A new take on a fighting game for the Switch, ARMS is a unique fighting game with Nintendo’s own brand of style. As the name suggests, there is an emphasis on the fighters’ arms. They possess stretchy limbs that extend to great lengths with the ability to curve their punches left and right. This creates a gameplay style one could call “long-range boxing”.

The fighting arenas give ample room to move around and distance each other. There’s nothing really stopping you from getting in your opponent’s face, but you’ll both get nowhere fast staying at a close proximity. In addition to reading moves, some level of aiming is also at play here. Left and right punches are executed individually and fire like projectiles while being steered.

Throwing is done by shooting both arms at the same time. A fist can be blocked by another fist, canceling both punches and throws. Guarding is also an option, but will do nothing to protect you from being grabbed and thrown. Dashing and jumping can dodge attacks altogether giving one time to follow up and counter. And lastly there’s Rush, which when ready, allows you to unleash a barrage of punches.
With all of these things at play, there’s enough fast-paced planning and reacting in every match.

The default way ARMS wants you to play is with the Joy-Cons. With one in each hand, they’re to be thrust forward to punch and tilt to aim. Tilt in any direction to move, tilt towards each other to guard, and shoulder buttons for jumping and dashing. It’s responsive for the most part and the accuracy is pretty good when it comes to aiming. There are times when simply trying to guard quickly will result in a punch being thrown, as is the nature of motion controls.

For some, this will be a fun way to play the game and feel more immersed if you don’t feel silly swinging your arms around in front of the screen. For others that don’t want to use motion controls at all, the Switch Pro Controller is an option. All moving and aiming is dealt with the left stick, while the face buttons control your punches, jumps, and dashing. Clicking and holding the left stick will guard, which is a rather odd feeling.

Having used A and B for punches most of the time, it’s a bit cumbersome to play this way, especially when entering a Rush to tap them rapidly. It never explicitly tells you, but the ZL and ZR triggers can be used for left and right punches, respectively. This feels great and is far better than using the face buttons to handle punches. The only issue is the lack of control customization, where many people will want to relocate guarding, dashing, and jumping to different buttons.

While playing against other people is the best way to play ARMS, there is a Grand Prix mode that will pit you up against computer players like an arcade mode. Completing the Grand Prix on at least difficulty level 4 is needed in order to compete in ranked mode online.

The online experience is very smooth. In my play time, there wasn’t a single spot of lag, even when connected with people on the other side of the world. There is also very little waiting time inbetween matches. Almost too little… if you want to change characters in Friends Lobby, you better be paying attention because there’s barely enough time to hit the change button and select a character before the next match starts. Overall, that’s a good thing because no one likes to wait long before getting into the next match.

The array of match types there are provides a fresh and robust scope for the party game that many will see ARMS as. There’s more than just the standard one-on-one fight. Other matches include V-ball which has a net, a ball, and roughly follows the rules of volleyball.
Hoops which has a basketball net for throwing opponents into. First to 10 points wins.
Skillshot that has players set on opposite sides and targets in the middle to smack for points.
Hedlock is like a boss that players team up against.
And with four players there can be two-on-two team matches as well as free-for-alls. During two-on-two fights, teammates are tethered together, preventing them from splitting up and surrounding one player. The tether is uncomfortably short and doesn’t give a whole lot of room to maneuver, even with a cooperative buddy. Of course, being able to split up too much would be broken. It would be nice to have a little more room here, but fair enough as the issue is present on both sides.

All of these different match types can prevent monotony if you’re looking for more than just a standard fight. Otherwise, if straight fights are all you want, these other modes may get in the way. Playing online will have you doing these at random. If there’s one mode you really don’t like, it may put a damper on your experience.

Fortunately, if you’ve got some friends to play with, there’s options to turn off the stuff you don’t like. Unfortunately, with 4 players, there’s no way to choose your teammate as it is randomly set. The only exception is if two people are on the same console. A pair on the same console will always be teamed up with each other.

There’s a wide variety of different arms to choose from and unlock. Two different arms can be equipped, each with their own unique attributes and elements. Elements have different effects when used such as electric causing brief paralysis, ice causing slow down, or fire causing burn damage over time. Elements are charged by guarding for a second or landing from a jump. Using an element-charged punch is harder than it sounds as you only have a second to punch after its charged.

Currency is earned by fighting and to be spent on the “Get Arms” mini-game. It’s pretty easy, just punch some targets to rack up enough points for gift boxes to appear. Then, just punch the boxes to unlock a new arm at random. The lack of a shop to simply buy arms you want for who you want gives the mini-game an impression of padding. The addition of a shop, even with high prices, would have made sense. If you’re looking for something specific, you better get lucky or prepare for a lengthy grind.

Before each match, select a left and right arm based on the three sets you’ve chosen. Each character starts with three arm sets and as more are unlocked, there’s the option to set arms. This can only be done in the main menu and not during any sort of session, so choose wisely.
Within the three sets chosen, arms can be changed freely between every round. This gives sufficient leeway to try and gain an advantage depending on who you’re up against or which match type is at play. It’s easy enough to get comfortable with one set for straight fights, but when a game like Skillshot comes up, something completely different will make all the difference or leave you in the dust.

ARMS changes the way a fighter is played and is the first of its kind. It runs well and has the polish one would expect of Nintendo. The long-range fighting aspect is certainly interesting, but it’s just not that engaging. Getting a few friends together to virtually beat each other in your faces from a distance is a good time, but becomes stale quickly.
Even with all the different modes, fundamentally, it’s shallow for a fighter. Characters do all have their own abilities, such as Ribbon Girl’s double jump and Ninjara’s vanish. There are a wide enough variety of equipable arms and upgrades. However, at the core, every character handles the same. Every match relies on the same gimmick: playing as a long-armed fighter and fighting against a long-armed fighter. If stretchy arm was a single classification of fighter, that would be one thing, but that’s the entirety of the game and what gives ARMS a stagnant air.

There are no separate movesets between characters or any game-changing mechanics. Comparatively, while virtually every fighting game involves running around and punching each other, one expects stats that vastly differ from each other. Something that completely changes how a fight is approached. Things like a multitude of combos and counters, varying move speeds, hits per second, positioning and distancing advantages. None of that is present in ARMS. The different abilities and the arms you can choose aren’t enough to round it out.

With that said, it doesn’t need to be knocked down for not having everything you’d expect from a traditional fighting game.
It’s doing it’s own thing and not trying to be a traditional fighter. That’s where it’s left in a weird middle ground. It’s fresh and new, but looking at it objectively, it’s lacking. One of the best ways to avoid attacks is to just keep side-stepping in one direction which can create this uncomfortable whirlpool that makes me seasick. Even the character personalities are lacking. Different backstories, but nothing worth giving two cents about.

But still looking at ARMS with the same objective view, the small scope it assumes is well done. Nothing is broken or worth getting upset over. It’s just plain fun. Vanilla fun, even. This is not a deep and intuitive experience, but worth the time if you’ve got some friends.