It’s not every day that a product is launched to such universal acclaim and retail success as Wii Fit was. That success was deserved, given the innovative nature of the product. Since then though, other companies have tried to muscle in on Nintendo’s space by releasing a galaxy of products of incredibly varied quality. EA’s Sports Active is far and away the best of these and in my mind has overtaken Wii Fit in terms of the potential health benefits on offer and the sheer quality of the product. Wii Fit is more fun, maybe, but that’s not why you’re buying the product – allegedly. So, there’s no time like the present for Nintendo to release a better sequel, is there?
Only, Wii Fit Plus isn’t a sequel. As the title would suggest, this is the Wii Fit that we knew and loved for two weeks before never loading it again, with a few new extras. New Yoga poses and muscle routines are included, as are a wave of new games. On top of this, the ability to string combinations of these together – which frankly, was a ridiculous oversight first time round – and have the console suggest workout plans is also new.
Of the new games, Island Cycling is a fun variation on the original’s Jogging. Here, you march on the Balance Board as if you’re pedalling, whilst holding the Wiimote in front of you like the handlebars of an admittedly tiny bike. Juggling is also top drawer fun, as you’re tasked with balancing on a ball whilst using the Wiimote and nunchuk to juggle balls that are thrown to you from either side. This is fiendishly difficult but superbly fun. Another sets you the task of flying from one location to another by flapping your arms, and this works surprisingly well. The board works out exactly when you’re flapping your arms and replicates the action on screen with aplomb and this makes for an enjoyable – if suitably very tiring – game. Some other additions are not so fun though. One sees you stood inside a circle of numerical mushrooms (yes) and requests that you shake your hips to the left, right, front and back in order to activate the ones that add up to ten. If anyone was looking through your window, it would look like a sex simulator as you thrust forward and back like a madman, but there you go. Another puts you on the driving range and throws so much information at you about the mechanics of a golf swing and how shifting your weight will improve your shots that by the time you actually get a club in your hand and get to take a shot, you’ll have either cooled down, gotten bored, or died waiting.
And this is Wii Fit’s problem. The entire package is far too fiddly to be of any actual use as a fitness product. Let’s say that I want to record my weight every seven days. The best time to do this is in the morning, before you’ve had your breakfast – so they say. After powering up the console and skipping the health and safety screen, I select my Mii, then select “Body Test” and skip through the animated Balance Board, who greets me and then wants to offer me a fitness tip. I wait for the board to calibrate. I jump on; wait for a few seconds and get asked how heavy my clothes are. Another ten seconds passes and the weigh-in is complete, or so I’d think. No, the game now insists on telling you how your balance was during the actual period in which you were being weighed, and then runs through an animation in order to show me my absolutely useless (according to practically everyone with any knowledge of the subject) BMI. Then, the game actually records your weight and tells you about your progress.
Put simply, Wii Fit Plus (as Wii Fit was) is far too fiddly to be of any long-term appeal. You seem to be messing about with menus for far more time than you actually end up spending on the Balance Board and the amount of times that one of the in-game “characters” talks to you and says absolutely nothing of any actual use just beggar’s belief. This is painfully obvious when it comes to using the new workout routines system that Nintendo have included. You can pick a routine that is scheduled to take thirty minutes, and then check your watch when you’re done to see that whilst you have indeed exercised for half an hour, you’ve also spent an extra quarter of an hour faffing about with menus, instructions or listening to the trainer who’s decided – for the tenth time this session – that your balance is perfect and that you should keep it that way because of the health benefits.
When I say that the characters don’t say anything of use, that’s exactly what I mean. Of COURSE having good posture is good for your back. This is obvious to anyone with a brain. What isn’t obvious is that the next exercise will require me to turn my Balance Board through ninety degrees in order for me to be able to see the screen and follow the prompts whilst I carry out the exercise. However, the game is under the impression that this is obvious, so doesn’t mention it – unless you’re playing a mini-game.
When you compare it to EA Sports Active, which is easy to use, has a decent routine planner that will plan out an entire month of exercise for you (instead of the “tell me what routine you want to do today” approach of Nintendo’s effort), Wii Fit Plus looks like a very average product. Sure, it’s better than the likes of Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum or the second entry of Ubisoft’s My Fitness Coach series (which is a renamed version of the US-only Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout), but that isn’t saying a great deal when those titles have been rushed together in order to take advantage of a craze. Is it harsh to say that when the product costs half the price of a standard new-release game? I think so, especially when EA’s effort can be picked up for the same money now, complete with the extra bits that are needed to play it.
As a multiplayer party game, Wii Fit Plus has no equal. Everyone loves getting on the board and trying to pull off the longest Ski Jump, or trying to become the best fish-catching Penguin. This new version is even better for this situation, thanks to the new offering of games. However, as a serious fitness tool – which is presumably what everyone assumes that it is, thanks to the name – Wii Fit Plus leaves a lot to be desired. The ridiculous amounts of hand-holding need to be kicked out for a start, better routine planning options are needed, and someone could also do with informing Nintendo what a “warm up” should consist of, since I’ll bet a fair few folks will end up doing themselves an injury as they step on to the board cold and are asked to take on one of the more strenuous games in order to get the blood pumping.
Some would say that given the lack of any real improvements to the underlying fabric of the product, that this is nothing more than a way of making a quick buck. During my time with Wii Fit Plus, I can’t say that I’ve seen anything that allows me to provide a solid argument against that point.
