A reader continues his dissection of the best fighters of the last few years, with Nintendo’s peculiar Switch exclusive under the microscope.
ARMS is the most innovative fighter of the generation, and by a long way. That doesn’t make it the best, but it does make it the most interesting. Remember the fight mini-game in Super Monkey Ball? Nintendo obviously saw that and liked it so much they made a whole game around it!
Single-player
The Grand Prix is basically arcade mode interspersed with games of basketball and volleyball, both of which have no right to be as fun as they are. There is also a shooting gallery where you can win all the unlockables the game has to offer. It’s rough around the edges but fun, a lot of potential to be mined in the sequels I’m optimistic it will receive. Nintendo has something they could really dominate the genre with here, if they polish it up somewhat.
Presentation
Nothing extraordinary but a charming art style with some fun character designs. The stages are well drawn too and, like the Power Stone series, form follows function with exploding cannisters and other hazards that can spice up a duel. My personal favourite is Doctor Coyle, who I think is a villainess as she has poison-green hair and stiletto-heeled boots that are so high they would make Bayonetta wince. As for the sound… boing-thwack! I don’t need to say anything else.
Handling
I’m going to be weird and say I don’t like using the motion controls in this game. Then again, I bought my Switch second-hand and it was already suffering from Joy-Con drift. So I played with motion controls and now I have a Pro Controller. Which is awesome. And I suggest you get one for yourself if you have anything like adult-sized hands. [He’s mad, motion controls are far superior for ARMS – GC]
But no matter how you choose to play, the sensation of stretching limbs followed by the satisfying smack of your boxing glove as it hits Max Brass in his stupid, smug face is fantastic. I’m kidding. Max is great. So is hitting him. You’ll be using throws a lot, too and it feels equally as nice.
This is all topped off by a special move that each character has that can take off a good chunk of health. What’s more, it’s genuinely accessible: no need for quarter-circle motions, memorising long combo strings, I really think anybody could get good at this within minutes.
Structure
There are endings, of a sort, to see in Grand Prix mode – but more care could have been lavished on them. Tekken is still the king in this area. You unlock art and new arms for you to use in the shooting gallery, which are okay – but no new stages or characters, so a little shallow. Thankfully, the journey is more fun than the destination in this case, so this is forgivable. This time. Not in a sequel. Which I really want.
Cast
Superb. From the bubbly Ribbon Girl to the bizarre Helix and adorable Byte and Bark, the characters are brilliantly designed. Which is just as well, as there aren’t that many major differences between them. Then again, as the environment and items play a larger role, this doesn’t matter too much. If I had to complain it’s that there is no real big bad, as such. Doctor Coyle isn’t really all that evil, from what I could gather. More sexy, femme fatale. Which is fine. But, we need somebody we can really root against, I feel.
Post-launch support
Not bad. Five characters became available, for free, after launch – the likes of Doctor Coyle and Max Brass among their number. Seems a bit quiet at the moment. A shame they didn’t add any new gameplay modes. That is always a big ask, though.
Multiplayer
Yay! They put in some effort! As well as vanilla versus and the choice of stages, you can play the volleyball, basketball, and shooting gallery with a friend! Options! Longevity! Huzzah!
Online
Normally I would use this space to laugh scornfully, but as there is such a low learning curve for ARMS, online isn’t such a terrible, garbage fire of an idea. If you absolutely have to.
Up next, two games! Where one would be better off being more like the other…
By reader DMR
Best fighting games of the generation, Part 1: Street Fighter V
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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