Sports Story Nintendo Switch Review - Is It Worth It?

Football. Tennis. BMX. Golf.
Review Written by Mitch Vogel: www.nintendoli...
Video Edited and Narrated by Zion Grassl: / ziondood
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Music Credits:
Loading Screen - Sports Story
Sports Story is available now on Nintendo Switch
Review Copy Provided By Sidebar Games
#SportsStory #GolfStory #NintendoSwitch

[@JPD2587]

Shadow dropping this on Dec 23 was a MASSIVE red flag.

[@DragoonMyuutsu]

You'd think with major headlines of Cyberpunk 2077 and Pokemon Scarlet Violet being released in absolutely horrendous technical states, it would give most game devs some pause on when they feel it is best to release a game, but it feels more and more each day that new games are tossed out no matter how frequent they can be unplayable at times. Game patches should be to correct errors, glitches, and exploits that were unintended and genuinely obscure to the devs. They should not be for establishing basic functionality of the game itself and issues they are fully aware of.

[@raymondbenito1405]

Releasing rushed isn't a choice by the devs. They likely ran out of money or were pressured to launch ASAP.

[@denimchicken104]

@@raymondbenito1405 then they HORRIBLY mismanaged this project, if that’s the case. Golf story was tremendously successful, and they are a super tiny studio. They should easily have made enough money to fund this game to completion.

[@A.S.Bridges]

Dude that is so well said. Great point.

[@VileOkami]

This games far worse than Pokemon ever was. Least that game didn't screw up so bad you lose all your progress.

[@meric12131415]

True but remember cyberpunk was held back another year to polish and refine the game

[@EvEnMoR]

I loved Golf Story, so I was super excited for this game and was ecstatic to see it drop on the first day of my holidays. So I was unfortunately one of the ppl who purchased it immediately in blind faith... I wasn't so naive as to think it would be flawless on release when no game is these days. However, I still haven't been able to enjoy it cuz I didn't want to have the experience completely tarnished by the laundry list of technical issues. Especially when some of those issues are potentially game breaking... At that point it felt like I'd been had. There's just no way they weren't completely aware that the game wasn't in a release state whatsoever. Yet they still pushed it out the door two days b4 Christmas knowing that suckers like myself would just purchase it immediately for the holidays.... They then proceed to tweet that a patch is "coming soon" and go silent for well over a week now. So at that point I'm just pissed off and have lost complete faith in Sidebar Games. They knowingly sold us a totally faulty product and then went on holidays. It's really sad to see even small indie studios pulling this sort of thing now. Super disappointing.

[@liamw6295]

I too was so excited for this game. Ever since I completed golf story back in 2017 I was itching to see how sidebar games could add to the formula which worked so great. Luckily I didn't buy the game and held off until the new year. Now I've read/watched reviews it's clear sidebar games knew it was a faulty product and shamefully tried to grab sales before reviews hit. There might be reasons out of their control for the December release date, but it is still inexcusable. Hopefully they can look at a developer like Hello Games (no mans sky) and work on their road to redemption.

[@bobbyd4404]

I dont think I've ever watched a review I agree with more. This game was one I was SO excited for. Waited years. And it's just not what I was hoping for.

[@meric12131415]

Ah that's unfortunate

[@dazzfoster8825]

Complete agree more especially around the 5 minute mark. I was nodding along with everything

[@meric12131415]

@@dazzfoster8825 ah makes sense I guess

[@Kirbstering]

It's a shame this didn't turn out how people wanted. The premise is exciting, but it does take on a lot compared to the prior title. I always worry about something that tries to be an "ultimate" experience due to how much it's trying to deliver while still being of quality. Focusing on a single sport sounds like the more ideal approach rather than what they did here.

