Arms
Review

Arms (2017) is a fighting game where you brawl other players with your abnormally long arms. The play is simple with motion and button controls to move around and attack the enemy player in a boxing-style arena. It's like Wii-Sports Boxing but with many more options and much more detailed (and comical) attacks.

You play using characters with long, weaponised arms that extend to attack. Each arm has a weapon of your choice on the end which are used at the same time to grab opponents. They can also be used in different combinations to cause more damage.

Using the motion controls and holding on Joy-Con in each hand, you dodge and block incoming attacks to avoid taking damage and getting knocked out of the game. With each hit you land or take, your rush meter fills up. Similar to Smash Ultimate; when your meter is full you time a heavy-damage attack on the other player.

There are 15 characters to choose from and each of them has a different ability that helps them during a fight. For example, with one of the players, you regenerate your health while blocking during the fight. Some of the arenas also have special traits such as obstacles to dodge or platforms that you can jump on to gain the high ground.

Arms is unique amongst fighting games because you primarily use long-range attacks and you customise which fists you want to fight with. It's also the silliest, which young players love.

Our examiner, Hannah Robertson, first checked Arms 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 22 months ago.