Xtreme Sports

Alas, even with WayForward’s skilled programming and graphical artistry, Xtreme Sports remains limited. The island overworld works well, adding a charming dash of RPG-lite, and the increased challenge will keep you at the events for some time. There are purportedly more than 400 competitors to defeat, but while fun and neatly executed, the repetitive nature and limited number of sporting events means that mileage will vary in how long it holds your attention.

Xtreme Sports is an interesting curio, an artistic ancestor of WayForward's heroic half-genie franchise, and a somewhat frustrating Game Boy Color game that may not be all that fun to play in the Year of our Arceus 2024. It also, and this may be a deep cut for many of you, reminds me of the Survivor parody Total Drama Island, which often involved some degree of extreme sports challenges.

Whatever the season, Xtreme Sports can offer a bit of fun in the virtual sun. But, you'll likely play for just a few minutes here and there, spread out over time. The small number of events leads to a repetition, making it struggle to maintain interest. The extras in this Switch port barely register, too.

"Bronze medal for trying."

A fun arcade-style trip down sports games memory lane

As a fan of the Shantae games, I was delighted to play this sports-themed adventure by the same team. It’s not perfect, featuring some occasionally irritating controls and hard-to-read instructions. But with a bit of patience, you’ll find a solid adventure that reminds you not just why WayForward is such a great company, but why the Game Boy Color was such a classic system. If you’re at all a fan of retro or just want to play a simple and fun collection of mini-games, I’d definitely check Xtreme Sports out.

Channeling elements of some other classic retro multi-sport titles, this has flair but is undoubtedly a bit limited

Honestly, the only big gripe here is the pricepoint being double of what Xtreme Sports was on 3DS, and while the game is still great fun, it definitely may come off as a bit steep in the age of Switch Online drops and retro compilations.