Nintendo’s newest IP ARMS is gearing up for release on June 16th, immediately following E3. We’ll likely see more in-depth gameplay of this quirky fighting game during Nintendo’s presentations, but we already know every playable character ARMS will offer at launch.
Check out the full list of ARMS’s starting roster of fighters below, including their abilities and individual trailers.
Spring Man
Spring Man is the standard, well-rounded fighter in ARMS. He’s the one you’ll want to play as first to get a feel for the game’s mechanics, putting off some of the more nuanced characters for later.
Abilities: Like all fighters, Spring Man’s arms can extend across the arena to attack opponents. He is able to deflect attacks, and his punch stays constantly charged when his life bar drops below 25%.
Ribbon Girl
A famous pop idol in the ARMS universe, Ribbon Girl is the other simpler, but weaker, fighter.
Abilities: While most characters are able to jump two times in a row, Ribbon Girl is able to jump four times to rain punches from the sky. She can also fall to the ground quickly from her high-jump.
Ninjara
Ninjara is a speedy, stealthy ninja fighter with chainlink arms.
Abilities: Every time Ninjara dashes or blocks an attack, he will disappear with a smoke bomb for a second, allowing him to counterattack.
Master Mummy
The tank of the group, Master Mummy is a massive bandage-covered undead fighter.
Abilities: Though Master Mummy’s size causes him to be one of the slower fighters, he packs a heavy punch and takes very little knockback from normal punches. He can also regenerate health while guarding.
Mechanica
Mechanica is a small girl in a biiig robot suit. She is a huge fan of the other fighters, particularly Ribbon Girl.
Abilities: Mechanica is difficult to stun, due to her robotic armor, and she can hover in the air briefly to attack from above.
Min Min
Min Min is a feisty fighter who uses both her arms and legs to attack opponents. Her hair and arms are made of ramen noodles, and the Dragon Arm is her specialty.
Abilities: Min Min’s left arm changes from being made of noodles to being a dragon as her special ability. Activating this ability allows her to hold a charge on whatever arm she has equipped on her left side. She can also deflect enemies’ punches by kicking them if she dodges while in mid-air.
Helix
This Flubber-esque fighter is an experiment created in the ARMS Laboratories. He is based on the double-helix design of DNA.
Abilities: Helix’s green body can shrink down and stretch at will, allowing him to dodge all sorts of attacks.
Kid Cobra
Kid Cobra is a colorful, speedy fighter with arms of purple snake skin.
Abilities: He can charge up dashes, making dashes quicker with more distance. When “charge dashing” on the ground, Kid Cobra will duck under all incoming attacks.
Byte & Barq
This security robot and his mechanical dog are ARMS’s first duo of fighters, giving them some fun and unique special abilities. You’ll want to master some simpler fighters before trying out this team.
Abilities: The robot dog Barq is AI-controlled and can attack, block, and be knocked out for around 5 seconds. Using Byte’s Super Move will instantly revive Barq and merge him with Byte. Additionally, Byte can hop on Barq to jump with extra height.
Twintelle
Twintelle is another celebrity fighter, though her stage is the silver screen. She attacks with her luxurious white and pink pigtails instead of her arms, and she always looks like she’s judging you.
Abilities: When charging up her arms in any way besides blocking, Twintelle will slow all incoming attacks in a small area around her for a short time.
Those are all the ARMS fighters we know of so far, and we’re sure the roster will continue to expand after release.
The first open beta, dubbed the Global Testpunch, is scheduled for March 26th 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST and will continue in hour-long intervals throughout that weekend. We’ll bring you our first impressions soon after the conclusion of the beta.
ARMS launches on June 16th, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
