Parents' Guide to Nintendo Switch Sports

This one will bring back memories for anyone who ever played Nintendo's Wii Sports, the top-selling game for Nintendo Wii. The biggest difference is that Nintendo Switch Sports is perhaps even more accessible. There's no clunky infrared sensor bar to set up, and Nintendo's motion-sensing technology has come a long way, with the Joy-Cons able to detect subtle movements -- such as wrist twists to impart spin while throwing a bowling ball -- and virtually no issues discerning between movement types when performing actions such as bumping, setting, blocking, and spiking in volleyball. If you're even passingly familiar with the sports on offer here, you should be able to start playing without even going through most of the tutorials. The sole exception is soccer, which -- unless you purchase the Joy-Con leg strap so you can kick the ball -- has players use their arms to do things that, in the real world, are supposed to be done with their feet and heads. This hiccup aside, these motion-controlled sports simulations are, while perhaps basic, pretty much polished to perfection.

The one thing it is missing, though, is an overarching career mode that allows avatars to grow and develop, or simply a tournament mode so that friends can put together competitions that last longer than a few minutes. This would have helped tie the events together while providing longer term goals and more rewards (earning new foam swords and fancier duds is fun, but it probably won't keep many players' interest over the long haul). That said, taken simply as a party game that's accessible to players of nearly any age or experience level, Nintendo Switch Sports is winner. Pull it out at your next gathering of family or friends and watch folks' faces light up.