There comes a time in many of our lives when we realize that we could be a little more fit, and in this article we will show you the best fitness and exercise games to help.
Whether the goal is to lose a few pounds or just feel a little healthier overall, there is always a benefit to exercising more.
For some, however, exercising can be a repetitive and boring affair, and that’s where fitness and exercise games come into play. But what are the best fitness games available in 2022?
While none of these will be a suitable replacement for a proper gym, they will at least help you break a sweat and make your heart race more than just sitting on the couch playing games. Balan’s Wonderful World will achieve.
With that in mind, we’ve put together this list of our favorite fitness games in all formats. If you’re looking for a way to get in shape and have fun while doing it, these should be your first ports of call.
The best fitness games: Ring-shaped adventure
Nintendo He’s certainly no stranger to fitness video games; in fact, it was the launch of Wii Fit (which was almost 15 years ago, sadly) that started the whole fitness video game craze in the first place.
Although Wii Fit sold more than 22 million copies, Nintendo decided not to bring it to market. Change, which means any dream of a sleek new Balance Board peripheral is gone.
Ring Fit Adventure – trailer
However, one could argue that Ring Fit Adventure is even better, certainly in terms of appealing to a core gaming audience.
The Ring-Con peripheral gives players a degree of resistance, helping to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their exercises.
However, from a video game point of view, the most important thing is that it is fun to play.
Running through each environment and exercising to execute attacks in turn-based battles keeps the player engaged and encourages them to come back for more, which is one of the biggest problems that fitness games face.
Best Fitness Games: Fitness Boxing 2
If you want to keep fit on your Switch but maybe you’re not so fond of the idea of taking out a big rubber ring and putting Joy-Cons on it every time you want to exercise, then Fitness Boxing 2 may be a more suitable alternative.
As the title suggests, the game focuses more on boxing-based fitness, giving players a variety of punches to learn and practice, which are then linked to create workouts.
There is a selection of music to perform your routines, although the quality is not exactly sensational. Although they are based on actual songs, they are not officially licensed tracks.
Instead, you’ll be punching, dodging, and zigzagging with MIDI versions of songs like Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life, and that perennial internet favorite, Darude’s Sandstorm.
Still, the workouts are enough to break a sweat and the ability to customize your trainer and unlock new outfits for them adds some degree of gamification to the process, giving you goals to work on.
Best Fitness Games: Beat Saber
Available on most VR headsets, Beat Saber is a fitness game disguised as a rhythmic action game.
Its initial appeal is clear: it’s a cool-looking music title where you use two giant lightsabers to hit the blocks that are approaching the beat.
The reality, however, is that once you get used to its mechanics and become so familiar with each block that the direction in which to turn each time becomes second nature, that’s when things get going.
That’s when you start playing on higher difficulty levels, that’s when your heart starts to beat faster, and that’s when the true form of Beat Saber as a fitness title is revealed.
Of all the games on this list, Beat Saber requires the highest level of skill to play, but is arguably the most fun once you get the hang of it.
Best Fitness Games: Just Dance 2022
The Just Dance series is almost as old as Wii Fit, but the difference is that Ubisoft has continued to release annual games in the series since it was first released in 2009.
In fact, it was even releasing annual installments on Wii until Just Dance 2020, and it only stopped because Nintendo of America could no longer make the discs.
Just Dance 2022 is the latest release in the series, and while it’s not on Wii, it’s all modern. xbox, Play station and Nintendo system.
It includes over 40 tracks covering a variety of genres and decades, from iconic ’80s synthpop (Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy) to painfully modern K-pop (Blackpink’s Boombaya).
Once you’ve danced to your max, the game also gives you access to Just Dance Unlimited, a subscription-based service that offers access to over 600 tracks covering the history of the series.
While the Switch is the only console that comes with motion detection controllers as standard, the game is also compatible with PS Move, the ps4 camera and Xbox Kinect if you still have them lying around.
Otherwise, you can use the Just Dance mobile phone app to track your movements that way. The game score is not accurate regardless of the version you play; the goal is simply to have fun and stay fit in the process.
Best Fitness Games: Shape Up
Speaking of Kinect, if you still have a xbox one and a Kinect adapter, so of all the fitness games released on the console, Shape Up is the best of the bunch.
This Ubisoft release was similar to other fitness games of its time in that the player used the Kinect to track them while exercising.
The difference is that these exercises are then used to participate in a ton of silly minigames, including repeatedly squatting on a platform until you reach the moon, doing push-ups with an elephant on your back, or running across the top of a train at full throttle. speed.
However, the most ingenious idea of the game is its Quest mode, in which players set out missions of four weeks in which they must participate in a series of games weekly to reach and face a boss.
Shape Up is one of the best fitness games for gamers who are well versed in gaming, so if you still have access to a Kinect, you should probably get it the next time it’s available at a very low price in one. Xbox sale (which is often).
Best Fitness Games The Thrill of the Fight
There are plenty of VR boxing games out there – Creed: Rise to Glory is another strong contender, but The Thrill of the Fight is probably the best of all so far.
Rather than focusing on wacky tricks and the like, The Thrill of the Fight aims to be the most realistic VR boxing title, and that certainly shows.
The game has no endurance or power meters – that’s entirely determined by your own fitness and balancing ability. If you want to swing, you can, but soon you will be struggling because you run out of energy.
Each boxer also has their own specific fighting styles, which means that each requires a different strategy to expose their weaknesses and eliminate them.
The only thing that can affect your enjoyment of The Thrill of the Fight is the amount of space you have. The game allows you to draw your maximum fighting area, up to the full size of the ring.
While it is perfectly possible to stand still, swing and block, the game really stands out if you have enough room to wander around the entire ring.
Best Fitness Games: Knockout League
If The Thrill of the Fight focuses more on realism, this virtual reality title goes in the complete opposite direction.
Think of it as a VR version of Nintendo’s Punch-Out! series, in which the objective is to face a series of colorful characters.
Whether you’re fighting a pirate with a hook for a hand, a female boxer in a huge dragon protective mask, or a real octopus with eight gloves, it’s safe to say this one doesn’t get boring.
What it isn’t, though, is a true recreation of boxing, so if it’s the spirit of good old-fashioned boxing that matters to you, The Thrill of the Fight is probably the one for you.
However, like a good laugh that makes you duck and look for telltale signs to dodge and counter, this gives you a fun workout.
However, it’s the game’s selection of training exercises that will really break a sweat, making Knockout League more than just an arcade-style boxing game.
