Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer Review

Exercise in some form is necessary to maintain good health. The problem with this is exercise is usually time-consuming and not very fun. Video games are fun, but due to the sedentary nature of over 99 percent of games, they tend to be the antithesis of exercise. There have been a few attempts to combinevideo games and exercisein an attempt to make the process more enjoyable. Results tend to be varied, and playing any single game consistently over an extended period of time is extremely rare. But there have been a few games that have made physical activity more enjoyable, andFitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Traineris the latest contender to enter the ring.

Review: Knockout Home Fitness

Realistically Knockout Home Fitness isn’t going to get any of its players ripped, but it’s a fun way to get in a cardio workout.

In This Corner…

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainerdoesn’t really a story or any lore to get into. It’s less of a game and more of gamifying an exercise program. After the player starts up, they’re asked to enter in some basic info about themselves including age, height, weight and so on in order to better track their progress.

The gameplay generally consists of throwing punches while holding the Joy-Cons. A strap to secure the Joy-Cons to the player’s wrist is recommended, lest they turn into unintended projectiles that can take out one’s television. The trainer, who by default is Lin, guides the player through the exercise routine, though there are other trainers available. This consists of a series of warm up stretches followed by the main punching exercise program and a cooldown stretching period.

knockoutfeat

There are prompts on screen that show the player when to throw a punch, which are scored based on how well the player times the hit. Lin will instruct the player when to switch their stance and give instructions on the different types of punches to throw. The game doesn’t track the quality of punch too closely, which was tested by throwing jabs when the command was for a hook and still registered a perfect score for the punch. The mechanics ofFitness Boxing 3are better designed to deliver a fun cardio workout than turning the player into a formidable boxer.

Ready To Fight

The main mode inFitness Boxing 3is the daily exercise program, where the trainer walks the player through a routine. The player can choose between three different speeds, which essentially function as difficulty levels. The player can also choose the desired length of time for the program and specify which muscles are targeted. The player’s score, time and estimated calories burned are tracked, and over time this can be used to measure progress made in improving one’s physical shape. There are a few additional modes as well. Sit Fit Boxing is similar to the normal program, except it involves doing punching exercises while seated. Mitt Drills removes the timing and music, and has the player simply punch at mitts worn by the trainer in front of them.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainercan be a good tool for exercise, but one should temper their expectations of what this game will deliver. The Joy-Cons will track movement and timing for scoring punches, but doesn’t seem to take into account proper punching technique, either with the arm or the rest of the body. The drills and exercises can be useful at building speed and endurance, along with burning a few extra calories. If the expectations are an aerobic work out that incorporates boxing, this can be a good time and beneficial in helping to achieve one’s fitness goals.

fitnessboxing31

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainerdoes provide decent exercise, but is lacking in many training areas. To become skilled in boxing, how a fighter throws their punches, their stance, movement and many other factors play into their odds of success. Lin may be an enthusiastic and encouraging trainer, but offers no evaluation on these aspects. At best,Fitness Boxing 3can be used to help build some endurance to supplement real boxing training, but won’t help with any of the fundamentals that will keep them vertical in the ring. If someone’s goal is to useFitness Boxing 3as their means to transition from hardcore gamer to challenging Mike Tyson in the ring, they’re going to have a bad time.

A Worthy Contender?

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Traineron its own isn’t enough to prepare anyone to step into the ring, but it does achieve the goal of providing an enjoyable workout. Cardio workouts have this ability to slow the passage of time, but throwing punches inFitness Boxing 3doesn’t have that effect. It’s actually a fun way to burn calories and work up a bit of a sweat. As such, for people looking to find an activity to start up exercise or looking for a fun cardio component to supplement their existing program,Fitness Boxing 3isn’t a bad place to start. The daily exercise program seems like it will be an effective way to improve physical conditioning while done over time, but the risk is the same with any exercise program, which is whether the program can maintain interest over an extended period of time. During the few days spent reviewing this game it was an enjoyable experience, but we can’t predict how we may feel about it in three months.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Traineron its own isn’t enough to prepare anyone to step into the ring, but it does achieve the goal of providing an enjoyable workout.

fitnessboxing34

On a technical level,Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainersucceeds in what it sets out to do without being extraordinarily memorable. The graphics are fine, and the music is just kind of there, not really memorable, but at least it doesn’t cause one’s ears to bleed. The limitations in tracking punching and movement don’t give any accurate evaluation of one’s overall form and punching technique, but does at least track the movement so long as the player is trying to throw punches in time with the rhythm. It’s one of the more fun options available to work up a sweat to burn some calories.

Closing Comments:

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer may not actually train the player to be an effective boxer, but it is a fun way to burn some calories and get the heart rate elevated. The targets seem to accurately track the punching movement when it comes to scoring, and the routines presented in the daily challenges are varied enough that getting in some cardio doesn’t feel like a chore. Due to the nature of it being a game, the calorie counter is only an approximation and there’s no real feedback on whether the player is using good form in their punches. It isn’t going to be as effective as a real trainer, but it’s an enjoyable and effective cardio workout that would be a great supplement to an existing exercise program or a good starting point for a gamer that wants to be more active.