Nintendo Switch Sports is a casual sports game released in 2022 for theNintendo Switch. It is the successor toWii Sports Club and the fourth game in theWii Sports series.^[2] The game features eight sports, six sports were available at launch whereas two additional sports were added through free DLC. Online play as a feature was emphasized, similar to its previous installment. An online play test was available at specific times from February 18, 2022 to February 20, 2022.^[3]

The game takes place inSpocco Square, a new setting that serves as a substitute forWuhu Island. New playable characters calledSportsmates also appear alongside theMiis.

Physical copies of the game were bundled with the Leg Strap accessory, originally created for use inRing Fit Adventure. The Leg Strap would later be sold separately from the game.Nintendo Switch Sports is the one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch, selling over 16.27 million copies.^[4] . The game is also popular in console bundles, receiving its own game bundles in Japan,^[5] Europe, and Australia in 2022, with Canada receiving a bundle in 2025.^[6]

Gameplay

Nintendo Switch Sports consists of three different multiplayer modes: Play Globally, Play Locally, and Play with Friends. In each mode, players can choose one of 8 sports to play:Volleyball,Badminton,Bowling,Soccer,Chambara, andTennis were available at launch, withGolf andBasketball being added via updates post-release.^[7][8] There is also an option to randomly select sports to play. All sports use the Joy-Con's motion controls. The player uses the controllers to perform actions similar to the real-life counterparts of these sports, such as using the remote as a tennis racket or a sword. When playing a sport for the first time, the player will be up against CPUs instead of real players, even if they're online.

This is the first game in theWii Sports series where characters other than Miis are playable. They are calledSportsmates and are the default characters in the game that make up the NPCs in the backgrounds of each locations. At release, Miis were only available as an optional body type for players, but as of the version 1.2.0 update Mii CPUs could be unlocked by holding + (left Joy-Con) or + (right Joy-Con) while selecting a difficulty for any particular sport in offline modes of the game.

There are three different modes of this game. It is not possible to play with more than one player in Tabletop mode. When attempted, a message will pop up instructing the player to use the Nintendo Switch in TV mode.

Play Globally

Play Globally is the main mode of this game, though it requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership to access. It can be played with up to two players locally, while the rest of the players encountered can be from around the world. As players play sports, they can earn points that can be used to exchange for items. Every 100 points allows players to draw for a randomly selected item in a limited-time collection they choose. The items that can be gained are outfits & accessories, titles, stamps, and equipment. After getting a full set in each collection, players win a completion bonus set, which includes outfits & accessories and equipment.Frequent disconnecting during matches temporarily blocks the player from this mode.

If players do not have Nintendo Switch Online, selecting "Play Globally" will start Trial Mode. Trial mode uses CPUs for all the competitors that would have been players found online. Players using Trial Mode can only get up to two items per week however.

This mode was temporarily unavailable starting on October 14, 2022 due to a crash glitch in the 1.2.1 update.^[9][10] This mode was restored with the 1.2.2 update on October 17, 2022.^[11]

Pro League

Pro League is the ranking system in this game. After playing 10 online matches of particular sport, the player gains access to that sport's Pro League. Players start at the lowest rank, Rank E, and move up or down as they win or lose matches respectively. Frequent disconnecting during matches deducts points necessary to move onto the next rank.The ranks inNintendo Switch Sports are:

• ∞
• S
• A
• B+
• B
• B-
• C+
• C
• C-
• D+
• D
• D-
• E

Ranks S and ∞ were added in the version 1.2.0 update.If the player shows great success in their rank, they may get matched with players in ranks above them.^[12]. Soccer players are assigned based on the average win rate of all members, so a variety of ranks may be represented during matches.

Play Locally

Play Locally is another mode in Nintendo Switch Sports. It supports up to 4 players locally, though single player modes of each game can be accessed through this mode. Players can choose the difficulty of the CPUs they will face, with three options called Normal, Strong, and Powerhouse.

Play with Friends

Play with Friends allows for up to two local players, but up to a maximum of 8 players in a room. This game allows for players to host rooms with their friends. It requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership to join or create rooms. Hosts can set a password for the room and enable voice chat as well (voice chat requires the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app). As of version 1.2.0, friend matches can be joined using a Room ID.

Different sports have different requirements in order to make them playable in Play with Friends: Badminton, Chambara, and Tennis need exactly two Nintendo Switch systems, Volleyball can be played with only up to 4 players, and Bowling and Soccer can be played with up to 8 players. Each player needs two Joy-Cons to play Soccer.

Items

Main article:List of Collections in Nintendo Switch Sports

Exclusive to Nintendo Switch Sports is a gacha mechanic called "Items". As players play sports, they can win points. When a player wins 100 points, they can exchange it for a free item in a collection of their choice. Collections run for a limited time, and multiple collections can run at the same time. After collecting all items in a collection, players can win a Completion Bonus, which is a set of even more cosmetic items or even a new body type.

