Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer – Review
As 2024 ends and 2025 begins, the time for New Year’s resolutions is upon us. One of the most common resolutions is to work out more, with January typically being the busiest month of the year in gyms. But what if you could simply exercise more from the comfort of your own home? Enter Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer, the latest entry in developer Imagineer’s series of exercise games. Ahead of our own resolutions, we gave the game a try to see if it was worth working up a sweat with going forward.
Story
Given that Fitness Boxing 3 is inherently just a fitness game, we were surprised that there is an actual story to be found here. Sort of, at least. There are six fitness trainers to choose from, each with their own personality. Spend enough time with one, and you’ll eventually unlock the so-called Box and Bond mode. When playing this mode, you’ll gradually get to know them better, as they open up and tell you about themselves. It’s a bit of an oddity, and we’re on the fence about whether this was a necessary addition. Fortunately, Fitness Boxing 3 doesn’t venture into dating sim territory and things are kept strictly professional.
Graphics
We’ve come a long way from the Wii Fit trainer. Fitness Boxing 3’s character models look surprisingly good, given both the limitations of the hardware and the fact that this is the kind of game that isn’t meant to impress visually. Character customization options exist as well, with new items unlocking as you punch your way through different challenges. We were expecting the game to take place in a white void, especially since this was the way the game’s hub is shown, so we were pleasantly surprised to see a wide variety of backdrops when it came to actual exercises.
Sound
When it comes to exercising, music can play a huge part in finding the right rhythm. On paper, Fitness Boxing 3 understands this, offering a surprisingly wide selection of tracks. With 30 original tunes as well as a range of well-known licensed music, you’re bound to find something that fits your exercise mood, right? Well, not quite. The original tunes are about as generic as they can get, and the licensed music comprises minimalistic instrumental versions that sound like polyphonic ringtones from the early 2010s. It begs the question why you’d jack up the price of your game so you could put Billie Eilish or Kenny Loggins on the soundtrack, only to then butcher those songs. The voice acting from the trainers is also a mixed bag, with some of them sounding disinterested while others do bring enthusiasm to the table.
Gameplay
With two prior mainline entries and two spin-off titles (based on Hatsune Miku and Fist of the North Star), the Fitness Boxing formula has been well established. Accordingly, Fitness Boxing 3 knows what its strengths are and sticks to them. Even if you’ve never played a Fitness Boxing game, you probably have an idea of how it all works, because of how intuitive and straightforward everything is. Armed with a Joy-con in each hand, you tackle a series of workout exercises that require you to make both punching and dodging motions. With a plethora of different modes, including a tailor-made Daily Workout, you have plenty of ways to increase your physique through gamification. Fitness Boxing 3 is essentially a Just Dance-like rhythm game disguised as a workout title.
Accessibility is the keyword here. While you can definitely work up a sweat with the vast majority of what Fitness Boxing has to offer, there are modes that cater to anyone who isn’t quite ready to fully commit to the game’s more intense exercises. Take Sit Fit Boxing, for example, a mode specifically aimed at those unable to stand up for a long time. Don’t have a good sense of rhythm? Mitt Drills mode has you covered, offering exercises less concerned with timing but instead amping up the intensity. Not only does the game try to offer something for every kind of player, but it also motivates you to keep returning to it through daily and weekly challenges. If you get a nice little streak going, you earn in-game currency, which can be spent on new outfits and music tracks, although the latter option might not be all that enticing.
Rounding things out are an extensive tutorial mode and the option to create custom exercises based on what you want to focus on. We should note that we felt that Fitness Boxing 3 keeps things vague when explaining how or why specific exercises are right for you. Additionally, any tips the trainers give you are seemingly general ones, rather than direct feedback based on your performance and inputs. That’s perhaps one area that could be improved upon if we ever get Fitness Boxing 4. That said, although Fitness Boxing 3 probably isn’t a complete replacement for getting coached by a real-life personal trainer, it’s going to be a much more accessible alternative for most people. And at € 49.99, it’s going to be a heck of a lot cheaper too.
Conclusion
We came, we saw, we punched. Fitness Boxing 3 is one of those games that delivers exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a simple concept that works, and through its myriad of accessibility options and gamification, this is the kind of game that will motivate you to return to it for a while at least. Granted, we could have done without the Box and Bond mode, and the soundtrack in particular falls short of the standard that the game sets for itself. As a whole though, we can think of worse ways to work up a sweat.
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