Nintendo Switch Sports could be 2022’s best multiplayer game

digitaltrends.com:

So far, 2022 isn’t just a stellar year for video games: It’s a triumphant return for single-player games. From Horizon Forbidden West to Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the first quarter of the year was loaded with strong experiences for one. Even games like Elden Ring and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which feature multiplayer components, are primarily solo adventures first. With more major single-player games like Starfield on tap for 2022, the field is wide open for a surprise multiplayer hit.

Nintendo Switch Sports may just be that game. The unlikely successor to 2006’s mega-popular Wii Sports lands on Switch on April 29, and it looks to recapture lightning in a bottle. The new installment is more than a nostalgic cash grab, though. It’s a surprisingly robust modernization of a 16-year old classic that has a much stronger focus on multiplayer, both online and locally.

I participated in an in-person Nintendo Switch Sports demo, where I got to try out all six of the activities that will be available in the game at launch. As I gleefully trash-talked a room full of Nintendo demoists, I was already making a mental list of all the friends I’d invite over to play with me this spring.

For the demo event, Nintendo put together a mock living room and had three demoists on hand. The team walked me through each of the game’s six sports, though I only played a variation of each. Nintendo Switch Sports is a little larger in scope than it looks on paper, as some sports have multiple modes. In soccer, for example, there’s a shootout mode that involves wearing a Joy-con leg strap and a full three-minute match where players run around a field.

Usually reserved at press events, I instantly became a terror. The game allows players to