Nintendo Fitness Boxing 3 – a sporty Guitar Hero

Beads of sweat are forming on my hands. «We’ve only just started,» my trainer says. He can’t be serious, can he? We’ve been at this for 20 minutes! Nevertheless, I push myself to execute the next move without making any mistakes, really putting my back into it. I occasionally get upper cuts and jabs mixed up. But it’ll come to me eventually. After all, this is only my third day of training. Then, when my trainer invites me to do a little bonus workout as a result of my good performance, I can’t refuse.

Fitness Boxing 3 relies on a tried-and-tested concept

Nintendo’s rhythm-oriented sports game has stepped into the ring for round three. Like in the two previous versions, you choose a trainer and have them put together your daily boxing workouts. These usually last about 30 minutes each. You can select a difficulty level (Light, Regular or Heavy) each day, depending on how you’re feeling at the time. If I’ve had a sleepless night, for example, I treat myself to a gentler workout.

In addition to your daily workout, you can also do free training, customising each session separately. For example, you might want to exercise a specific muscle group or practise newly learned moves. You can also change your training arena’s appearance as well as the soundtrack you’ll be working out to.

The workouts themselves consist of a short warm-up involving stretching exercises. This is followed by the main part, where you do several punch combos used in boxing. You get between two and ten minutes to practise them. At the end, there’s a short cooldown – also consisting of stretching exercises.

Whenever you learn a new move, the trainer shows you how to position your feet and how to execute the hits. While you’re doing all this, you hold a Joy-Con loosely in each hand so that the game registers your movements. Side note for any non-native English speakers: the voiceover’s only available in English (or Japanese), but there are subtitles in other languages, including German.

I initially wasn’t too keen on having to hold the controllers throughout my boxing workout. But getting a little bit of feedback on each hit is pretty cool. It’s just a shame that the Joy-Con doesn’t always recognise incorrectly executed moves. If I punch straight ahead instead of sideways, it’s still counted as correct.

That means the main focus of the game is rhythm. You see, you need to follow the rhythm of the punches in order to score the maximum number of points. It makes me feel like I’m playing Guitar Hero. If, about five minutes into the session, the trainer notices you’re doing too well, they’ll suggest a more challenging workout. With each subsequent workout, new hits are added and the combos get faster.

Freshened-up graphics

Nintendo’s given the graphics and overall game presentation a funky makeover. Compared to Fitness Boxing 1 and Fitness Boxing 2, it all looks more modern and the movements are smoother. Trainers from previous versions have been reworked and two new ones have been added. As they have different personalities, they use different strategies to motivate you during your workout. I opt for a trainer with a nice voice. Given the fact I find most of them pretty unappealing, I go for Guy, who seems pretty neutral.

If you don’t like your trainer’s appearance, you can give them a different hair, eye or skin colour. The commentary’s sometimes repetitive and all the trainers say similar stuff, which can get annoying. Fortunately, if I concentrate hard enough on my workout, I can mentally block out what they’re saying.

The game asks for information about my personality, so I create a user profile under my name. You have the option of adding your height, gender and weight so that the game can calculate roughly how many calories you’re burning during your workouts. You can set goal weights too.

You can protect the data with a password. The game no longer calculates BMI (Body Mass Index), which I think is a great move. After all, it’s a mathematical indicator that can give you a false impression of your body composition. That’s because it relies on your weight and height alone to calculate whether you’re of normal weight, overweight or underweight (linked website in German).

How the game keeps you motivated

Health considerations aren’t always enough to motivate me to exercise regularly. The game, however, has a few tricks up its sleeve to keep me watching the screen – and moving.

You can use points you’ve collected during training

You collect points with every workout. These can be cashed in on two things, the first being new accessories for your trainer. This strongly reminds me of Pokémon Go, where you can also buy new clothes and items for your trainer. It’s slim pickings at the beginning, but you continuously unlock new items of clothing as you play. The first thing I do is give my trainer a cool tank top and new sneakers. After all, I have to look at him almost every day.

The second way to spend your points is to buy new workout music. Since the game’s primarily based on executing movements in time with music, this is definitely important. With my points, I can now box to Kiss, Fall Out Boy and Elton John.

Improve your rank and unlock more exercises

The better you do and the more workouts you complete, the higher your rank progresses. I’ve made it to the bronze level. According to the master screen, however, I’ve still got a way to go. You’re also taught additional moves as you rise through the ranks. These are then incorporated into your workouts, making them more complex and exciting.

With the Box and Bond feature, you can unlock workouts specific to your trainer. These sessions start off with the trainer briefly telling you about their personality. Once you’ve completed a bonding session, you get skins for your trainer as a reward.

RRRIING!!! A new workout awaits!

If you don’t want to miss a workout under any circumstances, you can set an alarm in the settings. At a time of your choosing, this’ll remind you that you’ve still got a training session to do. If you hit the Quick Workout button in the start menu, you’ll be taken right to your daily workout lasting around 30 minutes.

Two new modes to switch things up

As well as daily workouts and free training, there are two new modes available in Fitness Boxing 3. In Mitt Drills you work out with your trainer, who’s equipped with two boxing pads.

The moves are similar to the ones you do during regular training, so I quickly get the hang of it. The thing is, you have to execute the combos crosswise against your trainer’s pads.

At the same time, you see the next combo in full on the left-hand side of the screen. With this in mind, it’s not just your stamina, but your left-right co-ordination that gets put to the test. At first, I quite literally have to roll with the punches and accept my mistakes.

The second new mode is Sit Fit Boxing, which takes some getting used to. The advantage of this mode is that you can exercise your arms while sitting down, giving your legs a well-deserved break. If you have an injured leg or are unable to stand over long periods for whatever reason, Sit Fit Boxing is a great alternative.

Multiplayer mode for double the fun?

In multiplayer mode, you compete virtually against friends. The handy thing is that you don’t necessarily need two Joy-Cons for this – it also works if you have just one each.

Rivalry aside, those workouts are just the same as free workouts. You have the option of designing each training session however you like. However, if you’re doing that, you have to bear in mind that there’s no tutorial. The person you’re competing against will also need to have learned the moves you’re adding. If you’re working out with another player, you’ll need enough space to train side by side, but it’s definitely fun.

Nintendo provided me with a copy of the game for testing purposes. It’ll be exclusively available on the Nintendo Switch from 5 December 2024.

Fancy trying out the game yourself and getting fit this winter? Then, why not enter our prize draw? With a bit of luck, you’ll win Fitness Boxing 3 for the Nintendo Switch. If you win, the game will, of course, be delivered to your home by post, with no effort required on your part.

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