[@warioscousin]

But if they only did one sport people like you would still complain. Just be grateful that its out now finally. Also it looks pretty solid to me

[@Kirbstering]

@@warioscousin ...no? It's called criticism, not complaining. People making valid criticisms to something that is flawed, and a payed product, is fair. If you don't agree, that is completely fair, but calling others complainers just because you don't agree with them is very childish. This is also under a review, so... :V

[@warioscousin]

@@Kirbstering I'm just saying it seems that everytime a game finally comes out people always have something to nitpick about. Like at the end of the day it's just a game. Also that's what the review is for, nobody needed your negative comment

[@raincastmusic]

@@warioscousin i agree Nowadays no one is happy with anything

[@warioscousin]

@@raincastmusic exactly. Like, it's great that you think the game shoulda had this and that, but why cant you just enjoy it. Now obviously I understand if it's like a game breaking bug or a promised feature that wasn't added, but they pick on the smallest feckin details because they can't find anything else because in reality the game isn't actually that flawed

[@justinpenrod88]

Man…I was lookin forward to this. I will keep it on my eShop wishlist and pick it up when patches drop

[@LoloandMo]

I’ll be doing the same. I almost picked this up at launch. Really liked Golf Story

[@meric12131415]

@@LoloandMo oh yeah?

[@BomberDX97]

@@meric12131415 Yeah

[@meric12131415]

@@BomberDX97 smart move

[@amirgarcia547]

It’s a large shame that feature creep, the devs being overworked and losing the original vision of the game ended up making what should’ve been a solid sequel to a great game pretty uneven and unpolished. Especially after all the delays, with it just feeling it got tossed out in December without any plan or fanfare whatsoever.

[@dazzfoster8825]

This review perfectly captures my experience from the 5 minute mark of just trying to find out how to do basic instructed quests

[@marcovoltage]

I bought and downloaded the game the second I noticed it in the eshop. Everything this review says is true. There is fun to be had, I don’t dislike it. But in the first hour I already had to reset the game 3 times because it became unresponsive to inputs. Gladly I saved regularly so I could continue or go back to the same spot quickly. I feel the game is bigger in ambition then the first but doesn’t really work everything out. It sometimes takes forever to figure out what the game expects from you so you end up running around and try whatever you can but when you finally figure things out it is actually a fun game. Could be better, not bad is a generous score for this game in current state.

[@denimchicken104]

With so many ways to soft lock the game, it’s effectively unplayable. A 6/10 is disingenuous.

[@bad_burner_baby9581]

I am loving this game and it's many charms, but I have discovered (and luckily avoided) so many soft locks. Most of these have been from returning to areas I've already completed, usually because I've been unsure where to go next and wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. Britannia was a particularly problematic area. A lot of NPCS and scripted event assets remain stuck in place when re-visiting these areas. Feels like watching a play then walking backstage after it's finished to find all the actors have turned into lifeless mannequins. Kind of spooky...

[@markusaurelius4015]

Great review. Always appreciate the honesty and fair review.

[@SharpEdgeSoda]

When I had to CARRY a cannon ball into a cannon with my BARE hands, something felt WRONG. I should be GOLFING this cannon ball into a cannon. That bad feeling runs through the whole game it looks like. They seem to forgot the biggest element of the first game: "Every problem can be solved with Golf." Anytime I was forced to CARRY something somewhere, I was thinking. "Why the hell am I not GOLFING this where it needs to go?"

[@Walrus286]

Haha yes. This is a bigger issue than the bugs for me. Running around the map and talking to people is the main game. Not the golf.

[@kingrocky7519]

Man, I remember Golf Story being the first video game I ever bought with my own money from my first job. Sucks to see the sequel not live up, but now I’m feeling nostalgic and might go replay it.

[@loooooooooby]

Largely agree with pretty much everything presented here today. I remember being stupid hyped when this was first announced, and then more and more disheartened with each delay announcement. Once a month, I would hop onto the Sidebar Games Twitter to see these "updates" they promised us and found nothing but tumbleweeds. The only thing that kept my hope alive was thinking, "If it's taking this long, it's GOTTA be good... right?" Rustling Vale was such a slog. Some of the dialog was neat, but the tasks felt pointless. Oh, and if I never have to hear that song again, I'll die happy. It's not a bad song per se, but if you have to do that much exploring and backtracking, you NEED to have a second song to break up the monotony. In retrospect, I should've just muted it. I messed around in the cave for a while, did some more tasks from which I felt personally disconnected, but I hit what felt like a dead end and just decided to walk away. I got into the tennis academy (tennis gameplay is weak, IMO), and while wandering around, I threw a golf ball at what looked like a trashcan, and my game froze. I hadn't saved in...30 minutes to an hour. I'm done with this game. Maybe not forever, but just long enough to wash this taste from my mouth.

