Game of the Week: October 18th 2025
ARMS (Switch, 2017)
Developer: Nintendo EPD Publisher: Nintendo
It's like breathing, but more important.
I'll admit it. This is not my first rodeo with this title. In fact, me and ARMS have a long history dating back to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I used to be very obsessed with this game when I was a little 15-year old.
I spent every day getting my hands on any and all information about this game I could track down, screenshots from when the game was in development, the implied lore, the gag manga published by CoroCoro Comic, the Dark Horse graphic novel that eventually got canned, the occasional fanfic or fanart.
When I had seen everything about this game there was to see, I wanted more. I needed more. I waited every day for a sequel that would never come. I even went as far as checking patent sites reguarly to see if Nintendo had filed a trademark for anything related to ARMS.
When Nintendo announced that a character from ARMS was coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, another game I was deeply obsessed with at the time, I was overcome with pure, unfettered excitement. It was the most excited I'd even been for a video game announcement.
Of course, not all things last forever, and I eventually moved on to another niche video game franchise to obsess over. But even when I stopped hyperfixating on ARMS, I never stopped thinking about ARMS. I continued to play the game every once in a while for old times sake. This is one of those times.
Not a single thought behind those plastic eyes.
Today, I decided to play ARM's primary single-player mode: Grand Prix. Admittedly a bit of a strange name for a mode in a fighting game. In this mode, you play 9 matches against different opponents from all over, all culminating in a final match against the Top Brass of the ARMS Leauge - Max Brass.
Match 1
The first match of Grand Prix put me, playing as Spring Man up against Ribbon Girl, a famous idol who can preform double jumps. The moment the first round started, it was clear the rust was begining to show. I was missing almost every punch I threw at her. But by the second round, I got back on my feet and won the match with one fell jab of my Skully.
Match 2
Next match pitted me against Ninjara, a student attending Ninja College. I allowed myself to get grabbed within a few seconds of the first round starting, common mistake on my part. I was able to slow down my opponent by repeatedly freezing and electrocuting him before he could do anything. I must've broke something inside Ninjara's brain because he was shielding a soon as the second round started. I repeated the same strategy and claimed victory not long after.
Match 3
Match 3 had me playing Skillshot against Master Mummy. In my years of playing this game on and off, I have never once enjoyed Skillshot. I always lose on the first try. My first strategy involved me using double Skullys, because I was under the impression that I would be able to quickly hit all the targets and gather a lot of points, it did not work. I chose to use double Burrchucks in the rematch and ended up winning 985-940.
Match 4
The first match I began to struggle in. I was clearly no match against Mechanica's Whammers and lost 1-2. In the rematch, I decided to weild double Burrchucks and play it safer this time around. I claimed victory from the jaws of defeat 2-0.
Match 5
In my match against Min Min; I realized the true potential of dual Burrchucks. When used properly, they could claim victory in under 2 minutes. Of course, my aim was still poor, so I would have to improve on that to unlock that potential. Nothing of note happened during this match.
Match 6
Hoops, It's "B-Ball with a twist", the twist being that you are the ball. I thought I was being clever by striking down Kid Cobra with an Electric ARM and going for a grab as soon as the match started, but I missed, allowing him to throw me into the net for a sweet 2 points. I was at a score disadvantage for most of the match, but I managed to win 10-6 by way of 2 Rushes and a grab in the last 20 seconds of the match.
Match 7
It's worth mentioning that ARMS Labs, the owners of ARMS Café, are on the verge of bankrupcy in-universe. So maybe consider stopping by? Please?
I met Lola Pop on my road to The Commish. Annoyingly, she chose to use double Clapbacks in the first round, I was constantly having to avoid these things because if you accidently hit them, your punch will come flying back to you. The second round, she replaced them with one Funchuck and one Biffler. The Biffler covers your screen with stamps if you get hit by them while they're charged, effectivly making you blind. Otherwise, I did not struggle too hard, I'm practically blazing through these. Perhaps I should've picked a higher difficulty.
For my troubles, I won a badge for fighting in 1,000 rounds. As Spring Man would say, "Nice!"
Match 8
The match with Twintelle went by without much incident. Did you know that she has her own Wikipedia page?
Semifinal
As with Twintelle, the match with Helix went by without anything of note happening. Except one very annoything thing. In the second round, he chose to use dual Guardians, which are Electric-type variants of the Clapback. It was like fighting Lola Pop all over again. Oh my god bruh I hate Sheild ARMS so much.
I also got a badge after the match ended, for breaking all of the test tubes in DNA Lab. Potentialy costing ARMS Labs millions of dollars.
Grand Finale
This is it. The match everyone's been waitng for. Spring Man Vs. Max Brass. Historicaly, I've always struggled against the Commish. His Explosive ARMS and ability to bulk himself up make fighting him a tough challenge every time I get to this point in Grand Prix.
Nonetheless, I persevered and managed to win 2-1 by doing the same thing I've been doing for every match, throwing ice nunchucks at him until he stops moving.
With this, I have won the Grand Prix and-- Wait, what is that thing in the sky?
Hedlok
You say too late to start, with your heart in a headlock...
A screaming four-armed robot skull has attached itself to Max Brass and is now puppeting his body. It appears we'll need to attend to this pressing matter before we can celebrate.
A strategy I've always used when dealing with Hedlok is to use dual Electric-type ARMS, because one punch from a charged Electric-type ARM momentarily disables Hedlok's ARMS. Not so tough now. But this does not guarantee victory, dealing with a six-armed Max Brass who can breath explosive fireballs is difficult even with the power of lighting on my side. I struggled considerably against the Party Crasher, but in the end I won 2-1.
Conclusion
With that, I have beaten Grand Prix mode for real. Spring Man can take the Champion Belt home and I can write down my thoughts on this game as a whole.
My biggest criticism of ARMS is how little there is to do in single-player. There's Grand Prix, the various modes in Versus, ARMS Getter, and that's basically it. Even as a teenager who was a diehard fan and would defend this game like my life depended on it, I felt the same way.
You may be wondering "But what about Party/Ranked Match?" Yes I'm aware of and have played those modes in the past, but the thing about those modes is that they are locked behind a paid Nintendo Switch Online subscription, something I do not currently have or can afford as of writing... The Wii U had free online play...
But beyond that. ARMS is still a lot of fun and has a lot of potential. I really like the soundtrack, the UI, the stages, the general "aesthetic" of the whole game. Every character has a unique gimmick that keeps the gameplay fresh.
I personaly belive the game would benifit from a "story" mode. Grand Prix might already be considered a story mode by some, but what I mean when I say "story mode" is that I want to dive into this game's world. I want to see how the ARMS League came to be, I want to see what lead to the end of Max Brass and Dr. Coyle's relationship, I want to see what ARMS Labs' "Master Plan" is. I want character interaction, full voice acting, cutscenes. I want a full-ledged story with a begining, middle and end.
and also I want VS. Hedlok in Single-Player. Why is it not in Single-Player WTF?
Final Verdict:
If one is willing to look past its flaws and lack of single-player content. ARMS is an exciting game, visualy, auditory and gameplay-wise, that can be enjoyed by almost everyone. Here's hoping that Nintendo makes a sequel or at least some DLC some day... If that day ever comes, that is.
