Nintendo Switch – Everything you Need to Know About ARMS

In a special Nintendo Direct Treehouse Live presentation that took place Friday, January 13, Treehouse members showcased ARMS, an upcoming new fighter game for Nintendo Switch. The new fighting game features unique characters with extended arms that battle within various arenas to prove their worth. In this article we’ll go over everything we know about ARMS, including information about the game, the characters, and more.

As we stated above, ARMS is an upcoming fighter game for Nintendo Switch. While the game touts the new JoyCon controllers motion-tracking system as a big deal within the game’s mechanics, players who want to simply play the game like any other fighting game can do so by changing the game to more standard button configurations.

They also revealed at least five of the characters that will be available in Switch, and we’ve included their names, and details about their special abilities below.

• Springman – an all-around balanced character. Has a springy jump that players will find useful.
• Master Mummy – has additional armor, a very tanky character. Can heal when blocking.
• Ribbon Girl – Fast and agile. Great at controlling vertical space.
• Mechanica – can jump multiple times and fly around the arena for short periods.
• Ninjara – can vanish to dodge enemy attacks

ARMS will also feature a combat system designed with inspiration by the famous kid’s game—Rock, Paper, Scissors. Following the ‘rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper’ mentality, the developers have created a system of combat that revolves around knowing which attacks counter which. In the Treehouse demo that we were shown, members of Nintendo’s team explained that each aspect of combat has a weakness. Blocks can be broken by grabs, grabs can be broken by punches, and so on down the line.

Dubbed ‘the extendable arm fight game’, ARMS is the first new game to hit the Switch that introduces new characters to Nintendo’s already expansive roster. The game is built up around its co-op multiplayer aspect, which allows players to play against each other on-the-go. According to Amazon’s product listing, ARMS will cost the same as any other new game on the market right now, racking in at $59.99. 

We’ll continue to update this article as we learn more about Arms, and the various other titles available for the Nintendo Switch. Arms will be available sometime in the Spring of 2017, with more information about the release date to come at a later date. Head on over to our coverage on how to preorder the Nintendo Switch, or head back to our Nintendo Switch FAQ for more information and details about Nintendo’s latest console.