Wuhu Island Wants Your Weekends Back
Someone is going to take the thumb wrestling far too seriously. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, out October 22 exclusively on Switch 2, returns to Wuhu Island with twelve sports. The question is whether it can turn that first ridiculous contest into a regular games night.
Bowling, boxing, archery, golf and table tennis supply familiar temptations. Skateboarding uses the Joy-Con 2's mouse control. The variety looks useful for the moment one guest becomes unbearable at tennis and everybody else demands a change. But a menu full of activities is only an invitation. It cannot supply the people willing to play them.
Three ways to start an argument
Count the people before the sports
The multiplayer details deserve a look before anyone buys extra controllers. Nintendo lists up to four players offline, but the limits vary by sport: boxing takes one or two, while table tennis supports four locally and two online. Some multiplayer arrangements need additional controllers. Check the sport your group actually wants to play.
For quieter evenings, Island Crown offers solo competition against champions across nine sports. Sightseeing Tour gives you photos to collect while exploring. Online players can choose ranked Pro League matches or a casual mode that does not record wins and losses, with a Nintendo Switch Online membership required.
Those options give the collection a plausible life after the guests leave. Whether the solo competition is satisfying enough to justify buying primarily for yourself is a question for launch reviews. An appealing island is no guarantee of a good campaign.
Our suggested first evening starts with local table tennis, then boxing, before handing the choice to whoever has been watching. That should give you an early answer to the important questions: can spectators follow the contest, do they want a turn, and does losing prompt a rematch? If the evening turns into an argument about what the controller registered, no quantity of sunshine will rescue it.
Returning to the setting of Wii Sports Resort will be enough to tempt old fans. We would judge the purchase by a more recent memory: when did you last want to play something like this with somebody? If Nintendo Switch Sports still comes out when friends visit, the expanded collection belongs on your shortlist. If those evenings stopped years ago, be honest about whether a new game will restart them.
For a household with willing opponents, this is worth investigating at launch. Arrange the first games night before buying and check the relevant player limits. Solo players should wait for a proper account of Island Crown. Wuhu will still be there when the reviews arrive.
