"Not the best game ever, but it does what it's supposed to do."

Alright, Wii Fit. Where to start. If you're looking for a fun game, head back right now. Unless you seriously want to get in better-shape, ignore this game. Heck, I wasn't even going to buy this game. I thought the idea of losing weight from a videogame was stupid, and let's be honest. If you want to lose some real weight, go to a real gym. This game sure isn't going to turn you from obese to underweight, for sure. After borrowing the game for some time, I can somewhat see the charm in this game.

The first thing you'll likely do in this game is a body test. You stand on the board, trying to stay still, tell it how heavy your clothes are, and then the results come. First it'll reveal how good your center of balance is, and then tell you how heavy you are, as well as your BMI. It isn't the most accurate scale of your weight in the world though. If you're overweight, the Wii bluntly tells you that you're fat. Nice. Then you will set a goal for yourself on how much you want to lose over a period of time. I said that I want to lose 6-7 pounds (which would get me out of the overweight category) in 2 months. Then you get a nice speech on how fat and lazy people are getting these days, and how training can get you in shape. Then it shows you how throughout the game the time you spend exercising is recorded through a piggy bank so you can unlock new activities. Alright, so let's start training.

Let's start off on the first category of training. Yoga. This is by-far the greatest aspect of the game to me. Basically first some cheesy trainer (his lip movement is way out of sync with his words) comes and shows you a pose. Now you try it. While holding this pose, usually it will show you a little yellow circle. While doing the pose, you are to keep your balance within this yelllow circle. Your balance is represented by a red dot. This can be hard, because the smallest of movements send the red dot flying.
However, all of the poses are very well designed, and it is nice to see how much your balance is shifting while doing these stretches. Plus it really stretches your muscles. Great.

Now, strength training. This part of the game has some pretty good exercises, while some of them can be pretty stupid. Activities such as lunges, squats, leg twists, and even pushups are good. However, every now and then some of them just don't work out right. Like the triceps extension. While possible that the point of this exercise was to show you how to do real tricep extensions, this activity feels a bit awkward. From what I know about fitness, lifting a Wiimote isn't going to help you gain muscle. You could use a Wiimote for 10 years and it'd be the same as using a 15lb weight for 30 seconds. However, as I said. It's possible the game is just trying to show you how to do tricep extensions, which I guess make sense. But still, this activity wasn't needed.

Going on to aerobics. Starting off with hula-hoop. This is a neat little game, even though I suggest not doing it in public. A warning that you do look a bit silly doing hula-hoop. Basically you just shift your body weight around in circles to spin hula-hoops, and sometimes shift your weight to one side to catch hula-hoops being flun at you. This is pretty neat, and can be tiresome if you do it for a while.

Now onto the step aerobics. Basically you follow foot patterns and step on and off the board at certain times. Pretty sweet, but due to the fact that the Wii balance board is short, stepping onto the board hardly takes energy, and thus, this isn't the best workout ever. However, it is still entertaining. Especially on the advanced one. Then you're doing all crazy sorts of mumbo-jumbo, like kicking and stepping off of the board sideways. Pretty cool, but again, you'd have to do a ton of this to get a workout.

There is also running. The game tells you to either hold the Wiimote or put the Wiimote in your pocket as you run in place. I find putting the Wiimote in my pocket very inaccurate. Your Mii will randomly start sprinting and slowing down if the Wiimote is loose in your pocket. I find it better to hold onto the Wiimote. Basically you run around a lap of varying lengths while running at a steady pace where you don't pass the Mii in front of you. I really like the designs of the laps you can run on. Your other Miis will also be on a run, waving at you as you pass them. It feels strangely real, and I consider this one of the best workouts in the game. There is also a free run mode you can unlock where you can run freely, possibly switching the channel and watching TV as you run.

Now, this wouldn't be a video game without some fun. That is where the balance games come in. Let's go through these one by one.

Soccer Heading: Possibly my favorite balance game. Basically you shift your weight to the left, right, and center to head oncoming soccer balls. String together hits for big points! However, watch out. Shoes and panda heads come flying your way along with soccer balls. And I must admit, watching your Mii get slammed in the face by a shoe can be pretty funny.

Ski Slalom: You must lean your weight left and right to slide in between flags towards the finish line. I'm not the best skier, so this game proved pretty challenging for me. However, it is fun, and pretty similar to the real thing as well.

Ski Jumping: In which you must bend your knees and release at the right time to jump off of a ledge and fly as far as possible while holding your balance. This one is cool, but it gets a little old after a while.

Table Tilt: A Monkey Ball-like game in which you must shift your weight to have different colored balls fall into holes. This game gave me a little trouble with its responsiveness; at times it just doesn't seem to tilt the way I want it too. Still entertaining at times, though.

Tightrope Walk: Erm, I really do suck at this one. You have to walk forward with equal weight on your feet, and occasionally bend your knees and then straighten them to jump over oncoming traps. My only complaint with this game is that every now and then my Mii randomly jumps when I don't want it too.

Balance Bubble: Lean your weight in all directions to direct a bubble with your Mii in it across a level to the end. Make sure not to crash along the way! This game is pretty hard, but it is fun.

Penguin Sliding: Direct your weight left and right to make your Mii dressed in a penguin suit slide across an iceberg. Without flying off the iceberg and into the waters below, you must try and catch a lot of fish that hop up onto the iceberg. This game is fun, responsive, and I don't really have any complaints on it.

Snowboard Slalom: Like Ski Slalom, except snowboarding. For this game you must put the Wii Balance board sideways like a snowboard. From there you shift your weight up and down to slide around flags. This game is very similar to the ski slalom.

Lotus Focus: Sit still on the board... That's it. Nice and simple, but can be a bit tricky. You must have pretty good balance to be good at this game. You must also not let the images displayed onscreen distract you (or you could cheat by closing your eyes). I won't say it's fun, but it's a cool game nonetheless.

So, there's the balance games Wii Fit offers. They're all fun, but whether they help you much is questionable, but the main purpose of them is to have fun.

So there's a quick summary of Wii Fit. It is a good game, and does its purpose of stretching you, somewhat making you stronger, and improving your posture, and that's about it. As I said, only buy this game if you want to get in better shape. It's not fun enough to suggest looking at as a game, but rather as a workout. However, if you want to lose some real weight, I suggest going to a real gym. While how much weight you lose depends on how much time you put into it, it still is hard to lose all that much weight from this game.

Rundown:
+ Nice little game that might help you get in a little better shape.
+ Good yoga
+Pretty good strength training.
+Fun games

- Questionable if it will help you lose a lot of weight.
- Some exercises are a little unresponsive.
-The game doesn't measure your weight all that accurately.
-Not all activities are good.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/08

Game Release: Wii Fit (US, 05/19/08)