While some hardcore gamers at E3 may have over-looked Nintendo’s newest fitness creation, Wii Fit Plus, I decided that I should try out the game for myself to see if the series is still strictly for the mainstream audience or if they have added more game-like elements to the package. During Nintendo’s conference, Cammie Dunaway promised to the audience that Nintendo added even more mini-games into the game and one in particular that was shown off, the Mario-like obstacle course where the player has to run, jump, and dodge as if they were a platform character like Mario, really caught my attention. So, immediately following the conference, I decided to check the game out for myself on the show floor.
Knowing what I wanted to check out, I headed directly to the Wii Fit Plus kiosk that was set on the obstacle course mini-game shown off at the conference. After stepping on the Balance Board accessory (the Wii accessory that was originally bundled with the first Wii Fit and also bundled with this new game) the man presenting me the mini-game told me that to run I had in lightly run on the top of the balance board and that based on how quickly I alternated my feet, my Mii avatar would either run or walk past obstacles. The first level of this course consisted of a straight, floating strip of land with giant pendulum balls swinging across it to knock you into the sky. This part of the course was easy. The challenge came with the next half of the course.
Basically while running and avoiding the previously mentioned giant pendulum balls, you now also had to jump (by lifting the backs of your feet since you can’t actually JUMP on the Balance Board) over gaps and avoid holes in the ground. This was actually extremely challenging yet I kept wanting to run and jump to get to the end of the strip. Sadly though, I ran out of time and I was moved onto the next mini-game.
This new mini-game consisted of holding the Wii remote in one hand and physically flapping your arms to keep your Mii in a chicken suit afloat in the air. The goal was for your chicken outfitted Miis to land on targets (similar to the jetpack minigame in Pilotwings 64) and to gain as many points as possible in the time limit. I thought this was the weakest of the games that i was shown but, that said, the controls always worked. Leaning side to side to move your chicken-Mi’s direction in the air and leaning to to swoop down onto a target all felt quite natural (though flapping your arms like a chicken doesn’t exactly look like the best way to try and make friends since it makes the player look like a huge dork).
Still, the final game that I was shown, Snowball Fight, more than made up for the aforementioned chicken flight mini-game. In Snowball Fight, the player must hide behind a wall on a snow field to avoid getting hit by snowballs thrown at you by NPC Miis (and occasionally a snowman) that run around the field hiding behind cover. The player leans their body right and left to look out from side to side of the wall and when the opportunity arises, the player must press B and throw snowballs at their competitors. This was EXTREMELY fun and easily the best game of the Wii Fit Plus demo I played.
All in all, Wii Fit Plus seems to be more of the same fitness game that released last year with added functionality for players to customize their work out along with new mini-games. The game, while it isn’t entirely cup of tea, is still quite fun and the effort that Nintendo put behind this new iteration of the title to make it more “hardcore” friendly really shows.
Wii Fit Plus will be released this fall.
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