Gold's Gym Dance Workout

by Ubisoft

• The game supports two players so you and a friend can dance the calories away together
• Strengthen your muscles with fun mini-games such as rodeo bull riding, karate, rowing, kangaroo boxing, sword fighting and more
• Build your own circuit program or let the game create one for you.
• Your personal trainer teaches you dance moves, motivates you and increases the intensity of your workout based on your performance
• All of your exercise history, including play time, calories burned, and BMI

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003OZZJGS
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches ; 3 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (363 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #13 in Video Games > Wii > Games > Rhythm > Dancing

Product Description

Amazon.com

Gold's Gym Dance Workout is a unique dance/workout game for Wii that challenges and engages players like no game before it. The first dance game specifically dedicated to fitness and weight loss, it utilizes a blend of workout and in-game instructor customization, comically engaging mini-games, Wii Balance Board integration, a sizable song list to workout to and in-game progress tracking that together allows players to dance their way to fitness without them even knowing it. Additional features include 2-player game support, a complementary 7-day Gold's Gym membership and more. Dance Your Way to Fitness Developed in collaboration with fitness and dance experts, Gold’s Gym Dance Workout is the first dance game specifically dedicated to fitness and weight loss. Players will have so much fun dancing you won’t even notice how much you’re sweating. You'll dance to popular songs, learn new choreography, and play mini-games that will whip you into shape in no time. It's the most fun way to workout, both by yourself and with a friend. The first dance game specifically dedicated to fitness and weight loss. View larger. Over 30 Songs Including:   "Just Dance" "Forever" "I Will Survive" "Good Vibrations" "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" "I'm Too Sexy" "Material Girl" "Stronger" "Jai Ho" "Smooth" "Salome" "Oye Como Va" "Cosmic Girl" "Heart of Glass" Key Game Features Workout to Latin dance (Salsa, Samba, Cumbia, Reggaeton and Meringue) and boxing-inspired dance routines Additional mini-games targeting specific muscle groups include: rodeo bull riding, karate, rowing, kangaroo boxing, sword fighting and more (many of these games are Wii Balance Board–compatible) As you exercise, your Gold’s Gym trainer teaches you the moves and gives you feedback Customization options, including 30-minute circuit program workouts of your creation and character and trainer customization The game supports two players so you can even dance the calories away with a friend In-game bonus: Gold’s Gym VIP 7-day membership pass included with your game Track your exercise history including play time, calories burned, and BMI Keep motivated as you dance to loads of heart-pumping dance hits Additional Screenshots: Dance & boxing inspired. View larger. In-game progress tracking. View larger. Incentive building mini-games. View larger. 2-player game support. View larger.

Product Description

Developed in collaboration with fitness and dance experts, Gold's Gym Dance Workout is the first dance game specifically dedicated to fitness and weight loss. You'll have so much fun dancing you won't even notice how much you're sweating! You'll dance to popular songs, learn new choreography, and play mini-games that will whip you into shape in no time. It's the most fun way to workout!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

951 of 961 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for skinny dancers! August 22, 2010

By Jennifer Lee

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I've seen a couple reviews already that say this game isn't for people who aren't already in shape, or who are uncoordinated, etc., etc. I have to disagree. I'm a fat girl who can't dance, and I'm loving it!

To give you my perspective, I've taken some dance classes in my life, though not Latin-style dances. And I'm a good 100 pounds overweight, so to say that I'm out of shape is an understatement. I use the Wii Fit every so often, and while I love it for the yoga stretches, I really wanted to incorporate more cardio than the Wii Fit offers. I saw this game advertised back in June and have been looking forward to it ever since. I bought it yesterday and have played it twice. And I REALLY like it a lot.

Yes, the tutorials are quick, and I almost fell over doing the grapevine. But the second time I tried it I got a little better, and I suspect that the third, fourth and fifth times I try it I'll get better too. It really feels like an exercise class, where you may not get the steps right away, but if you keep showing up you will. But instead of embarrassing myself in public, I get to flail around in my living room instead and startle the dog (he didn't like me doing the samba and started barking at me).