Mii usage

CPU Miis as Sportsmates

Unlike previous entries in theWii Sports series, Miis are not the central characters of the game and are instead replaced by Sportsmates. Despite this, the roster of 100CPU Miis fromWii Sports andWii Sports Resort are used as the names for Sportsmates. Their names appear on opponents when playing any of the eight sports offline, each with their own unique Sportsmate design and title. Their left and right dominant hands are kept from theWii Sports series as well. The only Mii's name that changes between games isGabriele, who is named "Gabriel" as a Sportsmate. CPU Sportsmates can also appear when playing online if a player disconnects or the lobby is not full.

CPU Mii names for Sportsmates inNintendo Switch Sports
Abe	Abby	Ai	Akira	Alex	Alisha	Andy	Anna	Asami	Ashley
Barbara	Chika	Chris	Cole	Daisuke	David	Eddy	Eduardo	Elisa	Emily
Emma	Eva	Fritz	Fumiko	Gabi	Gabriele	George	Giovanna	Greg	Gwen
Haru	Hayley	Helen	Hiromasa	Hiromi	Hiroshi	Holly	Ian	Jackie	Jake
James	Jessie	Julie	Kathrin	Keiko	Kentaro	Luca	Lucía	Marco	Maria
Marisa	Martin	Matt	Megan	Mia	Michael	Midori	Miguel	Mike	Misaki
Miyu	Naomi	Nelly	Nick	Oscar	Pablo	Patrick	Pierre	Rachel	Rainer
Ren	Rin	Ryan	Saburo	Sakura	Sandra	Sarah	Shinnosuke	Shinta	Shohei
Shouta	Silke	Siobhán	Sota	Steph	Stéphanie	Steve	Susana	Takashi	Takumi
Tatsuaki	Theo	Tommy	Tomoko	Tyrone	Ursula	Víctor	Vincenzo	Yoko	Yoshi

CPU Miis

By holding down and or and while selecting the Powerhouse difficulty for the selected sport, a certain CPU Mii will appear with the title "Legend". Most CPU Miis were seemingly chosen due to their cultural impact on the series. Some of these Miis have been champions in previous games such asAnna,Elisa,Lucía,Matt,Sakura, andTommy. Matt can be faced in Chambara, referencing how he was the champion ofSwordplay. Elisa can be faced in Tennis, referencing how she was the champion of Tennis.Eva andTyrone can be faced in Basketball, referencing how they were the partners for Tommy, the champion of Basketball. Additionally,Gwen andMiguel served as important roles inAir Sports,Saburo had an internal ID of 0, andYoshi had the second-highest ranking in Table Tennis behind Lucía. All of the Miis have been slightly edited from their original versions except for Eva and Tyrone.

CPU Miis inNintendo Switch Sports
Anna	Elisa	Eva	Gwen	Lucía	Matt
Miguel	Saburo	Sakura	Tommy	Tyrone	Yoshi

Development

Nintendo Switch Sports started out as an entry in theWii Sports series. It initially had no motion controls. Before the design ofSportsmates was finalized, multiple character designs were proposed, including round characters with no arms similar to Miis, college students, and robots.Spocco Square also had multiple designs, including an intercollegiate sports stadium and an ancient Olympian stadium, but was redesigned into the final gym-like structure to make it more welcoming to casual players.^[13]

• 
  Spocco Square concept art
• 
  Robots that precededSportsmates
• 
  Gameplay of the robots
• 
  Concept art of human-like characters that preceded Sportsmates

Gallery

Main article:Nintendo Switch Sports/gallery

• 
  The physical box of the game containing the leg strap
• 
  The logo of Nintendo Switch Sports
• 
  Sportsmate group art
• 
  The promotional artwork for the game on Nintendo's site
• 
  A location known asSpocco Square
• 
  Tennis art with players' hands superimposed
• 
  Volleyball andSoccer artwork with players' limbs superimposed
• 
  The logo used for Spocco Square
• 
  Screenshot of theChambara court during a match from a balcony
• 
  Screenshot of theVolleyball court during a match from a balcony
• 
  Screenshot of theBowling lanes from on a lane
• 
  AMii on the customization screen

Trivia

• In the staff credits, there is a tennis mini-game where the player can hit the ball against the scrolling wall of names. Performing 50 consecutive hits awards the player with the "Staffer" title.
• Every 15 minutes, a large red bus can be spotted driving by during gameplay.^[14]
• ANintendo Switch News Channel titled theNintendo Switch Sports Channel released information relating to the game. This channel stopped updating since June 9, 2022. All news forNintendo Switch Sports currently shows up in the mainNintendo News channel. The same articles can be found on the officialmicrosite forNintendo Switch Sports.

References