History VideoGame / ARMS

* NintendoHard: Even the middle difficulty, Level 4, can be extremely hard to newcomers, with AI fighters being very intelligent, defensive and evasion-heavy, with Hedlok himself bordering on an SNKBoss. This was slightly toned down in Update 5.0.0, with opponents in Levels 6 and below now growing stronger as you progress, rather than immediately beginning at the stated difficulty.

* MirrorMatch: While this can naturally occur in PvP matches, as part of the Grand Prix, this can only happen with [[FinalBoss Max Brass]] and [[SecretBoss Springtron]].

* NoodleIncident: Good luck trying to find any logical reason why people - and [[JustForPun Min Min]] - suddenly woke up with stretchable arms.

** Every Grand Prix on levels 1 through 5 ends with a fight against Max Brass, including if you're playing as Max Brass himself. The explanation given is that you were playing as the ''fake'' Max Brass... except, once you beat Grand Prix, it's revealed that [[HandWave you were playing as the real Max Brass all along]].

* AchievementSystem: Badges were added in Version 3.2, which are rewarded for everything from beating gameplay modes with certain characters or under conditions, to as simple as performing a mundane action X number of times.

* ConLang: Played with. While Biff speaks in VoiceGrunting, several characters have victory lines where they speak in real-world languages such as French, Mandarin Chinese, and English.

* EvolvingTitleScreen: Each major update added an additional title screen that can be seen at start-up, each focusing on one of the newly-introduced fighters. Version 2 focuses on Max Brass, Version 3 focuses on Lola Pop, Version 4 focuses on Misango, and Version 5 focuses on Dr. Coyle.

* ExoticEyeDesigns: Humans with the ARMS power have a unique "vortex" design to their eyes. The only one who doesn't is Mechanica; she's a regular human who uses a mech suit to fight.

* MirrorMatch: Every Grand Prix on levels 1 through 5 ends with a fight against Max Brass, including if you're playing as Max Brass himself. The explanation: [[spoiler:You were playing as the ''fake'' Max Brass.]] But once you beat Grand Prix, it's revealed that [[spoiler:[[HandWave you were playing as the real Max Brass all along.]]]]
** Regarding Springtron, when you complete 9 matches in Grand Prix mode without losing a single round or match, you'll get this treatment when you enter the exhibition match. This causes Biff to declare [[WhoWritesThisCrap it isn't part of the script]]. [[spoiler:Part of the notes Dr. Coyle wrote in her Grand Prix mode reveal she may one day make hundreds of Springtrons, which kind of explains the situation.]]

* NintendoHard: Higher difficulty levels (even the middle difficulty, Level 4) are extremely hard, with AI fighters being very intelligent, defensive and evasion-heavy, and Hedlok borders on an SNKBoss. This was toned down in Update 5.0, so that it gets steadily more difficult as you progress through the Grand Prix. Level 7 remains consistently difficult, however.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: While you can still get most of the [[AchievementSystem Badges]] in the game, each Party Crash community event had a set that could only be received for participating in them, in addition to more general ones related to the limited time mode. As such, 73 out of 359 Badges cannot be achieved. 74, if you include the Badge received for collecting every other Badge in the game.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: While you can still get most of the [[AchievementSystem Badges]] in the game, each Party Crash community event had a set that could only be received for participating in them, meaning sixty of the game's 300+ Badges cannot be received. Sixty-one, including the Badge received for collecting every other Badge in the game.

* ConLang: Played with. While much of the dialogue is this trope, some characters pepper their victory lines with real-world languages such as French (Twintelle), Mandarin Chinese (Min Min), and English ([[spoiler:Dr. Coyle]]).

* ConLang: Played with. While much of the dialogue is this trope, some characters pepper their dialogue with French (Twintelle), Mandarin Chinese (Min Min), and English ([[spoiler:Dr. Coyle]]).

* AmbiguouslyHuman:
** Averted; it's been revealed that much of the cast is human, but woke up one day with the ARMS power.
** Played straight with Master Mummy and Kid Cobra; Master Mummy appears to be undead, while Kid Cobra's general body shape is very snake-like compared to the other human characters.

* CharacterRosterGlobalWarming: At launch, the game had two heavyweights: Master Mummy and Mechanica, both having anti-flinch by default. No pure heavyweight fighter has been added post-release: Max Brass is only heavy when fully charged (or after throwing or when low on health), and Misango only has a heavy mode as 1 of 3 options.

* ConLang: Like ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' and ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'', the game's in-universe language is composed of this. That being said, some of the languages they speak in their quotes do seem to match up with languages found on our Earth. In particular, [[spoiler:Dr. Coyle basically speaks nothing but proper English in her TrueFinalBoss fight, including "My masterpiece!", [[YouHaveFailedMe "Useless!"]], and "Gah... I could have ''won!''"]]
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: A very unique example resulting from the game's use of motion controls. Anyone who has ever really boxed knows that as they throw a punch, their fist should be turning from a vertical to a horizontal position. But in the game, this twisting motion is only done to put "spin" on a punch, meaning a real boxer will find his punches swinging widely off to the side until he relearns how to punch.

