So, you've decided to use your Wii for a good workout. With all the Wii games out there, which are the ones which will get your heart pumping and the calories burning? We pick out the very best Wii Exercise Games and review them here.
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If you're anything like me, over the years you've joined gyms and paid for months of membership you never used. Or, you've bought expensive gym equipment which ends up being very expensive coat racks. Or, you wait for the cold weather to pass so you can go outside and exercise, and then you suddenly realize it's too hot to go out. And you've heard stories of people who get addicted to endorphins and can't exercise enough. Well, I'm not one of those people.
From the days of Pong and Space Invaders, our society has been addicted to video games. This is where the genius of using the Wii for exercise lies. They say that you achieve weight loss and healthy heart with 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise three times a week.For those of you who can't stay 5 minutes on a treadmill without getting bored to tears, you may be surprised that with some of these games, that half hour will speed by quickly, and your heart will be pumping and you'll be perspiring just as much as if you'd stayed on the treadmill.
Below, I've listed the best Wii games for exercise. I've given them two ratings: the first rating is workout intensity (focusing mainly on aerobic exercise). The second rating is "fun". Note that the second rating is just as important as the first, because the more fun the game is, the more you'll play it and the less you'll remember that you're actually exercising.
Also, check out the Best of the Rest List: Wii Workout Games that were once in the top 10, but have since been bumped. They're still great games to give you a variety in your exercises, and you may even be able to find a great deal on them. You might also want to check out our list of Wii Fitness Games To Avoid and our list of Upcoming Wii Fitness Games.
Do you know of another Wii game that fits on the list? Or, do you want to share the story of how you use the Wii as your workout? Add your comments below!
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In November, 2009 EA Sports released the much-anticipated sequel to EA Sports Active. I've written a full review of EA Sports Active: More Workouts on the blog as well as on Amazon's product page
You technically don't need the original EA Sports Active disc to play this game, although you do need the special accessories that came with it: the Leg Strap for the nunchuk and the Resistance Band. Neither are included in this game, so you'll either need to purchase the original
At first blush, the game looks a lot like the original. The most obvious difference is the ability to take a 6 week challenge, which is a vast improvement over the old 30-day challenge. The length is a much more realistic one for weight loss, the workouts are much better designed to focus on different muscle groups more intensively throughout the workout, and you can choose from easy, medium, and hard levels. You can also choose the days of the week to work out, great for someone like me who has more time on weekends than weekdays. They've improved the Journal, where you can keep a virtual diary of your overall diet and exercise progress, and the reporting tools, which tracks calories burned, a chart of your weight, and the number of workouts, total exercise time, and number of miles covered in your EA Sports Active workout.
EA Sports Active: More Workouts contains a new set of 30 exercises and 6 fitness activities which weren't in the original. Unfortunately, you can't integrate the exercises from the original into the new version, but for the most part the new exercises are so improved I don't miss the old ones too much. They work out every part of you, from lower body to upper body. One other nice addition is a warm-up and cool-down period, just like a real training program. As before, you get comprehensive video demonstrations for each exercise that clearly talks you through how to hold the resistance strap and how to perform the exercise.
The highlight of the title has to be the new fitness activities. As with its predecessor, EA Sports Active More Workouts has some great fitness activities: water skiing, paddle surfing, cardio boxing, step aerobics, squash, and an obstacle course. As with the fitness activities of the original, these are not so much accurate simulations of sports activities as they are clever ways to get you to mimic exercise movements (like squatting and lunges) in repetition without getting bored. While it's tedious to go through countless reps of squats and arm movements; on the other hand, it's a blast to be doing it playing a fast-paced game of virtual squash (and quite a workout). The balance board is still optional, but they make really good use of it that it's worth using.
The controls are spot-on. Unlike games like The Biggest Loser and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010, which passively "check" to see if you're making the right movements (and not always accurately), EA Sports Active's on-screen character will actively reflect your exact movements as they're making them. Every now and then the controls do get frustrating (not registering something when you know you've done it), but not too much to ruin the experience.
All in all, I was impressed with EA Sports Active: More Workouts being an improvement over the first version. Admittedly, Wii Fit Plus is more "fun", has better graphics, and has better responsiveness. But with EA Sports Active, the workout regimen itself is a tougher one which really gets you working out.
