Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Hands-On: Wuhu Island Opens Up Ahead of October 22 Launch

Both previews focused on the game's expanded scope. TechRadar reported that the game includes 12 playable events at launch, a contrast with Switch Sports, which the outlet said launched feeling sparse. Engadget said the new entry mixes traditional sports such as bowling, archery, volleyball, golf and basketball with sightseeing missions, and described Wuhu Island as the biggest venue yet for the family-friendly party series.

The open-world island is the central change. According to Engadget, players can traverse Wuhu Island in three ways: flying a plane, skateboarding and power cruising, or jet skiing. TechRadar described a Prop Plane mode that uses Joy-Con 2 motion controls to steer across the island, collecting rings and visiting photo spots. It called the flying activity a breezy scene-setter rather than a deep experience. Skateboarding, TechRadar said, uses mouse mode, with players dragging the Joy-Con 2 to simulate kicking and flicking the controller off a surface to jump while grinding rails and collecting wheels. The outlet added that the island environment is detailed enough to peer inside a basketball hall before jumping over sunloungers. Power Cruise sends players across the ocean on a jet ski to collect coins; TechRadar saw multiplayer potential there.

Engadget said Wuhu Island is surprisingly large. After more than 15 minutes of exploring by plane, skateboard and jet ski, its previewer felt they had only scratched the surface. The island has hidden paths, hard-to-find markers and open-world challenges that players will stumble upon, similar to those in Mario Kart World, according to Engadget. The outlet also saw a second island in the distance but could not reach it because of time constraints. Sightseeing missions can be played at different times of day, allowing players to see Wuhu Island in the morning and at night. Players can collect Spocco Points, which Engadget said can unlock cosmetic customizations for their Mii, and find Spocco Photos that enable new starting points for exploration.

The returning sports remain central. Engadget said volleyball and archery are fan favorites, boxing felt like a motion-controlled version of Punch-Out, and bowling and tennis translate well to Joy-Con gestures. It noted a 100-pin bowling mode on a comically large lane. TechRadar said archery has been tweaked the most: because the bowstring pull is no longer limited by the Wii nunchuk cable, players can draw the arrow back farther and contend with wind while aiming at different targets. A special archery mode divides the target into colors, and players aim only for the color matching their avatar. Boxing in the 2026 version feels more precise, TechRadar said, with uppercuts, blocks and jabs landing with better accuracy than in the Wii and Wii MotionPlus days. Tennis remains as brilliant as it was in the Wii era, according to the outlet, and table tennis feels more nuanced, with improved motion controls making rallies more frantic.

Among the new events, Engadget described Thumb Wars as deceptively complex. Players hold the Joy-Con 2 in a thumbs-up position, and if they slam their thumb down without hitting anything, they can leave it there and let it grow bigger. That gives the opponent an opening to attack and a larger target to smash, but Engadget said the size advantage can still help win. TechRadar called thumb wrestling a clear highlight and a surprisingly tactical mind game, where players can gently lower a thumb to bait an opponent into a feigned press.

Online multiplayer returns after first appearing in 2013's Wii Sports Club, according to TechRadar. The game also adds Island Crown, a single-player mode in which the player forms a rivalry with a named NPC and challenges different CPU opponents to climb each sport's ranks. TechRadar noted that solo players will have something to pursue alongside online play.

TechRadar placed the series in context by noting that Wii Sports, bundled with Wii consoles outside Japan, sold 82.9 million units and remains the third best-selling video game to date. Despite that reach, the outlet said sequels struggled to expand the formula without losing the series' Nintendo soul. Engadget said the original Wii Sports felt like a collection of mini-games designed to showcase motion controls, and the series evolved into a wholesome family-friendly party game. Both previews treated Switch Sports Resort as a fuller game than its predecessors, though Engadget said the vehicle activities are not as fleshed out as dedicated racing or adventure titles and expressed hope for more competitive uses of the plane, skateboard and power cruiser.