Review – Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer

In 2018, in the first year of the Switch’s life, Nintendo launched a rhythmic boxing game called Fitness Boxing, another of its ventures that try to combine physical activities with video games. Little did we know how committed she was to this new franchise and, since then, there have been three titles and two spin-offs with crossovers – one with the anime Fist of the North Star and the other with star Hatsune Miku.

Heading into its eighth year of life, the Switch still has a lot to deliver – and the same goes for Fitness Boxing, apparently. Now in its third title, Nintendo brings back the same rice and beans seen in the other two, but with a few additional things to give it that sequel feel.

Have you trained today?

If you missed them (which is totally understandable), let’s have a quick explanation of how Fitness Boxing works. Here we have an evolution of the much-missed Wii Sports boxing minigame, but with a more health-focused approach. It is still a game, but the proposal here is to repeat a series of activities every day to keep your training up to date.

All sessions consist of a rhythmic minigame that, in practice, is just like the famous arcade dance games. You will see some icons rising across the screen and you will need to punch at the exact moment, always taking into account which hand represents which side the icon is on. In the end, your score will be measured according to the timing of the punches – but the focus is on estimating how many calories were burned in this game.

The Switch is a well-designed console for this sort of thing, so just holding a Joy Con in each hand will have all your movements registering successfully. It’s a simple game to play and very accessible, allowing everyone to adopt an exercise routine without having to leave home. Just play half an hour a day and you can already say that you have a physically active life.

What’s new?

Fitness Boxing 3 doesn’t have many new features compared to its predecessors – after all, it has always delivered the basics quite efficiently, so there isn’t much more to expect beyond that. The game returns with the same modes as the previous ones and the addition of two new ones, but what really draws attention here is the “relationship simulator” that they added to the virtual personal trainers.

Here we have a variety of six personals, two of which are new: Monica and Stella. There’s no difference between who you choose, so it’s not a crime to assume that you’ll probably go with whatever you think looks best. However, this time you can get to know your trainer a little deeper, thanks to some dialogues that add more spice to their personalities (which were previously non-existent).

The more time you spend with a specific personal, the more points you earn in Box and Bond, where you will be able to watch some scenes of personal moments with your trainer. Don’t think this is a dating simulator, as all the conversations are very crude, almost always limited to the only subject they understand: a fitness life. Still, we have something new here that I never expected to see in this game.

The new modes are Sit Fit Boxing and Mitt Drills. The first goes completely against the game’s proposal, allowing players to do their training sitting down (the lazy ones will be grateful). The second brings a more fun way to play, eliminating the rhythmic factor and allowing players to practice freely, throwing as many punches as they want at their own time.

To complete the party, you can even use the coins you earn as a reward to purchase licensed music from the in-game store. The list is very limited, but anyone who is a fan of Fall Out Boy, Elton John, Madonna, Billie Eilish and other popular artists may find something to their liking. Those still stuck in 2013 can even train to ‘What Does The Fox Say?’ (contains irony).

Fitness Boxing 3 is a fair sequel and makes it more attractive for those who continue to play the second one to this day. Don’t expect mind-blowing news, but at least you’ll be able to venture into new ways and become friends with your virtual personal trainer. However, it may not be a very interesting title for those who are already up to date with their exercises.