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I had a tough time deciding whether to put EA Sports Active: More Workouts or Wii Fit Plus
At the end of the day, EA Sports won the day, because it does provide the best workout, and with their "More Workouts" product they did improve it enough to be "fun" enough to use for regular use. But as improved as EA Sports Active is, Wii Fit Plus is still king of the hill in the "fun" department. For that reason, it's a very close #2 as a pure exercise title. But if you're the type who hates exercising and needs a really, really fun time to incent you to work out, Wii Fit Plus is clearly #1.
You can read a full review of Wii Fit Plus on the blog. Here are some of the highlights:
The first thing to note is that Wii Fit Plus is not a "sequel" to the original Wii Fit, but rather it contains all the content of the original Wii Fit and adds a number of improvements (for a write-up of the original Wii Fit, see the "Best of the Rest" list). In other words, if you don't have Wii Fit already, you can skip it, buy Wii Fit Plus with the Balance Board
The first improvement, clearly influenced by EA Sports Active, is that instead of choosing individual strength and yoga exercises ad-hoc, you can choose from a number of pre-configured workout routines, or create your own routine from the list of activities.
The activities are still broken out by category: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games. All of these are identical to the old Wii Fit, except that there there are a 6 new Yoga and Strength training exercises which add some more variety and challenge to those categories.
The biggest improvement in Wii Fit Plus is the addition of 15 "Training Plus" activities. Here are the best of the best new ones:
Rhythm Kung-Fu (Workout intensity: 3 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is the first game that put a huge smile on my face. Using your Wiimote, the Nunchuk, and the Balance Board, you have to strike different "kung fu" poses in rhythm to delightfully cheesy kung-fu movie music. It's essentially a game of "Simon Says", where you mimic the moves of a groups of Miis standing behind you (and if you have family or friend Miis on your system, you'll see some familiar faces). Another game that perhaps doesn't provide the most strenuous workout at first, but one you'll be playing over and over again to try to beat your high score (you're judged based on your timing).
Bird's-Eye Bull's-Eye, a.k.a. Flying Chicken (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is the one you probably heard about, and it (along with Obstacle Course) is the winner. Your Mii dons a chicken outfit and has to fly from target to target. How do you fly? By flapping your arms. Seriously. You can either flap your arms with your hands extended, or do a "chicken dance" type movement by bending your elbows. Either way, the Balance Board will amazingly detect how strongly, quickly, or slowly you're flapping. Like a real bird, you flap faster to get better control, and you flap slower to soar great distances. You control where you're moving by leaning on the Balance Board. It is, I kid you not, the closest you will ever come to flying like a bird. It's a great upper body workout that you'll do again and again.
Obstacle Course (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is the game I was most looking forward too, and I was not disappointed. The way it's been described is that it's like Super Mario Bros, only you are playing the part of Mario running through a 3-D obstacle course. You run in place on the Balance Board to make your character move forward and you straighten your knees to make him jump. In the process, you'll be navigating around huge swinging wrecking balls, moving sidewalks, and falling logs. Something important to remember is that to jump, you need to bend and straighten your legs. The game will reset if it detects you actually jumping on the board, a measure Nintendo put in place to prevent damage to your board.
Rhythm Parade (Workout intensity: 4 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This was another one to put a huge smile on my face. You're basically a drum major, marching in place to the sound of a beat. Like rhythm games like Helix and Samba Di Amigo, you move your Wii-mote and Nunchuk to match on-screen cues. The better you match, the bigger your marching band becomes (and again, you'll see familiar faces join in the band if you have custom Miis). Like other Wii rhythm games of this ilk, I'm not sure how accurate the Wii and Nunchuk are (there are times I'm sure I move it on time but it doesn't register on the screen), but the game is pretty forgiving.
Once great improvement of Wii Fit Plus is that it uses METs (which stands for Metabolic EquivalenTs) to tell you how many calories you're burning, a vast improvement over the meaningless "Fit Credits" of the old Wii Fit. Another big improvement is with the Balance Board: with the old Wii Fit, each time you started a new routine, you'd need to wait for the Balance Board to calibrate.Wii Fit Plus is a bit more intelligent, in that it'll sense whether the weight has changed and give the option to recalibrate only if it has.
There is also the ability to measure a child or pet. This is a gimmick, of course, but a totally fun one if you have the aforementioned child or pet to measure. :)
The fun and creativity that Nintendo put into this new version of Wii Fit gives it a slight edge over EA Sports Active. Highly recommended.
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Konami invented exercise games before anyone knew what an exercise game was. Long before Wii Fit or Wii Sports, there was Dance Dance Revolution. Kids in malls and homes everywhere were doing 30 minutes of rigorous and sustained aerobic exercise without even realizing it, while their parents with their Jane Fonda videos hardly broke a sweat.