[@den4199]

And just when I trusted a game studio they do this to us

[@EvEnMoR]

My feelings exactly

[@evantraasdahl4040]

I almost don’t regret buying this because it got me to play golf story before giving this a shot. I’m on the last course in golf story and had a blast. Looks like I’ll be waiting on some patches before giving it a shot. It may just become another “I’ll get to it” backlog member. Sad time.

[@Cycopather]

Was very excited about this one, but bummed to hear that it didn't live up to the hype. Suppose I'll wait for a physical release (from Limited Run or someone similar), and hope that a few patches have at least slightly improved the overall experience.

[@nathanz128]

i never played the first game. im having some fun with this one. i like the very mild rpg elements, reminds me of that mario tennis game where you put stats on a character. that game needs a remake lmao

[@jefferyferraro2390]

You should play the first one. It's almost perfect

[@CalebSpronk]

Totally agree with this review... Loved Golf Story, bought Sports story a few hours after it launched, and was hugely let down. I had one bug where I couldn't even save during a soft lock, so I lost 45 mins to an hour of progress. Never a good sign when I have to save after EVERY single moment of progression due to fear of that happening again. The Tennis controls are awful, and even the golfing tournaments aren't as fun because it doesn't seem like you're directly competing against anyone (they don't show you the scores of your competitors). And yeah, while I would never say I regret buying it, or that it's a bad game, it is one of the biggest let downs I've personally had in gaming. They just bit off more than they could chew it appears.

[@stellabluelulu]

I could maybe put up with the chores the game makes you do if the golf mechanics hadn't been pared down and simplified. That was the whole appeal of the first game for me, the reason I put up with the twee *random* humor (I know others like it, really not for me though). Golf is way less satisfying now - you don't even get to see your opponents golf with you, so it feels like you're playing by yourself. It would be one thing if the new stuff didn't work so well, but it's a huge miss to not even maintain what made the first game so good

[@PopcornRecap]

its a shame. The art looks so beautiful too

[@trikkireontrikkireon7878]

This came out 21 minutes ago, 21 minutes ago my timezone just hit 2023. Happy new year, guys!!

[@random_guy_gaming]

Happy new year to you too!😄

[@meric12131415]

Cool happy new year guy who's name I can't pronounce 🤣😁🎆

[@trikkireontrikkireon7878]

@@meric12131415 ahahah! That's a word play between my real name and the boardgame Trickerion 😂

[@meric12131415]

@@trikkireontrikkireon7878 🤣 ah just googled it so it's what they call a euro style strategy game anyway that's pretty cool 😁

[@rambo_ando]

Hopefully performance improvements and changes to fetch quests will give it a second life and improved reaction from fans.

[@alexsandereastmond7036]

excellent review nintendo life you guys never seem to disappoint love your commentary and content hope all is well happy holidays

[@drewby4701]

I was sooo looking forward to this. I had NO IDEA this was launching! I'm am now sad :(

[@adilahmed749]

Really loved Golf Story. I was looking forward to this so much, but to have it release in the way it did is so dissapointing; frame stutters, lack of direction, not focused on the sports enough. Will put this on the back burner for now (I've waited 3 years for this, I can wait a little longer), hopefully they can patch this sooner rather than later.

[@jahlinkl5276]

Love this game 10 hours in, but the frame rate and stutter is bad.

[@meric12131415]

Oh yeah?

[@warioscousin]

The switch is in a serious need of an upgrade if it struggles to run a pixel indie

[@nevbear1206]

@@warioscousin has to be the game devs fault, the switch can run mario odyssey and bayonetta 3 at 60 fps, whoever made sports story doesn’t know how to make a console port

[@ryan20028]

​@@warioscousin This is more on the devs. The Switch can easily handle a game like this. It's just poorly optimized.

[@StewGuyMcRyan]

Absolutely heartbroken with this - Golf Story is one my favourite games on the switch and I can't believe I find myself in a position where I'm seriously considering not even finishing this game. I'm a couple of hours in and I really can't be bothered continuing...

[@travim5483]

Lots of potential for this game when it's fixed... Reminds me of a open world California Games, for NES... Had Hackey Sack, surfing, disc golf, roller blading BMX and a half pipe for skateboarding pretty cool, they need to give games more time like they used to. People will wait. We want a game that works. Not something you have to update every other week hoping for the problem to be fixed, just release the game at a later time.... Happened to so many games I've given up on modern games just about.

