Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku review

Detractors often argue that video games are sedentary, and therefore, contribute to obesity. But what these faultfinders habitually fail to mention is that there’s an entire genre of games built around physical activity, often referred to as excergaming. From the emergence of Dance Dance Revolution in the last 1990s, the success of Wii Fit and Just Dance across the early 2000s, to the more recent Pokémon Go phenomenon, games have long goaded us into breaking a sweat.

With the release of 2018’s Fitness Boxing, developer Imagineer tasked players with gripping a pair of Joy-Cons and throwing a flurry of precisely timed punches. The Shinjuku-based developer was able to license pop hits from Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 to keep the tempo buoyant. But sadly, the game neglected to offer much visual dazzle.

Beyond two lanes of icons instructing players to dodge, duck, step, and punch, Fitness Boxing and its 2020 follow-up offered a roster of generic instructors who had little personality. Understanding that deficiency, they deployed Kenshiro, Roah, Rei, and Mamiya, to ensure that Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star wouldn’t be so bland.

Declining Warmups is Triple Baka

With the release of Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku, the studio has enlisted the help of everyone’s favorite Vocaloid to encourage a bit of calorie burning. While Miku admirers will undoubtedly appreciate the twin-tailed diva’s presence, this entry still feels hamstrung by the Switch hardware.

Boot up the game and the teal-haired goddess will walk you through the basics, offering introductory explanations, as well as a preliminary warm-up, work-out, and cool down. To participate, you’ll need to derail your Joy-Cons, holding one in each hand, as you assume a characteristic boxing stance. And while Fitness Boxing wants you to shift your weight in time to its punching, the game doesn’t monitor your legs like Ring Fit Adventure does. I guess you can cheat, if you can live with Miku’s tacit disapproval.

Swinging like Baby Maniacs

But the bigger issue is that much of your workout isn’t monitored. During a warm up where you’re making circles with your arms, the game will remind you of proper shoulder positioning. But there’s no direct feedback on your form and these inadequacies mean that Miku and her two Piapro peers are more cheerleaders than a true coaches.

When playing Fitness Boxing with a pair of first-time volunteers, the game neglected to register a few punches. Some of this stemmed from the inevitably of input lag, since the game begs to be played on a television screen. Sure, nothing is stopping you from playing Boxing on a Switch propped up by its kickstand. But unless you have 20-20 eyesight, reading the icons from across the room can be very difficult.

Gimme Gimme More Responsiveness

Conveniently, the game does allow you to compensate for this, and you’ll find tweaks for both scoring and graphics. You’ll need to make the adjustments yourself, since Miku doesn’t offer any diagnostic assistance. Yet no amount of tweaking will improve the accuracy of Fitness Boxing’s punch readings. When volunteers got tired, they started performing hooks that resembled sloppy, off-centered jabs. Each was counted and scored, with no penalty for bad form.

But if you can overlook the scarcity of guidance, Miku can motivate. Undoubtedly, Fitness Boxing is flexible, offering to keep players engaged through Free Training and Daily Workouts. Here, performance is tracked, and throwing one final punch to stamp a competition certificate is satisfying. The only downside is the shortage of in-game incentives. Yes, you’ll be rewarded with music, characters, and new costumes. But between the non-Piapro tracks, a paltry roster of four new faces, and the lack of any swimsuits, Imagineer doesn’t quite seem to understand Miku’s appeal.

Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku was played on Switch with review code provided by the publisher.