Fitness Boxing | Review

While fitness games aren't my favorite genre, good fitness games tend to be oddly captivating to me. The Wii Fit series has gotten many hours of playtime for me, and it also manages to be an excellent workout. Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn't continued with the "Wii" branding on the Switch, meaning we might not see another game in the Wii Fit series.

Thankfully, Nintendo did publish a game that aims to scratch the fitness itch, at least for boxing fans.


PROS:

-There's a demo. I always like when a game has a demo available, and that's especially true when it comes to fitness games. Not every fitness game is going to be what you want it to be, so it's nice that you can try the game pretty extensively before buying.

-The graphics are solid. The menus and models look nice, but more importantly the cues for how the game wants you to move are very easy to look at and understand.

-The game tracks unfinished workouts. Sometimes you'll have to cut your routine short, and thankfully Fitness Boxing tracks calories burned even if you need to quit.

-The music selection is solid. I was initially concerned when I saw the available music tracks. That being said, all of the music has been redone to fit a more techno style, and the lyrics were removed in the process.

CONS:

-There's no support for imperial measurements. You have the option of putting in your height and weight, but it's done exclusively through centimeters and kilograms. Not a huge deal since North American players can use external tools online to convert units, but mildly irritating.

-The framerate isn't quite consistent. The game manages to keep a fairly steady framerate, but sometimes background visuals can be a bit too much to process without a little bit a stutter. This is more of an issue here than in most games, since the rhythm of the game being thrown off is can have a negative impact on gameplay.

-The lag between Joy-Cons and the Switch is noticeable. I suppose it's inevitable, but there's some lag between your movements and the Switch receiving those movements. The game in pretty generous with timing, meaning you shouldn't miss too many times from the latency, but it's noticeable, especially if you didn't spend a whole lot of time with Wii games.

-The price. $50 is a huge price tag compared to other fitness games like Wii Fit. Wii Fit also has a Rhythm Boxing game, which is rather similar to Fitness Boxing, albeit not as fleshed out.

CONTROLLER REPORT:

Fitness Boxing is only playable in tabletop or docked mode. The Pro Controller and GameCube controller are NOT compatible. This makes sense with this type of game, meaning I won't complain about this limitation.

OVERALL OPINION:

Fitness Boxing is a good way to get a fair amount of exercise in. The music selection is somewhat limited unless you like pop music, but the way the music is handled makes that far less of an issue. If the price is manageable to you, and throwing punches is how you want to burn some calories or build some muscle, it's a great option.