ARMS plays to Nintendo Switch’s unique strengths with motion controls that actually work

Forget Wii Sports boxing – ARMS’ use of the Joy-Cons is a total knockout
Colourful and cartoonish: ARMS is a distinctly Nintendo take on the fighting game genre
Nintendo
Ben Travis23 June 2017

Nintendo’s new boxing game, ARMS, is a full-body experience. Dismiss any preconceptions of video games being the chosen hobby of the couch potato — the latest Switch title wants to get you moving.

The controls are simple. Players hold one Joy-Con controller in each hand and punch forward to deliver a blow to their opponent, tilting them together in a direction to move, and pressing the shoulder buttons to dodge and jump.

Banish those memories of the unresponsive and unpolished boxing mode on 2006’s Wii Sports. ARMS is a totally different beast. Not only do the motion controls work but the game challenges players to throw their fists tactically rather than delivering all-out attacks. One-on-one matches are all about blocking your opponent, deflecting incoming attacks and finding the right timing and position to dispatch your own extendable springy limbs.

“ARMS might be the first game that has such depth with its technique in its motion controls,” producer Kosuke Yabuki told Time magazine. “I think it would be great if ARMS were to become an e-sport.”

With its colourful and cartoonish graphics, ARMS is a distinctly Nintendo take on the fighting game, a world away from recent side-scrolling punch-ups Tekken 7 and Injustice 2. It continues a tried-and-tested formula for the Japanese gaming giant: take an existing genre and give it an all-ages, no-experience-necessary twist.

Nintendo

Much like Mario Kart, Splatoon and Super Smash Bros before it, ARMS’ skill-based gameplay is relatively simple to understand but rewards players who invest their time in experimenting with customisable options. Different characters can sport varying sets of fists with their own pros and cons — heavy ones do extra damage but fire slowly, lighter ones are quick but won’t take so much strain on your health points.

There’s an emphasis on multiplayer, much more entertaining than the solo play rounds, which are essentially a training ground for player-versus-player. Nintendo clearly has hopes that ARMS could become a competitive favourite – there was even a mini-tournament at E3 2017, with brave players taking to the stage in front of a large crowd.

The game’s greatest strength is its uniqueness — it could only really exist on the Switch, a console designed to take risks with form and function, and whose Joy-Cons are stuffed with the gyroscopic technology and HD Rumble feedback that makes this kind of genre-busting gameplay possible.

Nintendo Switch - in pictures

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If there’s one drawback, it’s the shareability. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Snipperclips only require a single Joy-Con per person, ideal for casual off-the-cuff multiplayer, but two-player ARMS in local play requires an additional pair, costing from £70. Playing side-by-side with a mate is the best experience in the game, so it’s worth considering splashing out on the new neon yellow Joy-Cons launched to coincide with ARMS’ vibrant colour scheme.

Unlike Zelda, you won’t buy the Switch specifically to play ARMS, but it proves the console has more surprises up its sleeves. Nintendo’s knockout year continues.

Follow Ben Travis on Twitter: @BenSTravis

ARMS is out now on Nintendo Switch

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