Customer Reviews

Active Life Outdoor Challenge

5 star:		(245)
4 star:		(99)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I am an owner of a Wii Fit, so I wanted to try another interactive game that moved my whole body. This game is just as great as the Wii Fit. Here are a couple of pros and cons of Namco's Active Life Outdoor Challenge:

Pro:

Will move your entire body - if you looking for a cardio workout. There are a lot of games that you can play by yourself, against someone or as a team. You can use your Mii; and the game will collect fitness data that you can gage your fitness over time.

Con:

My kids kept jumping off the mat and off the small squares and triangles. They are not looking down at the mat, but up at the television. So you have to make sure your eyes and feet are coordinated enough for you to watch the screen and ensure your feet are in the right place on the mat.

The mat itself is like the Wii Remote so while was reading the instructions my daughter was using the mat to move the instructions before I could finish reading them. I thought I was going crazy because I wasn't using the actual Wii Remote to move to the next screen. (This will eventually become a pro when you really get the hang of it)

My daughters and I played for about 90 minutes and we were all sweaty and tired by the time we said ENOUGH! Between this game and Wii Fit I don't see how anyone could not get a good cardio and strength training fitness regime.

I am anxious to see how Namco will franchise this "interactive mat" into more physically challenging games...i.e. an Active Life series.

I'm not a kid. In fact I'm almost 60 and I bought the game for myself after getting Wii Fit a couple weeks ago and really enjoying the games that are included with that.

I LOVE this game (or series of small games) If you want a good workout and you're a kid at heart, you're going to love Outdoor Challenge. I've only played it by myself so far but I can tell you that it works every part of your body. I was dripping with sweat after 10 minutes. Some of the games you do standing, or I should say running in place and jumping over logs or jumping on a trampoline over water or jumping rope. There's a Mine Cart game where you're leaning to the side and lifting one foot while pumping both hands up and down to propel the cart at ever faster speeds. Or sitting on the mat and rowing with the "paddle" (wiimote) trying to get to the goal as fast as you can.

Like the Wii Fit games, it keeps track of your scores and the scores of others that play so you are constantly trying to beat your best scores and get top scores in the games.

This game is too much fun to waste on kids. Get it for yourself! It'll make you laugh out loud!

I'm in my 40s, been working out for many years and I'm a big fan of Dance Dance Revolution which stripped 50 pounds off me. I don't have Wii Fit, but this is the first game I've tried for the Wii that really gives DDR a run for its money.

At the beginning, go to Free Play mode first as it lets you practice all the minigames on their easiest levels. Once you get the hang of them, go to the courses on Outdoor Adventure mode that will unlock higher levels as you pass them.

The third mode, Exercise Training, has a variety of courses that range from about 5-10 minutes long. You can't fail the games on these courses; just keep playing as well as you can for the allotted time. One of the courses, 10 Minute Marathon, simply has you walking or running for 10 minutes. You can use this course for interval training; for instance, run for 10 seconds and walk for 20 seconds (or the other way around!) for 20 rounds. The Outdoor Adventure mode also allows you to design your own courses, although it seems you can only save one course at a time.

You get "Activity Points" for completing the exercise courses, which are put on a daily graph along with a Brain Age-like stamp. Unfortunately there is no calorie counter in this game (unlike DDR for PS2) and it doesn't record exact dates you worked out, just "2 days ago", etc. It also doesn't record your weight, but maybe that makes this more suitable for children than Wii Fit.

I'd like to add that this game is VERY beginner-friendly, especially compared to another Namco exergame for Wii, We Cheer (another excellent game, but with a huge leap in difficulty level). Active Life can be played by anyone - young or old, from sedentary overweight folks to athletes. On Free Play, there are scrolling instructions for each game that you can easily skip past, and Easy mode even has on-screen prompts. Exercise mode allows you to go at your own pace, even if you have to just walk through or keep taking breaks. On the other end of the spectrum, the most advanced courses are super-tough; I still haven't passed them! This is one game you won't "outgrow".