I like the Personal Trainer option, where I can tell it just how out of shape I am, and then it starts me off on a three-day program of short workouts that still get me sweating. It's a start, I figure, and I bet as I get better, the game will make the workouts longer and more challenging.

I really get the feeling that this game is meant to be fun more than anything else, and so far I'm really enjoying it. Give it a try!

****Edited 10/29/10****

I thought that, now that I've had the game for a little while, I would update this review with further observations.

The mini-games are not that great. I like the swordfight and the karate ones a lot, but it took a lot of trial and error to get the jumprope to work (I sort of rock forward from heel to toe and swing my arms up in a scooping kind of motion), and no matter what I do, I keep getting eaten by lions during the marathon. The bull-dodging one is fine, I think of it as a chance to catch my breath between the more challenging dances.

If you keep showing up to this workout, you definitely get better at the dances. I'm still at the beginner level (did I mention I'm out of shape?) and they get repeated enough that you can start to remember the routines fairly easily.

Another thing I like is not getting picked on for being fat. There's no Mii that suddenly plumps up while a voice chirps "That's obese!" when you do a weigh in. You don't even have to weigh in, if you don't care to track your progress that way. Just start dancing!

The game is not without its flaws, which a lot of people have mentioned. The mini-games I already mentioned. The slightly dodgy sensors, which don't seem to pick up my moves 100% of the time.

But the bottom line is, I've had this game for a couple of months. And I use it in the mornings fairly regularly, and when I do I feel energized throughout the day. For probably the first time, this is a workout I look forward to. A private gym class just for me.

404 of 411 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to Just Dance!! August 17, 2010

By S. Garth

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I purchased this game because I'm a big fan of both Just Dance and Gold's Gym Cardio Workout!! Boy am I pleased!! I wear a BodyBugg so my calorie burn is pretty accurate. Interestingly, my calorie burn from this game surpassed my average calorie burn from Just Dance. According to my Bodybugg, I was burning anywhere from 9 to 10 calories per minute- and that's on the beginning level!! With Just Dance, I usually burn between 7 to 9 calories per minute. It's a lot of fun, though somewhat different from Just Dance in that you use two remotes and the sensors seem to be much more accurate. All of the songs have a Latin flair to them and all of the dance routines are Latin (i.e. salsa, meringue, etc...). The tutorials are wonderful- unless you're familiar with Zumba or Latin dance, you'll definitely need them!! Btw, don't let the song list fool you. I'm unfamiliar with approximately 50% of them but they're still a lot of fun. Here's a fun note- my little cousin who can usually beat me at Just Dance by merely moving her arms was unable to do so in Gold's Cardio Dance. For once, I've finally found a dancing game where hard work pays off, lol. My only gripe is with the coach. She speaks over the music (right, left, back, front, etc..) which is something I enjoyed not having when playing Just Dance.
I also played around with a few of the other activities including the cardio boxing which I love and the jump roping which I'm not a big fan of because of coordination issues (I'm assuming). Anyway, it was a great investment and I can't wait to work out with it tomorrow!! Btw, according to my Bodybugg, this game and Just Dance have given me a higher calorie burn than any other Wii exercise game, and I own them all (Gold's Gym Cardio, EA Active, EA Active More Workouts, Wii Fit Plus, etc..) Buy it, you won't be disappointed!!

The song list is as follows:
Beginners:
Just Dance by Lady Gaga
Stronger by Britney Spears
Smooth by Carlos Santana
Gonna Make You Sweat(Everybody Dance Now) by CC Music Factory
Waiting for Tonight by Jennifer Lopez
Teknocha (I think it's a mixed song)
Intermediate:
Heart of Glass by Blondie
I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred
Cosmic Girl by Jamiroquai
Empujalo by Emiliano Almeida
Oye Como Va by Kinky
Merengue Fugitivo (Zemi-tone)
Advanced:
Samba Zamba (Zemi-tone with Joao Pires)
El Salsero (Zemi-tone with Patricio Castillo)
Sacudete (Zemi-tone with Gio)
Salome by Chayanne
Rejeton (Zemi-tone with MC Pa Tras
Cardio Boxing:
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
Good Vibrations by Marky Mark
Forever by Chris Brown
For The Love of Girls by Wolfgang Gartner
Beatz Be Rockin (extreme music?)
Material Girl by Madonna
Heavy Sweatin (extreme music?)
Jai Ho
Everything You Got (Zemi-tone)

126 of 130 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of dancing, boxing, and mini-games August 30, 2010

By Nutwiisystem.Com TOP 500 REVIEWER

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

When Gold's Gym Cardio Workout first came out a year and a half ago, it pushed the bar forward and helped prove that there was a market for Wii Fitness Games. So the question is, does its sequel do the same? I'm happy to report the answer is yes.

