Kinect Fitness Test

With motion controls, a balance board, and the idea that fitness can be fun, Wii Fit had mass appeal. Nintendo’s fitness offering became one of the best-selling games in the console's history, so it’s no surprise other companies want a piece of the sugar-free pie. With Kinect’s full-body tracking capabilities, publishers have taken the opportunity to bring fitness games to the next level. We broke a serious sweat putting each game through its paces to judge which Kinect fitness game is the best fit for you.

EA Sports Active 2
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA Canada
Release: November 16
Number of Players: 1-2

EA Sports Active first debuted on Wii with tremendous success, leading to an add-on that offered users additional workouts. Now EA Canada provides a controller-free entry on Kinect with a bundle that includes a heart monitor, which can be tracked on screen during workouts, as well as a resistance band. The bundle makes EA Sports Active 2 the most expensive of the bunch, coming in at $100.

The Good: Setting up the bundled heart monitor is easy. The accessory fits comfortably on your left arm and syncs with your Xbox 360 to display heart rate levels on screen to maximize your workouts. The game offers two programs: a three-week introductory cardio program that helps users build stamina, and a nine-week program that offers routines for full-body conditioning. You can customize your experience to determine workout length, focus areas, ­and ­difficulty.

Among Kinect’s fitness offerings, EA Sports Active 2 has the greatest workout variety. Your customizable avatar will compete against NPCs in on-foot races, ride a bike on a hilly path, engage in step aerobics, boxing, and dodgeball, protect a goal in soccer, and more. Each routine moves at a solid pace, quickly switching between exercises to retain interest from beginning to end. The constant changes in setting keep you both physically and visually stimulated. At the end of each workout, EA Sports Active 2 provides stats including calories burned (put toward weekly goals), average heart rate, and total workout time in both numerical and chart form to help visualize where your performance peaked during sessions. All data automatically uploads to easportsactive.com to conveniently keep track of progress from a home computer as well as interact with other ­community ­members.

The Bad: Spotty detection will occasionally give you credit for a move even if you’re standing still, allowing users to cheat – but in doing so you’re only cheating yourself, right? There was also noticeable lag in jumps during bike sequences, making those sections a pain. In addition, aside from a few annoying verbal cues from the virtual trainer, the game does a poor job of providing feedback on form compared to other offerings, and watching your avatar onscreen doesn’t aid in this, either. The avatar attempts to mimic your movements, but if you move too quickly, your avatar looks like it’s having a seizure. Recognition problems also occasionally caused the game to boot me from my profile mid-workout requiring me to sign in again.

Final Word: EA Sports Active 2 offers a wealth of fun, varied workouts that will keep you coming back, but only if you can overlook its technical problems.

Up Next: Zumba Fitness

 
Zumba Fitness
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Pipeworks Software
Release: November 18
Number of Players: 1-4 (4 Online)

Zumba teaches participants Latin dance techniques to a sizzling soundtrack that will cause you to get fit while getting your groove on. Zumba’s popularity sparked an international craze with classes in 90,000 locations across more than 100 countries. The dance fitness program went from live classes to a best-selling DVD series, and is now supported by Kinect.

The Good: You’ll Cumbia, Salsa, Samba, and Merengue your way through beginner, intermediate, and – if you’re feeling frisky – expert routines that get your heart pumping while having a good time. You’ll have the option to choose between 20 and 45-minute routines, and an in-game workout calendar will keep you on track.

The Bad: The only way to follow along with dance routines is with a mute onscreen dancer, and though he or she will occasionally point at a body part or direction as a clue of what’s to come, prompts like Dance Central’s flashcards that scroll alongside the action would’ve been far more effective. What really hindered the experience, however, is the confusing way feedback is represented. The onscreen dancer’s silhouette rapidly changed colors (yellow, green, red) to indicate how I was performing. The colors changed so quickly that it was hard to tell how I was doing at any given time. The soundtrack, though fun to dance to, occasionally became repetitive as the same songs kept popping up across routines. Finally, a calorie counter would’ve been a great addition.

Final Word: Zumba is an undeniably fun way to get a good cardio workout, but the Kinect entry is probably not your best bet. If you want to get your heart rate going and burn a couple hundred calories, I would suggest Dance Central instead, which has a workout mode.

Up Next: Your Shape Fitness Evolved

Your Shape Fitness Evolved
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release: November 4
Number of Players: 1-4 (4 Online)

Your Shape Fitness Evolved is the current entry in Ubisoft’s flagship workout series, and is sponsored by programs from Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and fitness expert Michelle Bridges.

The Good: Your Shape Fitness Evolved offers a modest range of fitness options, including specialized workouts for men looking to beef up and women who want to shed off pounds from pregnancy. There are specific routines to help shape arms (you can use weights), or get you to squeeze into your skinny jeans. The game even offers something for the older crowd looking for a low-intensity workout. Of all of Kinect’s fitness offerings, Your Shape Fitness Evolved performed best in motion tracking and feedback. Your form is represented by a silhouette of your body that appears to be smothered in slime for a fluid representation of movement. With your figure placed alongside your trainer, it’s easy to see how you compare. You can also refer to the top right corner of the screen that will clearly display if you need to lunge lower, lift your knees higher, etc. Your Shape users are tested on rhythm and form, and aside from a few hiccups in motion detection linked to loose clothing, the game rarely missed a beat.

The Bad: Though best in motion tracking, Your Shape Fitness Evolved offers the least variety. The specialized programs are a nice touch, but you’ll find several of the workout offerings repeat across routines, challenging motivation to continue. Regardless of program, there is an unusual absence of warm up, cool down, and floor exercises. Yoga, Zen, and boxing activities complement your chosen program, but unfortunately higher difficulties of each are locked at the outset causing advanced users who want to jump right in to go through a series of lighter workouts first. Users have the opportunity to track progress and engage in community features in yourshapecenter.com, something I would’ve liked to see integrated into the game’s otherwise minimal menu.

Final Word: Your Shape Fitness Evolved makes a good complement to another existing workout program, but doesn’t have enough features out of the box compared to other offerings to stand on its own.