Announced by surprise during the last Nintendo Direct, the new sports game from the Japanese firm is nicer than it looks. But at what cost ?
Presented in the form of a stress test this weekend, Nintendo Switch Sports therefore let itself be tamed for a few hours, the time for us to check that we really needed a good sports session.
If we are not at the level of exercises of a Ring Fit Adventure, this new “healthy” game made in Nintendo, expected for April 29, offers several sports, some of which were playable within this test session. , including: bowling, chambara and tennis. But what exactly should we remember? Where Wii Sports was supplied with the Wii, this time you will have to pay no less than €40 to take advantage of it. But despite everything, we had a lot of fun.
A game playable offline and online
This is the biggest novelty of this new episode: the game is playable both offline and online. During our test session, which took place only online, we did not suffer from major connection problems - at least not more than on Mario kart 8 for example. The Nintendo Switch Online being what it is, it is still recommended to connect your console to Ethernet (via an adapter or the base of the Switch OLED which has an office port).
When everything works well, it must be admitted that the duels are fluid, and that there are not really any latency problems.
The little extra is that for some games, if you play online, you can be two in the room and participate in 2v2. Not all the games in the session were playable in duos, especially Chambara (the second player waits on the side for his turn), but it was quite possible to play tennis in doubles. Same observation for bowling: you have to wait if you are eliminated. It is both an advantage and a disadvantage in short. Note that the second player accompanying you does not need a Switch Online subscription to participate in your sessions.
Wii Sports… 2022 !
In terms of game sensations, you will probably not be surprised if I tell you that we find almost the same sensations as in the 2006 Wii Sports. The opposite would have been surprising, unless you thought hard as iron that the promises Nintendo's bombast about "HD Vibes" was going to make a big difference.
Tennis, playable in duo including online, and it seems however to offer several modes, including that of this test weekend where a solo player controls the two characters on the screen. The counting of points is however not regulatory since it takes 7 points to win with 2 points difference with your opponent. Bowling turns out to be the “sport” benefiting from the most changes since in the mode presented, we faced 16 other players through 4 rounds of 3 each. From the first round, you must not be in the last 6 under penalty of being eliminated, and so on. Each player launches their ball at the same time (with 15 seconds of delay), offering fast and nervous games if you are a pro of the genre.
The Chambara has just replaced the saber game that we had in Wii Sports Resort. You face an opponent on a platform and you have to knock him off it. Sword in hand, you have different blows, and you can parry those of your competitor. It works pretty well, and we quickly get into the game, even if we stay on something quite basic in terms of motion recognition. Generally speaking, whether you make big demonstrative gestures or just little taps, the game won't really reward you either way. This is the limit of Motion Gaming.
A strong social aspect
Farewell Miis! Nintendo Switch Sports abandons the small characters inaugurated with Wii Sports in favor of a much more advanced and realistic avatar editor. If they keep their cartoon aspect, we can really personalize them to get as close as possible to our own physique. We hope that this new virtual double will be ported to other Nintendo games in the future, in particular Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which still has Miis to identify you in the hub.
The social hub, there is one in Nintendo Switch Sports. It is a small village, which you can walk through to access your favorite sports and several events. The presence of a store, and even of a mission section, makes it possible to imagine that we can access daily or weekly objectives to extend the lifespan.
Finally, to brighten up your online games, you can briefly interact with your opponent with emotes between each point or end of round.
Whether in duo or solo, Nintendo Switch Sports turns out to be in a very surprising way extremely fun. These two hours spent in the company of the title do what is expected of them: to offer an experience at least as pleasant as that of Wii Sports in 2006, with some welcome new social features. It remains to be seen if other sports will be able to entertain us as much, answer on April 29.
