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Since the dawn of motion tracking in video games, there has been a large crossover with fitness with the intention of making exercise fun and engaging rather than feeling like a chore. The issue I’ve found is that the pendulum can often swing too far in the opposite direction: you're having a lot of fun, but is it really exercise?
Ring Fit Adventure is one of the only games I've found that sits perfectly in the middle – it's fun and entertaining, but still feels like a proper workout. Six years on from its launch, with a range of competitors and different methods to play games releasing since, Ring Fit Adventure remains the best game for working out at home.
Article continues belowEvery element of the game uses some form of exercise, whether it's running on the spot just to move forward, using 'fit skills’ to damage enemies, or pushing on your ring accompaniment to fly over dangerous terrain. However, what sets Ring Fit Adventure apart is the inclusion of a fitness ring, hence the name, as well as a leg strap to attach your controllers to.
Don’t skip leg day
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A majority of fit skills use the included ring, which requires a level of strength to push or pull – making them feel like a real workout. Unlike other fitness games on the market, Ring Fit Adventure can measure how much effort you’re putting in and whether or not you have the correct form when performing each of these moves thanks to these included accessories.
There are a range of fit skills to choose from, each of them belonging in one of four categories: Arms, Abs, Legs and Yoga. If today is leg day then you can choose exercises like squats or thigh presses. On the other hand, if it's time to workout your abs, then you can select russian twists or leg raises. Targeted exercise is something you typically cannot find outside of a gym – let alone in a fitness game – creating an element which sets Ring Fit Adventure so far apart from alternative options. This is all while keeping workouts (which are typically mind-numbingly boring in a gym) fun and entertaining.
Ring Fit Adventure further gamifies health by making different enemies are vulnerable to different move sets. If you typically stay away from working out your arms because it's too difficult, the game will make short work of you, as some monsters can only be taken out with arm based fit skills. This encourages you to try out exercises you might otherwise avoid, in a way other games are still yet to manage.
Exercise or arm-ercise?
There are a range of games both on and off of the Nintendo Switch that encourage exercise and movement. There's Fitness Boxing – which focuses heavily on flinging your arms around rather than whole-body exercise – and Just Dance, which suffers from only tracking players' hands. VR alternatives are becoming more accessible, but they’ll still cost you a pretty penny. Some examples, like Xponential+ and Supernatural, work on a subscription mode to access workouts, while Beat Saber's DLC music packs quickly rack up costs.
Meanwhile, Ring Fit Adventure has remained a one-time purchase. That includes the essential ring and leg strap too, making it a much cheaper long-term investment when compared to virtual reality alternatives. Ring Fit Adventure's form-tracking once again steals the spotlight here as well, as similarly to Just Dance, VR options only track your head and hands.
It’s clear that Ring Fit Adventure’s primary purpose is to exercise, with the fun part being secondary rather than the other way around like most other fitness games. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those who really do want a workout rather than just flail their arms around, this is the way forward.
Some titles do prompt you to move and have fun, like Just Dance or Beat Saber. But when you’re aimlessly throwing your body – or in this case your arms – around, it feels like the titles are prioritizing fun over any actual exercise.
Years on from Ring Fit Adventure's release back in 2019, no other title has quite encompassed the required elements to make a game as perfect as this – whether we're talking technology or pricing. Ensuring you’re putting in the effort by tracking your movements means this game holds you accountable to a level no other title is able to offer. It's the perfect balance between fun and exercise – a formula that's proven hard to perfect outside of Nintendo's alchemy – and ultimately, the reason why Ring Fit Adventure remains unrivalled.
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