A lot of us had been using DDR for working out, but Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 3 for Wii fully integrates exercise as a game feature, putting it right on par with other "exergames" like Wii Fit Plus and EA Sports Active. The dance mat controller was the first and is still the best controller for accurate tracking of movements.
There are different modes of play, but I'll focus on what it calls "Workout Mode". And in this area, it is a solid winner. When you start Workout mode, it'll use the balance board to calculate your weight before you start working out. You'll be able to set a goal for your workout sessions by minutes or by the number of KCALS burned.
As far as the types of workouts, you basically have three options.
"Standard" mode is "classic DDR", where you move your feet to the music, and in my book it's still the best way to work out. Every song has four difficulty levels (beginning, basic, difficult and expert). I find that the "difficult" setting provides me enough of a challenge while getting my heart pumping and my body sweating. Hypermove Mode is basically the same as Standard move, adding the Wii remote and Nunchuks to move your arms. This is hit-or-miss as far as the responsiveness of the controllers. I would have preferred Konami to do like Helix or We Cheer 2, allowing the use of two Wii remotes instead of the less responsive nunchuk.
Balance Board Mode is a new mode where you stand on the balance board and bump your hips to the front, back, and sides; make punching movements with the Wii remote and nunchuk; and roll your hips like you're hula hooping. Each song has two difficulty levels (basic and difficult), but even at its most difficult it's not nearly as strenuous as using the dance mat controller. Still, it's a good diverstion to provide some variety to your workouts.
Konami has continued to hold the bar high with every new release of Dance Dance Revolution, and they did a good job of updating DDR for "exergaming". At the end of the day, the best way to exercise is to do activities that are so fun you forget you're exercising.
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67 million Americans walk regularly for exercise, whether walking on a treadmill, taking step classes at a gym, or just walking outside. While all the other game companies are tripping over themselves trying to putting out yet another aerobic game or boxing game, Konami did something clever and decided to focus on this audience.
The result was Walk It Out. 
You step on either your Wii Balance Board or a Dance Dance Revolution dance pad (you can also use a Wii remote and nunchuk to exercise your arms instead of your legs) to a countinuous musical soundtrack consisting of some familiar songs, some generic songs, all of which are energetic and peppy. Your goal is to step on the beat, and if you do so you earn a "credit" which can be used to unlock parts of your virtual world, from scenery to new music to new routes on the map.There are so many things to unlock that it'd take months to unlock everything. But the thrill of “earning” your points and then spending them to create your own little world really does make the time go by quicker and more enjoyable than if you were just walking on a treadmill staring into space.
Konami did a good job of taking "addictive" elements from video games (collecting points, cashing them in, building your interactive world) and applying them to exercise. I rated this workout as "intensive" not because it'll make you pant and sweat, but because it's so fun and addictive that you'll be on it for hours at a time without even realizing it.
It's always better to step out of the house and get some fresh air, of course, but in those cold winter nights or late at night when it's dark outside and you feel like taking a walk, Walk It Out's world is not a bad place to visit from time to time either!
You can read a full review of Walk It Out here.
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Since 2004, The Biggest Loser has been one of the most popular shows on TV. The premise of the show, of course, is that overweight contestants compete against each other to see who can lose the most weight, helped along by expert trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels.
The Biggest Loser for the Wii is a very solid fitness title for the Wii. I don't use the word "game" because it's not exactly fun like a game. It's more like an interactive fitness video. In fact, it reminds me most of Ubisoft's My Fitness Coach in that way, but they've made a lot of improvements (so much so that The Biggest Loser has officially bumped My Fitness Coach out of this list).
The core of The Biggest Loser is its very comprehensive list of dozens and dozens of Single Exercises, which are essentially calisthenic exercises (i.e. exercises that don't use weights or equipment). They really hit a home run with these. Every calisthenic exercise imaginable is included, including exercises for a cardio workout; for working out the upper body, core, and lower body; and even yoga poses. Each exercise ranges from light, moderate, challenging, hard, and intense. Each one is clearly identified by an icon (color-coded by intensity). As you select each exercise, there's even a diagram telling you exactly what muscle groups you're working out. When you start each exercise, an on-screen figure will show you very clearly how to do the exercise, including the correct posture, moves, and timing.
