It's easy to draw comparisons between ARMS and Splatoon, Nintendo's paintball shoot-‘em-up that debuted on Wii U in 2015. Both games represent major new first-party IPs – a rarity for Nintendo – featuring stylized visuals and gameplay that usurps their respective genre norms.

Basic mechanics are easy to learn; Fun suite of multiplayer options; V-Ball and Hoops

Motion controls just aren't precise enough; Characters seem cool; but lack backstory; dialogue; and personality; Fighter and Arm selection needs more detail

Arms joins Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon in the pantheon of wonderfully accessible Nintendo multiplayer experiences that also happen to be great competitive games. It's a blast to play when you just want to swing around some Joy-Cons with your friends, but it also appeals to the hardcore fighting...

Strip away its motion controls and Arms is a fun but forgettable affair, albeit one that you can carry wherever you please thanks to the Switch’s portable wizardry. With a pair of Joy-Cons clasped in your hands, it’s a different game entirely, becoming one of the most immersive fighters we’ve ever played and a great big sugar rush of cartoonish combat. There’s just no topping the experience of watching your opponent flail away in person as you jab, swipe and smash your way to victory. Even it does lack a bit in the way of polish, Arms still has more than enough charm to rank as one of our favourite games for Nintendo’s new console. Buy the Arms game here from Argos (UK) | Amazon (USA)

Joy-Con controls; Simple game mechanics; Manic online play;

Sparse fighter roster; No story mode;

Joy-Con controls; Simple game mechanics; Manic online play;

Sparse fighter roster; No story mode;

Most fighting games are cut from the same cloth as trailblazers like Street Fighter II and Virtua Fighter , beholden to side-view perspectives and an array of melee and projectile attacks.

Far deeper combat than expected; hundreds of customisation options; numerous game modes

Forwards and backwards movement irritates; V-Ball mode disappoints

With slick and in-depth motion-controls, a unique roster of characters and an intense brand of competitive multiplayer mayhem, the spiritual successor to Punch-Out!! - ARMS - looks to come out swinging on Switch.

Arms' clever take on boxing provides a simple premise with a startling amount of depth for those who would seek to master the stretching appendages. Its rapidly evolving lobby system had me sticking around for "just one more match.

Given how Splatoon managed to build upon its skimpy initial offering (albeit one that was available at a lower price, it's worth remembering, unlike this), there's every reason to believe that Nintendo will come good. Regardless, though, it's worth making the jump right now.

For a company that is so often accused of relying too heavily on its existing franchises, Nintendo has been refreshingly open to creating new intellectual properties of late. Splatoon famously came out of nowhere back in 2015 and established Nintendo as a key player in the online shooter genre, and...