Back when the Wii first launched,Wii Sportstook the world by storm. Everyone had fun using the Wii Remotes to play in various sports such as baseball, tennis, and bowling as Nintendo began one its more successful eras in its lifetime.
Although there have been other iterations ofWii Sports, no other game hit the highs of that initial launch title. However, Nintendo is trying to capture the magic again withNintendo Switch Sports.There are a few ways that the game differs fromWii Sports, and they may be reasons whyNintendo Switch Sportsis a better experience.
7Enhanced Player Control
WhenWii Sportsreleased, it was essentially a tech demo to showcase the motion controls that the Wii could support. Because of this, all the sports were focused on how well the player could swing the remote around for each mode. This didn’t make these sports bad to play, but it meant that players had to let the game move everything else while the player just focused on their hand motions.
WithNintendo Switch Sports, two sports were introduced that focused more on players being able to move their character on their own along with the motion-controlled actions:Soccer and Volleyball. These two sports revolve around player positioning being a huge factor in making sure they can succeed. Giving players more control is never a bad thing.
6Chance For More Sports
The launch ofWii Sportsbrought five playable sports to every Wii owner: baseball, bowling, boxing, golf, and tennis. The game never saw any major updates that saw more sports added to the game, with Nintendo instead opting to releaseWii Sports Resortwith a large assortment of sports.
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Meanwhile,Nintendo Switch Sportsalready has more sports on its roster, with six. Along with the return of bowling and tennis, four new sports are in the game: badminton, Chambara, soccer, and volleyball. Golf is expected to be added to the game months after the launch, and there is a possibility players will geteven more sportsto compete with each other in.
5Not As Much Focus On Fitness
While the five sports were the main spotlight of the originalWii Sports, there was also a mode that players could select on the main menu that would put players in a series of challenges that would end in the calculation of their body age. It was the start of the console’s push to attract people who wanted to get fit.
This is not inherently a bad thing, but given the fact there are other options on the Switch for something like this,it’s nice that Nintendo Switch Sportsis focused entirely on having fun playing the sports. There’s not as much emphasis on judging how fit a player is by giving them a number that they’d likely feel bad about.
Nintendo had made attempts at motion control before, but the Wii was the first console that the concept was fully embraced by almost every game they put out in that generation. That said, the motion controls with the Wii remote were not always accurate, and this sometimes showed when playingWii Sports.
Motion was improved whenWii Sports Resortcame out whenthe Wii MotionPluswas released with it as an accessory. This helped tune the accuracy of the controller, but that technology is now just built into the Nintendo Switch joy-cons. Therefore, theNintendo Switch Sportsexperience is a lot easier thanks to the enhanced technology.
3More Character Customization
Miis gave the originalWii Sportsgame so much personality. Players customized their own lookalike and placed them in game, creating a virtual self playing against various other Mii athletes. However, there wasn’t a ton of customization beyond this, except for a few color changes that could be made to equipment thanks to a player’s performance.
Nintendo Switch Sportsis a much more tailored experience for the user, as they can either use their Mii or a new character model called a Sportsmate. While they do not havea ton of customizationat first, players can unlock a bunch of different outfits, hairstyles, and equipment by performing well in online mode.
2Competing Against Random Individuals
Wii Sportswas a blast to play with friends, but it still felt like an introverted experience. That’s because there were not many options in game to see how people outside an individual’s living room were doing with the game. Most of the time, players would have to go online themselves to see how well people were doing.
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Not only is there now a way to seehow the global community is doingwith each sport, players can now compete directly with others all around the world. This is actually a primary way for players to get more customization options for their characters. WhileWii Sportsencouraged playing with local friends,Nintendo Switch Sportsencourages playing with the world.
1Playing With Long Distance Friends
Of course, as nice as it is to be more connected with the globalNintendo Switch Sportscommunity, playing with friends is still a massive reason whyWii Sportswas as successful as it was. But playing locally isn’t always possible, so it was important for Nintendo to keep that in mind when releasing this game.
While only two players can join an online lobby when on a single system, up to eight players can fill up the lobby in general. This size is perfect for those who want a large match for Soccer and Bowling, but eight players are not able to playin other sports all at once. Still, these are more online options thanWii Sportsever had.
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