A POV Street Fighter with Air Guitar tunes!
The subtitle of this review succinctly captures my first thoughts upon booting up Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star in early March of this year. Whilst I’ve never really played fighting games, nor had any particular interest in anime or manga, I’ve been actively collecting games in the ‘Fitness’ genre since the Wii Fit days. Recently I’ve found myself switching between Fitness Boxing 2, Knockout Home Fitness and Ring Fit Adventure. In March, I set myself a challenge of only playing Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star, to see how far I could get into the game before writing this review.
For context, “Fist of the North Star” is a manga and anime series that ran in the 80s, featuring a post-apocalyptic storyline set in a desert wasteland. Our protagonist Kenshiro fights his way through outlaws and overlords in his quest to be reunited with his fiancée. The manga is considered highly influential, and is one of the highest grossing in history, selling over 100 million copies!
There are two main parts to the game. The Daily Workouts are the core routine, and are essentially training for the boss battles. I love that you can choose between “light, regular and heavy” workouts, which determines how long you can spend exercising. It gives you a preview of how long the workout will take before you start, so if you’re short on time for that particular day you can always drop down a category. The stated times are a guide though; “heavy” is said to take 48 minutes, but can often take as much as 58 minutes.
The second part involves battles. You can take on each overlord in turn, warming up by punching through gangs of outlaws on the way. The boss battle at the end still has the same exercise patterns, but you get to attack and defend according to the animation onscreen.
Famous quotes like “You are already dead” and several other recognisable gems are often heard during battles, and Kenshiro’s companions, Bat and Lin, are present to cheer you on when you’re fighting. After you successfully defeat a boss, you usually get a cutscene featuring select strips from the original manga.
The movements the game asks the player to perform are similar to those of previous Fitness Boxing games. You unlock more movements as you progress, along with additional instructors, costumes and songs.
As a female gamer, I naturally found myself gravitating towards the female instructor Mamiya.
As I spent more time with the game however, Rei became my instructor of choice because I prefer his blue costume and I found him less intimidating than the default instructor Kenshiro. Mamiya, apart from her default costume, only has various coloured bikinis to choose from.
After completing the main battles in the game, I finally settled on the mystery instructor at the end. Their gentler touch for the daily workouts was most welcome, and a contrast from the heavier 80s music in the background.
I love the soundtrack so much that I find that it’s the music in particular that keeps me coming back to Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star. The music loops quite seamlessly, and has a proper pulse to it, helping me stay motivated and on the beat!
Verdict
Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star is a must have for fans of the manga/anime who want to establish a fitness routine. It eases you in gently, and with the various workout lengths on offer, you can set the pace according to your own abilities and preferences. For fitness fans who aren’t too keen on the manga, it’s a great change of scenery from the previous Fitness Boxing titles.
Where to Buy
- Nintendo eShop
Credits
Written by Jen Griffiths
Edited by Mark McAllister and Paul L. Russell
Graphic by Paul L. Russell