My favorite games are the mine cart (a real core/balance challenge), mountain boarding, pipe slider, speed skating and the most DDR-like game, whack-a-mole. The mat slides around a bit (putting it on a sticky yoga mat helped) and is probably too narrow for two "plus-sized" adults to play at once, but it responds very well. I would love to see future Active Life games add more enhancements to Exercise mode (like keeping track of scores, dates and calories burned) and add more types of games like perhaps a music/rhythm game and games that use lateral and forward/back jumping.

But overall, this is an awesome first entry for what I hope will be a long and successful series!

I just received the game Last night, Sept. 8, and have the chance to play for about 2 hours with my family. First of all I would like you to imagine my 7 years old boy when I opened the Amazon box and saw the video game; at first he though it was the Wii Fit, but later realized it was the Outdoor challenge and was not that excited.

We when straight to play, I should tell you, my kid changed his mind, he had a really good time, it was probably the funniest time we have spent playing Wii. The game is not at the same level as the Wii Fit, would not replace playing out doors and seems to be aimed at the younger set; still it's kind of challenging, so I would say it's a good alternative to burn some extra calories; spend some time and have fun with the family specially the kids.

Over all this collection of minigames are played with a special floor pad that looks a bit like a DDR dance pad. What I liked about the pad is that allows you to play the game by yourself, or have two people playing on the same pad together.

We tried games like

Mole stomp, where you stand in the middle of the pad; as moles pop out of holes on screen, you then step on the corresponding pad to "stomp" it

Speed skating, for this game you need the Wii remote to move left or right and pump your feet, the faster you pump the faster you go.

Running game, is similar to the speed skating game--you pump your legs to run as fast as possible, the difference is that you need to jump to avoid some obstacles that could slow you down and no need for the Wii remote.

Mine cart, where you stand on the left or right foot to navigate turns as a mine cart speeds around an underground track. Also Wii remote has to be moved up and down to give the cart more speed.

Log jump, seems very simple but still a lot of fun and more in multiplayer game, where two people stand side by side on the pad and then jump to avoid logs that are rolling their way. You are supposed to be standing on a circular platform and, each time you get hit with a log, you move further toward the outside edge of the platform. The player that stays in the platform is the winner.

Other mini-games included are jump rope, river rafting, seesaw, and water trampoline, among others.

A plus is that the game could keep track of the amount of energy you've spent in the various mini-games mode, my kid does not care, but my wife and me find kind of useful, though still no sure how accurate it is.

So far would say it was a good buy, my kid and wife loves it, as for me, I would have a better idea after my wife's birthday party which is this weekend, we have a couple of friend coming, so it a perfect time to see the real play and replay value.

Our family is used to spending roughly $50 USD for Wii games, so the price point was not all that much of a factor in deciding whether to purchase, but still you want to feel like you are getting a game that's worth your while. For our family of three (two parents 40+ and 1 9YO boy), it's turned out to be a good deal.

There are a couple of factors I did not anticipate, though. First, the mat itself becomes a storage problem since it does not fold up to a small size: no less than .35m x .5m x .10m ...or 14" x 19" x 4" ...or 2 Wiis high by 2 Wiis wide by 2 Wiis tall. And it doesn't come with a storage bag, so keep that in mind if portability is your thing. Second, the mat is fine for individual use, but a little small for 2 players, unless they're both little kids. (And even then, the players might tend to flail a little bit and hit each other--unintentionally, of course!) And third, note that most games use only the mat as the controller; however there are a few games that also require the hand controller, but none require the nunchuk. We pretty much keep the hand controller in use anyway, because it's still easier for us to scroll through options and instructions using the hc than operating everything with your feet.

As for actual game play, it has pre-set ability levels, customizable activity sets (i.e., you can create your own mix of a series of games), and a free play mode. But you need to work through the ability sequence ("Outdoor Course") to open new games in free play mode. It has an Exercise mode that supposedly categorizes the games by muscle groups, physical exertion, and game duration, but those are not particularly accurate in some cases. And in multi-player mode, there are only three games that can be played cooperatively, and one of those can ONLY be played cooperatively. And there are no computer characters to compete against.

