Skip to main content

‘Arms’: Our first take

'Arms' is a modern-day 'Punch-Out!' that shows the limits of Nintendo's Joy-Con controllers

arms nintendo switch first take nintendoswitch presentation2017 scrn08 bmp jpgcopy
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.“

With Arms, Nintendo’s upcoming motion-control boxing game, Nintendo returns to its Wii-era focus on playing games by acting them out. Falling somewhere between Punch-Out! and Wii Boxing, both in terms of complexity and tone, Arms pits players in one-on-one brawls between cartoony characters, all of whom use extendable robot arms to punch each other from across long distances.

Recommended Videos

In addition to throwing punches by swinging the Switch’s detached Joy-Con mini controllers, you can alter the course of those punches after they’ve been thrown by twisting and moving your Joy-Con while your arm is extended. While you can play Arms with the Switch Pro Controller, or with the Joy-Cons slotted into the Joy-Con Grip, the concept is clearly made for motion controls. Twisting your arms to reach your enemies, or physically moving to avoid their blows, feels fast and frantic, but also strategic.

With the exception of virtual reality, the era of motion controllers seems over, but clever games like Arms may help the Switch pull it back from the brink of extinction.

Extend yourself…

Arms, as you might expect, revolves around the mechanical extensions that the characters wear in place of their…arms. While every character throws a bunch in a similar way, post-punch maneuverability can vary quite a bit. Generally speaking, quicker characters do less damage, but can control their punches more.

Arms is a game unlike anything else you can get on a console this year.

It’s a neat idea in theory, but in practice we ran into some issues. We tried a slow, but strong character named Master Mummy, whose ability to direct his fists was so limited we questioned the game’s mechanics. The issues didn’t completely drain the fun out of the match, but we definitely found the faster, more malleable characters enjoyable.

That said, a character like Master Mummy might make sense with a different set of arms. You can equip arms, as well as armor, and what you choose seems to not only affect your stats, but how you fight. A quick fighter named Ninjara used an arm that would swipe back and across, opening the door for feints and wild swings. We don’t know whether custom equipment will be restricted to specific characters, but these items could make for a wildly varied spectrum of character loadouts.

…But not too far

While the game feels tailor-made for motion controls at times, we can’t help but wonder if players will ultimately revert to using a gamepad.

Aside from the basic punch-and-swing mechanics, the Joy-Con controllers seem like they may be an impediment to truly competitive play. Players can move around the screen by tilting the Joy-Cons in the direction they want to move, but even quick characters feel unwieldy. Players block by pushing your arms together, and reach for a powerful throw move by punching with both arms at once. In the frantic fighting, we frequently used one or both of these moves by mistake. It’s easy to  accidentally expose yourself to attack.

There are also a lot of questions remaining that will affect whether Arms can maintain its appeal beyond the Switch’s honeymoon months. While Arms was fun to play against an AI, the meta-game that Arms’ encourages will only be fun when fighting other humans. Meanwhile, it isn’t entirely clear if the game supports online multiplayer. (We’ve reached out to Nintendo to clarify this). Assuming it does, we don’t know how playing online might affect the game. Fighting game fans are notorious for scrutinizing games’ connectivity, because when games move quickly, every frame of animation matters.

Arms seems like a fun trifle, and a game unlike anything else you can get on a console this year. Whether it has the depth and attention to detail necessary to attract an audience beyond Nintendo fanatics and Switch early adopters, however, remains a mystery. We’ll look forward to playing the full version of Arms when it launches on the Switch this Spring.

Highs

  • Frantic, fun combat
  • Good use of motion controls
  • Wide range of characters

Lows

  • Slow characters weren’t much fun
  • Motion control lacks precision
Mike Epstein
Former Associate Editor, Gaming
Michael is a New York-based tech and culture reporter, and a graduate of Northwestwern University’s Medill School of…
I just got my Nintendo Switch 2 and its faster eShop is already a step up
The Nintendo eShop appears on a Switch 2 screen.

Ahead of the Switch 2's launch, Nintendo assured players that it had revamped the system's eShop this time around. While we didn't get too many glimpses of that ahead of release, Digital Trends can now confirm just what has been upgraded. The new eShop is faster, features more sorting options, and even includes video previews.

Digital Trends received its Nintendo Switch 2 unit on Wednesday morning, one day ahead of its June 5 launch. While a full review is coming once we're able to test it in depth, we were able to access the eShop and see exactly what has changed.

Read more
All confirmed tracks in Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World map

The big attraction for Mario Kart World is the fact that all the courses exist in the same open world. For the first time ever, we will be able to roam around between tracks in one seamless world to practice driving, find secrets, or just hang out with our friends. This will easily be the biggest Switch 2 launch game, but exactly how big is the world in Mario Kart World? Or more specifically, how many tracks are there? Nintendo hasn't revealed all the courses we can look forward to racing on, but we combed through all the footage to pick out every new and returning track revealed so far.

Every new track in Mario Kart World

Read more
Pokémon Legends: Z-A gets a fall release date, and that includes the Switch 2 Edition
Pokemon Legends Z-A Battle Zones

Pokémon Legends: Z-A will arrive on October 16, 2025, but pre-orders begin on June 5. The Pokémon Company also announced new Mega Evolution merchandise (available now on the Pokémon Center) and confirmed the Pokémon Presents presentation coming July 22.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A will launch on both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2, but if you're like many gamers and couldn't get your hands on a Nintendo Switch 2 preorder, you can still play Pokémon when it launches and upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version later through an upgrade pack. While The Pokémon Company didn't say how much the upgrade pack would cost, similar offers for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are $10. It's likely that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will be similarly priced.

Read more