direct callback to Pilotwings Resort — while photographing landmarks, popping balloons, and engaging in playful water-gun dogfights with co-op partners. Even Thumb Wrestling, dismissed as too simple against AI, becomes hilarious against humans as players bait thumb drops and laugh at the absurdity of digital thumb combat.

Here's a thinking process:

Wuhu Island itself has evolved meaningfully since its last appearance. A new resort hotel crowns the distant golf course, additional smaller keys surround the main island, and the geography has been shuffled enough to feel fresh while retaining iconic landmarks. The denser, more self-contained layout ensures every area holds something meaningful to uncover — a marked improvement over Mario Kart World's Free Roam, which the preview author notes feels less successfully realized by comparison. Collectibles and achievements are clearly marked and tracked, feeding into a cosmetic economy that rewards exploration without demanding it.

The preview build ran smoothly in both handheld and docked configurations during the Comic Con hands-on session, with split-screen co-op maintaining stable performance during exploration. Motion controls for Archery's competitive quadrant targeting — where each player owns a target quarter and risks gifting points to opponents by missing — responded precisely. The rotating and resizing target mechanics that handicap leaders for dramatic comebacks felt appropriately Nintendo in their balance of accessibility and depth. No technical issues were noted during the extended play session.

Here's a thinking process:

Not every sport lands with equal impact. Table Tennis feels forgettable, especially when standard Tennis already occupies one of the 12 slots — a redundancy compounded by Volleyball's inclusion, creating three net sports in a single package. The preview author would gladly trade Table Tennis and Volleyball for activities that better use the island itself, specifically citing the absence of Swordplay from Wii Sports Resort. That game's swordfighting, which saw players trekking across the entire island battling hundreds of Miis, was a defining memory cut from this roster. Baseball's continued absence also stings, particularly after its omission from the original Switch Sports.

Thumb Wrestling's simplicity remains a liability in single-player — the AI offers no meaningful challenge, reducing matches to going through motions. The Boxing ladder campaign shows promise with its ascending CPU difficulty, but the lowest-ranked opponent was described as "ridiculously easy" to the point of comedy, raising questions about early-game pacing. While the free-play exploration mode removes timers for relaxed wandering, it also disables collectible and achievement progress, forcing players to choose between pure leisure and progression — a minor but noticeable friction point.

The verdict from IGN's preview is unambiguous: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort appears to be the comprehensive package its predecessor should have been. Wuhu Island transforms a menu into a place, multiple engagement modes respect different playstyles, and the cosmetic progression system gives solo players genuine reasons to return. The sports lineup still has questionable omissions — Swordplay and Baseball chief among them — but what's here functions cohesively. For the casual household upgrading to Switch 2, it's an instant library anchor. For the dedicated player, it's a weeks-long stay on an island that has waited more than ten years for visitors. Don't sleep on this one.