What’s the Best Nintendo Sports Game?

The release of Nintendo Switch Sports has us thinking: which Nintendo sports game is the best? There are a lot of ‘em, and many could be a favorite! Here are our choices.

I’m going to make it hard for all of the rest of you by going with Wii Sports Bowling. It’s easy to play. You feel good about yourself, because it isn’t destined for the gutters like it is in real life. You get to be active, but not “exhausted and sweaty” active. Everyone can play it. There’s a great balance to this inviting sport. — Jenni

Do fitness games count as sports games? I hope so, because I really had (and continue to have) a blast with Ring Fit Adventure. One of the longstanding issues with fitness games since the Wii era has been the suspicion that they just can’t give an adult a workout that beats a decent selection of exercise videos (or a gym membership) without being as boring as those things.

Even certified classics like Wii Sports and Wii Fit tend to treat the exercise aspect as incidental while paying lip service to the idea that a game can help you stay healthy. Ring Fit finally proved it, though, by actually having challenging, resistance-based exercises using the included resistance ring. It isn’t perfect (I still curse the leg strap at least once a week), but it’s a great tool for getting you moving in a way that regular walks and stretches don’t, while keeping things fun and breezy. — Josh

Nintendo and its development partners have really refined what makes a great sports game, over and over. So the game I want to highlight? It could really use a more substantial shot. Nintendo Pocket Football Club, only released in PAL territories on the 3DS eShop, updated and polished Japanese release Calciobit into a real gem.

Way more approachable than Football Manager, NPFC takes a Kairosoft-like approach to building and training up a soccer team. There are fun players to recruit! There are powerful training combos to find! And hey, there’s something about watching your hard work make a difference on the pitch.

If only developer ParityBit would take a breather from Derby Stallion releases and give the partnership another shot. — Graham

What is your favorite Nintendo sports game? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter! And read our other handy roundtables for more thoughts from the Siliconera team.