The exercises typically use the Wii-mote and/or the Balance Board passively to "check" your progress. For example, when you choose the jump rope exercise, you hold the Wii-mote like the handle of a jump rope and make small circles with it. When you choose "tire drills", you put the Wii-mote in your pocket and run in place, simulating the kinds of drills that football players do when they run through tires. Similarly, "fast skaters" is an exercise where you simulate a speed skater waving his or her arms. There are a number of exercises which use the balance board such as the "plank" (where you press both hands against the balance board), a "T-Raise" (where one hand is on the balance board and the other is stretched out). Some exercises will be very familiar (jumping jacks, push ups), but even the ones that aren't familiar are very intuitive once you watch the on-screen character doing them.
You can do each of the exercises a la carte, but more likely you'll want to choose Exercise Routines, which combine multiple single exercises into comprehensive pre-designed programs to work out your full body, upper body, core, lower body or do yoga exercises. You can also create a custom routine, made up of your favorite single exercises. As with single exercises, you can choose anything from light to intense exercise.
And of course, you can choose the full Fitness Program. You enter your vital information (conveniently, you can use your Balance Board to measure your weight, both your initial weight and in your very own "weigh ins"). Then, you pick your favorite real-life Biggest Loser contestant to play as from a list of eight past contestants. You can pick whether you want to hear Bob Harper or Jillian Michaels as "your trainer". From there, you can pick a personal goal: whether you want to simply maintain your current weight and improve your health, lose a little weight, or lose a lot of weight. You'll also pick a skill level and a program length. Based on all the things you enter, the system will calculate a specific exercise regiment for you, complete with dates. If you're really committed, you can also input the number of calories you eat every day, as well as log any additional training you do outside of the program (such as walking, running or biking outside), and the program will adjust itself accordingly.
An interesting part of this title is a menu option called Health and Lifestyle. Here, you'll find a large number of recipes, straight out of The Biggest Loser Cookbooks (they'll even show you the cookbook the recipe came out of). There's a pretty impressive list of food for breakfast, lunch, main dishes, sides, and dessert. It's a bit awkward reading recipes on the Wii, as your Wii is probably not in your kitchen. But still, the recipes are generally short enough that you can jot them down on a piece of paper. Under this menu option you'll also find a large number of "quick tips" from past Biggest Loser participants, including short video clips from Bob and Jillian themselves. Finally, there's an extremely useful feature called the "Calorie Counter", which calculates the daily calorie intake recommend specifically for you based on your weight, age, and goals.
The most interesting part of The Biggest Loser for Wii are what they call Challenge Events. Here, your chubby on-screen character will compete against other characters (all off-screen) in a number of interesting events, the types of which you'd see on the show. As on the show, you start out competing with 7 personalities from the show, and after each round one is eliminated. I should note that you don't really simulate the actual movements of the character on screen, but instead you do various "single exercises", and your character performs only when you do the exercises precisely and timed correctly. I found this by far the most effective part of the game, because my instincts to compete far exceeded any resistance to exercise. The bottom line is it got me motivated to work out more than I probably would have normally without getting bored.
There are a couple minor annoyances. If you connect your balance board and the balance board power goes out, the game is completely hung up until you turn it back on. Sometimes the controllers will not register properly, and in many cases, you're on the "honor system" as to how closely you follow the on-screen examples (even if you get a little sloppy in your form or don't do the exercise properly, Bob or Jillian may continue to shout out praise and encouragement). I admit I was a little disappointed that most of the activities didn't take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Wii and its controllers in the same innovative ways that Wii Fit Plus does. And one thing to keep in mind is that you need a LOT of room to move around.
But still the bottom line is, they have an impressive number of fundamental exercises to work out all different areas of your body. Especially when I choose "intense" level, it really does make my heart pound and gives me a great workout that rivaled any kind of workout I'd get at the gym, for a fraction of the price.
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Ironically, the best fitness game title to come out of Ubisoft isn't a fitness game at all. It's Just Dance
The biggest thing that impressed me about this game was not only the wide range of very fun songs, but that in playing the game you learn the actual dance moves to the songs! You'll learn the "Mashed Potato" that was all the rage in the 1960's to Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time". You'll learn the best disco moves of the 70's with songs like "That's the Way I Like It". And my personal dream come true--you can make your own "Hammer Time" with "U Can't Touch This" (parachute pants not included).
Admittedly, the one thing I was skeptical about when I first saw the game was that it only used one Wii remote. They went for a decidedly simpler approach. Considering it's using one Wii remote, the controls are fairly accurate as far as detecting whether you're dancing correctly or not. For each move, you'll be given a grade of "Great", "Okay" and "X".
