ARMS Spring-Loads Knock Out Fun For Switch

It’s funny to think that two major new console launches are being accompanied by bright, colourful and quirky takes on future sports. For PlayStation VR, it was RIGS, and now for Nintendo Switch it’s the similarly capitalised ARMS – OK, so it’s not out on day one, but “Spring 2017” isn’t too far behind 3rd March.

If there’s one game that Nintendo showed for the Switch that really harkens back to the glory days of the Wii, it’s this. This is full on motion controlled boxing, making you get up, hold your arms up and punch away to launch spring-loaded fists at your opponent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7s3UB_8dFM

It’s a big improvement over the Wii’s debut and Wii Sport’s more suggestive than accurate motion controls. At the very least, it’s equivalent to how that system was augmented with the MotionPlus add on and the improved Wii Remote that added more and more nuanced motion sensors to the system, though obviously the array of sensors needed for accurate motion tracking have improved and shrunk in the intervening time. ARMS doesn’t necessarily need a lot of subtle movement, but there’s a surprising depth to it.

At its simplest, this is a boxing game with a cartoonish look to its pugilistic violence. I’ve no idea if they’re cyborgs, robots or what, but the characters clearly aren’t straight up humans, with springy arms on some, a mummified zombie of sorts, and a girl in a very Wallace & Gromit-esque mechsuit – I chuckled at the way her suit’s concertina belly wobbled in the character selection screen. They have such imaginative names as Springman, Ribbon Girl, Master Mummy, Mechanica and Ninjara.

As Nintendo dabble once again with creating new characters and gaming series, they seem to have struck upon a particular visual style that they’re happy with. It’s bright, it’s colourful, it’s family friendly, and there’s hints of both Splatoon and Overwatch to the graphics.

The motion controls are simple and effective, with a Joy-Con in each hand letting you punch out accurately in a direction of your choice, sending a fist flying off into the distance and even giving your punch a wicked curve when you twist your fist. You can move around the arena by tilting both Joy-Con and you’re even able to jump around and dash as you try to dodge incoming attacks. You can block, but this makes you vulnerable to a grab, which is initiated by punching with both arms at once, in a simple rock-paper-scissors triangle of counters.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the brawling, as you see attacks coming towards you and try to shuffle out of the way, only to realise you weren’t tilting both Joy-Con together. After just a few moments, you see them holding a block to try and power up their next attack, and know that’s your chance to strike and get in a grab. Even just firing fists off to the corners and turning them in to land glancing blows is immensely satisfying.

There’s bound to be much, much more variety to the game beyond this demo. It featured just a handful of fighters and a trio of different types of arms for each, that you could freely mix and match on your left and right. It could be a standard spring-loaded fist – yes, standard – or a boomerang arm that’s much better at curving to your opponent, or even a triple rocket launcher for a spread attack. Any punch you launch can be met in midair by another punch, adding impetus to keep the attacks flowing,

Whether you’re landing hits or getting hit, it all starts to charge up your special meter, and tapping both the ZR and ZL buttons together letts you unleash a frightful torrent of rapid attacks, flailing with your arms in quick succession to deal as much damage as possible. With the fights going to the best of three rounds, timing it right can be pretty crucial.

The only two real sticking points for Arms are that it’s not there on day one for the Switch, and that to get the very best out of it, you’ll want a second pair of Joy-Con to play it with and against others, making it an expensive proposition. Beyond that, this is Nintendo showing an expertise with motion controlled games that few others have grasped or had much success with.

I can already imagine the saccharine TV adverts with Phillip Schofield popping round to visit This Morning co-presenter Holly Willoughby and interrupting her couch-bound Breath of the Wild session for a bit of punch up madness. That’s what Nintendo did best for a long time, and Arms is a step on the path to recapturing that.