Wii Sports was in a class of its own when it launched with Nintendo‘s motion-control focused Wii console in 2006, and its influence is still felt 15 years later. The variety pack of sports games kicked off a whole genre of fitness and multiplayer sports titles that get gamers off the couch and swinging their controllers instead. It went on to become the Wii’s most successful title by far and even spurred Nintendo to release a sequel – Wii Sports Resort – in 2009, and inspired countless other titles in the years the followed.
Wii Sports‘ success is fundamentally rooted in its simplicity. There’s no need to learn specific button inputs for anything, just wave the controller and players’ Miis will fling a punch or swing their tennis racket. This way, veteran gamers and newcomers can come together for good, clean fun that doesn’t require anyone playing to learn any complicated rules or techniques.
That mantra can be seen across a slew of titles that have been released primarily on the Nintendo Switch, but Sony’s PlayStation and PC users can also get in on the family game genre. The Switch makes motion-control games particularly easy to play thanks to the console’s portability and the gyroscopes housed in both of its Joy-Con controllers. Here are five titles on the Switch (and other platforms) that will let gamers relive their Wii Sports memories with friends and family.
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Switch)
Clubhouse Games is a Switch exclusive that is essentially a Wii Sports follow-up with a plethora of board games from around the world, like Mahjong and Chess. While many of the tabletop games that come with it require players to use the Switch’s standard control scheme, there are a handful of sports games which are compatible with the console’s motion controls. Those include: Bowling, Darts, Target Shooting, and Fishing. It’s the closest thing to the classic Wii Sports bowling Nintendo fans will get on the system.
Just Dance 2021 (All Consoles)
Just Dance 2021 is a fusion of Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero where players need to mirror the dance moves being displayed on screen to rack up their combo meters and pump up their scores. The game works slightly differently on every platform; PlayStation users need a PS Camera, Xbox players need a Kinect, and the Switch version simply uses the Joy-Cons to estimate where the player’s body is compared to their hands. Up to six players can get in on a round at once.
Ring Fit Adventure (Switch)
Ring Fit Adventure incorporates the Switch’s Joy-Cons into a Pilates ring that players use to conquer various challenges that will get them sweating. This title is the most fitness-centric game in this list and leverages exercise-based combat to sneakily get gamers to workout.
The main allure of the title is its surprisingly-engrossing adventure mode, but gamers can go head-to-head with their friends with its quick play challenges that track high scores. There’s no true multiplayer mode, so users will need to take turns with the challenges.
Beat Saber Multiplayer (PC, PlayStation, Oculus Quest)
Beat Saber has been around since 2019 and it has established itself as one of the most recognizable virtual reality games on the market. Players will need a lot of equipment to start using VR (unless they are playing on an Oculus Quest or a Quest 2) but a new multiplayer mode was recently added to the game, which made an otherwise solitary experience more fun with friends. Gamers need to slice the colored cubes coming at them with the lightsaber of the corresponding color to begin boost their score. The new mode pits up to five players against each other to see who can rack up the most points.
Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Switch)
Finally, Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is more of a past-time than a workout replacement, but its 30 events all make use of the Switch’s motion controls in some aspect. Boxing was among one of the most beloved Wii Sports titles, and this Olympic-themed release features a more refined boxing game with a combo meter that will bring back Wii nostalgia.
