Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku

Genre: Boxing / Sports (Exercise) / Music-Rhythm

Players: 1-2 (Local)

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Review:

Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku, released in 2024 on Nintendo Switch, is the second spin-off of the Fitness Boxing franchise and fourth game in the series overall, with this game featuring the music and characters from the world of the J-Pop “vocaloid” character Hatsune Miku.

Where the prior game‘s Fist of the North Star licensing was a bit of a head-scratcher, Hatsune Miku seems like a good fit for the Fitness Boxing series – not only is this a popular character, but the Hatsune Miku franchise’s association with Music-Rhythm games fits right in with this game series’ Music-Rhythm elements.

The presentation here makes use of the lovely detailed cel-shaded 3D Hatsune Miku character and her associates in a small handful of abstract 3D backgrounds, with some excellent shading on the characters and some good animations, only… well, it’s obvious that some of the animations were recycled from earlier games in the series, and it seems odd to see Hatsune Miku sometimes moving in her own expressive manner, and sometimes in the same way as the standard stable of Fitness Boxing characters.

While the visuals are a bit of a mix of good and bad, the good news here is that Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku splits from the Fitness Boxing series tradition of just using non-vocal covers of its songs, and actually features the voiced Hatsune Miku songs, and a decent-sized list of 24 Hatsune Miku songs, as well as 30 non-vocal Fitness Boxing themes that you’ll likely skip over when you have the chance because why would you get a Hatsune Miku game and not listen to Hatsune Miku music?

This music is joined by Hatsune Miku and friends’ usual voices, as well as the guiding voices of Fitness Boxing’s Rin and Evan, because the Hatsune Miku characters naturally only speak Japanese and can’t instruct you what to do in English. It’s a bit of an odd way to try to work the licensed characters into the game while still maintaining the series’ usual gameplay, but it works.

However, make no mistake, this is the Fitness Boxing series’ usual gameplay. Don’t expect this game to play up the Music-Rhythm elements any more than usual just because Hatsune Miku is here. What this means is that this game is less of a game and more of an Exercise Application. If you’re looking to exercise with something that feels more like an actual game, you’re still better off with Ring Fit Adventure.

Still, as an Exercise App, this is the best game yet in the Fitness Boxing series, and it’s largely thanks to the presence of actual music in the game and not the voiceless covers the series usually uses. What’s more, it seems like the improved motion controls from Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star are present here as well, meaning that this is as good as the series has yet gotten in its gameplay too.

Having said all of that, I would still choose Ring Fit Adventure over this game in a heartbeat. Or, if I specifically want a Music-Rhythm game to exercise with, I’d prefer Samba De Amigo: Party Central. However, if you’re a Hatsune Miku fan looking for a way to combine that franchise’s characters and music with exercise, I do not think you’ll be disappointed with Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku.

tl;dr – Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku combines the boxing-focused Exercise Application with the “Vocaloid” character and her friends, along with a soundtrack filled with Hatsune Miku’s music. And unlike the usual for the Fitness Boxing franchise, this time it’s not just voiceless covers, but the actual music. This fact puts this collaboration well above any of the other games in the Fitness Boxing series thus far, even if this is still more of an Exercise Application than an actual game – if you’re looking for something more like a game, you’re still better off with Ring Fit Adventure or Samba De Amigo: Party Central.

Grade: B-

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