Nintendo revealed the official trailer for ARMS, a unique fighting game coming to the Nintendo Switch yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8DSI623kxI
In the official trailer, players are using the Nintendo Switch motion controls to punch, block, and pull off special moves in order to defeat their opponent. Players grab the joy-con with a “thumbs up” grip and button presses, according to the official Nintendo website. The game comes with a variety of fighters, arenas, and weapons. The 10 playable fighters include characters like a girl with ramen noodle arms, a fighter-canine duo, and a mummy, according to a Nintendo Direct for both ARMS and Splatoon 2.
Players have the option to equip two ARMS (the fists used in combat) after they choose their fighter, with features like long-range, offensive, and defensive ARMS. Each ARMS is a different type, ranging from a toaster to a shield. These weapons contain one of seven special attributes to their ARMS, including Fire, Electricity, Wind, Ice, Stun, Explosion, and Blind. Also, some ARMS weigh more than others, so players have to pay attention to what ARMS they choose. Players will be able to upgrade their ARMS with currency earned from battles.
The game also comes with a versus mode and multiplayer mode. There are the normal “Fight” battles, where fighters battle against each other one-on-one while items are being dropped in the ring to heat things up and “Team Fight” battles where two fighters are tied to each other and battle against their opponents while watching out for friendly fire.
Some of the more unique versus modes include “V-Ball”, where players have to play volleyball using an explosive, “Hoops”, where players use their opponent as the basketball in order to score, and “1-on-100,” where players fight against 100 opponents in a row.
Players can connect locally or wirelessly to play online through multiplayer mode. ARMS will hold ranked matches so that players can compete against each other in order to move up and down in rankings.
While waiting for ranked matches, players can play “Grand Prix,” where fighters compete against 10 opponents to be named champion, “Party Match,” where up to four fighters can battle each other as long as they are in the same lobby, or “Local Wireless Mode,” where eight Nintendo Switch systems can be in the same lobby as one another. The same rules for “Party Match” apply to “Local Wireless Mode.”
Along with all of these features, Nintendo announced that all software updates for ARMS, which can include new fighters, new arenas, and new ARMS will be free. Most DLC released for gaming costs a significant amount of money, so fans of the game are more excited to buy their own copy. On the Nintendo Direct video available on the official Nintendo YouTube channel, commenter SugarFreeTargets said “Free updates/DLC… That is what sold me.”
Currently, Nintendo is holding the ARMS Global Testpunch, also known as the official demo for the game. Players can download and log into the game from May 26 to June 4 in the hours posted on ARMS’ official website. Each time slot will only be open for an hour, though, so be sure to get a chance to play before the full game is released.
Nintendo has had incredible success with the Nintendo Switch, selling 2.74 million units from its release date of March 3 until the end of the month, according to Business Insider. In comparison, the Wii sold around 2.86 million units at launch while the Wii U sold 2.66 million units at launch.
ARMS will be released on June 16, available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. Pre-order for the game is available now at Best Buy for $59.99.
Featured image of an ARMS demo via Flickr/Antoine Turmel.