Overall, the games offer sort bursts of activity and mild competitive fun; we're glad we have it, we are interested to see what comes out next for this interface.

Well, I purchase a lot on Amazon, but do not often write reiviews. My biggest complaint on reading reviews is almost never is a childs age attached to the comment. Well, I have to say that this gets used the most by my four year old daughter. I have to say, she has become good at it. Our nine year old son is Autistic, and he also can not only do this, but is a champ on the WII. For our children being challanged, this has been a great outlet for the excess energy that they need to get rid of. The little one jumps and runs, and is out of breath when she is done. The screen shows you a picture of what game you are selecting, and the instructions show you a "person" demonstration. She can navigate this even though she can not read yet. Like others, I use WII fit and like this also, and got it as a more "kid user friendly" answer to the WII fit. FYI - another family loved exercise game is WII Ski. And yes, the four year old is great at that one too. We give this five stars for both family game time, and the adults getting in some exercise without the kids. We look forward to more titles in the series. Anyone know what future titles will be??

I bought this as a child-friendly answer to the wii fit. My kids are younger and had a difficult time with the Wii fit because they weigh so little.

This is much easier for them to use and the games are fun, but the mat is frustrating. It may be easier with older kids (mine are preschool age). The main problem is that you can select items in the navigation with the wii remote, or the mat. Well when a young child finished an exciting game where they are doing a lot of jumping, they continue jumping. So the selection on the menu would change, or the kids would accidentally jump on the '+' on the mat, accepting the choice on the screen.

This also happened during the course of the games. The kids got so excited they couldn't run in place, and would step forward on the controller buttons and pause the game.

Being able to stay on the correct spots is a big issue. The kids look at the screen, not at the floor, so it is very easy for them to move from the correct space, especially in games that require jumping.

There are a few advantages over the Wii Fit (although I still wouldn't trade mine for the world!). This mat works well with smaller children because it registers their weight better. It also allows you to specify if the player is an adult or child. And, it is much easier to go back to the beginning to switch players. And there are many two player games, both competitive and teamwork games. Most Wii Fit games are one player.

We purchased the game the day it came out and loved it. Great activity level and tons of fun. However the mat broke in less than a week. Alrerady the left arrow and the minus sign does not work. Shoes were never worn on the mat.

Our entire family loves this game. I was really hesitant to purchase it. I thought it looked a little "cheesy" and put it back on the shelf several times. Who wants to spend that much to take a chance? Anyway, I am so glad we own it. My boys are five and six, and they can't get enough of it. Most of the games are easy enough to play without any problem, although the wall climbing frustrates them when they can't get their timing down. I love the fact they both play at the same time and have the choice to work together (great for teamwork building!) or to compete against each other. They get very excited when they earn new levels and unlock new games to play. They also love passing the outdoor adventure series which are strings of activities that must all be completed. In this level you complete the activities much like a triathalon rather than one at a time. Coordination on all challenges has increased for the kids. My six year old even jumps real rope better! It's great there is just one mat and two people can play on it. That makes it easier to store. Hubby and I play too. We compete against each other or with one of the boys on their team. I wore my heart rate monitor and was thrilled to see I hit the fat burning zone and even cardio zone! We all have our favorite challenges, and I am sure you will too. The graphics aren't the best, but who cares when it gets you going like this? It's a great use of what the Wii can do and the game rarely, if ever, misses a motion. It feels like you really are completely interactive!! I purchased this for my friend's girls (ages 8 and 10) and she has the same to say. Have fun!

I just got this game today, and out of the box it's a lot of fun! The games are enjoyable right away, and as you play them they get more challenging. I broke a sweat during the spring challenge, and the 5 minute hard exercise routine. I think it's a lot of fun, and I'm sure that my daughter will agree when she gets a chance to try it out too!

I have DDR Hottest Party as well, and I find Outdoor Challenge to be more interesting, and I can't wait for more Active Life titles!