Wii Fit Plus

The follow up to the highly successful Wii Fit title is here! If you think that your muscles suffered with the previous instalment, be prepared to spend a few more mornings with aching limbs this time around as the levels of both fun and structured exercise have been upped. So dig out your Balance Board because if you haven’t got Wii Fit Plus yet, I’m sure you will want it very soon.

I think many people (me included) were guilty of purchasing the original Wii Fit with the intentions of getting toned and healthy by using it every day, but it didn’t really work out that way and it became a tool to do the occasional warm up to make you feel better about yourself. It then became acceptable to tell people that you “work out”. Well this is where I think Wii Fit Plus steps up to the mark, because new additions to the game make it far more playable on a daily basis.

The first plus point is that your existing Wii Fit Balance Board can be used for Wii Fit Plus, which is a great advantage and nice not to see a game where it is necessary to spend more money on an accessory that you already have. Obviously, if you are not the proud owner of Wii Fit then you will need to buy one to go with it.

Right, so now I’ve built it up to be great, I had better back it up with some facts! The very first thing that Wii Fit Plus does is import your information from Wii Fit, which is very helpful, especially if you were a regular user. If not, don’t worry because you can import the information and still re-do the Body Test to come up with a more accurate and up to date reading. As before, your weight and BMI is calculated, and you can set personal targets. If you’re underweight, you can set targets to bulk up your muscle, or if you’re overweight you can set targets to lose weight. If you’re somewhere in the middle, you can do what you like really and Wii Fit Plus will just keep you in the right place. Another useful addition is the calorie calculator, which shows you how many calories you have burnt during an exercise, which for some is a greater indication of work-rate than time or muscle pain!

Once that is all done, you find yourself on a very similar welcome screen to Wii Fit. Some might say this is a bit dull and that if you’re going to move a game forward, why not spruce up the home screen a bit? Others might say that actually, those familiar with Wii Fit don’t want to be confused by an unnecessary new look. I’m with the latter group. It’s plain and simple, and it maintains the Wii Fit look very well, which is fine because the most important additions come within the exercises and routines, which in a game like this is what you pay for.

There are two new options at the home screen; one allows you to weigh your child/pet (and when I say child/pet, I don’t mean that “pet” is an alternative term for your child!), and one that brings up a multiplayer mode. By holding a young child or a family pet in your arms, the Balance Board will subtract your weight from the total weight on the board. This feature effectively replaces the traditional bathroom scales with a more interactive method and keeps the whole family involved. The multiplayer mode is a good addition to Wii Fit because it maximises the fun element. There was always the potential to make more of the balance games, and now you can directly compete with friends and family by taking turns to score the highest amount of points. This is a much easier method than switching between Mii characters at the home screen when trying to better someone else’s score.

By far the best thing about this game is “My Wii Fit Plus”. This is the new feature where you can tailor a daily routine to suit you, or in fact find pre-set regimes to tone up certain parts of your body. This is where the sequel steps up to the original from being a game to do some exercises, to being a game to really work out with. It’s like having a personal trainer in your living room. “Wii Fit Plus Routines” can be selected in order to focus on certain areas of your body and to achieve different goals. You can also combine the routines to make one longer exercise session. As well as the suggested exercises, there is also “My Routine” which allows you to map out a personalised daily routine of Yoga exercises and Muscles Workouts, but be careful not to be tempted to just pick what is easiest, as you might not get the best workout to achieve your goals. The “Favourites” option also shows you which exercises you use frequently, recently and rarely. There is also a table that shows the equivalent food-type to how many calories you have burnt.

Another helpful feature is the fact that Wii Fit Plus sort of assumes that you were amazing enough at Wii Fit to unlock all of the previous Yoga poses and Muscle Workouts. If you were, then I congratulate you, but if not then fear not because there are only a few new options to unlock in this edition. This means you can choose mostly whatever Yoga or Muscle moves that you desire, which makes it feel less like a “game” and more like a replacement for a gym membership!

There are also more fun methods of working out in Wii Fit Plus. The Aerobic, Games and Training Plus elements offer interesting ways to get your heart pumping. There are the offerings from the last game such as jogging through the park and heading footballs, and there are new additions such as driving a Segway round a beach, which is harder than it sounds!

Wii Fit Plus has really met my expectations. I knew that it would be basically the same package, but with so much more to offer. I would advise original Wii Fit owners to upgrade, and anyone who hasn’t tried it before to start now. The personalisation and fun elements within this package are great, and I really think that this edition has more staying power than the last. Wii Fit is the original fitness title, and I think Wii Fit Plus will cement its place in history.

+ Create your own exercise regimes
+ More fun activities than Wii Fit
+ Calorie Counter is good real life indicator

- Criticised BMI is still used
- Some dialogue is too long
- Not much to unlock, which might demotivate some players

Score – 8.5/10