Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer review

Most times we play games for fun and to relax after a long day, or to immerse ourselves in a world much like books and movies can offer as well. Rarely to we play games for fitness or improving our mental wellbeing. Nintendo has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to exercise, and Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer has found a way to further improve our bodies and help to relieve stress through vigorous and satisfying workouts while maintaining that charm only Nintendo manages to get right.

I’m not in bad health, but I am far from fit. There will be players who come to this much like they did with Ring Fit Adventure; wanting to find an engaging way to exercise from the comfort of their own home. While the focus is almost solely on boxing, Imagineer has managed to balance enjoyment and the sense of real progress, offering a personalised training program from one of the many trainers on offer. Some of the new modes made it so much better to stick with, and depending on what you’re after, there’s something for everyone.

By entering in your personal details and preferences, you can develop a personalised training plan that plays out every day. You can keep track of personal goals and complete daily and weekly tasks to help you gain focus while exercising. Fitness Boxing 3 makes it worthwhile by offering you the chance to customise your favourite trainers with new clothing and hairstyles by earning coins quite comfortably to do so. This currency can also be used to unlock new popular songs from artists like Fall Out Boy, Billie Eilish, and even Ray Parker Jr (three guesses to the track!).

It’s not just the material goals that cause you to keep pushing yourself and stick to your daily workouts. After every workout, you get a star rank and a recap of your stats, such as how many punches were thrown and how many calories you’ve burned. These stats help you to see your progress, and there’s a genuine drive to do better. Of course, if the actual exercises aren’t any good, there’s a high chance you’ll fall off pretty quickly. The thing I loved about Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer is how many different workouts there are.

You can focus on jabs, uppercuts, and hooks, mixing up combos and intensity, starting from beginner difficulty and moving up until combos are thick and fast. The controllers and input are responsive, and while you could quite easily flick your wrists to hit each punch, you’re only going to get more from giving more. Commit to the training and you’ll feel your heart beat faster and the heat on your brow intensify. I’m not playing for the personalities of the trainers, but a good job has been done to make them put you at ease, and the customisation options might help a younger audience to connect with it.

Free Training is where you can go when not completing your daily workout. Mitt Drills is an excellent mode for punching different combos with a range of punches. If you do well, you’ll be able to land a flurry of punches at the end that allow you to release the dregs of energy you have left. Sit Down Boxing gives players a chance to box without moving their feet. You can incorporate stretches and cool downs into your day, and fundamentally build your training however you want.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer does exactly what it says and provides you with a personalised method of getting fit through fun and snappy workouts. The bright colours and zippy soundtrack will help a younger audience connect with it, but at its heart it does a solid job of providing a method of exercise for a wide range of ages and fitness levels. People might not feel comfortable with working out with such an aesthetic, but what does it matter when the core ideas put into the game are as strong as they are?