Of course, if Nintendo wants to make Nintendo Switch Sports really 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 from Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort that haven’t made the cut into Nintendo Switch Sports yet. Perhaps the most important of them all is Wii Sports Resort’s Showdown, a PvE horde battle from the game’s Swordplay mode. Nintendo Switch Sports partially 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
In Wii Sports Resort, 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 became a Wii Sports Resort staple.
Considering how surprisingly solid Showdown was in spite of its simplicity, it seems like a great alternate mode for Nintendo 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 Sports could 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 in Nintendo Switch Sports. Its plans to add Golf to Nintendo Switch Sports in a free update suggest that more sports will be added to the game over time; Nintendo could easily add variations on Switch Sports’ games in 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 on Nintendo Switch Sports’ Spocco Square, Showdown could definitely work.
It’s unclear just how much free content Nintendo plans on adding to Nintendo Switch Sports, but even if it doesn’t make the cut as a free update, Showdown seems like a great mode to add as a paid DLC for Switch Sports, especially because of its relative complexity. Nintendo is really warming up to DLC in recent years, so Switch Sports could get its own set of paid expansions. What’s more, the game clearly invests in Wii Sports nostalgia, so DLC packs based on Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort that include modes like Showdown would be entirely unsurprising. Hopefully, Nintendo doesn’t wait too long to indicate whether there’s hope for Showdown in its Wii Sports revival.
Nintendo Switch Sports releases April 29, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
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