Review: Fitness Boxing 3 Remains a Good Exercise Game

It’s difficult to review entries in the Fitness Boxing line. It can come down to being about vibes sometimes. You need to spend at least a good two weeks with it, maybe more, and can’t grind like you would in traditional games. Also, unless there’s a set “theme” like Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star or Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku, some changes might not be immediately visible. That said, after spending time with Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer, I do think it is as solid an entry in the exercise game series as ever, with a few niceties that make it potentially more attractive than Fitness Boxing 2 or Zero to Dance Hero. 

As with past entries, the main focus in Fitness Boxing 3 is to show up everyday for Daily Workout, in the hopes of also completing the Daily and Weekly Missions for personal satisfaction. You can select your trainer, with Bernardo, Evan, Guy, Lin, Monica, and Stella as options. You determine your focus. You can also visit the Lounge to check your progress and see if you’re keeping up with your goals and continually playing. As this is a boxing-focused endeavor, it is only tracking your arms and fists to play, though naturally there will be some movement as you pivot, duck, and get into the swing of things. It will suggest the stance you should be using for each workout, as well as highlight how you should be moving your feet during the workout even though the application isn’t tracking that data. Also, music is always a major focus in the series, so there are 30 songs to listen to as you “fight.” 

For the most part, this element of Fitness Boxing 3 doesn’t feel all that different from past entries in the exercise game series. You’re still primarily focusing on striking with your left and right arms, with indicators scrolling on two lines on the left and right sides of the screen. Said images are clearly labeled with arrows that are immediately visible via shape and color. Also, the trainer you chose and text appears to ensure you don’t miss any instructions. So everything is clearly telegraphed, the workouts do feel like they make sense and are designed to help, and the UI choices make it fairly easy to keep up. The music is generally fine, though not as memorable as the soundtrack for Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku.

There are some additional elements that make it possible to work out in different ways than the traditional Daily Workout or Free Training that lets you pick a specific exercise and focus on that alone. The one I actually ended up using a bit is Sit Fit Boxing. It’s basically traditional Fitness Boxing 3 sessions, only you do your workout while seated when playing the game. I found it handy when traveling, since I was concerned about possibly making noise for folks on the floor below me or rooms next to me while moving around. (Plus, let’s be honest, the developers probably knew some of us were doing this already with other entries.) It just means some of the more movement-based actions, like drastic ducks, don’t come up. I could also see this option being great for accessibility purposes.

Fitness Boxing 3 also incorporates two other modes that let you change how it works slightly. One is Mitt Drills. This removes the music and timing from the experience. Your chosen trainer will appear in front of you while wearing mitts on each hand. On the left side of the screen, you’ll see two rows with kinds of punches you are expected to throw. You can take your time to put these in at your leisure, for a more gym-like experience. The other option is 2-Player Mode. That’s a local multiplayer mode that involves either each person with one Joy-Con or two folks with two pairs of them. I didn’t get to sample this with an actual extra person, but it seems like a fine enough concept when I “tested” it on my own. 

I do think the Box and Bond element is sort of fun addition, even though I didn’t feel like I really connected with any of the trainer characters in Fitness Boxing 3. The concept is as you exercise alongside them during the game, your relationship grows. Which makes sense, since you actually will likely spend at least 10-15 minutes per day with them. There are five of these for each person, and they’re fine. I didn’t feel the same affection for them as I would characters from other games, so it isn’t like I’d be as excited about talking with them as I was about tea time with my Fire Emblem: Three Houses faves. 

Fitness Boxing 3 is a totally fine exercise experience, and I would recommend it over the first or second mainline game. The exercises in it make sense and feel like they make a difference if you stick with it. There are some interesting options for when you feel like opting for something other than the straightforward Daily Workout. However, I will say people looking for something a little more fun or engaging would be better served going with the Hatsune Miku or Fist of the North Star entries.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer is available now for the Nintendo Switch, and a demo is on the eShop.