San Diego Comic-Con is just getting started, but we’ve already had the opportunity to see tons of amazing things. This year’s video game presence is much more robust than previous years, with plenty of panels and opportunities for fans to get hands-on with some of the latest video games. One of these is Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, playable for the first time ever here at SDCC. I was able to play roughly an hour of the Switch 2 exclusive during a closed media preview, and I had a blast with it.
Originally announced during June’s Nintendo Direct, this is the second Sports Resorts title in Nintendo’s catalog. Like every previous entry in the series dating back to Wii Sports, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a collection of sports and sports-adjacent mini-games you can either play alone or with friends. But the main draw here is utilizing the Switch 2’s gyro aiming and other motion control options. Of the 12 available sports at launch, my preview let me try out four of them: bowling, archery, jet ski (called power cruising here), and thumb wrestling.
Thumb Wrestling Is a Fun New Addition
To start, I went straight to playing the new Thumb Wrestling event. When it was first announced, I was admittedly a bit skeptical. Could this really be an interactive and, more importantly, fun option? But after playing, I’m happy to admit I was wrong. I started by holding a single half of the Joy-Con 2 upright, with the ZR button near my thumb. Imagine holding the buzzer from Jeopardy. When the round starts, both players are able to use the gyro controls to move their thumbs left or right to dodge. You can press down on the shoulder button to lower your thumb, which either opens you up for an attack or pins your opponent’s thumb.
What’s interesting, though, is that the amount of pressure you apply affects how low your thumb goes. So if you want to feint your opponent into slamming their thumb, resulting in a pin, that’s an option. Once a thumb is pinned, that player must shake their Joy-Con to fill a meter within the requisite time. If they do, they break out and the round continues. If not, it’s a knockout. Rounds go fast, and I was genuinely surprised at how fun it is.
Familiar Events Make Their Return
The other three events I played are all returning games from previous Sports titles. Bowling functions very similarly to how it always has. You can adjust your Mii’s positioning and angle to start your throw, and can still do a quick flick of the wrist to try for a curved roll. Power cruising is a basic jet ski racing game that has you hold one Joy-Con 2 as a controller to steer your vehicle, where you’ll also be able to tilt upwards for a boost.
Archery is essentially the same as it was compared to previous versions as well. You’ll hold the Joy-Con 2 upright similarly to how it’s done in thumb wrestling, and pull back on your non-dominant hand to nock the arrow, releasing once you’ve centered your shot and taken wind resistance into account. Another key thing that took me awhile to get the hang of was the amount of arrow drop-off as it approaches its target. I instinctively wanted to just aim straight for the middle, hoping for a bullseye. But the game’s physics were a lot more realistic than I expected, resulting in major adjustments to my form.
I only got to play a third of Nintendo Switch Sports has to offer, but it’s still a fun time. It isn’t necessarily reinventing the wheel, but the new thumb wrestling mode is a truly fun experience I was surprised by. It remains to be seen if any of the other other eight events utilize the Switch 2’s mouse functionality, and I’m curious to see if we’ll get any new takes on returning games.
Nintendo Switch Sports launches October 22, 2026 exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.
