With the E3 announcement of Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s improved motion controller perhaps we’ll see some competition in the fitness “game” genre but as things stand the Nintendo Wii has a monopoly in this area.  I was one of the many people who laughed when Nintendo announced their Wii Fit, the idea of a fitness based game seemed crazy at the time, but to describe this new fitness genre as being popular would be a huge understatement.  That crazy notion of combining videogames with exercise, two areas which were at one time regarded as polar opposites, has been nothing short of a phenomenon and many publishers have since jumped on this lucrative bandwagon.   Electronic Arts could never be accused of missing a trick and have wisely made use of their EA Sports brand with the release of EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer.

For a game of its type this is very impressive and the best aspect is that it offers a great cardio workout and really builds up a sweat which lets you know everything is working as intended.  There are an impressive number of fun exercise games to workout different parts of your body and the variety on offer keeps everything feeling fresh and will encourage you to return for some time.  The mini-games include Baseball pitching and batting, Tennis, Boxing, Basketball, and Volleyball.  These mini-games are target based and as well as working your muscles they reward good timing and accuracy.  The main benefit of this game is flexibility and you’re able to create exercise regimes to suit a desired workout by using a simple building block mechanism to set the length and intensity of your choosing.

I ran into three problems but managed to overcome two of them without much hassle.  The first two problems I encountered concerned the running exercise and performing squats.  I mentioned in my review of Family Trainer a while back that I didn’t feel comfortable running on a floor when I have people living below me.  I had the same concerns here but since this doesn’t require a floor mat, and instead utilises the Wii-mote strapped to one leg, I got round this by lying on my back and moving my legs in a cycling motion.  Squats were a problem as my motion on-screen seemed to be the reverse of my real movement which was annoying until I realised it was caused by the Wii-mote sitting the wrong way in the leg strap.  The last issue is with the quality of the resistance band as it isn’t sturdy enough to give you a proper workout when it comes to bicep curls.  The only work around I can think of is to purchase a resistance band/tube from a fitness store and use that instead but the extra cost would be annoying.

As far as negatives are concerned that is pretty much everything, although I do feel that a specific kicking workout would have been helpful, and these issues are far outweighed by the positives.  This is a rare occasion in that I recommend this title to everyone.  No matter your level of fitness this will be a useful addition to your exercise routine.

9/10

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