From Wii Fit to Ring Fit, Nintendo is no stranger to developing their own workout titles meticulously designed to get you off the couch and exercising in a uniquely fun way through the power of gaming. This is the same mantra used for the Imagineer-developed Fitness Boxing series, which began on Switch in 2018, with each entry (aside from the Fist of the North Star and Hatsune Miku spin-offs) published by Nintendo themselves. As today marks four years since the release of Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise, let's work out if Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer has what it takes to be a knockout.
Fitness Boxing 3 starts off with a tutorial that goes over the basics of gameplay. Firmly holding a Joy-Con controller in each hand (and attaching the wrist straps, of course), the objective is to perform various boxing moves (including jabs, hooks, uppercuts, ducks, weaves, sways, blocks, and front-back steps) as instructed by a personal trainer to the rhythm of the music. A progress bar on the top-middle of the screen shows how much time is left in any given workout, and a score counter appears in the top right. Your total score is determined by the timing accuracy of your movements, with target indicators on either side of your instructor, correlating to each hand.
As a rhythm game fanatic, I was personally hooked on the concept, and getting combos is very satisfying and addictive. However, it was immediately noticeable that the motion-controls of the Joy-Con are not as accurate as the game would like you to believe. There were many times when I would perform the wrong action entirely, such as accidentally doing a hook instead of an uppercut, and it would still register as a successful hit. While it's definitely better that the controls are forgiving rather than overly punishing, some of the potential challenge is lost in the process.
Throughout the duration of the workout, your personal trainer not only calls out which order of actions to perform, but also what stance you should be in and how your posture should look. Without the support of something akin to the Wii Fit Balance Board or a Nintendo Switch Sports leg-strap, there is no way for the game to properly judge if you're doing the exercises correctly from the waist down. This becomes even more apparent during the optional before and after stretching segments, which don't actually read your controller movements at all, and is essentially just a fitness training video. A good fitness training video, but a fitness training video nonetheless, meaning the quality and effectiveness of your workout will mostly be dependent on how determined you are to do the exercises correctly by following along with the personal trainer.
There are 6 personal trainers (also known as instructors) to choose from, each with their own personalities and ambitions. This is a notable step down from the 9 that were featured in Fitness Boxing 2, but considering you'll likely stick with one instructor for your routine anyway, it's ultimately not a huge loss. Lin, Evan, and Bernardo make their return from the previous Fitness Boxing games, while the other three, Monica, Stella, and Guy, are newly introduced. The reason for the character cuts is that Fitness Boxing 3 has a stronger focus on forming a more personal relationship with your instructor. After exercising enough with a particular instructor, you'll unlock one of five "Box and Bond" sessions where they will tell you something about their life, leading to a curated workout. It's nothing that exciting, but unlocking each one feels like a good milestone.
All 6 of the conventionally attractive and energetic instructors are fully voice-acted, with English, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), and Japanese language options. Despite the near constant talking and frequently repeating voicelines, all of the voice actors do a good enough job so that their words feel motivating rather than annoying. The reminders to breathe and drink water is appreciated, as it can be easy to forget for those who are not used to heavy exercise.
A variety of customization options are also available for your instructors, including tops, bottoms, accessories, shoes, eyewear, hats/hairstyles, and hair, skin, and eye colour. Some item styles, like tops and bottoms, are exclusive to an individual instructor, while others, like accessories and shoes, can be used universally. More customization options are unlocked as you progress, with some requiring points to purchase. Points are gathered for earning achievements (there are over 130 of them, like landing a certain number of punches for example) or by completing daily/weekly missions. Alongside all the stats, charts, data and monthly ranks featured in Fitness Boxing 3, trying to unlock everything is a great motivator to get you into the routine of playing the game every day.
By inputting your birthday, height, and weight, the game calculates your BMI to more accurately estimate the amount of calories you burn for each workout. Additionally, you'll be given a personalized Daily Workout program based on your selected preferences such as your goal (maintenance, get moving, stamina, or fun), which parts of your body you want to focus on (biceps, chest, core, hips, calves), and how long you want to workout for (10, 20, 30, or 40 minutes). There are a multitude of options available, as the Daily Workout is tailor made for you and your needs. There are over 30 possible exercises, each with three different intensity levels.
All of the exercises can also be played separately from the Daily Workout in Free Training (or in the separate 2-player mode), but you'll need to successfully complete some in order to unlock the others (it only takes a couple hours to unlock them all). You can create your own program by selecting multiple exercises to seamlessly transition between them during your workout with virtually no loading times. Each exercise displays the length of time it will take to complete, the difficulty level, how many calories you'll burn, which parts of the body it affects, and which boxing actions are performed. There are 5 different background environments to choose from for each exercise, with colourful visuals and lighting effects that look good without being too distracting.
Free Training also features two unique other modes: Sit Fit Boxing, which is mostly the same as the regular exercises except you're sitting while doing them, and Mitt Drills, where you hit the gloves of your instructor with the actions as directed instead of to the beat. Both of these modes only include three exercises with two intensity levels each: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. However, just like with regular exercises, you can choose which song plays during the workout. Fitness Boxing 3 has 10 original compositions and 20 instrumental covers of well-known licensed tracks that require points to unlock just like with the customization options. Three different song speeds can also be selected if you want to slow down or speed things up.
Track list:
- The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) / Ylvis
- Ghostbusters / Ray Parker Jr.
- I Was Made for Lovin' You / Kiss
- I'm Still Standing / Elton John
- Sugar, We're Goin Down / Fall Out Boy
- Bad Guy / Billie Eilish
- Danger Zone / Kenny Loggins
- I'm a Believer / The Monkees
- Material Girl / Madonna
- Miss You / Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz
- Take on Me / a-ha
- Don't Sweat the Technique / Eric B. & Rakim
- …Baby One More Time / Britney Spears
- Stay / The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber
- Super Freak / Rick James
- Viva La Vida / Coldplay
- The Spectre / Alan Walker
- I Should Be So Lucky / Kylie Minogue
- Counting Stars / OneRepublic
- She's All I Wanna Be / Tate McRae
Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer pulls the punches in providing an accessible workout experience that encourages a more active and healthy lifestyle. The charismatic personal trainers excel at properly motivating you to reach your goals with the help of fun, albeit finicky, motion-controlled rhythm-based boxing exercises. While the game doesn't do quite enough to differentiate itself from its predecessors for those that have them, it's still a fairly good fitness regime for those who are looking to get an early start on their New Year's resolutions. Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on 5th December 2024 and a free demo is available now via the eShop.
7/10
A copy of Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer for review purposes was provided by Nintendo UK.
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