Pasted from a different website. The game was purchased in January; I updated my review in May. I've been using The Biggest Loser Challenge for the Wii for about a week, now - thought I'd post my thoughts, since the reviews here helped me make the decision to buy it in the first place. I'm only an occasional watcher of the show, so fandom wasn't enough to motivate me.
Many people have complained about the waits between exercises and the water breaks. Me... I'm out of shape, overweight, and working hard - I'm usually more than happy for the break! But the constant shifting of hands or into pockets for the Wiimote, and moving the balance board into and out of useful position, does get annoying. I've added in the resistance band and the stability ball, and it's the same situation with those. Also, you don't get as much credit for an exercise if you're not keeping up with the trainer... but how're you supposed to see the trainer over the stability ball? Or are doing hip lifts with your back flat on the floor and your feet on the balance board? So that, too, is frustrating.
Most frustrating of all, though, is how the game doesn't pick up certain exercises. Other people have mentioned jump rope as the main culprit for this, and though it's not the only time this is a problem (I've had the same issue with butt kicks and standing jacks, among others), it's one of the biggies. It doesn't matter how much I'm jumping up and down like an idiot, nor whether I'm moving my arms in little circles out to the sides, to the front, big circles... whatever! It'll pick up that I'm moving every once in a while, but for the rest of the time on that particular exercise, as far as the game is concerned, I could be standing off to the side eating a bucket of fried chicken. And sometimes, those exercises are involved in challenges, so that can really mess you up on the points side of things.
There are times when I haven't done so well on the exercises during a station, and at the end, Bob has told me I nailed it; other times I've done really well, and at the end, he tells me it wasn't so great and I need to work harder. Not sure what's going on there.
Particularly of note: I have medical issues in the form of herniated discs in my cervical spine. As such, there are things my upper back simply cannot do, no matter how much I'd like it to. Last night, for the first time, the game threw some plank exercises at me. I decided to give them a shot; in for a penny, right? I made it through some, but eventually I was really in pain (from what I've been told over the years, burn is good. Pain is BAD), so I had to stop. The game does not allow for skipping an exercise, or programming it to avoid certain kinds of exercises altogether. This is going to be a problem. I was able to pause the game and stretch out the areas that were giving me trouble, and then I basically fudged it to get through the end of that station. But I can only imagine this is going to be an ongoing issue.
Finally, as others have said, the music is a bit repetitive, and the comments can be, too.
OK! So those are the bad bits.
Here's the good bits.
I've worked out every other day for the past two weeks; I started out with My Fitness Coach, and changed over to The Biggest Loser Challenge. I've done three workouts with each game. My Fitness Coach is a great game, and I like that it didn't require me to use (and constantly switch around) the Wiimote. But it's basically a workout DVD; other than how it changes things around and occasionally asks you whether an exercise was too hard, it doesn't really DO anything. The Biggest Loser Challenge at least makes an attempt to track whether you have the proper form or not, and will advise you on how to fix it if you don't. There's a certain satisfaction in having Bob tell you your form is perfect, and that he couldn't do better himself. ;-) The workouts are really challenging, and I keep wanting to come back for more. For the first time in a long time, I find myself actually WANTING to work out; I think that the reason behind this is a combination of the workouts themselves, and just the (fake) experience of being on The Biggest Loser. I had my first weigh-in last night, and I was almost as nervous about it as if it were the real thing! The challenges are fun, and I feel great about it when I win (even with the jump rope hiccup, I won the Light Cycle event. That was particularly rewarding).
Summary: Even though it has its faults, I have no plans at this time to return the game. In the end, the purpose of a fitness game is to get you to work out - it's accomplishing that goal effectively. Hopefully the next time around, we'll get some of the features that those lucky Kinect people are getting; remote-free workouts, free weights, etc. I have Wiimote compatible weights that I plan to work in to the game as I feel I need more challenge. Right now, I feel plenty challenged enough. For now, I'll do my best to keep up with this one, and not let the technological hiccups detract from the overall experience.
***UPDATE*** 5/3/11
I lasted about 2 months, maybe a little more, with The Biggest Loser Challenge before the frustrations I mentioned started to outweigh the benefits. I no longer play, and am as a result not working out consistently. I'm now looking, once again, to replace it with something that doesn't make me quite so angry. Maybe I'll sell it and get Gold's Gym Cardio, or Walk It Out.
No: I don’t recommend this product
