In 2017, the Switch library was still in its infancy and this relative lack of competition meant that indie projects like Blossom Tales and Blaster Master Zero had far more visibility than they might have in the current, more crowded market. Another big early winner on the eShop was Golf Story, a silly and quirky take on RPG golfing that brought to mind the Game Boy Color’s excellent Mario Golf and proved surprisingly appealing to a wide audience. To capitalize on this newfound success, Sidebar Games soon announced a sequel, Sports Story, which would expand the gameplay to include other sports such as BMX cycling, soccer (no, it’s not called soccer), and tennis. After more than five years, this eagerly awaited sequel has finally arrived, dropping like a shadow two days before Christmas, and… well, it’s okay. Sports Story isn’t a bad game by any means, but it’s extremely disappointing for what it could have been.
Sports Story follows your character from Golf Story who goes on a scenic trip with his coach and friends to an island that apparently has many budget for sports activities. Although you come there to play golf, it’s not long before you’re won over by academies and competitions in a whole host of other sports.
The plot barely makes sense, but that’s kind of the point. The dry and goofy lines that catapulted The Golf Story to popularity are on full display here, and while some scenes may feel a little long-winded, overall we enjoyed the banter. Whether you’re helping a group of ax enthusiasts find a legendary wood chip somewhere on a golf course, or being sent to a children’s tennis boarding school as a grown man, there’s always something interesting to drive events forward.
As we mentioned, Sports Story has gone far beyond golf to include a whole host of other sports. Although this still appears to be a game of golf First, the variety of ideas on offer certainly helps create a much more varied gameplay cycle. BMX, for example, plays rather like Nintendo’s classic Excitebike, while tennis trades the more measured and calculated pace of golf for something fast and tactical. You’re sure to find something here to enjoy, and for the sports that don’t, you can be sure you won’t have to put up with them for too long before the focus shifts to something else.
The downside to this, however, is that the gameplay loop can feel overcrowded at times. At the beginning, for example, you play a short (and quite confusing) introduction to volleyball, but then you are kicked out and do not have a chance to play again for several hours. And while tennis seems the deepest of the newly added sports, others like soccer seem shallower and more superficial. In many ways, we wish Sidebar Games had cut back to just one or two new sports and focused on making them as enjoyable as golf in the original game. The ambition is certainly admirable, but it feels rather wasted when there are so many gameplay concepts that aren’t even close to being properly explored.
Another unfortunate trend we’ve noticed in game design is the increased focus on fetch tasks and other tedious, miscellaneous tasks that are only somewhat related to the sport. Of course, one of Golf Story’s biggest selling points was how it could sometimes get off the wall with alternate objectives, but Sports Story seems to be going too far in this direction. Most people probably don’t pick up a game like this expecting to spend a lot of time running back and forth to complete basic, unnecessary tasks for NPCs, but Sports Story enjoys forcing the player to do just that. Busy business can be sweet in moderation—and to the game’s credit, it does seem to become a bit more sports-focused once things open up a bit—but Sports Story would benefit from some general streamlining and a reduction in chore.
Associated with the irritation of completing tasks is a general lack of direction. You’ll often be given a vague goal and not told where to go, how to do it, or if it’s even something you want can do at this point in your progress. Sometimes there is more
In terms of presentation, Sports Story borrows the same 16-bit art style from its predecessor, but notably adds some nice details to make things more concrete. Whether you’re exploring dank caves, autumnal forests or rainy swamps, the retro aesthetic feels well-executed but not overly cheesy; this is one area where Sidebar Games absolutely seems to build on the strong foundation laid by the first release.
The soundtrack, on the other hand, is a little less impressive, but still does a great job of setting a quirky and slightly laid-back vibe through the use of 80s-inspired synths and an overall EarthBound-esque tone. There aren’t many tracks here that stood out to us, but overall the sound felt like an effective match with the visuals and gameplay.
Unfortunately, Sports Story is suffering Enough a little in the performance department. Frame rate drops, visual bugs, softlocks and occasional crashes are common here. For example, we encountered a number of instances where a frame rate issue would occur when trying to time a golf swing, completely missing the putt and sending the ball into the bunker. In another case, pressing the ‘Y’ button—which normally causes your character to line up for a shot—suddenly did nothing at all. For some reason, after that press ‘A’ did
Sidebar Games indicated that upcoming patch will solve some problems, but the truth is that the studio certainly has work to do. The experience here—while playable—feels extremely subpar and sloppy, and we’d advise you to wait for a patch or two before picking this one up.
Conclusion
Compared to the unexpected highlight that was Golf Story, Sports Story is damn average. While the writing is as good as ever and the visuals are well-improved, performance issues, tedious mission fetches, and occasionally confusing gameplay all hold this game back quite a bit. Despite its flaws, there’s definitely still an enjoyable game here, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if it’s worth the downside, especially considering the Switch eShop is awash with great games these days. If you loved the original, you’ll probably find Sports Story an entertaining enough sequel, but there’s no denying that after years of waiting, it feels like quite the disappointment. Assuming Sidebar can fix the worst technical issues, we’d give Sports Story a slight recommendation to anyone looking for an unusual take on a sports RPG, but this one doesn’t deserve a spot at the top of your list.