Now, I won't lie and say the controls are the most precise in the world. But where this game triumphs is that even though the controls may be off, the game is so fun that you really don't care. You're not really "scolded" for getting an "X". And you also find that the more you practice the moves and "feel the music", the better your scores become. You may never get to 100%, but you learn to take 60% to 70% "Great" or "Okay" as a major accomplishment. For some hints on getting the best results, see my full review of Just Dance on the blog.
To sum up, Just Dance is an instant classic “exercise game that’s not called an exercise game”. And even though I was constantly out of breath, I invariably still wanted to try it again and again until I got it right. To me, that's the sign of a great exercise game.
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The original We Cheer was one of the first games for the Wii to really make full use of the Wii's motion sensor capabilities. It was a hugely popular title for Namco-Bandai and for good reason. It's a cheerleading simulation, a fun and challenging rhythm game, and a unique way to exercise, all rolled into one. I'm happy to say We Cheer 2
The primary audience for the game is quite obviously girls from ages 7-15, but it can certainly be enjoyed by people of all ages. The We Cheer world is a bright, colorful world with wide-eyed cartoon cheerleaders with big eyes and bubbly giggles. The music is licensed and recognizable music from such teen pop stars as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Avril Lavigne. Even Fergie's "Glamorous" is the "Clean Version". You definitely won't find suggestive moves or skimpy outfits, it's all very family-friendly.
As for the gameplay itself, I found it very impressive. You hold the Wii remotes in your hands like pom poms, your on-screen character will dance in a cheerleading routine, and your job is to mimic her moves as closely as possible, with an on-screen arrow and animated "timing star" showing you the precise moves you need to make and the speed you make them in. If you follow her moves precisely, the screen says "Cool!" and you hear a jingling sound. If you miss, the screen will say things like "too fast" or "too slow" or even "needs more energy". We Cheer 2 literally simulates an actual cheerleading routine. You'll clap your hands, dance from side to side, tilt and twist your body, shake your virtual pom-poms, and twirl and wave your hands. The choreography is actually pretty impressive; after playing the game over and over again (especially on expert mode), you can literally dance a full cheerleading routine that rivals the kinds you see at high schools and colleges.
As in the first version, the game publishers made a smart move NOT to use the Wii Nunchuk, instead giving you the option of using one or two Wii remotes. This greatly improves the accuracy of the controls at Beginner and Intermediate levels, which were spot-on. At the Expert Level, the motion tracking was not 100% accurate. Still, after making some adjustments to my movements, I was able to start clearing expert routines after a lot of practice.
One thing I really liked about the game was the mode called "Exercise Mode". In it, your on-screen character will take you through a Jane Fonda-like aerobic workout, shouting out various instructions to you. The options seem fairly limited (you can only choose between a 2-minute and a 4-minute workout), but over time you can unlock more. The storylines in exercise mode are pretty amusing; as in the first version, there's a tubby fellow (and in one case a grizzly bear) who approaches you and asks for help to lose weight. As you do the workout, you can see the pounds "poof" right off as you do the exercises correctly.
Overall, We Cheer 2 is a worthy successor to the original We Cheer, a lot of fun, and great exercise to boot. While most Wii exercise games focus on lower body, We Cheer provides a great low-impact upper body workout. Sometimes the best fitness titles are ones that aren't fitness titles at all, because you end up playing the game over and over again to try to beat the game, without realizing you're working out.
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Like a lot of Wii games, Active Life Outdoor Challenge
Timber Trail (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun: 3 of 5): This is a game where you basically have to run in place, and occasionally jump to hurdle over logs that are running in your way. It's a great aerobic workout, but I find the mat is not always responsive, which takes two stars from the fun.
Mole Stomper (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun: 5 of 5): Think "Whack a Mole", but instead of a hammer, you're using your feet to stomp on the moles popping up from six holes in the ground. At advanced levels, this is a real workout, especially when you stomp like mad to put the giant blue mole in the middle in his place.
Kayak Attack (Workout intensity: 2 of 5, Fun 1 of 5): Good idea, but poorly executed. This game simulates a kayak floating down rapids. You swing your game controller like it was a paddle for your kayak. The problem is, the control really doesn't work too well. If you try to paddle harder, you get an error message telling you you're padding too hard. And yet if you don't paddle hard, more often than not you're just sitting in one place. I'm guessing the people who programmed it wanted to simulate a "real" rapids, but this one is one bad mini-game in the midst of a bunch of excellent ones.
