The latest Nintendo Direct came with all kinds of surprises, and many of them were very welcome ones. Aside fromChrono Cross' remaster and the return ofMario Strikers,Nintendo officially announcedNintendo Switch Sports, a new multiplayer game that’s meant to capture the magic of the Wii’s belovedWii Sportsseries. Considering how long it has been since the halcyon days ofWii Sports,there wasn’t much reason to believe thatNintendo Switch Sportswould happen, but it made itself known nevertheless. Although the game seems to largely swap out Miis for a new style of avatar, it looks like a nostalgic successor to theWii Sportsfranchise so far.
Of course, if Nintendo wants tomakeNintendo Switch Sportsreally nostalgic, it ought to lean more into bringing back the most beloved game modes from its predecessors. There are tons of games and sport variations fromWii SportsandWii Sports Resortthat haven’t made the cut intoNintendo Switch Sportsyet. Perhaps the most important of them all isWii Sports Resort’s Showdown, a PvE horde battle from the game’s Swordplay mode.Nintendo Switch Sportspartially inherits and improves Swordplay as Chambara, so the door has already been opened to Showdown’s return in a new, robust form.
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Wii Sports Resort’s Showdown
InWii SportsResort,Swordplay had two multiplayer modes in the form of Duel and Speed Slice, but fans who played these games could also unlock a single-player mode called Showdown. In Showdown, the player would visit various locations on Wuhu Island, from sandy beaches to mysterious ruins, and battle hordes of other Miis that advance on the player little by little. Showdown looks simple, but it turned out to actually be a pretty significant challenge since the enemy AI gets much better as players progress through Swordplay’s 20 levels. As a result, lots of fans were drawn to Showdown, and it becameaWii Sports Resortstaple.
Considering how surprisingly solid Showdown was in spite of its simplicity, it seems like a great alternate mode forNintendo Switch Sports' Chambara, especially thanks to the improvements that Nintendo has come up with. Swordplay gave everyone the same weapon, but in Chambara, players can reportedly choose between a standard sword, a charged sword, and dual swords. By including these weapon categories,Nintendo Switch Sportscould really spice up Showdown, both by giving players more possible strategies and by introducing more enemy variety.
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Hope for a Wii Sports Resort Classic
Nintendo has already opened the door for the return of modes like Showdown inNintendo Switch Sports.Its plans to add Golf toNintendo Switch Sportsin a free update suggest that more sports will be added to the game over time; Nintendo could easily addvariations onSwitch Sports' gamesin the same kind of update. Showdown’s various settings certainly make it a little harder to incorporate than most sports, but Nintendo has plenty of options to resolve that. Whether it uses remastered versions of Wuhu Island’s stages or new stages based onNintendo Switch Sports' Spocco Square, Showdown could definitely work.
It’s unclear just how much free content Nintendo plans on adding toNintendo Switch Sports,but even if it doesn’t make the cut as a free update, Showdown seems like a great mode to add asa paid DLC forSwitch Sports,especially because of its relative complexity. Nintendo is really warming up to DLC in recent years, soSwitch Sportscould get its own set of paid expansions. What’s more, the game clearly invests inWii Sportsnostalgia, so DLC packs based onWii SportsandWii Sports Resortthat include modes like Showdown would be entirely unsurprising. Hopefully, Nintendo doesn’t wait too long to indicate whether there’s hope for Showdown in itsWii Sportsrevival.
