Absolutely awful game control makes this otherwise amazing attempt at straight-forward fitness leave much to be desired.
I had checked the reviews online saying it was so amazing so I grabbed it myself. At first I was flying through it- the punch system seemed very easy and the presentation that was much like Dance Dance Revolution was familiar. I thought to myself, "Gee, this is easy! I could really get into this!" Originally it was VERY fun. It could have used some more bells and whistles (stuff happening in the background when you do well) but aside from that it felt very solid.
I kept it on hard-mode for a few days. Each day I got a stamp on the calendar and those stamps were direct motivation for me to continue the structured training. Nothing really annoyed me to the point of discontinuing playing. Then the game got to the ducking commands.
You see, aside from the basic punches, as you get into move difficult levels, the game has you start doing ducks; going straight-down or to the side as though you are dodging your opponents attacks. Let me say directly: the controls for these actions were absolutely horrid. Some reviewers gave the movements a success rate of 80%; I would give it much more like 30-40. It's as though the team responsible for the game went to great lengths to make the punching accurate as hell but ran out of funding when they were told to test the ducking function.
Well, I finally got to the point where I could somewhat accurately reproduce the desired effects. The game wanted a VERY fast VERY hard ducking movement with a strong recoil (you need to get back to standing position within a half-second). This movement was almost impossible for a guy who hasn't exercised much at all for the last few years and I dare say it would be tough even for someone who exercises every day.
The final stab through my resolve to try to play this game happened as I was doing all this extreme ducking nonsense. I found out that their control to exit the current level is done through the (1) and (2) buttons on the bottom of the wii remote. This wouldn't be a problem normally but with the extreme movements of the ducking my hands were forced to keep a constant grip on the remotes. Gradually they slipped down and hit one of those buttons and BAM- the game just exits out!! NO confirmation! NO lapse in time before the command takes hold. You're just flung out of the level and the 14 minutes you spent in the current lesson doesn't count AT ALL for your day.
Frequently I hit those buttons and got removed and suddenly I was spending over an hour to redo the lessons I had been forced out of when the daily routine is only supposed to take thirty minutes. This was entirely unacceptable, extremely frustrating, and no customer of any game should have to put up with this kind of crap.
I would also like to see the game be a little more forgiving for actions that the player just can't perform. I have a slipped disc in my back and the strength in the lower back is pretty pitiful due to the huge amounts of pain I experience daily. I tried very hard to do some of the exercises for that area but after a few times the game's timer felt relentless. I would suggest the game have the player do a few of those, notice I'm having trouble, and suggest something else so I don't sacrifice the calorie burn for the day.
Would I try out a Gold's Gym 2? Sure, but they damn well better have their controls tested before I go anywhere near it. This game gets a very high "attempt" score from me, but for implementation and fundamental control schemes this game can definitely go to hell.