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Nintendo Switch Sports is the spiritual successor to Wii Sports

Nintendo Switch Sports will bring bowling, volleyball, and more to the Switch this April.

Donovan Erskine

February 9, 2022 2:33 PM

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The latest Nintendo Direct featured some surprise announcements about future titles for the Nintendo Switch. This included the reveal of Nintendo Switch Sports, the spiritual successor to Wii Sports. The game will launch this April and will feature both new and returning minigames.

We got our first look at Nintendo Switch Sports in the announcement trailer that premiered during the February 2022 Nintendo Direct. The successor to the extremely popular Wii Sports titles, this game lets players compete in games like bowling, soccer, and badminton. In the trailer we see that there are more human-looking characters than in the previous games, but there is still the ability to play as your personal Mii.

Nintendo Switch Sports utilizes the Joy-Con controllers’ motion sensitivity in the same way that the Wii Sports games did. For soccer, players will place a Joy-Con into a thigh strap, similar to what’s done in Ring Fit Adventure. This time around, there is a strong emphasis on online play, as all 6 games will be playable online with both friends and random players around the world. The new Survival Bowling mode will see players going head-to-head in this elimination-based format.

Players can get a taste of Nintendo Switch Sports with the Online Playtest that’s scheduled for February 18-20, where they’ll be able to access bowling, chambara, and tennis.

Nintendo even gave us a brief demo of the new Volleyball game that’s coming to Nintendo Switch Sports. Following the launch of the game, there will be a couple of free updates that add new features and functionality to the game.

Nintendo Switch Sports will be released on April 29, 2022. It was just one of several games announced at the February 2022 Nintendo Direct.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_