Last week, Nintendo teased a bizarre new experience for the Switch. The trailer showed groups of people around the world playing with a strange piece of equipment that looked like some exercise peripheral. The video also showed them using a strap to attach a Joy-Con to their leg. Nintendo promised to reveal more on this today.
And it has done just that.
Dubbed Ring Fit Adventure, it’s launching next month and comes with a copy of the game, a Ring-Con (yep) and a leg strap.
Ring Fit Adventure
First and foremost, Nintendo calls this an ‘adventure game.’ In Ring Fit Adventure, Nintendo says players “won’t be pressing buttons on the Joy-Con controllers to move and attack.
“Instead, you’ll move your whole body to explore the world, battle enemies and reach the goal.” The Ring-Con isn’t a simple piece of plastic. Nintendo explains that it’s actually an electronic piece of tech that can sense movement and also react to it.
The Ring-Con is also able to be calibrated to your ability and preference so it’s not too hard or too easy.
The story involves an evil, bodybuilding dragon named Drago. Having thrown the world into chaos, players need to stop Drago and save the world. In the video, you can see that to explore the world, players will need to jog in place. The on-screen character will move at a speed that matches your level of exertion.
The character will also follow a linear, guided path through the level. To jump, players can push on the sides of the Ring-Con to create a blast of air while aiming downwards, to clear obstacles.
Battling enemies is a turn-based affair. Players and enemies will use ‘fit skills’ to fight and deal damage and there are over 40 to learn. In the video, it shows the player using squats to deal damage. There are four categories of fit skill; Red which uses your arms, Yellow which uses core muscles, Blue which uses your legs and Green skill which are inspired by Yoga.
The colours of the enemies relate to which fit skills you should use to defeat them. By fighting the enemies, players will earn XP which levels up their character and unlocks new Fit kills.
There’s also a Quick Play mode which is separate from the Adventure mode for those just wanting a quick gameplay session/workout. In this mode, players can take turns in mini-games and go for a high score.
There are also Simple and Sets modes which let players either choose exercises to perform individually or create a tailored workout of multiple exercises in a series.
Ring Fit Adventure is releasing on October 18, 2019, and will retail at $124.95 AUD.
