PN Review: Fit Music

Part exercise program, part dance game, Fit Music tries being many things to many people.  While it has a few commendable ideas, its execution leaves something to be desired.  It might have been better off as an instructional video instead of a game.

Exercising is certainly something that most of us could stand to do more of.  Video games (particularly on Wii hardware) have already proven a popular way of encouraging more fitness activity.  In Fit Music however neither my wife nor I found the exercises to be particularly enjoyable.  Many of the movements felt more awkward than intuitive.  The fitness champion who leads the workouts has no dialogue to give instruction on the exercises or offer encouragement.  This is certainly a missed opportunity!  As it is, she at times appears disinterested in what’s taking place.

Fit Dance mode livens things up a bit.  We enjoyed the small selection of tunes, even though none were recognizable.  A larger selection of more well-known songs would be beneficial.  It would also give the developers more options as far as challenge goes – this mode starts too simple before seeing a sizable difficulty jump with no in between, even with difficulty levels.

The controls definitely need some more work.  They’re undeniably inconsistent with how they read moves.  Perfect motions often register badly, yet obviously late ones are marked perfect.  I actually had more success waggling the Wiimote from my couch.  These are very real concerns, and they cannot be overlooked!  The GamePad is used only to navigate the wordless menus.  I wish it had either been taken advantage of and had its potential tapped, or not used at all – its inclusion feels clunky.  Balance board support is limited.  The subpar controls and interaction make me reiterate how this might’ve been more effective as an instructional video instead of an interactive video game.

In the Fit Music press release, Oxygene Media said “It is not and it doesn’t want to be a game, but a real training program”.  So I’m not going to score it like I normally would a traditional game.  For $15 and over 10 GB of space though, I expected better from it.  Perhaps a patch may come to rework the controls, add some more songs, and generally optimize the game better for the Wii U.  At the moment however, it’s just not interesting enough, and not the sort of title that I can see too many returning to on a consistent basis.  Like many exercise aids, Fit Music may wind up as a product used once and never again.  It’s a shame.