Gold Gym Dance Workout consists of three main types of exercises: a pure "dance workout", a "boxing workout", and "mini-games".

In the "dance workout", you perform fast-moving choreographed dance steps using your arms and feet. It's not exactly like "Just Dance" in that the choreography doesn't really contain any "signature moves" for the song. Rather, the dance is made up of a series of basic latin dance steps (i.e., merengue, samba, salsa, reggaeton, and cumbia). You first go through a series of tutorials to learn the steps, and then you put them together through beginner, intermediate, and advanced stages of increasing difficulty and speed. Just as you'd do in a dance class at the gym, you follow the lead of an on-screen workout instructor shouting out steps to you to the beat.

In the "boxing workout", the game has come a long way since its predecessor. Again following an on-screen instructor, you upper-cut, jab, punch, and hook to the beat of music. And thankfully, Ubisoft decided to license a whole slew of popular songs, so you're not stuck to boxing to "Eye of the Tiger" over and over and over. The motion controls are remarkably accurate in detecting specific boxing moves, and the workouts were fast-moving and fun.

I admit that I loved the "mini games". Unlike other fitness games where minigames are an afterthought, Ubisoft seems to have put a lot of thought into these, and I love the touches of humor in the games. There are a variety of new and original mini-games, you can dodge charging bulls (ducking from side to side while holding your Wii remotes), try to balance yourself on a bucking bull (on the balance board), canoeing (using a combination of your Wii motes as a double-plated paddle while sitting on the balance board) and running (basically making rapid punching movements, made more interesting when you get chased by the occasional lion!). There are also a few games clearly borrowed from Wii Fit and Wii Sports resort (chopping things with a samauri sword, boxing a kangaroo, and karate-chopping certain items).

You can either jump into the various workouts immediately, or have your virtual trainer prepare a weekly workout routine for you. You can also choose two-player mode, which lets you exercise along with a friend (there will be two trainers on the screen, and when each person follows their trainer, not only can they compete to see who scores the highest, but to the casual bystander it looks like they're doing a cool latin dance together).

One thing I was impressed with was the accuracy of its controls, which is head and shoulders above previous Wii exercise games. It allows for the use of two Wii remotes. That Ubisoft eschews the use of the nunchuk is a good sign that they've taken accuracy in motion controls more seriously than they have in the past.

The one big thing I wasn't crazy about at first was how very difficult it was to follow and learn the dance steps. The first few times you play the dance workout games, even at the tutorial level it's very easy to get very overwhelmed. You have to basically follow the on-screen trainer and mirror the moves she's making, but she's moving so fast that it's incredibly difficult to follow, especially trying to do it in a mirror image. They provide a series of video and audio cues to help you, but it's still terribly difficult to follow her feet and to match them to yours.

The good news is, for each dance they offer a "practice" mode which breaks down the dance into different sections, lets you review each section, with three different camera angles to view the instruction, and lets you view the whole thing in slow motion. I would definitely suggest playing the entirely in "practice mode" until you get the arm and leg movements down and memorized, and then proceed to the workout. This may take days or even weeks for each song, so if you don't have the time or inclination to do this, you might be disappointed. On the other hand, once you commit the moves to memory, they're yours to do over and over again. And it probably goes without saying that you need a LOT of room.

And so while the game isn't for everyone, I think it's a great new Wii fitness title after a very long string of disappointing ones. Once again, Ubisoft has set the bar, let's hope upcoming fitness titles like EA Sports Active 2, Zumba Fitness, and the Dance Dance Revolution reboot continue to move the bar forward.