Recs.
Updated
An arcade style boxing game in which your interchangeable arms stretch and perform various moves.
Specs
Pros
Pro A very unique take on the boxing genre
The arms stretch for long-range jabs and punches, meaning you can smack your opponent from across the arena. This adds a whole new depth to boxing and means you will be timing your dodges and ducks much differently than normal fighting games. Your arms also serve as weapons, and can be detached from your body and swapped around for different arms with various effects. You can charge them up for a variety of different attacks to stun, freeze, shoot, shock, push, and blast your opponent. If you're looking for a fighting game with a very unique premise, this will definitely fit the bill.
Pro Interchangeable arms for more strategic play
Each fighter has interchangeable arms that act as weapons and provide a variety of different effects, such as freezing your opponent, stunning, or knocking them over, when charged up. Besides offering a plethora of different effects, arm weapons also allow you to play on the strengths or weaknesses of your fighter. If your fighter is on the slow side, for example, you can use an arm that freezes opponents to help close the gap better. If your fighter moves quick but hits weak, you could use a stun arm to get some extra hits in.
While you can only use 2 arms at any time, you are allowed to choose 3 arms to take with you into the fight. Between rounds, you can swap arms from among your pool giving you an opportunity to switch up your strategy and counter your opponent. This offers some exciting potential for counterplay and it's really nice to be able to change your weapons after every round and try something new.
Pro Everyone can find a fighter they will enjoy
No matter what kind of fighting style you're looking for, the game has enough variety where everyone can find a fighter that they enjoy playing. Each of the 15 fighters has their own set of moves, custom interchangeable arms that act as weapons, and their own stat pool which consists of things like speed, jump height, and size. Based on these stats, the fighters will range from being able to zip quickly around the arena but not hitting with much force, to being slow moving brutes who hit very hard. Some special moves include hovering in midair, slowing down time, warping away from attacks, and healing. With each fighter having his or her own arsenal of moves, there's plenty to experiment and play around with, and a little bit of something for every play style.
Pro Clever multiplayer game modes spice up the action
Arms offers a few clever game modes to add to the brawl action that go above and beyond the typical fights and help to add some spice to the game. Modes are quick to play and easy to learn, so they are very accessible for players. In Skill Shot, you'll try to punch down popup targets as your opponent attempts to do the same. V-Ball is similar to volleyball, except the ball will explode if it hits the ground. Hoops involves you grabbing and dunking your opponent. Other modes include team fights and a multiplayer co-op brawl against a boss.
Pro Great lobby system in Party Match
In Party Match, the game puts you into a lobby with 20 other players, and then randomly shuffles everyone into groups for randomized game modes such a V-ball and Hoops. Even the way it's set up is visually interesting, with different player avatars being shuffled and mixed into various circles. You can actually see the system working with your own two eyes, such as players health bars dropping and the timer around the circle counting down, which is a great touch to let you know how far along in progress other matches are.
In the event there is ever an odd number of players, the lobby will adjust by placing all the players in free-for-alls against monstrous AI bosses until they can be placed in regular matches. Additionally, while you're waiting for to be placed into a match, you can warm up and test out your moves in a practice arena.
Cons
Con Motion controls can be imperfect at times
If you opt to use the motion controls, there may be a little imprecision in your punches due to the way the punches curve and how you flick your wrists. The analog sticks will almost always be a bit more precise and responsive (although arguably not as fun to some players).