The “Break it Down” Blog

Summary [4 out of 10]

Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum 2009 offers a bit more intensity than Wii Fit, but the awful graphics, repetitive exercises and glitchy controls lead to a frustrating experience.

Introduction

A few months ago I started working from home the majority of the time.  Since I no longer have to go anywhere for lunch, other than across the room, I decided to start working out on my lunch break.  I can’t really leave the house in case I get a call or an important email so I’ve been using Wii Fit for just over 2 months now.  I like the options in Wii Fit to pretty much work out as long or as short as I have time for that day.  However, I’m getting to the point were I’m tired of doing the same activities all the time in Wii Fit.  So, when I happened to stumble across Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum 2009 the other day I decided to check it out.

Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum 2009 is a fitness game like Wii Fit, but that is about where the similarities end.  Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum 2009 is about trying to get an aerobic workout while Wii Fit is more about core strength training, flexibility, and balance.

The Good

• Easy to choose what type of exercise you want to do: strength training, weight loss, intervals or hill climb.
• Customization options for the duration and intensity of the workout.
• You can use the balance board if you want plus Wiimote & Nunchuk or two Wiimotes.

The Bad

• There are only about 15 activities to choose from.
• The Cafeteria section in the game is not useful.
• It is easy to cheat and only pretend to workout.

The Ugly

• The controls regularly don’t register your movements correctly or at all.
• The graphics are terrible – even for a Wii game – I’m not expecting much, but SNES games look better than this.

Conclusion [4 out of 10]

I love the idea of having more fitness game activities to choose from which is why I decided to try Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum 2009, but since it only has a few activities to choose from I quickly got tired of doing them.  Especially since half of them involved doing some sort of squats.

It easily gives a more intense workout that Wii Fit, but I would not recommend it unless you don’t have the balance board and you’re desperate to work out on your Wii.