[@singhac9480]

For $20 I can’t complain too much and purchased without any question but wasn’t expecting so many bugs and glitches and weird issues. It’s a shame that by the time it’s all patched up I would’ve completed the game but hope it gives the same charm (eventually) as Golf Story when I first played it. I appreciate the devs for giving it a go! Maybe they were under pressure to release early? Budget problem? Good luck to them!

[@mikeh.9954]

I just started Golf Story ... it's fun!

[@RobMost]

This was exactly what I was worried about. Jack of all trades, master of none. Such a shame, I wish they just made a Golf Story 2 instead.

[@rayflyers]

I REALLY loved Golf Story, so I'm pretty disappointed with what I've heard about Sports Story. I know I'll get it at some point, but I'll wait for patches at least.

[@jasonmcconnell5412]

I’m so stuck idk what to do. I’m in the mines in Britannia and can’t go further then the center part where he keeps saying I’m missing my blokes that work.

[@tangttsauce3040]

I loved Golf Story but I'll never even try this game. This is one of those circumstances where the scope is too big. Narrow it down and stick to golf. I'll wait for Golf Story 2.

[@chrisandreas3142]

I played a lot of indie games and Golf Story is in my top 20 indie games of all time and i was waiting for this for LONG and now im scared to buy it 😵‍💫

[@worldsboss]

Considering how large my backlog currently is, thank god.

[@meric12131415]

Feels more like a 4 than a 6 to me

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

Was about to say the exact same thing! The review definitely sounded no higher than a 5.

[@meric12131415]

@@Daniel-yz3zf indeed it did🤣

[@jcnba28]

Looks like Sidebar Games needs to start on making a Golf Story 2 !

[@jellyboy123]

i think it would been better if they made a tennis story or football story volleyball story

[@JeskidoYT]

How could a switch only game run terrible on a switch??? Why developers??

[@LolaliciousSmiley]

12:38 That's hella Mario and Luigi

[@RetroCheats]

Wait for a patch update.

[@jaguar4120]

And a huge price drop. 😮

[@wsreview8098]

Is golf story better than sport story?? I really want to know opinion about this..🤔🤔

[@RodaMoonknight]

Three words: Secret dev room That is all

[@isaacsauer659]

Im just about to finish the game and I have to say Im relatively disappointed. The DNA of golf story is there and I can tell this couldve been a really good time, but its just too frustrating right now and it takes away from the fun that couldve been.

[@sinlessbullets]

Still playing Golf Story and played a hour or more of Sports Story

[@VileOkami]

Game hardlocked on me pretty far in and I couldn't continue. Whole thing felt unfinished and rushed out for Christmas. I'd give like a 4.

[@TheUnknown983]

Not interested in Sports Story for the same reason that Zion seems to have drifted away from Golf Story, I sucked with the golf in that first game. Though it's severely disappointing to hear the state of Sports Story at release. Hopefully it can turn itself around in a year or so.

[@GamerFunOriginallyAarush]

It’s very okay!

[@ProfessorElz]

super bummed by this. bought it day 1.

[@Flashtone08]

The game of thrones last season. Could have been everything we dreamed of but instead a big let down. Golf Story was a gem! I just don't get how devs can ride the wave of its fan base and crash so bad.

[@gravitynote757]

I am Japanese. I was expecting a Japanese version of Sports Story, but with this rating, is the release hopeless?

[@Tramelle]

Patching out the Dev room dialogue by the developers to silence the people who did the REAL work on the game is pathetic.

[@AdamHallDeathPunch]

Golf Story is the #1 game I recommend to people on the Switch. It was such a surprise of a great game. I am one of the people who has waited for this game to come out and was blown away by the exact opposite. This IS and unfinished game. There are full missions you cannot complete because the developers did not finish programing them into the game. The concept of this game is brilliant, but fleshed out poorly. There are whole parts of the map where there is a level that can't even be entered. I thought it might be for DLC, but I think it's actually because they stop making it. I was excited for volleyball and you play it ONCE for 30 seconds in the first half our of the game and never again. Tennis and kinda golf are the only fleshed out sports in the whole game. You play cricket and baseball for maybe 5 minutes of the whole game. This game was such a let down.