Pipe Slider (Workout intensity: 2 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is a game that's more fun than exercise. For want of a better analogy, it's a lot like a luge or a bobsled run. You sit on the mat, and instead of your feet controlling the mat, your hands do. You basically tap down on the mat with your hands to accelerate, and you press down on the mat to steer around some obstacles.
Mine Cart Adventure (Workout Intensity: 3 of 5, Fun: 5 of 5): This is a great little game that uses both the hand controller and the mat. You're riding a mine cart through a long and winding track (a la Indiana Jones). You shake the hand controller to accelerate (pretty much the workout part of it), and you lift your right or left leg to tilt the cart (to steer). Occasionally, you'll need to use the hand controller as a gun to shoot obstacles that get in your way.
Mountain Boarder (Workout Intensity: 3 of 5, Fun: 5 of 5): This is a skateboard simulator. Not much aerobic exercise, but certainly some good hand-eye coordination balance work, and a lot of fun. You basically simulate movements with your hands and feet to jump, duck, and do tricks in the air.
Speed Roller (Workout Intensity: 4 of 5, Fun: 5 of 5): This is a rollerblade simulator. You get a pretty good workout by moving your feet to increase your speed, plus there's some good balance and coordination work by jumping on rails and avoiding obstacles, including jumping to different levels and avoiding skating over the edge.
Lake-Top Trampoline (Workout Intensity: 4 of 5, Fun: 4 of 5): Just what it sounds like, your goal here is to jump on a virtual trampoline and then perform tricks in the air using some fancy footwork. Seems simple, but you'll be surprised at how much exercise you get, not just by performing the tricks but by trying again and again until you get it.
Stone Stepper: (Workout Intensity: 3 of 5, Fun: 4 of 5): Another Indiana Jones-esque game, this is a great little game where you're on top of stone pillars and need to time your steps to the left or the right and avoid falling to the ground to your demise. Another one of these games where the workout itself isn't a lot, but you'll do it again and again to win it.
Sprint Challenge (Workout Intensity: 5 of 5, Fun: 3 of 5): Just what it sounds like, in this game you're running in place at breakneck speed. Not much of a challenge, but great aerobic exercise as you try to beat your "personal best" each time.
Head-on Hurdler (Workout Intensity: 5 of 5, Fun: 4 of 5): Like the Sprint Challenge, but with hurdles. Like the log game above, the timing of the jump takes some getting used to.
Log Leaper (Workout Intensity: 4 of 5, Fun: 5 of 5): A game where you stand on a round pillar and try to avoid logs being rolled from all directions by jumping over them. Starts out slow, but as the logs come rolling faster and faster (and surprises like logs popping out of the ground come up), you'll find yourself exercising without even knowing it.
Conveyor Runner (Workout Intensity: 5 of 5, Fun: 4 of 5): You basically run in place to try to stay on top of a conveyor belt that goes faster and faster, jumping to avoid hurdles and pitfalls that pop up. Starts out slowly, but pretty soon you're huffing and puffing to stay up.
Seesaw Battler (Workout Intensity: 2 of 5, Fun: 4 of 5): This is more a game of reaction than a workout game. You use your hands to press the mat and time it to beat your opponent in a "hot hands" game.
Jump Rope (Workout Intensity: 5 of 5, Fun: 5 of 5): Just like what it sounds like, this is a game where you jump rope. Two square-headed animals control the rope, and twirl it faster and faster. Just like real jump rope, you'll need to time your jumps quickly and precisely, and after a short time you'll be sweating up a storm.
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This was a game suggested by Adam from Nevada in the site's Guestbook (thanks Adam!) It's a downloadable WiiWare title (meaning you can't buy it in stores, but you can buy a Wii Points Card
The game is brilliant in its simplicity. As Adam said in his comment, you can consider it as "DDR for your arms", or a hi-tech game of Simon Says. As heart-pounding techno music plays, you need to mimic the actions of the on-screen figure to the beat.
There have been other rhythm games, including some I reviewed here, like Samba Di Amigo, Dancing with the Stars, and High School Musical 3. They're all great games, especially for the fans of their respective franchises or musical genres, but Helix is the one which stands out for response and overall workout quality.
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Gold's Gym Cardio Workout
It retains some of the same features as My Fitness Coach, such as scheduling workouts and maintaining a calendar of your exercises. Overall, I'd say it's a decent workout game, nothing spectacular, but a nice game to have in your arsenal of Wii workout games.
There are really two major parts of the game: 1) Boxing, and 2) traditional cardio workouts using the Wii Balance Board.
