A unique twist in the fighting genre. The graphics, music, presentation are all 10/10. All fighters are fantastic to play and the combat strikes a perfect balance between being simple and complex. It definitely doesn't have much of depth for a pro fighting scene, but it's not a party game either where luck plays a role.
The truth is that the campaign is lacking which is unfortunate since the lore is there. Maybe a short campaign like Splatoon would elevate Arms in many people's eyes. Either way it's a fresh idea that looks and plays beautifully.

Arms was my most anticipated game for the Switch back in the day, and I think that's pretty funny in retrospect because it's currently collecting dust in my game catalogue. I did really like the game, don't get me wrong, but it never had much staying power in my headspace, and that seems to be a pretty common sentiment.

Gameplay:
Arms is a unique 3D fighting game where you fight using really long springy, arms. The combat sees you and your opponent facing off at long distances, throwing punches back and forth and maneuvering around attacks. It's all a fun concept backed up by mechanics that lead to exciting battles.

Firstly, the control scheme is pretty good. Admittedly, I've never played much with the traditional controls, but the game allows you to take advantage of the Switch's motion controls and it is, in my opinion, the best way to play the game. It's like boxing in Wii Sports after drinking two cans of Gfuel. Secondly, the moveset is simple but expanded upon in interesting ways. Punching and grabbing are your only real offensive options, but there's a lot to them. Punches/grabs can be shot straight forward or in a curve, allowing for maneuverability around objects. There's also a plethora of different kinds of fists to choose from that will effect the range and damage of punches. It allows for experimentation, but more than likely a player will find what they like a stick to it. Thirdly, the variety in stage design gives the players some interesting things to work with. Whether it be something like jump pads or just weird layouts, the stages keep players on their toes by making them adjust their approaches to punching and dodging. Lastly, the characters. There's a decent variety of characters to choose from that have their own attributes you can take advantage of. They each start with their own unique set of fists too, though each character's arsenal can be expanded through a mini game.

While the mechanics are solid, there's unfortunately some issues that hold back Arms's staying power. Firstly, while I've never touched the online aspect of the game, I'd have to imagine that the lack of updates and new content being added had to really hurt the replayability in that regard. Secondly, I felt like the game had a low skill ceiling. Despite the attempt to add variety and experimentation through stage layouts, fist types, and character abilities, things get repetitive quick. There's just not enough keeping battles from playing out the same way every time. The game really could have used something extra in its combat, whether that be more moves, more environmental interactions, or maybe even the addition of items that could be picked up, I dunno. Thirdly, the arcade mode is disappointing. Arms gives hints of some really cool world-building through its characters and presentation, but the game's main singleplayer mode is just a standard series of matches with nothing interesting going on. I cannot imagine how much more I would love the game if it had something as simple as an ending for each character.

Sound and visuals:
Sound design is good. Music is probably also good. Admittedly, I don't remember too much in the audio department. But hey, it's solid and that's what matters.

Arm's art direction is probably the objectively best part. The visuals are wonderfully vibrant and stylized. Stage designs are well-done and memorable, and the character designs are even moreso. I've had a Kid Cobra icon on my Switch profile for years and I have no plans to change it anytime soon (even if I rarely even acknowledge the game that it is from). This game still brings happiness to my artist heart even all these years later.

Conclusion:
Is Arms a game worth picking up in 2023 when so many good Switch exclusive games have come out? No. Absolutely not. Go play Splatoon or something. However, I do think it's worth remembering because it did have some pretty cool things about it. It probably won't ever happen, but I hope Nintendo will give this game a second shot someday because the concept is awesome and has a lot of potential. It was just missing that bit of extra effort in its mechanics and content to really give it that "wow" factor.

Arms no se merecia lo que recibio...

Este juego esta lleno de personalidad, tiene una idea bastante buena, la movilidad de los personajes es buena, es gracioso y me encanta

Que pena que fue un fracaso y ya nadie lo juegue a dia de hoy

It's incredibly telling that what Nintendo did here was a great idea that was executed poorly.

The music, the concept, the characters designs, the actual combat is all really great. But there isn't anything to do here aside from online matches and Grand Prix. Grand Prix being a series of 10 AI fights ending with a OP boss at the end. Don't get me wrong this is a common problem with a lot of fighters. Many of them lack anything that would normally keep a casual fan coming back. But even back when this released fighting games were being held to a higher standard.

There is no story mode. They went above and beyond with these character designs only to give us so little in terms of actual character. All you get is a text blurb at the start of each match. Your first fight in this game is the same as the last. Other than minor differences, once you beat the Grand Prix with one character you've done it with them all. Credits roll and game over right?

Well....no... I played a bit more afterwards. I like this combat in small doses. I loved the arenas, each pulling from the background of one of these fighters. I REALLY love the music and I just wish the game had more. I want an Arms 2, I want Nintendo to give this idea another chance. Do I think it will happen? I don't know. It didn't sell great and Nintendo has ignored way more profitable IPs for this to come back. But then again it is Nintendo and they do what they want.

It's honestly just a shame. I like this game. I wanna play more of it, but not right now. This is 100% a play a match once in a while. If you can accept that I would recommend it, but if you are looking for more meat on these bones unfortunately you'll want to look elsewhere.

TLDR: I wrote enough about Arms for there to be a TLDR. That shows I'm conflicted.