* DownloadableContent: As in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'', new fighters, stages, and ARMS are added through free post-launch updates.

* EasyModeMockery: [[spoiler:Play Grand Prix on a difficulty setting of 3 or lower and the game will end at Max Brass. The ending will also be less triumphant with the lack of a credits scroll or ending image.]]

* EvolvingTitleScreen: On each major update, the newly-introduced fighter is shown squaring off with one of the original fighters. Version 2 focuses on Max Brass, Version 3 focuses on Lola Pop, Version 4 focuses on Misango, Version 5 focuses on Dr. Coyle.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: While you can still get most of the [[AchievementSystem Badges]] in the game, each Party Crash community event had a set that could only be received for participating in them, meaning sixty of the game's 300+ Badges cannot be received.

* QuietlyPerformingSisterShow: Compared to ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', fellow Switch games from Nintendo's two big online competitive franchises. While ''ARMS'' sold very well, has a fanbase, and even made a main stage appearance at Evo Japan 2018 (with a side tournament at Evo 2018), it tends to be overshadowed nonetheless. The game being released so close to ''Splatoon 2'', the sequel to [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 a mega hit]] didn’t help. The final Party Crash (signifying the end of any new content or online events) came and went without much fanfare.

* QuietlyPerformingSisterShow: Compared to the other two big online competitive Nintendo Switch franchises, ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. ''ARMS'' sold very well, and has a fanbase, and even made a main stage appearance at Evo Japan 2018 (with a side tournament at Evo 2018) but tends to be overshadowed. The game being released so close to ''Splatoon 2'', the sequel to [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} a mega hit]] didn’t help. The final Party Crash (signifying the end of any new content or online events) came and went without much fanfare.

In 2017, a graphic novel series based on the game published by Creator/DarkHorseComics was announced, with Creator/IanFlynn writing. After a teaser of the first volume, "Contenders", was given away during Free Comic Book Day 2018, it more or less dropped off the face of the Earth to languish in DevelopmentHell; though it was stated to still be in the works as late as 2020, it turned out to have been quietly cancelled when Flynn [[https://bumbleking.com/projects/comic-books/dark-horse-comics/ updated his personal webpage]] the following year.

* ElementalPowers: Equippable Arms can have one of eight attributes: [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] which burns and knocks down your opponent, [[ShockAndAwe Electric]] which briefly disables their arms, [[BlowYouAway Wind]] which blows them back, [[AnIcePerson Ice]] which freezes and slows them, [[StunGuns Stun]] which paralyzes them, [[StuffBlowingUp Explosion]] which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin explodes them]], [[InterfaceScrew Blind]] which throws gunk on their screen, and [[PoisonousPerson Poison]] which slowly damages them over time.

* ColorCodedCharacters: [[PinkGirlBlueBoy Spring Man is sky blue, Ribbon Girl is red]], [[ChromaticArrangement Ninjara dark blue and teal, Mechanica yellow]], [[PurpleIsPowerful Master Mummy violet]], Min Min orange and green, Kid Cobra purple and cyan, [[BlueIsHeroic Barq & Byte both blue]], [[PinkMeansFeminine Twintelle white and light pink]], Helix dark green, Max Brass royal blue, Lola Pop yellow-orange, [[BlueIsHeroic Misango blue]], [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Springtron red and black]], and [[SecondaryColorNemesis Dr. Coyle green and purple]].

%%Watch the game's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7s3UB_8dFM reveal trailer here.]]

%%* GenreBusting

* DevelopersForesight: If a character gets hit just as they're activating their [[LimitBreak Rush Attack]], [[LastSecondWordSwap their activation line will reflect them getting interrupted]], just like how the characters in ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Punch-Out!! Wii]]'' react when their punches are avoided. For example, Spring Man's "OH YEAH!" turns into an "OH [[LittleNo no]]" [[https://twitter.com/GahmahRaan/status/921599868564422656 upon being interrupted]].

In 2017, a graphic novel series based on the game published by Creator/DarkHorseComics was announced, with Creator/IanFlynn writing. After a teaser of the first volume, "Contenders", was given away during Free Comic Book Day 2018, it more or less dropped off the face of the Earth to languish in DevelopmentHell. In 2020, the creators confirmed that it was still planned to be published, though a concrete release date remains unconfirmed. However, [[https://bumbleking.com/projects/comic-books/dark-horse-comics/ according to the writer's personal webpage]], the graphic novel has been cancelled as of 2021.

In 2017, a graphic novel series based on the game published by Creator/DarkHorseComics was announced, with Creator/IanFlynn writing. After a teaser of the first volume, "Contenders", was given away during Free Comic Book Day 2018, it more or less dropped off the face of the Earth to languish in DevelopmentHell. In 2020, the creators confirmed that it was still planned to be published, though a concrete release date remains unconfirmed.

Not to be confused with actual limbs, weapons, the robot from ''VideoGame/DrRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'', the defunct animation studio Creator/ARMSCorporation, the manga and anime ''Manga/ProjectArms'', or the video game series ''VideoGame/WildArms''.