Other aerobics activities include the hula-hoop and running. You don't need the Balance Board for the latter one; it senses your movement through the Wii remote. You'll go running around an island and come across several Miis from your Mii Plaza. Some are running and some are there just cheering you on. It's fun to explore the different parts of the island, and it's also a good workout. I'd say it's probably my favorite, plus it's one you can play with another friend at the same time.

In the strength category you'll have exercises like push-ups, lunges, torso-twists, rowing squats, etc. These activities require more effort, especially when you're not in shape. But you shouldn't skip them if you want to do a complete workout and obtain good results. When I tried to do push-ups the first day it was like torture, but I'm hoping (and I know) it will get easier.

The balance category is the easiest of them all. It may not be easy to excel at the exercises provided, but you won't sweat too much if you just do these ones. Consider the balance exercises as an add-on to improve your posture and stability. It may help you avoid possible back pains and more. In addition, these activities are a bit more on the fun side, and Wii Fit called them games. Yeah! There's a bit of everything, from soccer headshots to ski slalom, ski jumping, etc.

In all four training categories you'll unlock new exercises as you go, and you'll also be rewarded with higher difficulty levels. Your own, personal piggy bank is filled with the amount of time you work out every day, and you can even add extra time when you happen to exercise outside of Wii Fit. Also, you can add the Wii Fit channel to your Wii menu and have access to the calendar, stats, user settings, weight, and body test without popping in the disc.

Let's get a little technical here. Don't you want to know what the game looks like, sounds like, and feels like? You should be happy to know the Wii Balance Board is a solid peripheral (or so it seems). It's made of sturdy plastic and has four "feet" that act as shock-absorbers. There are four extra foot extensions you must add to the board if you have carpet flooring. The Board is heavier than I thought and can support up to 330 pounds. My only complaint about the controls was not knowing when I needed the Wii remote and when I didn't. Some games use it and some don't, but you still need to press A once in a while to advance to the next screen. The Balance Board and the Wii remote can really take the Wii experience to the next level, so I hope more games like We Ski make use of it.

Wii Fit doesn't have dazzling visuals at all. In fact, they're no better than the ones in Wii Sports and Wii Play. I guess Nintendo figured if the other games are so successful even with very simple graphics, why would they step it up a notch? I hope someday they'll reward players with nicer visuals, but for now, I'll I guess they'll do the trick. It's very funny to see all your Mii relatives and friends hanging out in the different games, sometimes exercising with you and others just watching. The strength and yoga exercises look a bit more serious though and just have a realistic-looking male or female trainer.

These two characters are the only ones that talk in the game, although the on-screen Balance Board speaks once in a while too, with the typical mouse-like Nintendo voice from Big Brain Academy and other similar games. The other trainers' voices are more serious and interesting. They also sound friendly and motivating enough. The background music is very lighthearted and soothing most of the time, although it gets more active and cheery when doing aerobic or balance games.

I'm sure everyone that's interested in Wii Fit will be happy with the purchase. It is a little expensive, but the quality of the Wii Balance Board seems to justify the price. The title is missing some key elements that would have made it better, such as different training programs and maybe some other tracking systems. You can cheat easily and not do the exercise. But you'd just be fooling yourself…or your mom. If taken seriously, Wii Fit provides a solid workout experience that should motivate many of us to continue exercising daily.

By Maria Montoro
CCC Site Director