Nintendo Switch Sports showed it had something for everyone. But there was obvious room for expansion.

While there was a certain amount of trepidation over Nintendo Switch Sports’ design style when it was announced in 2021, the gaming community embraced the game when it launched on April 29, 2022. The game included 6 popular sports at launch, incorporated a strong motion control element, and featured well-rendered designs.

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With volleyball, soccer, racquetball, chambara sword fighting, and classic favorites tennis and bowling, Nintendo Switch Sports has something for everyone. There is obvious room for expansion, and the game has already promised expansions, most notably golf, coming in Autumn of 2022.

Baseball was one of the launch sports in Wii Sports and carried over to Wii Sports Resort. This makes its omission from both the launch of Nintendo Switch Sports and from its first expansion conspicuous. Popular in Japan and North America, baseball is a good option for what would be easily the title’s lengthiest game.

With the ability to play up to 16 players in a session, Nintendo Switch Sports could permit two whole teams — minus pitchers — the opportunity to play. Or the game could customize the experience using two-on-two play logic. With the lack of a motion-controlled baseball game for the Nintendo Switch, Switch Sports could fill an important void.

While Wii Sports Resort included table tennis as its additional racket sport, more aggressive options are available. Racquetball is a sport that uses a shortened racket, hitting a hard rubber ball and accelerating it to great speeds in the process.

A racquetball volley can reach upward of 320 km/h (200 mph) and requires reflexes, skill, and timing to succeed at. The high-quality online multiplayer of Switch Sports would make an online racquetball match a test of speed, skill, and nerve that would push both experienced players and their connections to the limit.

Personal watercraft racing was a popular mode for Wii Sports Resort on the Wii and Wii U. With gyro-based motion sensing built into the Switch experience from the beginning, the ability to pilot a personal watercraft in Switch Sports create an opportunity for watercraft racing.

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Introducing a watercraft element to Nintendo Switch Sports could also provide an opportunity for sightseeing around the island setting, which has been limited so far. Nintendo’s scenic artists have clearly put a lot of love into the home of their new title, and deserve the chance to show it off for their fans.

The sport of Ultimate, originally and commonly called “ultimate Frisbee,” originated in the late 1960s as a flying-disc-based, non-contact alternative to American football and similar games. Ultimate's rules focus on self-officiating even at the highest levels of play.

The game’s functional similarity to touch football and other noncontact sports — along with its emphasis on self-officiating and fair play assumptions baked into the rules — make it a potentially easy team sport to incorporate. Following the lines of soccer, Ultimate could find a popular home in Switch Sports.

As early as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System’s launch title PilotWings, Nintendo has been associated with flight simulator games. Wii Sports Resort, the 2009 sequel to Wii Sports, included multiple styles of power sports. With power sports yet to make an appearance in Nintendo Switch Sports, any number of options could be explored, including flying.

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Reusing game mechanics first seen in Pilotwings and continued through Wii Sports Resort and even RingFit Adventure, flying sports like hang gliding, parachuting, and stunt flying can use the accelerometer and gyroscope in unique, competitive, and artistic ways.

The leg strap is an odd accessory to include in the Nintendo Switch Sports bundle. Although its inclusion implies that it should be used in the game, no sport that's debuted has yet to use it. Presumably, this remains the same for the announced golf game, as golf is primarily played with the upper body.

Running games are the natural place to include a leg strap. With races depending on foot speed and the type of quickness that can be detected by the gyro-measuring strap, racing games are a natural match for the system.

The bicycle is a common sporting option in Nintendo games, going as far back as classics like BMX Simulator on the NES and Pokemon Gen 1 on the Game Boy. As one of the most common racing vehicles in the world, a bicycle-themed mini-game could make use of the underused Switch leg strap included in the physical package.

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The practicality and availability of bicycles makes them an option for all forms of competition from mountain and stunt riding to flat-out racing. Additionally, the number of styles of bicycling featured in sports festivals like the Olympics and the X Games, plus the previous appearance of cycling in Wii Fit, make biking in its many forms an obvious choice.

It scarcely seems like an exaggeration to say everybody remembers the original NES pack-in title Duck Hunt. Packaged on a two-game cartridge with all-time classic Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt is an undisputed classic as well. Players everywhere remember the difficulty of hitting the evasive ducks, and the joy of realizing the plugged in second controller could control the ducks as they flew.

With the motion and pointing capabilities of the Switch JoyCons, a shooting-style game would have fantastic potential. The only drawback to bringing back Duck Hunt is that Nintendo doesn’t produce gun controllers for the Switch, requiring players to point and pretend, or to buy a third-party accessory.

Kate lives and works in Minneapolis, MN. In her free time, she's a gamer, a cat mom, and a roller derby player, in no particular order.