The boxing part is pretty realistic, and certainly a cut above Wii Boxing. . The on-screen instructor teaches you all about how to properly throw different kinds of punches such as jabs, hooks, upper cuts, crosses, as well as defensive techniques like weaving, and dodging. You go through training for each kind of punch, and you can even take a series of exams to see how well you do. As you pass each test, you unlock new exercises and you earn "Gold" (in some shameless product placement) to buy on-screen clothes and accessories. While you can use a Wii and a Nunchuck, two Wii-motes are highly recommended to get the precise movement down.
The cardio part uses the Wii balance board, but it doesn't use it as part of the actual exercise as much as just as a "spotter" for counting the number of reps you do dor things like squats and situps. It'll measure shifts in your weight to determine if you're doing the exercise correctly. For example, when doing squats, a voice will tell you to "squat down" and "rise up", and you have only a short time to do the rep for it to count in your total.
Both these kinds of exercises come together in the "Workout session". You can follow a prepared regimen, or you can choose exercises a la carte. When you select a prepared workout, like the other Ubisoft title "My Fitness Coach", you get a virtual trainer who'll talk you through the exercises.
I wouldn't say it's an all-in-one exercise program, but certainly a good supplement to some of the other games on this page, and probably the of the bunch so far for upper body workouts, like traditional boxing and sparring.
Like this list? Can you think of any games I missed, or do you know of new games coming out? Do you have your own Wii Workout experience you'd like to share? Add a comment here to share with the world!
Please wait...
Chris
Brandon, I'll be posting a review of We Cheer 2 shortly. Early indications are it's a winner. Stay tuned!
Thanks for the comments everyone. Keep 'em coming!
http://www.nutwiisystem.com/blog/2009/11/jillian-michaels-fitness-ultimatum-2010.html
In a nutshell, I'd say it's an okay game for die-hard fans of Jillian Michaels, but for others there are much better choices. Thanks!
Yep, the famous lady in question is Jenny McCarthy, and the game is Your Shape. You can see a review here:
http://www.nutwiisystem.com/blog/2009/11/review-of-your-shape-for-wii.html
I'm in the process of updating the Top 10 list, and I haven't decided whether this one will make it or not. The execution is not the best, but I do give it an A for effort. Stay tuned!
One other game that I recommend for exercise, even though it's a conventional arcade game, is the new Punch Out. Whenever I've played it, it's been a very intense workout. Punching into the screen is very fast and responsive, much quicker than Wii Sports Boxing. You also must shake the controllers to recover your strength after a knockout, and what I do is roll my fists quickly in circles, like i'm winding up a rope. It's very, very effective, not only for the game, but your heart rate.
Usually, I'm good for a solid 30 minutes and I'm sweating and happy. I definitely feel it in my shoulders and arms the next day, and that's a hallmark of a great Wii game. It's also a great thrill to be playing Punch Out again.
Thanks again for your website and blog. I'll be relying on it many times in the coming weeks.
Thanks for this very helpful list!
I was wondering what you think about "Just Dance"? I've never played any of the Dance Dance Revolution games and am trying to decide whether to get one of them or Just Dance. What would you recommend?
Thanks again!
Jennifer, I'd recommend EA Sports Active. The folks at EA deliberately based it on "Western fitness techniques" precisely as a response to the "Eastern fitness techniques" you see from Japanese game makers like Nintendo. You'll find it makes good (optional) use of the balance board, and the accessories it comes with (a resistance band and a nunchuk strap) are simple yet very useful.
Jennie, as funny as it sounds, I would recommend a game like We Cheer 2. It's a great low-impact workout where you wouldn't need to twist and jump like the other exercise games. For more grown-up fare, EA Sports Active is good too; you can customize your workouts so you can eliminate specific exercises that force you to put pressure on your ankle and set that as your daily routine.
Good luck and happy exercising!
I just wanted to say that I just received a Wii for Xmas and the whole point is to help me lose weight. I found this super helpful and also I think you are funny! I am excited to go out and get some of these suggestions. Would you recommend having more than one? Since so many of them now offer personal goals and routines? I'm thinkin' biggest loser and ddr. are there any out there that are only yoga? perhaps by a well known yoga instructor? ex; sarah powers?
Thanks!
Thank you.
Ps so glad i found this site.
put in weight stats and then compete against each other to
track out loss and improvement. And work out together is a
big must so that we can push each other a bit. Would love
any suggestions. KIM
together and as competition. A game that lets us enter our stats and then show any losses and improvements. I would like to work out with
him and against him. Any suggestions?
