Fitness games have been around for a while, with the most well-known being games likeDance Dance RevolutionandRing Fit Adventure. There have also been a number of games based on anime, including those based on sports anime.
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But despite having similar aspects, anime series and fitness-based games don’t crossover as much as you might think, with games like Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star seeming to break the mold and set the path for more anime-based fitness games in the future. Of course, some anime series would fit the genre better than others would.
8Ultimate Muscle
Ultimate Muscle, known as Kinnikuman Nissei, is the sequel to the original Kinnikuman wrestling manga and anime series, with many Western fans being familiar with the 4Kids dub of the Ultimate Muscle anime series. A fitness-based game based on the series could renew interest in it.
It might be hard to get the old Japanese or English dub voice cast back, but giving new voice actors a chance to shine would be a fair trade-off, especially if it helped lead to a new series. A hypothetical game could have you training with various characters to prepare for matches with or against them, with later matches helping you see how much you’ve progressed since you started.
7The Prince Of Tennis
A tennis manga and anime series, The Prince of Tennis has never had a fitness-based video game despite the popularity of theMario Tennisseries andthe tennis modefeatured in the Nintendo Sports series.
LikeMario Tennis Aces, a fitness-based Prince of Tennis game would most likely be a Nintendo Switch exclusive title due to the Joy-Con’s ability to imitate the vibrations of a ball hitting a tennis racket. Playing a game like this might not be able to cause you to perform shots so powerful that the tennis ball becomes the asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs, but it would still provide a fun workout.
6Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventuremay not seem like a conventional choice for an anime-based fitness game. However, with how buff the characters in it are and how so many characters are named after songs, bands, and music artists, you would think there would at least be a dancing game based on the anime adaptation, possibly in a similar vein to thePersona Dancingrhythm game series.
It may be hard to license all of the songs that characters are named after, so it would have instrumental covers of those songs, opening and ending songs, and other music from the anime adaptation.
5Captain Tsubasa
The most internationally recognizable soccer manga and anime series, Captain Tsubasa, has inspired several other soccer-related things, such as the movie Shaolin Soccer, Level-5’s Inazuma Eleven multimedia series, and even somereal-life soccer playersfrom around the world. Yet, it has never had a fitness-based game.
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A hypothetical fitness-based Captain Tsubasa game might be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch due to the motion sensing function of the Joy-Con and the leg strap accessory that’s already used for games like Ring Fit Adventure and the soccer portion of Nintendo Switch Sports. Because there are so many characters, you could pick which you want to train with depending on what position you want to practice.
4Pokemon
Pokemonmay have had some games and peripherals that indirectly involve fitness, such asPokemon Go, but it has never had a game revolving around exercise. While there could be several different workouts withFighting-type Pokemondue to all the martial arts and sports they’re based on, a potential Pokemon fitness game could feature more than just them.
In our dream title you could find arm conditioning exercises with Geodude, running exercises with Rapidash and Dodrio, and wrestling moves with Incineroar. There could also be a Pokemon dancing game similar to the Japan-exclusive Wii U gameYo-Kai Watch Just Dance, featuring songs from both the games and the anime series.
3Hajime No Ippo
The most well-known boxing manga and anime series of all time, Hajime No Ippo, also known as Fighting Spirit in some territories, has had a few video games here and there, including some on the Nintendo Wii, but none have ever been primarily focused on fitness.
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It’s shocking that Fitness Boxing has yet to cross over with Hajime No Ippo, as you would think it would be a perfect match, or at least a better match than Fist of the North Star. Like Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star, a Hajime no Ippo Fitness Boxing game would let you train with and fight against different characters from the series.
2Naruto
A manga and anime series withmartial arts roots,Narutoand its sequel series Boruto don’t feature characters training in quite the same way as in other series — training ninja techniques is a bit different. However, they also practice their taijutsu, which is comprised of any body movement martial arts techniques.
A fitness-based Naruto game would primarily focus on taijutsu, with different characters teaching techniques based on various martial arts styles. Naruto and Sakura could teach generic taijutsu warm-ups and work-outs, Rock Lee and his sensei Might Guy could teach Jeet Kune Do and Zui Quan, or Drunken Fist, and Neji and Hinata could teach aikido since their clans' techniques are based on it.
1Dragon Ball
One of the most recognizable manga and anime series of all time,Dragon Ballstarted as a martial arts-focused comedy adventure manga. Even when the story becomes more serious, it always remembers its martial arts roots. Much of Dragon Ball also features characters training to get stronger and surpass their limits.
Shockingly, the closest thing to a fitness-based Dragon Ball game we’ve had is Dragon Ball Z Kinect, which didn’t end up nearly as awesome as the concept of physically imitating blast-centric Dragon Ball Z techniques. A hypothetical fitness-based Dragon Ball game could have you training with Goku, Vegeta, Master Roshi, and more, but don’t expect to learn how to become a Super Saiyan.
