Arms (video game)

Arms
Cover art, featuring Ribbon Girl and Spring Man
Developer(s)	Nintendo EPD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Kenta Sato Masaaki Ishikawa Shintaro Jikumaru
Producer(s)	Kosuke Yabuki
Artist(s)	Masaaki Ishikawa
Composer(s)	Atsuko Asahi Yasuaki Iwata
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Release	WW: June 16, 2017
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Arms is a fighting game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch, released worldwide on June 16, 2017. The game differentiates itself from standard fighting games as up to four players can choose a fighter and battle using a variety of extendable arms to knock out opponents in a three-dimensional arena.

Gameplay

Up to four players can control one of a variety of fighters, with the player able to perform basic fighting actions using extendable arms such as punching, throwing, blocking, and dodging.^[1][2] Arms features eleven playable fighters, with some of them being released as downloadable content.^[3] 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.^[4] When the attack meter is fully charged, players are able to unleash a high-damage "rush attack" against their opponents.^[5] Players can also charge their attacks to temporarily increase damage.^[6] Each character has a different set of abilities and unique gloves for different strategies. Players are able to use the system's Joy-Con motion-controllers or standard button input to operate each arm individually. Conventional control methods, such as with the Pro controller, are also able to be used. Players are also able to customize their arm loadouts, 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 2v2 mode in which teammates are tethered together.^[7][8]

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.^[7] Players can also play online in a party match lobby with up to 20 players, or in one-on-one ranked matches.^[9]

Characters

Arms featured ten playable fighters at its launch: Spring Man, a boxer; Ribbon Girl, a pop star; Ninjara, a student ninja; Master Mummy, a resurrected mummy; Min Min, the poster child for her family's ramen restaurant; Mechanica, a girl fighting in a mech suit; Twintelle, a movie star; Byte & Barq, a robotic police officer and his robotic canine companion; Kid Cobra, a professional snakeboarder; and Helix, a lab experiment. Downloadable characters have also been added post-release, with the first being Max Brass, commissioner of the Arms League.

Development

The game was developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development division. Early on, the idea of featuring staple Nintendo characters such as Link and Mario was considered. However, the aesthetic of the game, especially with the concept of extendable arms, clashed with them, and it was eventually decided to make a new cast of characters.^[10] Character designs started with the arms first with the team working backwards to decide what type of character would possess it, for instance the character of Helix, started with the idea of a fighter whose arms were DNA strands, although the team initially did not know much else about him. Most fighters were designed to fill a gameplay need, although there are some exceptions where a design came first.^[10] An early concept for the game had the characters using external devices to punch their opponents, however, this was later dropped in favor of the characters extending their actual arms.^[11]

Release

The game was announced at the Nintendo Switch presentation on January 12, 2017, and was released worldwide on June 16, 2017.^[1][12] Prior to the game's release, a multiplayer demo known as the "Arms Global Testpunch" was made available for download on the Nintendo eShop, with players being able to test the online gameplay during twelve separate hour-long sessions.^[13][14] Timed post-releases updates will also be released featuring new playable characters, stages, and arms.^[15] The demo events and free releases of additional content follow Splatoon's update model.^[16]

Reception

At its announcement, Arms was compared by critics to the boxing minigame from Wii Sports.^[21][22] Jack Sheperd of The Independent stated after playing it at a Switch hands-on event that it was one of the "most impressive" games on display.^[23] Edge compared Arms with other Nintendo titles and thought that "Arms is to the fighting game what Splatoon is to the online shooter or Mario Kart to the driving game".^[24]

The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.^[17] Brandon Graeber from IGN praised the game's complexity and addictive nature, but noted the game's lack of content at launch.^[19] Michael McWhertor from Polygon applauded the game's concept, which he described as creative, and that the game reminded him of the Punch-Out!! series, stating that Arms could become Nintendo's next big franchise.^[20] Kallie Plagge from GameSpot praised the character roster, but criticized the game's steep learning curve.^[18]

Arms debuted at number two on the UK sales charts, behind Horizon Zero Dawn.^[25] It was number two in Australia, behind the same game.^[26] It sold 100,652 copies during its first week of release in Japan.^[27] By the end of June, it had sold over 1.18 million copies, representing over 25% of the ownership of the Switch at that time.^[28]

References

External links

• Official website