We also have a 6 and 8 year olds. In your full review of WF+ you mentioned: "3) The ability to measure a child or pet. This is a gimmick, of course, but a totally fun one if you have the aforementioned child or pet to measure. :)"
Actually I think it is a great option, as like you said, you have kids or pets. The Balance Board exercises and games work based on your weight. For example, if they try to do the obstacle course based on my Mii, most jumps don't register as my kids are so much lighter. So, if you have kids, it is great to have that in there.
One last thing, it would be great to have reviews of DDR dance mats. I have one that kind of moves around on carpet. Being on carpet, it also does not register some moves which makes it frustrating. I am thinking in gluing some plywood underneath it.
Any suggestions on a site that reviews DDR style dance mats? I have not been able to find any.
Thank you for the info and all the work you put into this great site !
I have only tried the Biggest Loser out of all of these, but it has on option to play with the balance board or without. It appears to be the exact same workouts either way. I actually kind of prefer it without.
Good Luck!
A few of you have asked questions, and rather than responding to them here, I'll take some time to answer them over the coming weeks on the blog at http://www.nutwiisystem.com/blog. Stay tuned, and thanks for visiting! :)
I weigh just under 300 and cannot do squats as low as the game requires. The game hung so that even taking the nunchuk off of my leg and lowering it lower did not get the game moving again, I had to turn off the Console to abort the game. I was hoping I'd be able to do the game but found it very frustrating due to my weight and knee problems. I can't move fast enough in the running (can't really run I have to just walk in place and it doesn't like that) I'm so discouraged that I haven't turned it on in a week. Kitty
Thank you,
Korie
After having used them for a while I have decided to just keep Wii fit plus and EA sports Active: more workouts. They are by far the best of the bunch.
Robin: My fitness Coach 2 is a game which, at least in UK, has been out a while and is called New U:Fitness first personal trainer. It's completely different to My fitness coach. You can find reviews on eg. Amazon.
Cheers Linda
Hi Maggie,
I would definitely try Walk It Out
Take care!
Steve
BTW my husband just started using EA sports personal trainer with me and he loves it, he swears his back has not bothered him since he started it!!!!
I just just purchase a copy of My Fitness Coach 2, so I'll be posting a review shortly.
Stephanie, thanks for the kind words! :)
Angie, I wouldn't say that More Workouts is "more challenging" than the original, but it definitely has a much better variety of workouts. Since you already have the leg strap and resistance bands, it only costs around $30, less than one trip to the gym :) You can read a full review of EA Sports Active More Workouts here. And stay tuned for the fall, when EA will release their next generation version of EA Sports Active!
"Fatty", as someone who not too far from your weight and successfully got it down, I can say that any of the games in the list of Best Wii Exercise Games will "work", as LONG as you keep it up consistently and maintain a healthy diet, avoiding fats and excessive carbs. The best on the list would probably be Dance Dance Revolution or The Biggest Loser. It takes a ton of discipline, and as "fun" as the games are, it will be difficult and painful at times. But stick with it, and you'll be amazed at the results. We're all pulling for you! (And like you, I'm annoyed at these slim models on the box covers too :)).
Sarah, EA Sports Active's "Multiplayer Mode" sounds exactly like what you and your husband are looking for. Here's a video from EA describing it. Good luck!
On a side note, I ordered We Cheer 2, and it's awesome!
Hi Kitty,
I have a friend that I work out with using EA Active that had the same issue. We resolved it by having her sit on the couch instead of actual squats. It works the same muscles if you use proper form. It's just less time using them and safer if you have knee issues. After a while she was able to move down to the couch more slowly with more stability.
Angela
Thanks so much for all of your hard work!
If I am being really obtuse tell me - I am very surprised that a Wii Step Aerobics hasn't come out! Did I overlook something? Just seems like such a crazy omission. Here we are, all with our BB's and accessories and will to buy new exergames and no Step workouts!
Thanks again for a good read.
I goten Ea Sports Active Game yesterday and I love it. Today I researching your page and want to buy Cardio Golds Gym or in Europe it called My Fitness Coach Cardio.
Thank God someone beside me say Ea Active Sports are better than Wii Fit.
Before in my young days and when I was Wrestling Fanboy I buy every Smackdown! and Smackdown VS Raw that was coming but now I going to buy every Ea Active Sports.
Ea Active Sports More Workouts is next. Than Ea Sports Active 2. And Then What Future Brings Me.
I love your site keep updating it more I going to visit it =) Perfect site for people who want to workout front of a Wii and TELLY!
From "Nemesick" in Norway, Oslo