ARMS

Arms is a 2017 fighting game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. The game differentiates itself from standard fighting games with its unconventional fighting system where every playable character fights with long range attacks and up to four players can choose a fighter and battle using a variety of extendable, weaponized arms to knock out opponents in a three-dimensional arena. Arms received generally favorable reviews from critics and sold over two million copies by July 2018. Arms is a 3D fighting sports game in which up to four players can control one of a variety of fighters.

The player can perform basic fighting actions using extendable arms such as punching, throwing, blocking and dodging. Each fighter starts with three unique Arms that can be selected in battle, but the use of all other fighters’ Arms can be unlocked in the Get Arms mode. All fighters also have unique attributes in combat. When the attack meter is fully charged, players are able to unleash a high-damage “rush attack” against their opponents. Players can also charge their attacks to temporarily increase damage and utilize elemental effects. Each character has a different set of abilities and unique Arms for different strategies.

Players are able to use the system’s Joy-Con motion controls or standard button inputs with controllers such as the Pro Controller to operate each Arm individually. Players are also able to customize their Arm load outs, with each Arm being able to be selected independently. Every Arm is different with elemental attributes and varying weights that affect gameplay. Up to four players are able to play in a single match, either in a three or four-way free-for-all, or in a two-on-two mode in which teammates are tethered together. Besides the standard fighting mode, Arms features multiple other modes: Versus, Grand Prix, and a variety of Battle modes.

In Grand Prix, players take on a set of 10 matches against computer-controlled fighters to win the championship belt. Battle mode consists of volleyball and basketball modes, a target breaking mode, and a survival mode. Players can also play online in a party match lobby with up to 20 players, or in one-on-one ranked matches. Arms featured ten playable fighters at launch, with five additional fighters added via post-release updates. Arms features fifteen playable fighters, including Min Min and Twintelle, with five of them being released as downloadable content.