Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Reviews Show the Series Won’t Be Taking Home Any Awards

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Earns Warm Reviews from Critics

Nintendo’s first-party output on Switch 2 has been flawless in the eyes of critics throughout 2026, and every release so far has been reviewed at least respectably. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort continues that streak. Reviewers are enjoying this minigame compilation, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

At the time of writing, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort holds a Metacritic average of 79. Its OpenCritic score is 83, though that site hasn’t yet logged a few important reviews that would likely pull the number nearer to 80. The result is a considerable improvement on 2022’s Nintendo Switch Sports, which peaked at 72. It also lands right alongside Wii Sports Resort, which scored 80, so that figure may be the natural ceiling for this long-running series.

Several reviews are full of praise. Kurt Indovina of GameSpot gave the game a 9/10 and described it as a “greatest hits of the series’ best sports.” He admired the range of activities and modes, along with sharper motion controls that breathe new life into familiar ideas. Having played the original Wii Sports at launch, he said this sequel let him relive that same childlike wonder as an adult.

Other critics scored more cautiously, but their impressions were much the same. In a four-star review for Eurogamer, Matt Wales singled out the three leisure activities, which let players wander an open-world version of Wuhu Island. Those activities appear to be what lifts this entry above the more conventional Nintendo Switch Sports.

Wales named skateboarding the star of the show and possibly his favorite part of the whole package. It uses the Switch 2’s mouse-mode setup, with the Joy-Con resting flat on a surface. You drag it back to build speed, flick to leap and tilt to steer. He called it responsive and surprisingly exhilarating, and he said the rumble of wheels on pavement completes the illusion.

Game Informer’s Brian Shea felt that minigames like tennis are dependably enjoyable but lack real depth. His 8/10 review raised a mild complaint about the single-player Island Crown mode, in which you climb a ladder of increasingly tough opponents. He liked the mode overall, but he felt it exposed the game’s limitations.

Shea explained that the minigames are fairly shallow, so the rewards shrink once you reach a certain skill level. He enjoyed it when tennis rivals began forcing him to hit smarter angles and when fellow golfers stopped slicing drives into the trees. Tougher opponents rarely excited him, though. He preferred ladders for sports like bowling, which feature offbeat variants with moving obstacles and ramps that made him adapt. He wished Nintendo had added more inventive twists to keep things fresh.

IGN’s 7/10 review was a little lower. Critic Jesse Vitelli found the minigames inconsistent, but he argued the series endures because playing with friends is still a delight. According to Vitelli, even the weaker events come alive in multiplayer.

He wrote that much of the fun grows when everyone in the room is cheering, shouting and getting so absorbed that someone has to remind them to keep their wrist straps on. In his view, that has always been the heart of Nintendo’s sports games, and Sports Resort is among the best expressions of it when you have a group to play with.

Oli Welsh, writing for Polygon, agreed. His review calls Nintendo Switch Sports Resort a “masterpiece” of casual gaming. It may not collect many trophies, but it sounds like the one Switch 2 title every player should consider adding to their party-game rotation. If this is the series’ ceiling, it’s a remarkably high one.

Related review: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a masterpiece – the Switch 2 compilation expands the possibilities of casual gaming with remarkable ease.

Source: Polygon