ARMS for Nintendo Switch features a colourful cast of characters. They each have their own special abilities and attributes and their own arena. These abilities come in handy when fighting and could be the difference between winning and losing.
There are 10 fighters on the roster for you to choose from so let’s take a look at them and see which one suits you best.
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Spring Man
Spring Man is the de facto mascot for ARMS. He appears in the promotional images and is the first character on the roster. His special ability is that when his health is low, his fists are charged permanently. This means you’re able to do extra damage to your opponent and potentially come back to win.
Spring Man will also deflect any hits that come at him as his charge is wearing off. This is a passive ability and happens without the player needing to do anything.
His arena, Spring Stadium, includes springboards around the edge. By using these springboards, players can jump high above their opponent to launch an aerial offensive.
Ribbon Girl
Ribbon Girl is next cab off the rank and her ability allows her to jump multiple times. This is most useful in her own arena, Ribbon Ring. In Ribbon Ring boxes appear and change the terrain. Jumping on top of them can give you an edge over your opponent.
Ribbon Girl is also able to dive bomb her opponents by holding dash while in the air. The dive bomb is a fast and damaging move that will knock your opponent down and allow you to gain the upper hand.
By using Ribbon Girl’s jumps and dashes, you can combine jumping, dashing and dive bombing to quickly move around the arena and take out your opponent.
Ninjara
Ninjara is easily the enemy I had the most trouble fighting. He’s very fast and nimble and he uses throws better than any other opponent. If you jump and then dash with Ninjara, he will vanish in a puff of smoke and reappear a short distance away.
This is an excellent way to avoid attacks and to flank your opponent. Ninjara also has a passive ability. When he blocks he will automatically vanish and reappear, allowing you to get the upper hand.
Ninjara’s arena, Ninja College, is a large set of stairs. Gaining the high ground on the stairs is the key to victory.
Master Mummy
Master Mummy is the biggest fighter in the game. That makes him the slowest and the hardest hitting. It also means that unlike other fighters, Master Mummy can take a punch without flinching.
Because he’s a being of the supernatural, Master Mumy can summon spirits to refill his health gradually while he blocks. He only gets +10 every couple of seconds, which isn’t a lot. It may be enough to survive a fight though.
His arena, Mausoleum, is hiding a secret trampoline. You can reveal it by smashing your opponent down into the centre of the arena.
Min Min
Min Min is made of noodles. Ramen noodles to be precise. When you use dash in midair with Min Min, she performs a spinning kick that can deflect incoming attacks.
Her left arm can be transformed into a dragon that does more damage if you charge her up too. If you take too much damage though, her left arm will go back to being a noodle.
Her arena, Ramen Bowl, is curved and shaped like a bowl which makes getting the high ground a priority.
Mechanica
D.Va
Roll
Mechanica is a scrappy young fighter with a robotic suit. Like Master Mummy, her size protects her from flinching. Her robotic suit allows her to hover in midair if you hold down both dash and jump.
Her arena, Scrapyard, includes a raised area and several metal poles which can be used as cover. Gaining the high ground on Scrapyard gives you an advantage as you can rain down punches from above.
Twintelle
Twintelle is the only character in the game to have normal arms. Instead, she has crazy hair that does the punching for her. Righto.
When she charges up, Twintelle is surrounded by a field that slows down incoming punches. This gives her a chance to dash away without being hit. Twintelle can also hold dash while in the air to air charge.
Her arena, Cinema Deux, allows players to bounce off the cars and gain extra height.
Byte & Barq
Byte and Barq are robotic police officers and the only duo in ARMS. Byte is able to jump off Barq and do a high jump and if hit, while he’s jumping, will deflect the punches.
Barq is controlled by the AI and will punch your opponent for you. He can get knocked down though and if he does, will be out of action for a few seconds.
Their arena, Buster Beach, has a small raised platform in the centre. Can you work out what it’s for?
Kid Cobra
Kid Cobra can be the fastest fighter in the game if used correctly. His dash is slower than the others’ but if he dashes while charged he will do a quick step.
Kid Cobra’s jump is also much faster than any other character in the game.
His arena, Snake Park, features hovering snakeboards that allow players to move faster and higher. If you manage to knock your opponent off their snakeboard, you’ll gain a huge advantage.
Helix
Helix is a weird blob of DNA. He moves differently to the other fighters and has a really different style.
If you hold down the jump button he will extend his body upwards, growing much taller. By holding down the dash button, Helix will shrink and become a puddle of ooze on the floor.
His arena, DNA Lab, includes six tubes which players can use to hide behind or strategically to attack opponents from behind.
There you have it. They are the 10 fighters in ARMS. Each has some strengths and weaknesses and whoever you choose will come down to your personal preference.
I recommend starting out with Spring Man or Ribbon Girl. They’re both really easy to use and get the hang of and will ease you into ARMS’ mechanics. You should definitely give each fighter a test run though, they’re all interesting and different from each other.
A digital pre-release copy of ARMS was provided to PowerUp! by Nintendo.