[@lonewolf8292]

6/10 is too much for this broken game. Such a dissapointed 😩

[@ryanmcteer825]

Oh no! I wanted this to be good but totally believe its not

[@noahgoldberg7387]

Hopefully Sidebar fixes these problems.

[@rubenfernando2457]

I just hadn't have any fun 5 hours in. Have to drop it, unfortunatly.

[@kito-]

Aw man that's a shame, hope it gets a patch

[@GPAnimations]

Bought this on 12/23, got stuck after 8 hours and multiple crashes. Couldn’t play again until 1/6 when they patched it, which was met with tons of glitches, crashes, and parts I had to force quit and restart. Finally beat it tonight and it was extremely underwhelming. As a huge fan of Golf Story, this was such a disappointment. I want to love this game, but the bugs and glitches make it so hard to enjoy it fully. That and just the complete lack of polish and direction.

[@oscarzxn4067]

I feel sorry for Antdude, who said multiple times this was absolutely gonna be one of the best games of the year

[@AS-lg4yf]

I was so excited for this game bought it immediately when it came out and noticed immediately the story the cut scenes and the FPS were not good. So disappointed that this game is so bad after such a long wait. Wish I could get a refund. Poke one was glitchy but at least it was fun this is just a complete dissapointment.

[@hikaruhoshina4204]

Just play Hamtaro Ham Ham Games on the GBA at this point tbh

[@Arwhyran]

I’m always so disappointed when Alex isn’t in the videos 😔

[@meanmug5258]

A damn shame.

[@NoEscapeGaming]

Use the money you we’re going to spend on this and pick up chained echoes instead.

[@JprimeWorld]

We need this on ps5

[@Kdkjdjewerdnxa]

Not really. It’s bad lol.

[@kathyclaywell6123]

Not hardware related problems. Just look up "sports story dev room glitch" and you'll see what the problem is

[@JprimeWorld]

@@kathyclaywell6123 but can you imagine the haptic feedback!!

[@TheAlibabatree]

@@Kdkjdjewerdnxa Its definitely not. Its a good game, just has some performance issues that will get patched up.

[@_sparrowhawk]

You guys are just listing all the ways in which Golf Story was actually a bad game. I played it for about 5-10 hours then put it down. It wasn't just a light 16 bit golf RPG (that's what I wanted it to be)... it was actually a confusing mess that devolved into ... "Wait, WTAF do they want me to do right now?"... I never want to play another game from this company again.

[@SleepyRPGsuperCharged]

Soccer story

[@bobbarker1984]

This game was beyond disappointing. Besides the awful fetch quests the icing on the cake are all the bugs I’ve ran into

[@MaceoTheCat64]

meow 🐾

[@MrJvchef]

I’m so happy I didn’t buy this…. Yet so sad I didn’t buy this…

[@cergam_misteri]

Imagine if this game graphics style like animal crossing will be awesome

[@EvEnMoR]

What?! 🤨 That wouldn't be good at all....this game's graphics style is a huge part of what makes it so appealing.

[@PooNagoo]

No

[@Batterydennis]

Bummer

[@jaguar4120]

Short answer: no it not worth your time and money.

[@gregc7699]

Looks worse then a crappy free mobile game

[@viewtifuljoe99]

It's kind of a bummer that we're in the point of the switch's life that even Sports Story has performance issues.

[@Terranigma23]

Honestly it's not because of the Switch hardware. The development of this game was a hell trip.

[@denimchicken104]

This game is a huge step down from golf story. It’s a 5/10 even if it worked perfectly. Unfortunately it doesn’t. It’s a mess. It should be removed from sale.

[@demonthekid718]

Oh ..an indie game.. how original.

[@TheTrueNorth11]

Hate the “is it worth it” thing. Sounds so childish.

[@friendlyfungi]

That’s just your opinion

[@TheTrueNorth11]

@@friendlyfungi Yes…?

[@EvEnMoR]

How is that childish? That's essentially the exact question people want answered when seeking a review on pretty much anything.

[@james441]

It saves money

[@Bluetangg]

Childish? I don’t get it. You must have an unlimited budget. Or unlimited time?