Wii Fit Plus review

Harder, faster, fitter, better?

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Upgrades the world's most popular fitness software

  • +

    Lets you feel good about your gaming habit

  • +

    15 extra minigames

Cons

  • -

    Makes the original redundant

  • -

    Not really a game

  • -

    Merely functional graphics and music

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

As another new year looms, we approach the time when Balance Boards will be dragged from under sofas and doomed resolutions will be made by fatties across the land. Is anyone going to lose that post-holiday belly by standing on a set of bluetooth-equipped scales and wobbling in front of a Wii? Maybe not, given how thoroughly dull and sterile Wii Fit can be. A few sessions later, the interest wanes. At least that’s our experience of it. Good intentions are soon forgotten when tedious reality slaps us round the face and reminds us we’d be much happier down at the pub.

So now there’s Wii Fit Plus. Not so much a sequel as a revision of the successful, swiftly forgotten original. While turning Balance Board exercises into genuine long-term fun is probably beyond the ability of even Nintendo’s designers, this follow-up aims to resolve issues of long-term commitment by adding all sorts of new customisable elements.

If you’ve overindulged, there’s a program designed to gently work you back to normality. If you want something more strenuous you can design your own routine, adding different types of exercises and specifying a time limit up to one hour. It counts the calories you’re burning off and plots your results on graphs you can compare with any family or housemates you manage to rope into it. The more people you get involved, the less likely you are to abandon it.

There are new activities and minigames, all of which count towards the calorie target, and the whole package hangs together much better than the original version. It’s a more coherent training package, if a DVD and scales can be described as such. We still wouldn’t want to play it for fun, and new minigames like the arm-flapping flight one are even more of a dignity-free zone than the original lot.

While the game is technically improved, we didn’t feel the additions warranted a higher score than the original, as it really isn’t more fun.

Oct 21, 2009

More info

GenreFamily
DescriptionNot so much a sequel as a revision to Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus adds new minigames, activities and increased customization abilities. While the game is technically improved, it isn’t any more fun than the original.
Platform"Wii"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating"Rating Pending"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
Less
Freelance Journalist

Martin Kitts is a veteran of the video game journalism field, having worked his way up through the ranks at N64 magazine and into its iterations as NGC and NGamer. Martin has contributed to countless other publications over the years, including GamesRadar+, GamesMaster, and Official Xbox Magazine.