Nintendo seems to have enjoyed its time developing so many motion controls focused titles for the unique Nintendo Wii, that it makes sense that it’s not bucking the trend on the upcoming Nintendo Switch. The first title to get the motion controls treatment is the upcoming ARMS.
ARMS is similar to the Nintendo Wii release of Punch-Out, in that it is also a fighting title that uses motion controls. The difference though is that different weapons are used to do the fighting, rather than just fists. First of all, players get to pick from one of many characters with their own unique abilities/weapons.
After being put inside the ring, both character must then fight until one of them wins enough rounds to be the overall winner. The idea is to make use of a mix of buttons and controller movements to fight. It’s necessary to hold both Joy-Con controllers like Nintendo Wii Nunchucks, which can initially feel awkward, as it doesn’t feel quite as natural due to the size of the controllers.
There are certainly plenty of abilities to get the hang of. More so given that it’s possible to pick and mix different weapons before the fight to see what fighting style works best for the player. This is due to the fact that each of the weapons is better suited for either long or short range combat. However, using each of the weapons requires moving the Joy-Con controllers forward and it’s even possible to do different attacks depending on the movement done.
However, it did feel like the motion controls were not as reliable as they could have been. This may have been due to how disorientating it can feel to try to use them in conjunction with the buttons that are used for other abilities, such as a dash move to the side to dodge incoming attacks. Still, it did seem to get easier to adapt to using both types of controls together after taking part in more than one match.
As expected, this is a trademark colouful Nintendo experience with charming characters that look like they are eager for a good fight. It didn’t seem like the best of titles to showcase the unique capabilities of the Joy-Con controller, but it was still a lot of fun. More so when letting loose and just trying to smash the opponent’s character to a pulp by attacking the opponent as quickly as possible before both arms got tired.
If anything, ARMS seems to have the potential to get the attention of traditional gamers who are more keen on a fight, rather than engaging in the more casual titles that have been announced so far for the Nintendo Switch.
ARMS is scheduled to be released exclusively on Nintendo Switch in Spring 2017.
