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Wii | Simulation | Wii Fit

Boxart for Wii Fit
Wii Fit 92 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 3.75
  • SOUND: 4.00
  • CONTROL: 4.25
  • FUN FACTOR 4.50
  • AVG USER SCORE 3.3
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.5
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: Wii Fit Weighs In!

Review by Tae Kim | 05/22/2008 | 14:14:13 PM PST

Alright, let's just get this out of the way: Wii Fit isn't going to give you the muscles of Schwarzenegger or give you the subtle grace of Baryshnikov. In short, if you go in spaghetti-armed and uncoordinated, you'll probably come out that way. Much like Brain Age and other games of its ilk, Wii Fit isn't a magic bullet that'll cure what ails you. But what it can do is get you up and off your couch, which, if you're anything like me, is a good thing all around. Oh, and it's a heck of lot of fun to boot.

EDITOR'S NOTE: We erroneously posted the incorrect score for Wii Fit as 4.00 out of 5.00. The correct score is 4.50, which earns Wii Fit our coveted Editor's Choice award. We sincerely regret the error.

Related Wii Fit Features:

Wii Fit at a Glance

PROS:
  • Offers up a unique and innovative gaming experience.
  • Balance Board is solidly built all around.
  • It might not turn your flab into muscles but it will get you up off your butt.
CONS:
  • Balance Board requires four batteries to run.
  • The package is definitely on the pricey side.
  • The idea of an "exercise" game might be too unique for some gamers.
Fit To Be Square

Playing Wii Fit is an interesting experience. It's sort of goofy and embarrassing-if you consider yourself "hardcore" you'll probably turn your nose up at it-but it can also be ridiculously fun. Of course, the best thing that Wii Fit has going for it is that it's unique. Much like the Wii Remote's motion sensing capabilities, the Balance Board offers you a gaming experience that you can't really find anywhere else. Sure, weight-sensing peripherals aren't anything new but unlike the flimsy mats of yore, the Balance Board feels less like a gimmick and more like a legitimate product. It's slick, responsive and solidly made.

And just like Wii Sports was the perfect showcase for the Wii Remote's capabilities, Wii Fit pairs up with the Balance Board like peanut butter pairs up with jelly. The first time you step log into Wii Fit, you create an account and go through a quick initial scanning process that measures your stance and weight. During my initial scan, I found out that I tended to over distribute my weight to the right and that my center of balance was shifted slightly to the back. My BMI (body mass index) was in the normal range but optimally, I needed to gain about fifteen pounds, which is a pretty nice goal to have. There's also a test that determines your relative Wii Fit age; I'm ashamed to admit that the game pegged me as being fifteen years older than I really am the first time I took it, which was sort of discouraging.

Fitness Regiment

Once you've gotten yourself scanned in, you can proceed to a menu of mini-games to mess around, take yourself to the Daily Training mode to engage in a daily set of exercises, or pull up menus to chart your progress. Most of your time with Wii Fit will no doubt be spent playing the mini-games, which are varied and place an emphasis on different things. There are games that require you to quickly shift your weight and games that require you to be more subtle with your movements. There are also a variety of yoga poses to help you stretch and strengthen specific parts of your body. As you play, you accrue time coins which you can cash in to unlock more content, which is a nifty way to motivate gamers to invest time with the exercises.

To be honest, none of the activities are particularly taxing-I didn't work up a sweat the way I would after, say, an hour on a stationary bike-but they can be invigorating. The yoga poses seemed especially beneficial and the mini-games were a fun and easy way to get my body moving.

Again, I'm under no delusions that Wii Fit is going to make me "healthy." It's absolutely not a replacement for a regular exercise routine, but if you are tenacious enough about it then Wii Fit could probably do a decent job of compensating for your lack of physical activity. On a personal note, after spending some time with the game, I was able to match my Wii Fit age to my actual age, which is something to be proud of, I suppose.


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